Here are some New and
Noteworthy Items from our Stock divided in two sections: maps and prints followed by books and
pamphlets.
Maps and Prints
Great Map
of the Early Frontier and Far West. 1837
(Mississippi
River) Albert, J.J. / Washington Hood. 1837
Map Illustrating
the plan of the defenses of the Western & North Western Frontier, as
proposed by the Hon. J.R. Pointsett Sec. of War in his report of Dec. 30, 1837. Very good condition.
$300.00
Mil.
Aff. Vol. VII No.753-A. Bowen & Co. Lithographers. 15 1/4 x 21. Charts the
region from the Mississippi River west to about 26 degrees latitude and south
of about 46 degrees longitude to the Gulf of Mexico. This fine map notes the
locations of forts and the various Indian tribes inhabiting the region, and was
drawn to illustrate a bill to authorize the President to occupy the Oregon
Territory
Elegant
Chronological Ancient World History
From Adam to the Maccabees
Printed on 6 9x12” heavy sheets of paper
by Wilkinson in London, 1808.
Very finely
printed and very nicely colored by hand—both uncommonly so.
The
sheets are entitled:
--Chrono-Genealogical
Chart of the First Age of the World, or the Ante-Diluvian Patriarhs
--Chrono-Genealogical
Chart of the Second Age of the World, or the Post-Diluvian Patriarches from the
Deluge to the Call of Abraham, including the Foundation of Nations and the
Origins of Languages
--Chrono-Genealogical
Chart of the Third Age of the World from the Call of Abraham to the Exodus or
the Israelites leaving Egypt.
--Chrono-Genealogical
Chart of the Fourth Age of the World, from the Exodus from Egypt to the Dedicating the Temple by Solomon, including the
Judges and High Priests
--Chrono-Genealogical
Chart of the Fifth Age of the World…to the Babylonian Captivity, including the High
Priests, with the Kings of Judah and Israel
--Chrono-Genealogical
Chart of the Sixth Age of the World from the Babylonian Captivity to the
Incarnation of the Messiah, including the Sovereigns of the Maccabees.
This
is a beautiful chronology interspersed with both single-word and lengthy
annotations of events, all elegantly displayed and presented. For example, the first entry: :”Cain, the First Man Born of Woman, he followed
husbandry, he murdered his Brother, and went to live in the land of Nod, where
he built the first city, and named it after his first son, Enoch: his posterity were called the Children of
Man” (all this being printed in about
2-point in a 1.5” square).
Together these six engravings would make a
spectacular impact.
6
engravings: $950
The
Iconic American Log Cabin
“The American
Log House”, being an engraving from the very rare atlas to accompany the Collot
"Journey..." of 1826. Engraving. 14x9 inches Fine condition. $2500.
This is the
first appearance in print of the iconic American log cabin.
Very rare print from: Georges Henri Victor Collot. A Journey in North America, Containing a Survey of the Countries
Watered by the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, and Other Affluing Rivers; with
Exact Observations on the Course and Soundings of These Rivers; and on the
Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Farms of That Part of the New-World; Followed by
Philosophical, Political, Military and Commercial Remarks and by a Projected
Line of Frontiers and General Limits. Illustrated by 36 Maps, Plans, Views, and
Divers Cuts.
Background:
“In 1796 the French General George Henri Victor Collot undertook a secret
reconnaissance of what was then the United States' frontier. This region, along
the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, had been claimed by France until it was ceded
under the Treaty of Paris, 1763. The French government was anxious to know
whether American frontier could be incited to rebel, and then rejoined to the
French Empire. ”Collot traveled from Pittsburgh down the Ohio to the
Mississippi, up the Mississippi to the Missouri and Illinois Rivers, and then
back down the Mississippi to New Orleans. During his journey, he constructed a
large number of exceptionally fine manuscript maps and views of the region that
he traversed. Many of these were groundbreaking, containing never before
recorded information about a wilderness that was just beginning to undergo
settlement. ”Collot's maps were engraved in Paris in 1804, but publication was
suppressed due to Napoleon's sale of Louisiana to the United States the
previous year. The sale ended any possibility that these regions could be
acquired by France. As a result the plates were not printed until 1826, when
they were issued in a limited number as Voyage dans l'Amerique Septentrionale.
Copies were published with both French and English text. "A
nineteenth-century bookseller called this work 'one of the most famous, most
important, and rarest of all books of Mid-Western Explorations.' Its rarity is
due to the deliberate destruction of all but three hundred French and one
hundred English copies by the publisher, who had purchased the edition from
Collot's estate, hoping to increase its value" (Cohen.) SOURCES: Phillips,
Maps of America, p. 327. See Phillips, Atlases, 1214 & 1215; Cohen, Mapping
the West, pp. 68-70. And more: “Collot's work is one of the highpoints of
post-Revolutionary War Americana. The maps, engraved by Tardieu, are among the
earliest detailed depictions of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers along with
large maps of the West Anticipating the reacquisition of Louisiana from Spain,
France sent Collot to America in 1796 to gather intelligence about the western
part of the continent. Because of the Louisiana Purchase, however, the work was
printed … but not published at the time of Gen. Collot's death in 1805. More
than 20 years afterwards, the whole impression came into the hands of M.
