Hawaii Photo Album from 1940s

Photo album of Hawaii from the early 1940s.
1942+.

This is a fascinating and unique album of photographs and post cards from 1940s Hawaii. It includes a photo of the Princess movie theater with the 1942 film "Male Animal" showing, starring Henry Fonda and Olivia de Haviland. Other photos show the Wakiki Theatre in Honolulu, a clock with the name "Crossroads of the Pacific, the Honolulu Recreation Center, as well as beaches, towns and cities, and of course, numerous photos and postcards of dancing native women. The postcards are of various interesting sites including Wakiki Beach, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Mormon Temple, native fish species, the Capitoland more. There are about 145 images in a large album measuring 10 x 12 inches.

In a brown cover with "Aloha Hawaii" image of a palm tree in gilt and a gilt and red and blue image of an eagle and US flag with USA as title. Covers are chipped but otherwise the album is very good. (#37924)

Price:   $400

A Horror Story - with hidden UV printed illustrations
Letterpress Printed

[Angel Bomb Press]
Thyberg, Todd, illustrator and printer; Peter Watts, author.
The Things.
Minneapolis: Angel Bomb Press, 2024.

Number 31 of 200 copies (standard edition), numbered and signed by the author and illustrator. Published as a companion story to 'Who Goes There?', this short story by Peter Watts is a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's story, but from the perspective of the alien or The Thing. It is lost, alone, and struggling to understand humans. According to the printer: "This creature, a hive-mind and mutable biomass views the universe through a different lens which is why I chose to print it's thoughts and struggles in a totally unique way. Throughout the story, the creature is trying to understand its surroundings; by viewing the book with the aid of a UV flashlight you see these thoughts and see the world through the eyes of an alien being."

Quarter bound in blue Japanese book cloth with blue foil stamped logo to front board. Filled with letterpress printed illustrations based on bold pen and ink drawings which interact with the hidden UV illustrations. Under normal light, the alien's thoughts appear as a blind impression, visible, but subtle. When viewed with a UV light, the illustrations unite and form a deeper narrative. The afterword features an interview with author Peter Watts, who discusses this story.

Issued in a blue metallic dust jacket UV printed and foil stamped for a high constrast, tactile experience. Explore the dust jacket and book with the included standard UV flashlight to find hidden horrors! The flashlight is housed in a small white cardstock box printed with black ink logo. Size: 11.25 x 8.75 inches. In fine condition. Fine. (#37946)

Price:   $250

Burney's History of Voyages in the South Seas - a facsimile printing of 1803-17 edition

Burney, James.
A Chronological History of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas. 5 Volumes. (Bibliotheca Australiana #3.).
Amsterdam / New York: N. Israel / Da Capo Press, 1967.

A modern reprinting of the 1803 - 1817 edition of Burney's History, illustrated with folding maps and charts. James Burney (1750 - 1821) was an English explorer and author. He accompanied Captain James Cook on his last two voyages, serving as rear-admiral, and witnessing Cook's death in Hawaii (Wikipedia). This considerable work is still considered to be the most important general history of the early South Seas discoveries, covering up to the year of 1764.

Very good in glossy white leather boards with printed blue and gilt title labels to spines and front boards. Minor wear to edges and corners of boards. Light soiling to turn ins on interiors of boards, else clean and bright. Volume I, 391 pages; Volume II, 482 pages; Volume III, 437 pages; Volume IV, 580 pages; Volume V, Index, 337 pages. May require an additional shipping fee. Very Good. (#38006)

Price: $325

Journey to India and Near East in late 1600s - English language edition

Carré, Abbé [Bartholomew Square]; Lady Fawcett, translator; Sir Charles Fawcett and Sir Richard Burn, editors.
The Travels of the Abbé Carré in India and the Near East 1672 to 1674. 3 Volumes.
London: The Hakluyt Society, 1947.

Hakluyt Society Series II, Volume XCVII. English translation of the journals of Abbe Carre written about his journey to India and surrounding areas between 1672 and 1674. He traveled on behalf of the East India Company and provides a detailed description of the region (University of Exeter). Includes folding maps and illustrations.

