Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2012 Issue

A New Miscellany from Kenneth Karmiole, Bookseller

A New Miscellany from Kenneth Karmiole.

A New Miscellany from Kenneth Karmiole.

Kenneth Karmiole, Bookseller, has issued a New Miscellany #33. Karmiole’s catalogues truly are miscellanies, the material so varied it is hard to describe. There are ancient Latin treatises, often translations from Greek and Roman times, travel books, Americana, several California items from the Zamorano 80, medical books, children’s books, fine press books… The list goes on. All we can do is provide a few samples, with the understanding that they are in no way representative of the wide variety of material you will find in this catalogue.

Item 41 is Erasmus Darwin’s The Temple of Nature: or, the Origin of Society. Those Darwins were always writing about the origin of something! Erasmus was Charles Darwin’s grandfather, a great botanist and scientist in his own right. At times, he wrote his scientific observations in the form of poems, as is the case with this, his last work. It was published in 1803, the year after he died. Erasmus Darwin was an evolutionist long before his grandson. He is not credited for the discovery as, unlike Charles, he never figured out the mechanism, though he recognized that organisms were evolving into new forms. This poem (which, despite its title, is not about “social Darwinism”) shows how life emerges in more advanced forms, culminating in man. $850.

A century before Erasmus Darwin there was another great botanist in England by the name of John Ray. Ray based his ideas on empirical observations, somewhat obvious now, but original in his era when rationalists believed things could be better understood through intellectual reasoning. Ray is particularly noted for coming up with a solid definition for species, concluding that differences between individuals from the same seed were not different species, while the similarities regularly present were characteristics of a species. He was essentially correct, although evolutionary theory would later establish that gradual changes between plant/animal and offspring could eventually lead to new species. Item 98 is a copy of the second and enlarged edition (1692) of Ray’s The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation. $600.

Item 69 is an early work from the preeminent economist of the 20th century, John Maynard Keynes. Keynes would argue during the Depression for government borrowing, in effect priming the economy when no one else was spending. We hear both sides of his argument again today. While he was engaged in economics from the time he entered college, Keynes also wrote about probability theory. Item 69 is his a Treatise on Probability, published in 1921. $600.

Item 6 is one of those Zamorano 80 numbers, number 14 to be exact. It is titled California and New Mexico. Message from the President of the United States… That President was Zachary Taylor, though he had died before this was published in 1850. It is a thorough account of these territories/states in the period of 1847-50, the time of the Mexican War and the seizure of the land. It covers the formation of a provisional government, natural history, transition of California to statehood, Fremont’s expedition, and mining. $1,000.

Item 115 is a sad tale that is based on a true story, though undoubtedly with much embellishment. It is the tale of Amos Wilson, whose actual name was apparently William Wilson, but became “Amos” for some unknown reason. As the story goes, his sister Harriot, whose real name was “Elizabeth” (another mystery), was condemned to death. Amos/William managed to secure a pardon from the Governor, but on his way to deliver it, he was delayed by a swollen stream. He arrived too late. Not surprisingly, it was a devastating event for Mr. Wilson. He deserted society, went off to live in a cave near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he stayed for the remaining 19 years of his life. He became known to locals as the “Pennsylvania Hermit.” Item 115 is one of the books about him, The Sweets of Solitude, published in 1822. $150.


Kenneth Karmiole, Bookseller, Inc., may be reached at 310-451-4342 or Karmbooks@aol.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
    Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
    Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
    Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
    Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
    Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
    Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
  • 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
  • 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

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