Bertrand, … who reserved 100 copies of the English and 300 of the French
edition, and made waste paper of the remainder. Siebert Sale 819. Collot’s
survey was the most precise of the western interior performed up to that time.
… The fine engraved plates included plans of Fort Erie, Fort Niagara,
Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Natchez, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The Siebert of the
atlas (36 maps and plans) and two volumes sold for $107,000.00 in 1999”
Crossing
Virginia by Rail
Map of Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio
Rail Road. Virginia, 1872.
The
Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad Company was incorporated under the
provisions of an act of the general assembly of the state of Virginia, passed
June 17, 1870, and entitled 'An act to authorize the formation of the Atlantic,
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad Company. Very good. $350
Earlier
History: The predecessor to Norfolk and
Western Railway was created in 1838 by William Mahone. Called the Norfolk &
Petersburg Railroad, it consisted of a single, 10-mile track connecting
Petersburg and City Point, VA. After the Civil War, Mahone linked the N&P
with two other railroads to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad
(AM&O).
The AM&O
was renamed Norfolk & Western Railroad in 1881, when it was acquired by a
Philadelphia banking firm. It subsequently merged with the Shenandoah Valley
Railroad. In 1959, it acquired the Virginian Railway - the first in a rash of
mergers throughout the industry. Five years later, in one of the most
complicated acquisition deals of the era, N&W absorbed two more railways,
giving the company a direct line between the Atlantic at one end and the
Mississippi and Great Lakes Region on the other.
A Classic Account of the Headwaters of the Mississippi & an Inspiration for Lewis & Clark
A Plan of captain Carver’s Travels in the Interior
Parts of North America in 1766 and 1767.
Very good. $1250
From:: Carver, Jonathan: TRAVELS
THROUGH THE INTERIOR PARTS OF NORTH-AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1766, 1767, AND 1768.
London: Printed for the author, 1778.
Carver went farther west than any British explorer before the
Revolution. He was seeking a transcontinental waterway, but mainly explored
tributaries of the Mississippi. His book, however, is often given credit for
being a catalyst for further exploration, influencing Mackenzie and Lewis and
Clark. "A Plan of Captain Carver's Travels in the Interior Parts of North
America" shows the headwaters of the Mississippi, lakes Michigan and
Superior, and the land as far west as the Dakotas. The text contains the first
mention of the word, "Oregon." It also includes material relating to
the languages of a number of Indian tribes.
A cornerstone early western travel narrative.
HOWES C215. FIELD 251. STREETER SALE 1772. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 634. SABIN
11184. VAIL 670
Very Rare,
Beautiful Color Military Lithographs
Views of the (Lower) Canada
and the Papineau Rebellion of 1837
Title: 6 lithographic
military views by Lord Beauclerk being the COMPLETE SET from his “Lithographic
views of military operations in Canada under his excellency Sir John Colborne
G.C.B. etc. during the late insurrection”. Very good condition. $2,000.
These
are the PLATES ONLY. Publishing data: London : M. Flint,; England;
London. [6] leaves of plates. 1840.
Size: Each lithograph is 368x252 mm sheet with the
image 275x178mm (plus caption/legend).
Rare—only 7 copies of the full, entire work are located
in worldwide libraries according to WorldCat/OCLC/First Search.
Condition: All of the plates are printed on a somewhat
heavy stock (say, the equivalent of 50- or 60-pound cover stock or so).
--The
colors are vibrant and strong.
--There
is some slight wear to the edges of all the prints; there are also two *very*
short tears (about ¼ inch or so) in the right margins of four of the prints
—mind you they are not by any means ragged.
--The
images are also *virtually free* of foxing, though there is a very occasional
spot here and there in the margins.
--There
is some sort of old staining on the bottom right corner of the “Attack on St.
Charles” print. This is an uneven, old
stain which would fit inside a 5x2 inch triangle, and which may just very, very
briefly touch the image (to the tune of a millimeter or so).
The suite of six
lithographs, entitled as follows:
(1) “Attack on ST. Charles, 25th Novr
1837”.
(2) “Back View of the Church of St. Eustache and
Dispersion of the Insurgents, 14th Decr 1837”.
(3) “A Fortified Pass. Colonell Wetherall Advancing to the Capture of St. Charles, 25th
Novr 1837”.
(4) “Passage of the Richlieu by Night, 22nd
Novr 1837”.
(5) “Front View of the Church of St. Eustache
Occupied by the Insurgents. The
artillery Forcing an Entrance, 14th Decr 1837”.