Bound in matching blue cloth covered boards with gilt titles to spines and gilt emblems of ships to front boards. Minor wear to edges of boards, spine ends, and corners. A few light spots of soiling to bindings, but clean overall. Occasional spots of foxing and slight browning to margins. Unopened pages. Clean and bright overall. Bookplate of John A. Wolter to front pastedowns of each volume. Wolter (1925 - 2015) is a former chief of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. He died while residing in Maryland at the age of ninety. Continuously paginated, 984 pages. Very Good. (#38022)

Price:   $95

The Work of Book Artist - Maureen Cummins

Cummins, Maureen.
Retrospective.
Kingston, NY: Maureen Cummins, 2022.

1 of 30 copies. A delightful play upon the traditional catalogue raisonné, this book makes visual reference to scrapbooks, archives, and exhibitions. The text, which culminates in a list of works printed from 1985 to 2021, is comprised of one-page vignettes that speak to a variety of subjects: growing up with books, the artist's early art training and interest in book illustration, apprenticeships and early projects, the influence of travel, research, and history in her practice, and a variety of topics which illuminate - for students, researchers, and collectors alike - the nature and scope of an artist’s life.

The text of Retrospective is juxtaposed against a variety of images: actual and reproduced bookpages; a diary page from age 18 describing Cummins's desire to be a book illustrator; documentation of early art projects, edited-out images from editions; and photographs of seminal places in her career, including the Yolla Bolly Press, where she apprenticed; her first printshop, in Brooklyn; the American Antiquarian Society, where she was an artist-in-residence, and Kinngait Studios, a printshop in the Eastern Arctic that she made a pilgrimage to. The structure of the book is staggered pages which fan out like a card deck, allowing the reader to see a slice of each image simultaneously. This presentation creates a blur of color and pattern that invites the reader to explore.

Housed in a wooden box that was specially designed and crafted by Jim Lee. The box contains a side piece which lifts up for easy access to and handling of the book. The cover of the box, constructed out of plexiglass and laser-etched by Sarah Pike, allows the book to be displayed even when it is safely stored. Size: 8.5 x 32 inches. 66 pages. (#38072)

Price: $2,750

Dehumanizing People - Through Stamps and Labels in Library Catalogs
Artists' Book

Cummins, Maureen, book artist.
Re-Categorized.
Kingston, NY: Maureen Cummins, 2021.

Number 14 of 20 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. Maureen Cummins is a noted creator of artists' books. Her work is held in over one hundred permanent public collections internationally and has been included in exhibitions at the American Craft Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Rotunda Gallery (amongst others). She has received over a dozen grants and awards and has been an artist-in-residence at numerous venues, including the American Antiquarian Society and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Maureen writes about this compelling work: "This edition is based on a unique book of the same title created for an exhibition of the artist's work, "ReReading Disaster," which was held in the spring of 2021 at Woodstock Artists Association and Museum. ReCategorized was inspired by, and made use of, original press photographs that depicted displaced war refugees. Most prints were purchased from Historic Images. The images in this edition were scanned and digitally reproduced and mounted onto handmade sheets of St. Armand black." The book explores the challenges faced by librarians in creating classification systems for materials, especially ones that involve human subjects. "While collecting documents about displaced populations for the Friends, Peace, and Sanctuary project, Cummins found herself intrigued by the backs of press photographs. These surfaces resembled twentieth-century collages, with pasted-down copies of printed articles, rubber stampings, and handwritten classifications for filing purposes.

As she examined these texts and images, Cummins noticed not only the reporters’ red-baiting and jokey racism (the headline “Sun-thing in the air” was used to describe a displaced Vietnamese woman wearing a conical Asian hat), but another, more subtly disturbing pattern: descriptors used by cataloguers to identify subjects in the photographs, intended to facilitate easy retrieval, were later, as events progressed, crossed out and altered. For example, “KW-destinations,” “Vietnam-People,” “Germany-East-People,” and Pakistan- People,” became, respectively: “KW-Refugees,” “Vietnam-North-Refugees,” “Germany- East-Refugees,” and simply “Refugees.” In all but one of the twelve examples included in the book, the word “people” was changed to “refugee;” in other cases, nuanced descriptors such as “war” and “revolt” were eliminated, along with the names of destination countries and countries-of-origin. Like the experience of war and trauma itself, rich human lives were reduced to and defined by loss. For this edition, high quality digital prints, scanned from documents used in the original book, were tipped onto pages of St. Armand black, a deeply saturated paper handmade in France. The title page of each copy also incorporates a unique piece of printed matter pulled from a historical press photograph" [From the prospectus]. Bound in cream cloth with black cloth spine and title label to front cover. In fine condition. The book measures 11 x 15 inches. 32 pages. (#38050)

Price: $1,200

Expedition to Funafuti - a Coral Island in the South Pacific

David, Mrs. Edgeworth.
Funafuti, or Three Months On a Coral Island: An Unscientific Account of a Scientific Expedition.
London: John Murray, 1899.

