By Michael Stillman
John Michael Lang Fine Books has issued its List 22 of Recent Acquisitions. This includes 32 new items without a particular underlying theme, but probably including something for almost anyone. There are several offerings pertaining to Lang's home territory, the Pacific Northwest, but there are also items which discuss cooking, world's fairs, travel, wooden coins, Hoover dam, New Mexico, Spain, San Francisco, and book decorations, as well as autographed books from Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, actress Katherine Hepburn, and French Chef Julia Child, children's books, a Tennyson set and Hamlet's soliloquy. That's a start. Here are a few samples.
We start with the oldest book in this collection, The Truth Exalted in the Writing of That Eminent and Faithful Servant of Christ, by John Burnyeat, published in 1691. Burnyeat was a Quaker who traveled around the colonies in the 17th century, spending much time in Maryland and Virginia. He was closely associated with Quaker founder George Fox and coauthored a book with him. He also found himself, with Fox, in a spirited and less than warm debate with Rhode Island founder Roger Williams. It is perhaps odd that two leaders, among the most tolerant of the time, could not get along with each other. This book tells of Burnyeat's journeys and the antagonism he endured for his faith. Item 6. Priced at $750.
Item 17 is an unpublished circa 1958 mimeographed typescript of Harry Day and the Hercules by Charles R. Stark, Jr. It is marked "final revision" of this book intended for Caxton Printers of Caldwell, Idaho, that for whatever reason, never came to be (Caxton did print another Stark work, "The Bering Sea Eagle"). The unpublished work is a biography of the Idaho mining and smelting magnate of the first four decades of the 20th century. Day and a partner staked their claim to the Hercules mine in 1889, but it was not until 1901 that a strong vein of silver and lead was discovered, eventually making Day, his family, and various investors wealthy. The Hercules shut down in the 1920s, but by then Day had obtained other mines, and interests in smelting plants, real estate, the Wallace, Idaho, newspaper and other investments. He died in 1942. $650.
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CHRISTIE’S
Valuable Books and Manuscripts
London auction
13 December
Find out moreChristie’s, Explore now
TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000Christie’s, Explore now
VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000Christie’s, Explore now
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000Christie’s, Explore now
A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000Christie’s, Explore now
AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
C.1311. £100,000–150,000 -
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
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Sotheby’s
Fine Books from a Distinguished Private Library
28 November 2023Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Captain Thomas Brown | Illustrations of the American ornithology. £80000-120000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: William Hamilton | Campi phlegraei. £40000-60000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Nicola Zabaglia and Domenico Fontana | Castelli, e ponti con alcune ingegnose pratiche. £6000-8000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, German | Nuremberg: Koberger, 1483. £40000-60000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, English | King James version. £8000-12000