Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - October - 2007 Issue

Early America and More from J & J Hanrahan

Miscellany for 2007 from J & J Hanrahan.

Miscellany for 2007 from J & J Hanrahan.


By Michael Stillman

J & J Hanrahan of Wells, Maine, has issued a new catalogue, List 59 -- Miscellany -- 2007. A miscellany can contain just about anything, but the Hanrahans note they specialize in pre-1700 English books, pre-1800 American titles, the American Civil War, Maurice Sendak items, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Maine. I'm not sure how to tie all of these together. Perhaps Sendak vacations in the White Mountains. If not, he should. It is a beautiful region. There is a great collection of works featuring the beauty of this land in the catalogue, although more broadly based early Americana comprises the bulk of the offerings. Additionally, there are items that do not fit any of the aforementioned specific fields, so you can search these pages for anything miscellaneous with hopes of fulfilling your interests. Here are some items we found.

Item 15 is an ironic document signed by early patriot and notable grandfather, Thomas Melvill (also "Melville"). Melvill was one of those early patriots who participated in the Boston Tea Party. He served in the Revolutionary War at the rank of major (and in the War of 1812 as well). Between wars he served at the Port of Boston and Charlestown as Inspector of Revenue and was a businessman. This 1799 item, signed Thos Melvill without the "e," certified the legal importation of, ironically enough, a "Chest of Tea." This tea came from Canton, rather than England, so perhaps that was more acceptable. Melvill's grandson was the famous American writer Herman Melville. Priced at $500.

Item 232 is an early physics school book, An Easy Grammar of Natural and Experimental Philosophy... (as if physics was ever easy). This 1809 first American edition was written by Sir Richard Phillips, though pseudonymously attributed to "David Blair." Samuel Allibone provides the classic description of Phillips expertise: "Sir Richard Phillips had four valuable qualities: honesty, zeal, ability, and courage. He applied them all to teaching matters about which he knew nothing..." This copy belonged to one Sarah Kimball of Concord, New Hampshire, and she has signed and dated the book "Nov. 1817." Included with it is a silhouette drawing of Miss Kimball. $350.

Poets may write poetry about topics that are...poetic, but their prose may be more down to earth. Item 87 is a pair of letters to and from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Horatio Woodman, a good friend and perhaps unofficial agent, writes Emerson in 1856 enclosing a check for $772.36 for the latter's lectures. Emerson writes back acknowledging the "astonishing" amount, but says, "I am very heartily bound to you & Mr. Alger, for helping me to this effective way of paying my debts, when the season was over, my debts were not yet paid..." That was a lot of money in 1856, making it surprising that the well-known poet was having such a problem with finances. These letters are tipped into a worn 1857 copy of Emerson's English Traits. $2,000.

Item 50 is a book which is not what it appears. The title is Les Roses, evidently a French book, though no date or author is given. Actually, there is no author. This is in reality a book safe, a large folio size one at that. The center is hollowed out to hide your valuables. In the day, that was probably smart, as few thieves stop to read a book along the way, but with all of today's book thefts, this may no longer be such a good idea. $500.