(6) “Colonel Wetherall’s Bivouack at St. Hilaire
de Rouville, 23rd and 24th Novr 1837”.
Additional Notes
The
lithographs are drawn on stone by Nicolas Hartnell after the on-the-scene
drawings by Beauclerk.
Beauclerk’s
(1813-1861) eyewitness drawings of the events of the Papineau Rebellion are
extraordinary, and according to Spendlove are “the most comprehensive sets of
prints” on the Rebellion.
Comment on one of the Beauclerk views from
Yale University “The Illustrating Traveler” online Exhibiton:
“ Beauclerk's view book is in the best tradition of British
military plate books, combining a narrative of the expedition with plates that
show both military operations and the locale. The series shows the British Army
campaign to crush the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, while this plate shows the
climactic encounter of the campaign”.
Yale
University (http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/valor1.htm)
“The Illustrating traveler online Exhibiton.
Bibliographic References: Gagnon
II, 124; Lande 1559; Sabin 4164
One of the
Great Images of Photo-Secession
Alfred
Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz. New York Central Yard.
Photogravure,
ca. 1903.
Image
size 12x9.5 cm.
Very
good condition. A nice, smaller image
of this famous photograph. $1000.
What is a photogravure?
A photogravure is a
photographic image produced from an engraving plate. The process is rarely used
today due to the costs involved, but it produces prints which have the subtlety
of a photograph and the art quality of a lithograph. In essence, the production
of a photogravure consists of three steps: taking the picture; producing a
printing plate of the image; and printing the image on paper.
The basic process, also called photogravure,
was developed in the 1850s. After taking a picture, a glass transparency is
made from the negative. Next, a copper engraving plate is dusted with grains of
bitumen and heated so that the bitumen becomes attached to the plate. A carbon
print which has been exposed beneath the transparency is then transferred to
the plate. The plate is then bathed in warm water which causes the unexposed
gelatin of the carbon print to be washed away, leaving the image in relief.
Ferric chloride is then applied to the plate and eats into the copper in
proportion to the highlights and shadows of the gelatin relief. The result is
an etched copper plate of the original photographic image.
The final step, printing, involves spreading ink evenly across the plate and
then pressing the plate onto the paper. The combination of the chemical and
mechanical process produces an image both warm and precise. A photogravure
looks like a photograph but is a series of connected lines, rather than
unconnected dots as in a photograph.
Heaven
Judges the Loyalty of the Confederate Soldier (?)
Judgment
Day and a New Meaning to “Southern Claims”
This
provocative image by the redoubtable Thomas Nast (Harper’s Weekly, 15 February
1879) shows St. Peter (with his keys to Heaven’s fortress gates dangling at his
side) reading the Congressional Record’s
report of Louisiana Congressman (Ezekiel John) Ellis. Ellis, a New Orleans native who served in the Confederate Army
and was Congressman from 1875-1885, wrote that the Confederate soldier served
in loyalty to his country and to his God.
The Northern and German-born Nast seems to have taken exception to that,
giving St. Peter the inclination to judge these soldiers once they actually
tried to get into Heaven…
ELLIS,
Ezekiel John, a
Representative from Louisiana; born in Covington, St. Tammany Parish, La.,
October 15, 1840; attended private schools in Covington and Clinton, La., and
Centenary College, Jackson, La., 1855-1858; was graduated from the law
department of the Louisiana State University at Pineville (now at Baton Rouge),
La., in 1861; during the Civil War joined the Confederate Army and was
commissioned a first lieutenant; was promoted to captain in the Sixteenth
Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, and served two years, when he was captured and
held as a prisoner of war on Johnsons Island in Lake Erie until the end of the
war; was admitted to the bar of Louisiana in 1866 and commenced practice in
Covington, La.; member of the State senate 1866-1870; elected as a Democrat to
the Forty-fourth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3,
1885); chairman, Committee on Mississippi Levees (Forty-fourth Congress);
declined to be a candidate for re-nomination in 1884; resumed the practice of
his profession in Washington, D.C., where he died April 25, 1889; interment in
the Ellis family cemetery at “Ingleside,” near Amite, Tangipahoa Parish, La.
Fine &
Unusual Child’s handicraft, ca. 1872-1880.
Unique paper
construction, ca. 1880 (detail, below).
This is the work of what
we assume to be a child and is one of a series of efforts illustrating
different parts of a house. This segment features what may have been the
library or parlor. The wall is
decorated with an original mid-19th century wallpaper fragment while
the other objects in the room are paper cutouts—the chairs, window, bookcase
and books, for example, have all been chosen and removed from another paper
source. The books in the bookcase, we
should point out, are all removable.
Overall,
this is a rare and unusual item, and speaks volumes of a quiet effort by a
young American 130 years ago. $500
Fine &
Unusual Child’s handicraft, ca. 1872-1880.