VERY SCARCE. Funafuti is a coral atoll consisting of numerous islets that currently serves as the capital of Tuvalu. The first European sighting of Funafuti was in 1819 by Arent Schuyler de Peyster, an American sea captain sailing under a British flag, who named it Ellice's Island in honor of an English member of Parliament. Fanufuti is famous for the Darwin's Drill project, conducted by the Royal Society of London in 1896, 1897, and 1898, which involved drilling boreholes on Funafuti to test Charles Darwin's theory of coral atoll formation. The expeditions sought evidence of shallow-water organisms deep within the coral structure. Professor Sollas led the 1896 expedition and later published a report on the atoll study. Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney participated in the 1896 expedition and led the 1897 effort. The geological significance of Funafuti in testing Darwin's theory was recognized in October 2022 when the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the atoll in its list of 100 'geological heritage sites' worldwide.

This publication was written by the wife of Professor David, who accompanied the first expedition in 1986. It is an entertaining and very informative tale of the environment, people and culture of Fanufuti. It includes chapters on Native Songs (with translation), The Village School, Language, Tattoo, Food and Cooking, Clothes and Plants, and Animals. Includes 18 black-and-white illustrations, most of which are photographs. A rare and interesting find.

Octavo. Dark green cloth-covered boards with gilt title to front cover and spine. Black illustration on front cover. Minor wears to edges of covers and spine. Front hinge is starting. Text block is yellowed, but clean and clear. Foxing to front and rear endpapers and tissue guard of frontispiece. Gilt to top edge of text block. Ex-lib, with one small library stamp impression on title page. 318 pages, including index. Very Good. (#38021)

Price: $90

Humorous Illustrated Cocktail Guide

Gaige, Crosby; Rea Irvin, illustrations; Lucius Beebe, Foreword.
Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion.
New York: M.Barrows and Company, 1945.

The title page states that this book was published for Hussies and Homebodies. This fairly uncommon book is written in an archly witty style with many actual drink recipes, often with sarcastic titles like "Why Not Now," "Elephants Sometimes Forget," "Too Good to be True,' and "Mrs. Solomon Wears Slacks." The recipes are interspersed with short texts and many of Irvin's stylized and amusing illustrations.

Bound in red cloth with titling to the spine and a black and white sketch of a hand holding a martini glass, with "A Vous" written underneath. Cloth is soiled around the edges and with bumped corners and a torn top edge to the spine. Interior pages are generally clean and bright. Includes an index to subjects and drink names. Despite flaws to covers in very good condition. Measures 5.5 x 8 inches. 223 pages. Very Good. (#37959)

Price: $100

Miniature ABC Bestiary - Russian Book Artist

Goozairow, Emil.
Bestiary of non-existant creatures from A to Z.
Moscow: Emil Goozairow, 2023.

Small open edition. Goozairow is a Russian artist who paints and draws, produces movies, and creates exceptional handmade books that are printed on rare types of paper and published in limited editions. His techniques create unique designs that often are made with natural materials alone or in combination with relief decorations made from metal, polymeric clay, or 3-D printing. He creates books that he describes as "pop up," “kinetic carousel," “liporello” or “3D origami.” He also writes fairy tales, stories and mystical scenes.

An inventive book in a 3-D printed, hand-painted tower binding with gold fabric cord closure. This sculptural book resembles a small tower. It is hand-painted green and metallic gold and bronze paints along the exterior. The interior features a collection of imaginary creatures printed in full color from drawings by the book artist. The book has a special hexagonal folding design that Goozairow calls a "Bee Book." A charming alphabet book in an unusual binding. In fine condition. Size: about 3.5 inches tall x 2 inches wide. (#37995)

Price:   $325

Miniature Book with Pop-Ups
Russian Book Artist

Goozairow, Emile.
Nimble Fish.
Moscow: Emile Goozairow, 2023.