Rare Book Monthly

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    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Abraham Lincoln Signed Letter on Executive Mansion Stationary To Secretary of The Navy re: Appointment for Naval Academy!
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Extremely Rare Ben Franklin Printed: Considerations on Keeping Negroes...Part Second. 1762.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: An impressively extra-illustrated copy; Including an Original leaf from Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio!
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    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Rarest Naval Autograph James Lawrence “Don’t give up the ship On " U.S. Ship Hornet June 19th 1812.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Oversize Ernest Hemingway Signed Photo with long Inscription about Drinking Wine to his dear friend and Secretary Roberto Herrera.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: VOLTAIRE Signed Receipt about a partial payment of debt for the Duke of Wuerttemberg.
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    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: [Maps] Gio. Ant. Magnini, Italia, 1620.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: LAWMAN SALOON JUDGE ROY BEAN Signed Legal Document 1895-RARE!
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Autograph Album with James Garfield as President, Chester A. Aurthur as VP, William T. Sherman, Burnside, P.T. Barnum and many more!
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    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Signed Four Language Ship's Paper.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Hector Berlioz Autograph Musical Quotation Signed.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Important Memorandum the Day after Gettysburg July 5th, 1863 where Lincoln asks all Department Heads of the cabinet to meet him at the Executive Mansion.
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  • Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. London, 1954-1955.FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, ALL IN THE EXTREMELY RARE FIRST STATE DUST JACKETS.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Francesco Fontana. Novae coelestium terrestriumque rerum observationes... Naples: Gaffari, 1646. FIRST EDITION. Contains the first observations of spots on the surface of Mars.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776. FIRST EDITION of “the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought” (PMM).
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Benjamin Franklin. Mémoires de la Vie Privée de Benjamin Franklin, écrits par lui-méme… Paris: Chez Buisson, 1791. FIRST EDITION OF FRANKLIN'S MEMOIRS IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Samuel Johnson, Jr. A School Dictionary… New Haven, [Connecticut]: Edward O'Brien, [1798]. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, AN EXCEPTIONAL RARITY.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Joseph Smith, Jr. The Book of Mormon. Palmyra: Printed by E. B. Grandin, for the Author, 1830. FIRST EDITION.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Miguel de Cervántes Saavedra. El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid: Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. THE BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED IBARRA EDITION.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: James Joyce. Ulysses. London: John Lane The Bodley Head, [1936]. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, SIGNED BY JOYCE. Designated a “Presentation Copy” in ink beneath Joyce’s signature.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: [Photoplay]. Delos W. Lovelace. King Kong. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1932]. FIRST EDITION of "a most sought after title" (Davis).
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon & Schuster, [1993]. 40th Anniversary Edition. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR TO HUGH HEFNER.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Neil Gaiman. Original manuscript for the "Neverwhere" BBC television miniseries. [London: Crucial Films, LTD., 1995-1996]. TYPESCRIPT "NEVERWHERE" WITH NEIL GAIMAN'S NOTES AND AMENDATIONS THROUGHOUT.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: [DICTIONARY]. Noah Webster. An American Dictionary of the English Language... New York, 1828. FIRST EDITION OF WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, UNCUT IN THE PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BOARDS
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: Stephen King. Full Dark, No Stars. Baltimore: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2010. WITH AN ORIGINAL TWO-PAGE COLOR ILLUSTRATION BY GLENN CHADBOURNE
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. FIRST EDITION, IN THE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET.
    Heritage Auctions, Oct. 10:-11: H. G. Wells. The Time Machine: An Invention. London: William Heinemann, 1895 [but 1897]. With a SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD laid in.
  • Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 1. Rare First Edition of Oronce Fine Double-Cordiform World Map (1531) Est. $50,000 - $60,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 2. French Edition of "Rudimentum Novitiorum" with Woodcut Maps of the World and Palestine (1543) Est. $27,500 - $35,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 3. Complete Edition of Munster’s Cosmographia with over 100 Maps & Views (1560) Est. $32,500 - $40,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 4. Purchas' Important Collection of Voyages with 88 Maps, Including John Smith Map of Virginia (1625-26) Est. $55,000 - $70,000
    Old World Auctions (Oct. 10): Lot 5. Complete First Latin Edition of De Bry's "Grands Voyages," Parts I-IX (1590-1602) Est. $120,000 - $150,000
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    Bibliotheca Brookeriana:
    A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection D-M
    18 October 2024
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Herodianus Syrus, Herodiani Historiarum, Venice, Heirs of Aldo & Torresano, 1524, Parisian binding for Jean Grolier by Jean Picard, ca. 1540
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro, Venice, Aldo, 1495 (Greek text), interleaved with 1497–1498 (Latin text), English olive morocco by Charles Lewis, the Botfield copy
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Horatius Flaccus, Horatius, Venice, Aldo, 1501, Bolognese brown goatskin (between 1501 and 1503), arms of Mino Rossi and illuminated initials throughout
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Lucretius, De rerum natura, Venice, Aldo, 1500, English early eighteenth-century red morocco, the Fletcher copy
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Dante, Le terze rime, Venice, Aldo, 1502, illuminated, contemporary Bolognese morocco binding

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