Unique paper
construction, ca. 1880 (detail, below)
This
is the work of what we assume to be a child and is one of a series of efforts
illustrating different parts of a house. This segment features what must have
been the dining room. The wall is
decorated with original mid-19th century wallpaper fragments while
the other objects in the room are paper cutouts—the table, window, aquarium,
for example, have all been chosen and removed from another paper source. We should point out the fine little work
done around the floral “painting” and the overhead light—the gold around these
objects is a very thin, very fine fabric and were not simply painted on.
Overall,
this is a rare and unusual item, and speaks volumes of a quiet effort by a
young American 130 years ago. $450
Fine &
Unusual Child’s handicraft, ca. 1872-1880.
Unique paper
construction, ca. 1880.
This
is the work of what we assume to be a child and is one of a series of efforts
illustrating different parts of a house. This segment features what may have
been either a formal garden for the house or a public park. There is just something here in the
simplicity of the construction and the arrangements of its elements that seems
sort of perfect in a naïve way. Fine
children’s art from th e19th century is quite uncommon.
Overall,
this is a rare and unusual item, and speaks volumes of a quiet effort by a
young American 130 years ago. $450
Fine Hand
Decorated Photographs, ca. 1870
14
x 14 inches. $250
(detail,
left).
We
have several images like the one presented here (the remainder will be offered
in our regular on-line catalogue under “photography”). These silver gelatin images were produced
ca. 1870 (rather ca. 1865-1875) and almost all are very finely decorated in pen
and ink. The sample presented here is a
very refined example, the seven photos being placed together on a hand drawn
pond-side background. We have not
encountered a collection of photos with this amount of hand detailing before.
Enormous, Wall-size 4-sheet Geologic Map United States, 1912
This is the monumental four sheet
geological map of the US, Mexico and Canada made by Bailey Willis and George W.
Stose. This map replaced the Hitchcock of 1884
and stood as the benchmark American geologic map until 1932. $400
“When
McGee transferred to the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1894, responsibility
for national geologic maps devolved on Bailey Willis as Map Editor. In 1895 his
staff was augmented by George W. Stose as geologist and Olof A. Ljungstedt as
cartographer. Shortly afterwards, when Willis became Geological Assistant to
Director C. D. Walcott, Stose became Map Editor; nevertheless, Willis and Stose
continued their collaboration for many years. Willis was part of a Survey
committee on a Geologic Map of the United States, and plans were formulated for
a new map which was to be on a scale of 1:2,500,000. Stose assembled a
manuscript copy of such a map which formed part of the Survey exhibit at the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904, but attempts to put it into
more permanent form were hindered because of lack of an adequate geographic
base and the need for more large-scale geologic maps of the States to serve as
source material.
Also, the impending Tenth International Geological Congress to be held in
Mexico in 1906 indicated the need for a Geologic Map of North America, and
Willis and his assistants quickly produced a preliminary version of this map on
a scale of 1:5,000,000 with the cooperation of the Governments of Canada and
Mexico, which was published by the Congress as "Carte Géologique de
l'Amérique du Nord" (Willis, 1906). It then appeared more desirable to
perfect this preliminary rendering of North American geology than to continue
on the proposed Geologic Map of the United States. An improved version of the
Geologic Map of North America was virtually completed by 1910 and published in
1911 under the authorship of Willis and Stose; it was also included as a
companion to Willis' monumental "Index to the Stratigraphy of North
America" in Professional Paper 71 (1912).
On the Geologic Map of North America of 1912 extensive areas north and south of
the United States could not be adequately represented on account of lack of
geological knowledge, and some areas in Alaska, northern Canada, and Central
America were left uncolored. However, the geology of the United States and
southern Canada were shown in much detail; the part in the United States no
doubt included the data thus far assembled for the postponed Geologic Map of
the United States. For the succeeding 20 years the North America map was the
standard reference work for United States geology--including King's student
days between 1920 and 1929.
Map of the
Mountains!
Great,
Unusual Map of North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia & Alabama
This
is triangulation map by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey used bases
established at high altitudes—happily for us this is essentially becomes a map
of high elevation points along the Appalachians.
The
bases include the following mountains:
1882. 14x24 inches. $250
North Carolina (for example): Silver Creek Knob, Crowder’s Mtn, Pinnacle
Mtn, Bright’s Yellow Mtn, Humpback Mtn, Mt. Mitchell, Mt. Hallbach, Grandmother
Mtn, Grandfather Mtn, Triple Summit, Big Yellow, Roan Mtn, Little Pisgah, Pisgah,
Bull Head, Saddle Mtn., Bear Wallow
Mtn. and many others.
Triangulation
defined: a technique used in surveying
to determine distances, using the properties of the triangle. To begin,
surveyors measure a certain length exactly to provide a base line. From each
end of this line they then measure the angle to a distant point, using a theodolite.