Unique miniature book by Emile Goozairow who did the drawings, design, text, and construction. Goozairow is a Russian artist who paints and draws, produces movies, and creates exceptional handmade books that are printed on rare types of paper and published in limited editions. His techniques create unique designs that often are made with natural materials alone or in combination with relief decorations made from metal, polymeric clay, or 3-D printing. He creates books that he describes as "pop up," “kinetic carousel," “liporello” or “3D origami.” He also writes fairy tales, stories and mystical scenes.

In this inventive book with a hexagon structure, Emile juxtaposes his charming poem about the qualities of fish with delightful images in different colors of various fish. His closing lines about fish: "They are kind, nimble and funny - Fabulous, marine and heavenly." Bound in red cloth (cover) and black cloth (rear cover) with a star-shaped ornament with an anchor design on the front cover. Page edges are painted red and black. In fine condition. Measures about 2.5 inches across. Unpaginated.  (#38019)

Price: $350

Pinhole Camera Photographs of Landscape at Brush Creek in Wyoming

[Grey Zone Press]
Ellen Sollod, book artist.
Brush Creek Chronicles.
Seattle: Grey Zone Press, 2020.

A unique artist's book from noted artist Ellen Sollod. Ellen is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Pacific Northwest. Her practice includes large scale, site-specific public art, multimedia temporary installations, artist books, photography, photo-based works, and occasional sound and video projects. Her work is deeply embedded in research and experimentation. Diverse in form and subject matter, much of her studio-based work weaves the personal with the political, while her site-based works explore the psychological intersection of landscape and memory.

Ellen complements her independent studio practice with interdisciplinary collaborations with scientists, landscape architects and other artists. Sollod is an artist/activist, grounded in a commitment to civic, environmental and social responsibility. As such she often works outside traditional art venues, such as creating installations in nature, historic houses, or using the USPS as a vehicle for distributing the work to selected audiences.

Ellen writes of this engaging production: "It is a series of small accordion books document my time as artist-in-residence at the Brush Creek Arts Foundation. Over the course of three weeks, I captured the essence and character of this remote landscape. I created the pinhole photographs using an antique Graphlex 22 medium-format film holder and a Zero image camera." There are 4 volumes bound in yellow, black, red, or blue paper or cloth and contained in a handmade slipcase bound in brown paper. Images are printed digitally on Arches Museum Rag. In fine condition. Slip Case: 5.25 h x3.25 w x 4 d Each book opens to 4.875 h x 20.5 w. Unpaginated. (#37926)

Price: $400

Keane's History of Africa

Keane, A. H.
Africa. Two Volumes.
London: Edward Stanford, 1895.

This is a particularly beautiful two volume edition of Keane's comprehensive and fascinating descriptive history of north and south Africa. There is an unobtrusive stamp of the Literary & Historical Society of Quebec, Canada, almost the only indication that this set was in a library. The work is part of Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel. The publisher writes in the preface that this is a new issue of this series, the single volume previously through sufficient was replaced by two, each somewhat larger than that work. Augustus Henry Keane (1833–1912) was an Irish Roman Catholic journalist and linguist, known for his ethnological writings. He studied in Germany and taught at Hameln; and became a linguist. He taught languages including Hindustani at the Hartley Institute, Southampton; a chair of Hindustani was created for him at University College, London, in 1883, Keane's racial theories were published first in Nature in 1879–81. He affirmed the specific unity of human beings in his 1896 text Ethnology, even if his views had some other implications. He produced racial typologies, in his expository writings. Keane was out of step with the anthropology of the time, preferring linguistic data to that of physical anthropology and came to occupy a marginal position in the emerging scientific discipline. On the other hand, his efforts at popularizing anthropology were praised by Sir Harry Johnston. Keane's views were invoked by F. W. Bell in South Africa from 1908, with those of Robert Bennett Bean, and played a part in the move of the Transvaal Native Affairs Society towards a segregationist position. He was known for his sympathies displayed in The Boer States (1900). The stance taken by Keane, who has been described as a "virulent racist", was conveyed in person when he addressed the Transvaal Native Affairs Society in 1909. He cited Robert Wilson Shufeldt of Virginia, author of The Negro a Menace to American Civilization (1907), aiding the Bell faction against the moderates around Howard Pim. [from Wikipedia].

