Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2011 Issue

Varied Printed and Manuscript Material from Samuel Gedge Ltd.

The latest 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

  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • One of a Kind Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Documents
    Ending May 29th, 2025
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: George Washington Three Language Ship's Paper West Indies Trade Voyage.
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: An Extraordinary Archive of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry: Over 60 Historic Documents, Naval Commissions, Family Papers, and Photographic Material Spanning the 19th Century.
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: Abraham Lincoln Appointment for Vice-Consul of Russia.
    One of a Kind Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Documents
    Ending May 29th, 2025
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: John Adams Signed Mediterranean Scalloped Top ship's passport.
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Signed Ships Paper.
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: Herman Melville RARE -ALS (Moby Dick Author).
    One of a Kind Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Documents
    Ending May 29th, 2025
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: Apollo 10: Flown Flag and Patch Display with Crew-Signed Covers from the Collection of NASA Engineer Clark C. McClelland.
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: James Garfield Rare Signature as President - Possibly the largest Autograph as President almost 6 inches long!
    One of a Kind Auctions, May 29: Walt Disney Autograph over 7 inches in Length.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th May 2025
    Forum, May 29: Darwin (Charles). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, first edition, John Murray, 1859. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Forum, May 29: Astronomy.- Apianus (Petrus). Cosmographicus Liber a Petro Apiano Mathematico Studiose Collectus., first edition, Landshut, 1524. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum, May 29: Bound for Jean Grolier.- Negri Stefano. Stephani Nigri Elegantissime è Graeco authorum subditorum translationes, uidelicet., first edition, first issue, Milan, 1521. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, May 29: Gill (Eric). Eve, number 1 of 50, hand-coloured wood-engraving, signed at foot in pencil, [1926]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th May 2025
    Forum, May 29: America.- Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, Dickinson & Co., 1848. £25,000 to £35,000.
    Forum, May 29: Wodehouse (P.G.) Psmith USA, autograph manuscript of his novel "Psmith Journalist", signed and dated at end and dated "11 November 1909, Hotel Earle, 103 Waverley Place". £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, May 29: Women.- Wollstonecraft (Mary). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, first edition, uncut in original boards, 1792. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, May 29: Mathematics.- Whitehead (Alfred North) and Bertrand Russell. Principia Mathematica, 3 vol., first editions, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1910-13. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
    Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000
  • Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Peter Max, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore (Versions 1,2, 5, 6), 2001. Estimate $10,000-15,000
    DOYLE: The iconic screen-used wall-mounted "M" from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Estimate $5,000-8,000
    DOYLE: The Mary Tyler Moore Show by Al Hirschfeld. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Annie Leibovitz presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke for Vanity Fair. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Al Hirschfeld presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in the CBS Wednesday Night Lineup. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Richard McKenzie, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore. Estimate $1,000-2,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Three Original Bill Hargate Costume Designs for The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. Estimate $600-800
    DOYLE: The famous Bonnie and Clyde "Wanted" broadside. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE: Ticket to the Final Episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show Estimate $400-600

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