They now have a triangle in which they know the length of one side and the two
adjacent angles. By simple trigonometry they can work out the lengths of the
other two sides.
Britain’s
First Military Air-Ship
Fine
illustration of Britain’s first military airship as it appeared on the front
page of the
Illustrated London News, 14 September
1907. $150
Military
aviation began in the United Kingdom in 1878 when an observation balloon and
the No.1 Balloon Company of the Royal Engineers was created. In 1904 the Royal
Engineers and the American Wild West showman Samuel Franklin Cody carried out
experiments with his man-lifting kites. He was appointed Chief Instructor in
Kiting at the Balloon School in Aldershot. He formed two kite sections of the
Royal Engineers which later became the basis of the Air Battalion of the Royal
Engineers and then Royal Flying Corps in 1912. In 1907, Cody and the British
Army built Britain's first military airship, the "Nulli Secundus" and
on the 16th October 1908 he became the first person to make a controlled
powered flight in the U.K. using an aeroplane of his own design, the
"British Army Aeroplane No 1".
Lovely
American Locomotive Drawing, 1883
Excellent
original drawing of an 1848 Baldwin Locomotive works locomotive for the Central
Vermont Railroad. $650, framed.
Caption
reads: “Built in 1848 by the Baldwin Works for the Central Vermont (drivers 6
½ foot) Rail-Road. Drawn Feb 11,
1883. (Cylinders 17x23 inches) from
Scientific American Supplement #371”.
Note
on the Central Vermont Rail Road:
Construction
of the Central Vermont Railway (then the Vermont Central) began near Windsor
,Vermont on December 15, 1845. The first train in Vermont ran on June 26,
1848 between White River Junction and Bethel. Construction continued with
large groups of Irish workers, fleeing the potato famine , under the direct
supervision of the roads' first president, Charles Paine, ex-Governor of
Vermont
A Map of
Eden, 1836
According
to the Biblical sources the location of Eden is put forward in the following
way:: "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he
put the man whom he had formed" (Genesis
2:8). Then the majestic words become quite specific: "And a river
went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became
into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth
the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is
good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is
Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name
of the third river is Hiddekel [Tigris]: that is it which goeth toward the east
of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates" (Genesis 2:10-14).
But
where now are the Pison and the Gihon? And where, if indeed it existed as a
geographically specific place, was the Garden of Eden? Theologians, historians,
ordinary inquisitive people and men of science have tried for centuries to
figure it out. Eden has been "located" in as many diverse areas as
has lost Atlantis. Some early Christian fathers and late classical authors suggested
it could lie in Mongolia or India or Ethiopia. They based their theories quite
sensibly on the known antiquity of those regions, and on the notion that the
mysterious Pison and Gihon were to be associated with those other two great
rivers of the ancient world, the Nile and the Ganges.
The
present map (published in 1836) places Eden in old Armenia, between the Black and Caspian Seas,
just south of the Euphrates and just north of Mount Taurus (“the source of the
Tigris”), along the border of Turkey and Armenia. This location is a little different from where some of the
classical work in biblical archaeology has placed it (further south at the
confluence of the Tigris/Euphratres.
This is also somewhat north of where modern interpretative biblical archaeological
studies place it—at the covered floodplains of what is now the Persian gulf
south of the classical locations and due west of the modern Straits of
Hormuz.
Antique
maps of the Garden of Eden are not common.
A Child’s Image of the
15th President as General during the Seminole Wars, Florida
Graphite
on paper, being a very naïve and lovely
drawing of Zachary Taylor. 6x 8
inches. $250
Zachary
Taylor
was born at Montebello, Orange County, Va., on Nov. 24, 1784. Embarking on a
military career in 1808, Taylor fought in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War,
and the Seminole War, meanwhile holding garrison jobs on the frontier or desk
jobs in Washington. A brigadier general as a result of his victory over the
Seminoles at Lake Okeechobee (1837), Taylor held a succession of Southwestern
commands and in 1846 established a base on the Rio Grande, where his forces
engaged in hostilities that precipitated the war with Mexico. He captured
Monterrey in Sept. 1846 and, disregarding Polk's orders to stay on the
defensive, defeated Santa Anna at Buena Vista in Feb. 1847, ending the war in
the northern provinces.
Though T aylor
had never cast a vote for president, his party
affiliations were Whiggish and his availability was increased by his
difficulties with Polk. He was elected president over the Democrat Lewis Cass.
During the revival of the slavery controversy, which was to result in the
Compromise of 1850, Taylor began to take an increasingly firm stand against
appeasing the South; but he died in Washington on July 9, 1850, during the
fight over the Compromise. He married Margaret Mackall Smith in 1810. His bluff
and simple soldierly qualities won him the name Old Rough and Ready.