The book is extensively illustrated, with 169 illustrations across the two volumes. Each volume also has a number of fold-out color maps. Each volume also has an extensive index. Bound in dark green cloth, with each volume having a detailed gilt illustration on its front cover and gilt titling and additional illustrations on the spine. Slight chipping to spine edges. Front and back black endpapers with some light chipping perhaps caused by the removal of a checkout slip or ownership label. Interior pages are clean and bright, and the maps are all in excellent condition although some have the stamp of the Literary & Historical Society on the back of the map. An exceptional set in almost fine condition. Each volume measures 5.25 x 7.75 inches. Volume I has 639 pages including index. Volume II has 671 pages including the index. The rear free endpapers have small black marks for some reason. Near Fine. (#37939)

Price: $250

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech
Free-Motion Stitched on a Man's Dress Shirt (Reassembled)
Unique Book Art Object / Hanging Textile Piece

Kokin, Lisa.
Forward and Back.
El Sobrante, CA: Lisa Kokin, 2015.

This piece can folded into a loose accordion or it can be fully opened and hung vertically on a wall. According to the artist: "'Forward and Back' contains the complete text of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech using free-motion stitching. This means that I stitched each letter individually; no template was used. Forward and Back is stitched onto a cut and reassembled man’s dress shirt. Fragments of the text are stitched backwards over the main text, partially obscuring it; the process of making the piece mirrors the metaphor of the title. I made the piece in 2015; unfortunately it is so much more timely now with the advent of the erasure of DEI and the attempt to reverse the gains made by women, and queer people, and people of color in previous decades. The many incidents of the wrongful targeting and killing of African Americans by police was the inspiration for making Forward and Back." 

Size, open: 30.5 x 13 x 12 inches.

Lisa Kokin is a well-known visual artist and book artist who also creates art with sewing and alterations, as well as with button work and assemblage. She also is known for acting as a mentor and coach to people in the arts. Her work is in collections across the U.S. Fine. (#37914)

Price: $6,500

Unraveling of the Voting Rights Act
Unique Book Art Object / Hanging Textile Piece

Kokin, Lisa.
Section 4.
El Sobrante, CA: Lisa Kokin, 2014.

A unique hanging book art object made from cotton upholstery batting and thread. According to the artist: "The entire text of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is stitched onto fragments of cotton batting, a material chosen deliberately for its historical link to slavery. In 2013, significant parts of Section 4 were eliminated, thereby disenfranchising many African Americans, poor people and others who might not vote in the way the powers that be would like them to." 

The embroidery on this piece is in white thread against a white background, making it deliberately difficult to read. The threads on either side are left uncut, giving the impression of the unraveling of the Voting Rights Act. Small chunks of the cotton batting backing are missing throughout the piece further emphasizing the eliminated portions of the original act. Portions of the text referencing race are embroidered in red thread on the underside of the piece, mostly obscured to the viewer. Size, open: 28.25 x 19.75 inches. 

Lisa Kokin is a well-known visual artist and book artist who also creates art with sewing and alterations, as well as with button work and assemblage. She also is known for acting as a mentor and coach to people in the arts. Her work is in collections across the U.S. Fine. (#37922)

Price: $4,500

Ethnographic Exploration of Central Borneo
Includes Stories of Head Hunting and Cultural Beliefs

Lumholtz, Carl.
Through Central Borneo. 2 Volumes.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920.

First Edition. Norwegian explorer and ethnographer, Carl Sofus Lumholtz (1851 - 1922), is best known for his meticulous field research and ethnographic publications on indigenous cultures of Australia and Mexico (Wikipedia). These volumes detail his exploration of Central Borneo (now Indonesia) in which he recorded his observations of the indigenous peoples including the Kayans, Kenyahs, Murungs, Penyahbongs, Saputans, the nomadic Punans and Bukits, Penihings, Oma-Sulings, Long-Glats, Katingans, Duhoi, and the Tamoans. He collected vocabularies from most of tribes visited. He also documented the tribes and wildlife photographically, with many images reproduced in these volumes. He traveled with a taxidermist and collected samples of local flora and fauna, and also collected ethnographic artifacts. Includes stories of head hunting as well as details about customs and cultural beliefs.

