Rare Book Monthly
March: On the Prowl on eBay
Boston College Catalogue for 1871-2. A slim 27 pages.
A week later I was watching a lot described as “ 1839 English Bible Goldleaf imprinted on cover -STEAMBOAT MADISON” over an older impressed oval stamp which I cannot make out. Inside the cover is written Jan 22 1842, Miss Ann E Mosher from her brother William Mosher, also many death and marriage listings circa 1840's. Stained pages and a few ripped, cover still bound but loose, also lock of hair from some descendent. Google search put[s] this Steamboat on the Hudson River out of Rondout, Kingston area, interesting history.”
With 20 hours to go they didn’t have a bid. I then left a bid of $40.00. Someone nipped me at the close to buy it for $41.00. Probably just as well as the description raised more questions than it answered. I thought the hair was a nice touch but I wondered if it was the seller’s. I’ll never know.
The next one was very interesting. It’s very rare.
" History Of The War Between The United States And The Sac And Fox Nations Of Indians, And Parts Of Other Disaffected Tribes Of Indians, In The Years 1827, 1831 and 1832" by John A Wakefield. This very rare item was published in 1834 and Printed By Calvin Goudy at Jacksonville, Ill.”
“This copy has problems including some apparent fire damage. This great hard cover book is 4.25" X 7" and has 142 pages. Wakefield's work is not only of great importance as a source on the Blackfeet War and other Indian troubles, but it also contains the original narrative of the Indian captivity of the Hall girls, in the words of Silbey, the elder sister."—Streeter
“This great book has quite a bit of foxing. There is lower page wet stains throughout the book. Page 11/12 has burn damage affecting parts of 5 lines at the top of the page. There is also a dark quarter size stain on the last 3 leaves of the book and rear endpaper affecting varying amounts of text. There is also a name in pencil on the front endpaper and pencil scribble on rear endpaper. Even with this damage it is a desirable and useful copy of a very rare book.”
In the Americana Exchange Database(ÆD) I found it’s in both Howes Usiana and Sabin. Howes has it as a ‘b’. Sabin doesn’t add much. A Howes ‘b” is an indication of significant, if not surpassing, rarity. The Howes ratings run a, aa, b, c ,d ,dd. ‘a’ is the most common and ‘dd’ the rarest. Howes is a basic reference in the ÆD.