A Glorious
Map of a Section of Augustan Rome 1844
4 independent sections each
27x19 inches
4 joined sections (18x27
inches) forming a square 36x54 inches
Canina Map of
the Roman Capitol. Naples, 1844.
This exquisite
map of Rome is produced in 8 sections and could be presented in the following
way: the large 2x2 section map (36x54”)
is in the center and flanked by two of the independently framed 27x19” maps on
each side.
Or so, where
each box represents a 29x27 inch engraving.
The center part
of the display is 4 engravings of 18x27 inches, which would be 4 times 24x33
inches matted or 4 times 30x39 inches in frames forming a cohesive unit 60x78
inches.
The suite of 8
matted maps: $1850.
The Entire
History of the Civil War on One Sheet of Paper, 1865
42x32
inches
*[Matted
image 48x36 inches, framed image roughly 50x38 inches]
H.H. Lloyd & Co. New
Military Compen.(dium) New York, 1865. 42x32 inches.
This
is a magnificent chart featuring all of the major battles of the war, plus all
sorts of collections of interesting battle and army data such as average
sickness rates, results of amputations, avergae death rates, and so on. The borders of the data are comprised of 35
insets depicting soldiers in various drill positions and definitions of
insignia.
Quite
rare.
Matted
engraving, with original hand coloring:
$1550
U.S.
Western Botanical Profile of Forest Tress, 1854. 47x21 inches
U.S. Pacific Rail Road Explorations and
Survey, War Department. Botanical
Profile Representing the Forest Trees along the Route Explored by A.W.
Whipple…From Fort Smith to San Pedro….
Published
in Washington, D.C.: 1854. Prepared by J.M. Bigelow (botanist of the
Expedition), and printed by Wagner and McGuigan by lithograph in Philadelphia. 47”x21”, printed in many colors.
This
spectacular map presents the forest trees encountered by Whipple on his
expedition for the USPRR from Fort Smith (Arkansas) to San Pedro ( actually Los
Angeles, California). The profile shows
the trees and their leaves at the elevations encountered—actually the trees are
graphically represented by either their shape or their leaves, each of which
stand no more than ¼ inch tall. There
is a key explanation to the tree symbols at bottom left identifying 42
different trees—including the Cereus Giganteus, which first identified only a
few years earlier. There are three
levels of graphical representation depicting the route containing more than 250
small images of trees. This is a
charming and informative graphical display of data, and is one of the first
published efforts to share this information.
In
good condition. $550
22-foot
long Chart of History, 1895
Adams’ Synchronological Chart or Maps of
History. New York, 1895. 264”x30”, printed in very striking colors on heavy paper and
mounted on cloth, accordion folded.
This
work consists of a long timeline under which appears illustrations, notes,
sidetracks, bits of data and other historical brick-a-brac. Don’t be fooled—there’s a lot of data on
this paper (covering about 55 square feet) that’s very interesting and a lot of
data that is simply provocative and a product of times pedagogical times. For example, the whole chart begins at the
year 4004 BC with the creation of all things, followed closely by the
appearance of Adam (930 BC, “lived 530 years”) and other such info. The timeline is broken into several
different chronologies, one of which is marked from the birth of Christ and
another based on the “creation” of Adam.
Overall this is a very neat object.
This
is the original publication from which the popular and modern (and less
colorful) reproductions have been made.
The original is simply richer and more detailed, with more vibrant color
and more depths to the blacks.
Very
good condition, matted in 22 (twenty-two) 30x21” sections: $1850
The
Progress of the Civil War, 1860-1865 printed
1892-1898
10 sheets,
each 18x26 inches
*[Matted
images are ten (10) times 24x32”]
The Progress of the War
in Each of its Departments. Produced in color
for the atlas to accompany the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion,
printed in Washington 1892-1898.
This
series of maps follows the progression of the war in six-month intervals over a
five-year period (1860-1865). Each map
is the same base map—the United States—with changing overlays of different
borders and troop movements for each six-month period.
Ten
matted maps: $3000
A View of
the City of New York, 1892
The New York Columbian Celebration—the
Naval Review, drawn by Victor Perard.
Harper’s Weekly,
special folding print, October 22, 1892.
16 x 38 inches.
Excellent
bird’s-eye view of mid-town and lower Manhattan, showing excellent detail of
building, rooftops, street action, skyline, and of course the vast activities
in the Hudson River and the harbor (featuring over 100 ships). The whole scene is centered on the Statue of
Liberty, which stands almost at the exact center of the print. Our best guess is that the view is made from
about 100 feet in air, looking south towards Liberty with a 150-degree
perspective.
Very good
condition. $450
Chronological
Tables of Ancient and Modern History, 1805
26 x 40
inches
Tableau General de l’Histoire Universelle
Ancienne. Offered with: Tableau General de l’Histoire Universelle
Moderne.
Printed
in French in Florence by Molini and Landi, 1805. Finely printed on heavy paper in six colors, each sheet
measuring 21x27 inches, thus making a vertically assembled image of about 26x40
inches.
