Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2017 Issue

Literature and More from Whitmore Rare Books

Whitmore catalogue 15.

Whitmore Rare Books has issued their Catalogue 15. It doesn't have a title beyond the number, nor a description of its contents. It is filled with literature, including many great novels, but that doesn't quite explain it. So, I went to their website, which says they offer "literary first editions and other books of merit." That says it well – mostly literary works, but a few other things as well. Here are a few samples.

 

We begin with one of the classics of American literature by perhaps the most iconic of American authors - Mark Twain. It was, naturally, published in London. Okay, that would make sense for pre-Revolutionary days when London was the capital of America, but this was published in the year of the centennial, 1876. Twain had a habit of publishing his books in London first so as to secure the English copyright. Item 67 is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which also introduced the star of his sequel, and even more highly regarded book, Huckleberry Finn. This copy of the first edition is bound in a Cosway-style binding by Bayntun-Riviere. Cosway bindings featured an oval portrait inlaid in the binding. This one has a miniature portrait of Twain by Stanley Hardy inlaid in its cover. Priced at $13,750.

 

There is probably no more collectible series of high-quality printed books in America than those produced by the Limited Editions Club. Founded in 1929 by George Macy, his aim was to create editions of classic works featuring illustrations by the greatest artists and illustrators of the day. His greatest achievement would have to be this one, a 1935 edition of James Joyce's Ulysses. For this one, he hired the famed artist Henri Matisse to create the illustrations. Legend has it that Matisse never read the book – understandable, it is not easy to read. Instead, he was inspired by Homer's Odyssey, as was Joyce in writing the book. A total of 1,500 copies were printed, and they were to be signed by both writer and illustrator. Matisse did sign all of the copies, but Joyce stopped at around 250. Some have speculated that he stopped because he was displeased with Matisse not reading his book, but that is uncertain. Whatever the reason, copies signed by both are the hardest to find. Item 38 is one of them. $11,500.

 

Woody Guthrie was an Oklahoma native, a man who started out as a folksy folksinger. However, the horrors of Dust Bowl Oklahoma during the Depression radicalized him, and through the 1940's, his sentiments of solidarity with the poor, labor, and minorities only grew. His communist sympathies, not as controversial during the war when the U.S. was allied with Russia, made him a pariah with many during the Red Scare/McCarthy era that followed a few years later. It was into this cauldron that Guthrie, along with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and others ventured to perform in a concert in Peeksill, New York, with black singer and activist Paul Robeson in 1949. On August 27, a concert was held, leading to riots egged on by racists such as the KKK. The police did little to protect the singers. Robeson was unable to perform, so the concert was rescheduled for September 4, and the news of the riots, and little police protection, brought out a crowd of 20,000 to support and protect the singers. This time, the concert was peaceful, but police forced the singers to exit down a back road where rioters awaited them, pelting their car with stones as they tried to escape. On September 7, back home in Coney Island, Guthrie wrote the lyrics to a song he initially called Peekskill Golf Grounds. Item 31 is a single-leaf manuscript of those lyrics, so dated and signed by Guthrie. The Woody Guthrie Organization has two typewritten copies of the song, which Guthrie never recorded, dated September 9 and 10. The title was changed to Peekskill Golfing Grounds (the concert was held on the site of an old golf course). It is one of Guthrie's angrier songs, as he recalled the epithets hurled at the singers by the racists who lined their exit. $13,500.

 

Sir Thomas More was an accomplished political figure of early 16th century England. Today, he is best known for his novel Utopia, a picture of an ideal society, the type we would now call "utopian" as a result of this book. However, he was most known for his political role in his time. He rose through the ranks to be knighted in 1523 and an important advisor to King Henry VIII. He would eventually be elevated to Lord High Chancellor, more influential than anyone but Henry himself. Unfortunately for More, this was the time of the Reformation, which the loyally Catholic More vehemently condemned. That might have been all right except that when Henry wanted to divorce, or annul his marriage to his first wife, the Pope refused. More remained loyal to the Catholic Church, resigning his position and trying to remain reasonably accommodating in his actions. Still, he would not take the Oath of Supremacy, putting the King above the Catholic Church as the highest ecclesiastical authority, for which he was tried and executed for treason in 1535. Item 54 is The Workes of Thomas More Knyght... a collected edition edited by his nephew, William Rastell. It was published in 1557 and that date is critical. Henry died in 1547, and after his young son and successor, Edward VI, died in 1553, his daughter from that first marriage, Mary I, took the throne. The daughter of that spurned Queen restored Catholicism to the throne, abolished the oath that led to More's execution, and her retribution toward Protestants led them to call her "Bloody Mary." It would have been a safe time to publish More's writings. In 1558, the year after More's Workes was published, Mary died, and the Protestant daughter of Henry, Elizabeth, took the throne and power was reversed once again. $40,000.

 

If anyone qualifies as the greatest American polymath, it would have to be Benjamin Franklin. He was one of the leaders of American independence and the new nation, its greatest scientist of the 18th century, a printer, musician, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. During the years America was fighting for that independence, an admirer in England of all places wished to publish a collection of Franklin's writings. With the cooperation of Franklin and several of his friends, young Benjamin Vaughan collected his non-scientific writings and published them in 1779. The title is Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces, and it includes much of Franklin's political views leading up to the Revolution, including a warning he issued before Parliament in 1766 that if they sent troops to America to enforce its taxes, they would create a rebellion. Item 25. $9,500.

 

Whitmore Rare Books may be reached at 626-297-7700 or info@whitmorerarebooks.com. Their website is www.WhitmoreRareBooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
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  • Potter & Potter Auctions
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • 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
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    Modern First Editions
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
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