Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2003 Issue
May Catalogue Reviews
Hordern House Catalogue
This is the most interesting kind of ephemera. Tens of thousands of people made their way to the island continent in this manner and were ultimately happy they did. But it was an uncertain and often unhappy start. It is priced at $1,450.
Closer to home there is Eliza Bradley’s “An Authentic Narrative of the Shipwreck and Sufferings of Mrs. Eliza Bradley,...”the first edition of a book that went through many printings, printed in Boston by James Waldon in 1820 and priced at $425. There is an entire canon of books relating disasters that are very collectible and few collectors of early Americana can resist them. In their time, they were interesting and saleable if not always entirely true. In the Americana Exchange Database, you’ll find many of them listed in Thomas Field’s “An essay Towards an Indian Bibliography...” You may also want to try “Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the United States...” by S. A. Howland.
For collector’s of chapbooks there is “The Young Sailor; or the Sea-Life of Tom Bowline”, printed in New York by Kiggins & Kellogg circa 1840, a 16 page tale of a “young man’s thrilling sea voyage on the Godolphin, with his Uncle Mason as captain,...,” in its original wrappers. Book collectors who are interested in children’s books might look for a copy of Rosenbach’s “Early American Children’s Books,” published in 1933, still a standard reference and available as a reprint on ABE and other listing sites.
Then there is the two volume “Mark Twain’s Autobiography” by you-know-who, published posthumously in 1924. (Finally the reports of his death aren't exagerated.) For people who aren’t sure what to read this is a safe bet. Mark Twain remains among the greatest writers in the English language. Be warned however. He is addictive. This simple purchase may, in the years ahead, lead you down the path to the manic pursuit of his writings it all their forms. If this happens, count yourself lucky. Your first fix will cost $325.
In this catalogue there are 65 lots. To see these items, and many others, in more detail visit the Hordern House web site:www.hordern.com or send them an email at books@hordern.com.
