John Bowdler was a conservative and strict religious figure and writer at the dawn of the 18th century. His writings, now mercifully forgotten, were quite popular at the time. He came from a very religious family. His mother wrote a book about St. John, one son wrote religious poetry, another, a minister, published his sermons. An uncle edited versions of the complete works of Shakespeare and The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire in which he removed any words he deemed obscene or sacrilegious. He described these as family versions and believed they would replace the originals in popularity (thankfully, he was wrong). While the Bowdlers are no longer household names, John was worthy of a biography, and so the year after his death in 1823, there was published a Memoir of the Life of John Bowdler, Esq. Item 48. $450.

For collectors of Alaska, item 308 is A Bibliography of Books on Alaska Published Before 1868, by Valerian Lada-Mocarski. This bibliography is also appropriate for collectors of Russia, as "before 1868" the land belonged to Russia, not America. This 1969 book has full descriptions of 161 early items, including facsimiles of their title pages $350.

Oak Knoll Book may be reached at 800-996-2556 or orders@oakknoll.com. Their website is www.oakknoll.com.