Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2010 Issue

Maritime Collectibles from Ten Pound Island Book Co.

Fish drawn during the Wilkes expedition on the cover of Ten Pound Island's latest catalogue.


By Michael Stillman

The Ten Pound Island Book Company has issued its Maritime List 188 Recent Acquisitions. The books, manuscripts and ephemeral items in this catalogue relate to the sea, or at least water of some sort. From the fish on the cover, to travels up a river, to shipbuilding and journeys across the sea, this catalogue is filled with great items for those who collect along the water's edge. Here are some of the 99 new items Ten Pound Island has available this month.

Issues of maritime commerce would lead to America's first war, that with Great Britain in 1812. In the early days of America's independence, the British and French were almost always at war with each other. This competition increased with the rise of Napoleon. Each nation attempted to block neutral trade with its rival, blockading ports and seizing neutral ships. America, still weak militarily, attempted to keep out of this rivalry but was regularly dragged in by interference with its shipping by the European powers. Finally, in 1807, President Jefferson attempted to retaliate by signing the Embargo of 1807, which shut down American shipping. The act was extremely unpopular in New England where seafaring trade was at the core of the local economy. Item 95 is a first printing of Consideration on the Embargo Law, an 1808 pamphlet by a local attorney, Daniel Webster. Webster argued that the embargo was unconstitutional. Ultimately, the act was not found to be unconstitutional, but was ineffective in changing the behavior of the European powers. Opposition to the war that ultimately broke out with England would also lead to Webster's political career. He was first elected to Congress in 1812 as an opponent of the war, and he would go on to be one of the greatest senators and orators in American history. Priced at $75.

America's grievances with the European powers became most intense with the British, who impressed American seamen into their service. The result was the War of 1812. However, there were many problems with the French as well, as shown by A Journal; Containing an Account of the Wrongs, Sufferings and Neglect, Experienced by Americans in France. This is an 1809 book by Stephen Clubb, an American seaman arrested in France who spent a year and half in a French prison. Clubb was unimpressed by French hospitality, American prisoners feeling they were no better treated than English ones, though America was not at war with France. Item 18. $200.

Item 58 is a group of four pen and watercolor drawings from the Wilkes Expedition, drawn between 1839 and 1846. This expedition, under the command of Charles Wilkes, was America's first major seafaring exploration and did much to enhance the prestige of the still young nation. These original drawings are of fish, two coming from the hand of Joseph Drayton, one of the expedition's artists. Most likely, these drawings were intended for the volumes on ichthyology, but various distractions, including the conflicts preceding the Civil War, led to these volumes never being published. The manuscript has since been lost, meaning it is unlikely these drawings have ever been published. Two appear on the cover of this catalogue (click the thumbnail image above to see them). $8,500.

Item 9 provides an 1826 description of Hawaii, then still referred to as the Sandwich Islands. It is an account of George Anson Byron's Voyage of HMS Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, in the Year 1824-1825... The primary purpose of the voyage was most unfortunate. It was to return the remains of King Kamehameha and Queen Kamamalu to their home. The King and Queen had traveled to England in 1824 on a goodwill trip, but lacking any immunity, both came down with measles and died thousands of miles from home. $2,500.

Robert Bennet Forbes was a member of Boston's wealthy Forbes family. The family made much of its money in the China trade, though his brother, John Murray Forbes, became one of the early railroad magnates. Robert Bennet stuck with the sea trade, and became known as a merchant, sea captain, and author. Item 37 is one of his works, and as Ten Pound Island notes, he was often ahead of his time. The book is Means for Making the Highways of the Ocean More Safe, published in 1867. What he called for is standard practice today. Forbes argues that many lives could be saved by providing lifeboats and life preservers on board, amazingly enough not standard practice at the time. This copy is inscribed by Forbes on the cover. $200.

Ten Pound Island Book Company may be reached at 978-283-5299 or tenpound@tenpound.com. Their website is www.tenpound.com.

