Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2017 Issue

Americana, the West, Literature, & Much More from Back of Beyond Books

The Southwest and much more.

The Southwest and much more.

Back of Beyond Books has released their Rare Book Catalogue No. 18. I believe it must be their most extensive collection yet, 360 items of varied interest. Back of Beyond is a specialist in material related to the American Southwest, their home, and there are many items here pertaining to that specialty. However, there are many other fields represented, not all of which we normally find in their catalogues. Other subjects include the broader Western Americana, Mormons, Native Americana, Americana in general, literature, Wallace Stegner, Mountaineering, Pocket Maps, Sheet Music, and Miscellaneous, to cover everything else. This is definitely a something-for-everyone catalogue. You will find fascinating books and ephemeral writings no matter what your taste. Here are a few samples.

 

We will begin with a classic Southwest discovery item. John Wesley Powell led the first expedition to ride the Colorado River rapids all the way to the Grand Canyon. Powell headed two expeditions along the Green and Colorado Rivers, issuing his official report in 1875. He then had another 20 years to think about it, and in 1895, wrote a more detailed account. This second one is titled Canyons of the Colorado, privately printed in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in a small run in 1895. A large section of the Colorado River Powell first explored was dammed up half a century ago to create a giant reservoir – Lake Powell. Item 25. Priced at $9,750.

 

So, what made Powell do the things he did? Edward A. Spitzka wished to find out, which explains this bizarre archive of early 20th century material. Spitzka was a brain anatomist who somehow convinced Powell to leave him his brain for study. In those days, it was believed that studying the features of physical brains could reveal why the people they inhabited behaved as they did. Everything from presidential assassins to Einstein had their brains examined after they died (some should have had them examined before). This archive contains nine pencil drawings of Powell's brain, letters from prominent people who knew Powell describing his traits or specific anecdotes, typed and manuscript copies of Dr. Spitzka's report, two copies of the offprint of his article, and other material that will help you better understand John Wesley Powell's brain. Item 28. $4,500.

 

Western Monthly Magazine began publishing in 1833, a successor to The Illinois Monthly Magazine, the first literary journal in that then frontier state. The publisher was James Hall, who moved to Illinois in 1820 and worked as a lawyer, publisher, and writer. At some point he moved to Cincinnati, explaining the magazine's name change. The Western Monthly Magazine was published from 1833-1837. If Hall's name is familiar, he was the same James Hall who is known for one of the greatest early books about America's natives, the three-volume 1836-1844 set he wrote with Thomas McKenney, illustrated by Charles Bird King, History of the Indian Tribes of North America. A first edition of that will cost you a pretty penny (copies have sold for over $100,000). You don't have to be so rich to buy the magazine. Back of Beyond is offered bound copies of the first three volumes of Western Monthly Magazine, covering the years 1833-1835. Of particular note is it contains the first piece of fiction written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Isabelle and Her Sister Kate, and Their Cousin (we don't know whether Isabelle could shimmy like her sister Kate). Miss Beecher moved to Cincinnati in 1832 to be with her father, President of the Lane Theological Seminary. She joined the Semi-Colon Club, of which Hall was also a member. So was Salmon Chase, future Governor and Lincoln cabinet secretary, and one Calvin Ellis Stowe, who would become her husband. Item 224. $300.

 

Item 274 is American's Dream; Or, the Partial Downfall of Liberty, and its Ultimate Triumph over Tyranny, by "Thomas Theseer." It was published in 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, and you might assume the attack on liberty was slavery, or from a southern point of view, abolition. No, in 1861, if Mr. Theseer is to be believed, the real threat was Catholics. In his world, Catholics were paying off politicians to get their way. The cover features an image of a fearsome four-headed dragon, the faces being the Pope, Archbishop Hughes of New York, Secretary of State William Seward, and newspaper publisher/politician Thurlow Weed. The piece is an anachronism. In the mid-1850's, the Know-Nothing Party sprung practically out of nowhere with its virulently anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant platform. They made a serious run at the presidency in 1856, with a former President, Millard Fillmore, carrying their banner. However, the impending doom surrounding the practical inevitability of civil war quickly erased their particular agenda from the forefront of public consciousness. No one was worrying that much about the Pope in 1861 as their sons were being carted off to die in distant fields; nobody, that is, but Mr. "Theseer." $750.

 

Are you suffering from, well.... anything? Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People will cure it. Headaches, "female problems," paralysis, anemia, rickets, rheumatism, pimples, kidney disease, hysteria, "change of life," even tuberculosis. It contained some iron so the medicine may have been somewhat helpful in relieving anemia, or palesness. Quoting Mary Kilcline Cody from her article A Paler Shade of White, "Europeans could always rely on the Pink Pills to alleviate the pressures of bearing the white man's burden." As for the rest of the illnesses, good luck. By the way, we can thank Canada for producing this example of medical quackery. Item 322 is a 32-page pamphlet explaining the pills' miraculous cures, circa 1898. $50.

 

Here is an interesting product about which I can find virtually nothing. It is an unillustrated poster, promoting, in concise language, Wild Bill Hickok's Sober Gum. The entire explanation says it "will straighten you up and kill all trace of alcohol on the breath / Fine for morning after / Try it now / Guaranteed." Why don't they make this stuff any more? Is there no longer a need? It sounds like Wild Bill was onto something. However, it is dubious he was promoting this very useful product or receiving his deserved royalties. The undated poster notes that it was printed by the Allied Printing Trades Council of St. Louis, a union organization. The council was formed in 1893. Wild Bill died in 1876. Item 226. $250.

 

Back of Beyond Books may be reached at 435-259-5154 or andy@backofbeyondbooks.com. Their website is www.backofbeyondbooks.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848.
  • 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
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.

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