Bound in matching maroon cloth covered boards with gilt titles, author, and volume numbers to spines. Minor wear to corners and edges of boards. Minor rubbing to boards. Slight bumping to foot of Volume I and several corners. Clean and bright overall with a few small spots of soiling. Includes folding map, detached but laid in to rear of first volume. Photographically illustrated in black and white with all plates present. Continuously paginated, 467 pages. Very Good.(#38003)

Price: $175

Diplomatic Expedition to China on Behalf of East India Company
Includes Shipwrecks and Adventure

McLeod, John.
Voyage of His Majesty's Ship Alceste, Along the Coast of Corea, to the Island of Lewchew; with an Account of Her Subsequent Shipwreck.
London: John Murray, 1818.

Second Edition. Originally published under the title: "Narrative of a Voyage in His Majesty's late Ship Alceste to the Yellow Sea, along the Coast of Corea, and through its numerous hitherto undiscovered islands, to the island of Lew-Chew, with an account of her shipwreck in the Straits of Gaspar" (first edition, 1817). Authored by Scottish naval surgeon John McLeod (1777/82 - 1820). He also briefly worked as a slaver and was considered a pirate for assisting in the capture of a French slave ship.

This book details the voyage of Lord Amherst aboard the Alceste on his diplomatic mission to China to inform the emperor of peace in Europe due to the Treaty of Paris. The British were seeking to strengthen ties with China largely due to the trading interests of the East India Company. During the return voyage the coast of Korea and the Ryukyu Islands were explored. The Alceste was shipwrecked on the return journey in the Java Sea, with her wreck plundered and burned by Malayan pirates.

Expertly rebacked with the original boards and modern leather spine with red leather title label, tan author label, gilt decorations to compartments, and gilt bands. Gilt rules to edges of boards, gilt dentelles, and embossed diamond pattern to both boards. Book plate of J.H. Bridges, Esq to front pastedown. Minor rubbing and wear to boards, edges, and corners. Light dampstaining to margins, small spots of soiling, and occasional foxing throughout. Evidence of a later bookplate - now removed - has abraded the front pastedown. Presentation inscription from J.D. Dieywall to J.H. Bridges dated January 7, 1838 to front free endpaper. Includes six plates of which five are hand coloured. Also includes appendices with a short list of Lewchewan words and numerals. Original marbled end papers and full marbled edges. 323 pages. Very Good. (#37992)

Price: $475

Interviews with Carnival Strippers - a documentary of girl shows, public sexuality, and hidden lives
Second Edition - with CD of interviews

Meiselas, Susan and Deirdre English.
Carnival Strippers.
New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2003.

Second edition, revised. Includes a CD in a clear plastic folder mounted on the rear pastedown. "From 1972 to 1975, Susan Meiselas spent her summers photographing and interviewing women who performed striptease for small town carnivals in New England, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. As she followed carnivals from town to town, she portrayed the dancers on stage and off, photographing their public performances as well as their private lives. She also taped interviews with the dancers, their boyfriends, the show managers, and paying customers. Excerpts from these interviews, along with over seventy of Meiselas' black and white photographs, were first published in the 1976 edition of this book. Meiselas' frank depiction of the lives of carnival strippers - in both images and words - brought a hidden world to public attention. It also revealed the complicated emotions of the strippers; whose printed comments express conflicting attitudes toward their world. Produced during the early years of the women's movement, 'Carnival Strippers', reflects the struggle for identity and self-esteem that characterized a complex era of change. In the thirty years since Meiselas began photographing the girl shows, attitudes toward documentary photography, public sexuality, and feminism have evolved, but the power of these pictures remains unchanged" (jacket).

Oblong in black cloth boards with silver title to spine and front board. Clean and bright. In black illustrated dust jacket with white title to spine and front panels. Light wear to edges of jacket and minor rubbing to panels of jacket, which is now in a removable plastic cover. The CD included has a 1977 radio interview with Susan Meiselas as well as excerpts from interviews that Meiselas collected while writing this book. 163 pages. Fine / Fine. (#38010)

Price: $150

First Scholarly History of New Zealand
First Edition

Thomson, Arthur S[aunders].
The Story of New Zealand. 2 Volumes.
London: John Murray, 1859.