You will find many of Ten Pound Island's books listed in "Books For Sale" on this site. Click here.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Piccolomini's De La Sfera del Mondo (The Sphere of the World), 1540.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Vellutello's Commentary on Petrarch, With Map, 1525.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Finely Bound Definitive, Illustrated Edition of I Promessi Sposi, 1840.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Rare First Edition of John Milton's Latin Correspondence, 1674.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Giolito's Edition of Boccaccio's The Decamerone, with Bedford Binding, 1542.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of the First Biography of Marie of the Incarnation, with Rare Portrait, 1677.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Aldine Edition of Volume One of Cicero's Orationes, 1540.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Bonanni's Illustrated Costume Catalogue, with Complete Plates, 1711.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: An Important Incunable, the First Italian Edition of Josephus's De Bello Judaico, 1480.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Jacques Philippe d'Orville's Illustrated Book of the Ruins of Sicily, 1764.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: An Incunable from 1487, The Contemplative Life, with Early Manuscript.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Ignatius of Loyola's Exercitia Spiritualia, 1563.
  • Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 546. Christoph Jacob Trew. Plantae selectae, 1750-1773.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 70. Thomas Murner. Die Narren beschwerung. 1558.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 621. Michael Bernhard Valentini. Museum Museorum, 1714.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
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    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 545. Sander Reichenbachia. Orchids illustrated and described, 1888-1894.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1018. Marinetti, Boccioni, Pratella Futurism - Comprehensive collection of 35 Futurist manifestos, some of them exceptionally rare. 1909-1933.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 634. August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof. 3 Original Drawings, around 1740.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 671. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1260. Mary Webb. Sarn. 1948. Lucie Weill Art Deco Binding.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 508. Felix Bonfils. 108 large-format photographs of Syria and Palestine.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 967. Dante Aligheri and Salvador Dali. Divina Commedia, 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1303. Regards sur Paris. Braque, Picasso, Masson, 1962.
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
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    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: McCarthy (Cormac). Cities of the Plain, N.Y., 1998, First Edn., signed on hf. title; together with Uncorrected Proof and Uncorrected Advance Reading Copies, both signed by the Author. €800 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Stanihurst (Richard). De Rebus in Hibernia Gestis, Libri Quattuor, sm. 4to Antwerp (Christi. Plantium) 1584. First Edn. €525 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Fleischer (Nat.) Jack Dempsey The Idol of Fistiana, An Intimate Narrative, N.Y., 1929, First Edn. Signed on f.e.p. by Rocky Marciano. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
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    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Smith - Classical Atlas, Lond., 1820. Bound with, Smiths New General Atlas .. Principal Empires, Kingdoms, & States throughout the World, Lond. 1822. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Rare Auction Catalogues – 1856: Bindon Blood, of Ennis, Co. Clare: Sotheby & Wilkinson. €320 to €450.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: [Mavor (Wm.)] A General Collection of Voyages and Travels from the Discovery of America to the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century, 28 vols. (complete) Lond., 1810. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
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    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Mc Carthy (Cormac). Outer Dark, N.Y. (Random House)1968, Signed by Mc Carthy. €250 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Three signed works by Ted Huges - Wodwo, 1967; Crow from the Life and Songs of the Crow, 1970; and Tales from Ovid, 1997. €200 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: The Garden. An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Horticulture in all its Branches, 7 vols. lg. 4to Lond. 1877-1880. With 127 colored plates. €200 to €300.
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    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Procter (Richard A.) Saturn and its System: Containing Discussions of The Motion (Real and Apparent)…, Lond. 1865. First Edn. €160 to €220.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: [Ashe] St. George, Lord Bishop of Clogher, A Sermon Preached to the Protestants of Ireland, now in London,... Oct. 23, 1712, London 1712. Second Edn. €130 to €180.
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    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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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
  • Sotheby’s
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