Fine
condition. The pair, $450
20 Foot
Long Renaissance Processional, 148 years old
Part I
Procession
of Pope Clement VII and Emperor Charles V being a display of Magistrates,
Macers, Trumpeters, Nobles, Chamberlains, Princes, Consorts, Ambassadors, etc.
etc. etc.
16th
century engraving reprinted in 1855.
Drawings
by Nicolas Hogenberg and printed by Engelbert Bruning.
(Very
great detail, left).
In
17 sections: each section image size is
approximately 12.5x15” and printed on stock approximately 14x18”.
These
images fit together beautifully and can form a huge mural, frameable in two-
three-four- or five-sectioned frames.
Each image can also be framed individually, of course, and then hung in
together.
Very
good condition. $1750
42-inch
Long Renaissance Processional, 148 years old
Part II
As
above, though this section consist of 3 sections, measuring 17x42
inches, and features a section of the processional including the Magistrates of
Bologna, docotrs of canon law, and a display of the banners of the college of
Bolonga.
Very good. $350
1900 Years
of History, printed 1814 and 38 x 26
inches
Pantography of Modern History, or, a
Description of the relative Situations of the States and Sovereigns of Europe… In two sheets; the first including events
from the years 29-1000, and the second including the years 1001-1813.
Printed
by J. Barfield, London, 1814. 38x26”
(matted), being two 15x20” sheets matted together vertically. Finely printed (in 4 pt) and nicely hand
colored in pink, yellow, hunter green,
verdant green, and pale orange (and thus 6 colors, including black).
A
beautiful chronology, with the years being listed vertically, with columnar
highlights for those years for various countries. The countries listed in sheet one include Gaul, Britain, Germany,
Italy, Spain and he Roman Empire. Those
countries listed on the second sheet include Scotland, England, France, Savoy,
German Empire, Venice, Portugal, Asturias and Leon, Saracenes, Navarre, Greek
Empire, Denmark, Sweden and Russia. Very good condition. $600
Panorama
of the British Navy at its Height 1909,
15 x 90 inches
The Illustrated London News
Panorama of the Force We Must Maintain:
a Navy Adequate in Strength to ensure our Shores from Invasion, our
Empire from Hostile Attempts, and our Trade from Destruction in War.
Two
long, folding sheets published as a special supplement in the “Illustrated
London News”, March 27, 1909, after paintings by Norman Wilkinson. Each sheet 45 inches long and are intended
to be joined, and so make a very
impressive 15”x90” display.
The
images of the ships are very detailed, and the key at the bottom identifies 183
warships (with notes on tonnage, armament, speed and age). The
pair, $550
United
States Northern Boundary 1874
Fourteen
feet Long
The United States Northern Boundary
Commission, reconnaissance Maps showing the general features of the topography
adjacent to the 49th Parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the
Rocky Mountains. Compiled by William J. Twining, James
Gregory and Francis V. Greene.
Lovely
and detailed six-section map, each section being 16x22”.
Six
matted images: $1250
Great,
Early Gold Mining Map for the Southern Appalachians
“Geological Map of the Mining Districts
in the State of Georgia, Western parts of N. Carolina, and in East
Tennessee. By Jacob Peck”. Engraved by
J.W. Barber, 1832.
11.5 x 14.5 inches. This map was published in 1833 as an accompaniment to a similarly titled article which appeared in The American Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. XXIII
This is a very
attractive map, in very good condition, with a few spots of age toning. $750
This
map—one of the earliest geological maps of this region—has a very concentrated
interest in landforms, mineral and gem deposits, and rivers. There are few human locations shown on the
map—these being not a primary consideration for the mapmaker.
The
map centers at the Ga/NC line south of the Valley river, working its way south
along the Chattahoochee R to Campbell county, then west to the Alabama line,
and north to the Tennessee R as far as Kingston, and then east again to
Washington County just north of the French Broad.
The
main intent of the main is mineralogical, with gold being the primary
concern. There is some geological data,
with a primary interest for me here being the old Huttonian references to
Primitive, Secondary and Transitional areas.
There
are two interesting insets:
The
first is a fine 2x5” “characteristic view of the mountains and the Tennessee
River above Smoky Mountains, Macon County, North Carolina”. The
second is a 1.5 x 8 inch cross section of the mountain ranges showing geo
structure and elevation—this perhaps the first of these indicators?
Spectacular
Engraving(s) of World Alphabets
Two engravings from G.A.
Heck’s Iconographic Encyclopedia (1851, American edition) featuring 17
different alphabets )modern and ancient) from around the world. Each image is 10 x 12 inches and is in fine
condition.
