Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2011 Issue

Varied Printed and Manuscript Material from Samuel Gedge Ltd.

The latest from Samuel Gedge, Ltd.

Samuel Gedge Ltd. has issued their Catalogue X. That is "X" as in ten, not as in x-rated. Most of what you will find here is not primarily books per se, but a variety of ephemeral printed and manuscript material. There are broadsides, pamphlets, newspapers, handwritten ledgers, drawings, and even more unusual printed items such as printed fans and handkerchiefs. There are also a few even more ephemeral items such as the French Royal Librarian's letter pouch (18th century Royal Librarian Jean-Paul Bignon liked to exchange a lot of letters - he would have loved Facebook). Of course, there are some books here too. Most of the material offered is of English origin, but as that last item attests, not all. Samuel Gedge regularly offers unexpected material, and this catalogue is no exception. Here are some samples.

 

Item 107 is a medical treatise that time has passed by, but while it seems silly today, it was a serious attempt to find cures based on the knowledge of its time, in this case, 1787:  An Account of the Effects of Swinging, Employed as a Remedy in the Pulmonary Consumption and Hectic Fever, by James Carmichael Smyth. I'm not sure what hectic fever was, but pulmonary consumption was usually what today is known as tuberculosis. At the time, it was believed, undoubtedly based on anecdotal evidence, that sufferers of these diseases found their health improved when they went to sea. There were two possible explanations. One was that the salty sea air helped; the other was that the rolling motion was somehow beneficial. Mr. Smyth believed the latter. He concluded that the motion, and accompanying seasickness, actually reduced the coughing and other symptoms. As a result, he advocated "swinging," motion induced by having people swing or spin in a chair raised off the ground by ropes. Obviously, such a "cure" today would be deemed quackery, but in an era long before antibiotics, and before the use of truly scientific blind testing, it was the use of anecdotal stories of cures that provided the best chance of learning something that could help the sick. Priced at £450 (roughly $728 in U.S. currency).

 

Here is a broadside for a lecture, circa 1855, that combined pseudo-science with the real. It is headed, Mr. J.S. Butterworth, Phrenologist, &c. Begs most respectfully to inform the Lovers of Knowledge and Free Inquiry that he will deliver Lectures. Gedge notes that little is known about Butterworth, other than he started out as a factory worker and made his way up to being a teacher and than a lecturer. He spoke about phrenology, the "science" where examination of the shape of one's head could tell all sorts of things about that person. In reality, it doesn't do much more than tell you the shape of that person's head. However, Butterworth also noted "a magneto electric machine will be in the room to increase the amusement, and the magnesium wire light will be exhibited." That sounds very much like, in these days before the light bulb, an early display of an incandescent light. If Butterworth had only thought to place that magnesium wire in a vacuum bulb, he could have been Edison. Item 18. £250 (US $405).

 

Item 67 comes from America. It is a doctoral certificate issued by the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1819. It was awarded to Thomas Connell, who seems to have disappeared into history, as most people from that long ago time have done. However, the certificate is signed by several leading figures in American medicine of the era, including Philip Syng Physick. Dr. Physic obtained his medical degree in England, but returned to Philadelphia where he treated many of America's leading figures during that city's yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Dr. Physic was a pioneer, inventing the stomach pump, and making several surgical advances. He earned the appellation of the "Father of American Surgery" for his work. £750 (US $1,215).

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Australian Book Auctions
    Books, Maps, Modern Literature
    May 14 (US) / May 15 (Australia)
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: ORWELL, George. ANIMAL FARM. London, Secker & Warburg, 1945. $8,000 to $12,000 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: MILNE, A.A. THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER With decorations by Ernest H. Shepard. London, Methuen, 1928. Deluxe limited edition. $3,000 to $4,000 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: TWAIN, Mark. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade). New York, 1885. $1,000 to $1,500 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions
    Books, Maps, Modern Literature
    May 14 (US) / May 15 (Australia)
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: RAND, Ayn. ATLAS SHRUGGED. Random House, New York, 1957. First edition. $800 to $1,200 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: [BAUM, L. Frank]. PICTURES FROM THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ By W.W. Denslow… Chicago, [1903]. $400 to $800 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: HELLER, Joseph. CATCH-22. London, Jonathan Cape, 1962. $400 to $600 AUD.

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