First Edition. Authored by Scottish military surgeon, medical scientist, writer, and historian Arthur Saunders Thomson (1816 - 1860). Published a year before his death at age 44, this work is generally considered to be the first scholarly history of New Zealand. During his (approximately) ten year residency working as surgeon in New Zealand, Thomson was unable to find a comprehensive history of the island, so he decided to write one himself. In his introduction he writes: "From personal observation, and materials culled from (various) sources, I have endeavoured to sketch the natural history of the country; to narrate the story of its people, their spiritual conquest, and the dawn of civilization amongst them; to show how a few Anglo-Saxons planted and managed a colony in the midst of cannibals; and to describe their bygone dangers and difficulties, their present efforts to render a theoretical constitution practically useful, and the progress they have made in developing the resources of England's most distant colony."

Includes folding frontispiece, folding maps, and several full page illustrations. There is a repair to a tear in the folding map. Bound in olive green cloth covered boards with gilt titles, author, and volume numbers to spines. Minor bumping to corners, and minor wear to edges including chips to book cloth on the spine and rear of the first volume. One inch split to book cloth along rear joint of first volume. Light soiling to boards. Minor browning to interiors, mostly to margins. Occasional pencil markings and annotations. Light dampstain to top margins of second volume. Heavy foxing to endpapers as well as early and late pages, but only light and occasional foxing the bulk of the interiors. Volume I, 331 pages; Volume II, Appendix, Bibliography, Index, 368 pages. Very Good. (#38005)

Price: $150

Ten Years in Tripoli - Letters and Notes on the Bashaw & His Family from English Consulate
First Edition, Uncommon

Tully, Richard, Esq; Lady Mary Wortley Montague.
Narrative of a Ten Years' Residence at Tripoli in Africa: from the Original Correspondence in the Possession of the Family of the Late Richard Tully, Esq., the British Consul. Comprising Authentic Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Reigning Bashaw, His Family, and Other Persons of Distinction; Also, an Account of the Domestic Manners of the Moors, Arabs, and Turks.
London: Henry Colburn, 1816.

First Edition. A collection of letters written by the sister of Richard Tully, Esq. his Britannie Majesty's Consul at the Court of Tripoly. The Tully family and the Bashaw's family were intimately involved for many years, and these letters include detailed accounts of the private manners and conduct of this African Despot. The letters also contain details about the Moors, their beliefs, and customs.

The British maintained a diplomatic presence in Tripoli (modern day Libya) during the early 1800s in hopes of preventing piracy affecting their trading interests in the Mediterranean. The U.S. was at war with Tripoli during this time period due to issues of piracy, tribute payments, and the taking of American prisoners. These letters offer interesting behind-the-scenes historical, political, and cultural insights to a turbulent time in Tripoli.

Professionally rebacked with modern brown leather spine titled in gilt with the original marbled paper covered boards. Wear to edges and corners with rubbing to boards. Original endpapers and pastedowns. Offsetting to pages facing plates and minor foxing throughout, but clean overall. Antiquated penned signature of George Murray to title page. Illustrated with a fold-out map of Tripoli and five hand colored aquatints. The map is missing a piece from the margin; however, the map itself is not affected by the loss. Includes a brief appendix of Moorish words with English translations. Index, 370 pages. Very Good. (#37994)

Price:   $1,100

Scarce Illustrated Edition of Ben-Hur

Wallace, Lew; William Martin Johnson, illustrator.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Two Volumes.
London: Jas. R. Osgood, McIlvaine &C. 1892.

A scarce and handsome edition of this most famous work by Lew Wallace, originally published in 1880 by Harper and Brothers. It is considered to be "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century." It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in sales.[ Wikipedia] This faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family. A classic of faith, fortitude, and inspiration [Good Reads]. Called the Garfield edition as it was dedicated to General Garfield after the general sent a laudatory letter to the author in 1881. This edition, published by Osgood, McIlvaine in London, is rare in commerce, libraries, and at auction.

The volumes are beautifully bound by Sagorski and Sutcliffe in three quarter brown leather with gilt trim and gilt decorated spines. The books have striking marbled paper covers in red, orange, brown and cream. There are also marbled paper endpapers. There are inscriptions in ink on a free endpaper with the owner's name, saying the book came from he library of Harry Gilbert Crowder, her father. The text pages are generally bright and clean, with illustrations and decorations on every page, and black and white full page photogravures. An exceptionally nice edition of this famed work in near fine condition. Measures 5 x 8 inches. Continuously paginated: Volume I with 21 to 438 pages; Volume II with pages 455 to 853. Near Fine. (#37955)

Price: $500