Heck’s
effort is in itself iconographic—he was able, unlike most other encyclopedists,
to artistically arrange huge amounts of data in each engraved sheet. The pair, $250.00
Lovely Mississippi
River Map, 1811
Pike, Zebulon Montgomery. MAP OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FROM ITS SOURCE
TO THE MOUTH OF THE MISSOURI: Laid Down From The Notes Of Lieut. Z.M.
Pike, By Anthony Nau. Reduced And Corrected By The Astronomical Observations Of
Mr. Thompson At Its Source; And Of Capt. M. Lewis, Where It Receives The Waters
Of The Missouri. London, 1811. $2500
London edition following the American editions of
1807 and 1810.
This
edition is considerably smaller than the American issues (this being about a
third their size) and also lacks the bold eagle vignette that appeared above
the word “map”. This being said this is
still quite a lovely version of this important map.
Zebulon Pike, the son of
an army officer, was born in Lamington, New Jersey, on 5th January, 1779. He
joined the army and served under Anthony Wayne. On 9th August, 1805, Lieutenant
Pike left St. Louis with a group of twenty men in order
to discover the headwaters of the Mississippi. The following month he
negotiated with the Sioux in order to gain permission to build a
stockade near the mouth of the Swan River. Pike reached Cass Lake in February,
1806. Deciding it was the source of the Mississippi he returned home reaching
St. Louis on 30th April, 1806. Later
that year General James Wilkinson ordered Lieutenant Pike to determine the
extent of the Louisiana Territory in the south west. He left St. Louis on
15th July, 1806. Traveling along the Arkansas River with a party of 15 men he
followed the route of what was later to become known as the Santa Fe
Trail. He also attempted to climb the mountain that was later named
Pikes Peak. He also discovered the Royal Gorge (4th December) and the upper
waters of the South Platte (13th December).
In January, 1807, Pike reached the upper Rio
Grande. The following month he was captured by a 100-man Spanish force. He was
held in captivity until being forced to leave Spanish territory in April, 1807.
As a result of his
expedition Pike was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. A book about
his travels, An Account of Expedition
to the Sources of the Mississippi
was published in 1810. Brigadier
General Pike led his forces to victory at York, Ontario, but was killed on 27th
March, 1813, after a British power magazine exploded, causing a rock to strike
him in the back. Zebulon Pike was buried at Sackett's Harbour.
Books and Pamphlets
Very Rare
and Very Early Sound-on-Film Document
Operating
Instructions for RCA Photophone Type PM-15B Newsreel Recoding Equipment
including Operating Instructions for RCA Photophone Model 4PA38A1 Portable
Recoding Amplifier. RCA Photophone ,
NYC, Ca. mid 1930’s.
Printed via mimeograph (white print on blue
paper). 11x8 inches. 11pp text, 12 leaves of original photographs
of the machine, 2pp of blueprint diagrams
and 1 large folding schematic for the operation of the entire system (which is
really quite something). Paper-clasp
bound in a home made binder with a typed title. VG condition. $1750
Not
located in the OCLC/Worldcat dabse.
We
are assuming that this was an internal RCA doc whose distribution was very
limited.
Formerly
the property of Harold Sunde. (Photophone employee and engineer who introduced
the sound on film photophone to Great Britain and also to the Soviet Union).
A Note on the Photophone System:
“The earliest "talkies" (sound movies)
relied on the Western Electric Vitaphone system
(circa 1926) which used disk records that were (hopefully) synchronized with
the action on the screen. It was only with the inclusion of an optical
sound track on the film that the true sound movie was created”.
“Western Electric was the pioneer in this field, both with the Vitaphone system, and their slightly
later sound-on-film system. RCA entered the field in 1928 with their own
sound-on-film system which they called Photophone”.
The word
Photophone originated with Alexander Graham Bell, who, in a series of four
patents (in his own name), patented the invention beginning in June 1880.
Internal Document on the
New Photophone, Sound-on-Film System, 1932
“The New RCA Victor Photophone Recording
System”
Internal
document.
Printed
by “RCA Victor Company, Inc.—Engineering Department”.
Dated
8/3/32.
11x8
inches. 44 offset leaves with 24 blueprint/mimeo(?) illustrations of
various parts of the system.
Rare. From the estate of Harold Sunde (See
above). $1250
A Series of Diagrams of
Considerable Rarity
Block
Diagrams of the Wiring of the UNIVAC
I 1950
Including
11 components of the Main Computer and Supervisory Control Panel in 27 Sheets
Eckert-Mauchly
Computer Corporation, (June) 1950. 27 sheets, offset. In Very Good condition. $7500
Outline Block
Diagrams for the following components of the UNIVAC I:
Algebraic Adder
(2 sheets)
Control Register
(1 sheet)
High Speed Bus
Amplifier and Simple Memory Channel (! Sheet)
Input
Synchronizer (4 sheets)
Multiplier-Quotient
Counter (1 sheet)
Output Synch (4
sheets)
Output Control
Circuits (3 sheets)