Hardcover
Bradford's History "Of Plimoth Plantation." From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts. (Olive Percival's Copy)
Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1901. 555 pp. Blue cloth over boards with beveled edges, crisp lettering and decoration on spine, minor wear to spine, signature and bookplate of Olive Percival on front endpapers with some browning likely due to newspaper placed there in the past, two ephemera items from within the pages: a newspaper clipping about the book (date unknown) and a blank letterhead piece of paper from the State of Connecticut Secretarys Office with official seal and note on the back dated 1905, many black and white photographs, a beautiful copy in near fine condition.
The Bradford Manuscript is a history of the Plymouth Colony from its inception to the year 1647 kept by Governor William Bradford of Massachusetts and the background history of the manuscript itself. Ownership bookplate on the front paste-down endpaper and the signature on the first free endpaper belongs to well-known suffragist Olive Percival, who was herself an author and avid book collector.
Burchardus de Bellevaux: Apologia de Barbis
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1935. Dust jacket in very good condition with price of 17s 6d net intact, some discoloration, especially to the spine, some loss near top of spine and minor edge wear. Green cloth over boards with crisp gilt lettering on cover and spine, limited to 350 copies, bookseller label (B.H. Blackwell Ltd., Oxford) on front paste-down endpaper, browning to endpapers, text in Latin, some tanning to page edges due to rough cut, in very good plus condition.
Sub title: A Twelfth Century Treatise on Beards and their Moral and Mystical Significance. Edited by Goldschmidt from the only known Manuscripts at the British Museum, this book also covers the medieval manners and customs of the time.
Burning Bright
New York: The Viking Press, 1950. 159 pp. Approximately 5 x 7 1/2". First edition, first printing. Dust jacket is very good with minor chips and wear and does have the $2.50 price on flap, small closed tear on front top edge of cover. Original tan cloth over boards, red lettering on cover and spine, orange dye on top edges, bookseller's ticket on rear paste-down endpaper, very minor foxing to edges, otherwise in near fine condition. (Goldstone & Payne, A29a)
The form of this book is a "play-novelette", which is a play that is easy to read or a short novel that can be played. Steinbeck used this method experimentally in "Of Mice and Men" and "The Moon is Down" but this book is a more complete attempt at this form. While this book was not critically acclaimed, Steinbeck, as always, is a very vivid writer and bring his four characters to life in this play concerned with the timeless themes of love, jealousy, friendship, and the desire to have a child.
Business Worries
Enkhuizen, Holland: J. R. Levien, 1970. [18] pp. Approx. 3/4 x 7/8". LIMITED EDITION of 100 copies. Blue leather over boards with gilt stamped design on cover, black and white illustrations throughout, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Levien 9)
This little book is cited as an old Jewish story from Amsterdam. First printing under the imprint of Trader's Press in New York from 1967 - 1969, Jack R. Levien then moved to Holland and published under his own name from 1970 - 1972. In those six years, he published 46 miniature books.
Cape Cod Yesterdays
Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1935. 48 pp. Approximately 6 3/4 x 9 3/4"; LIMITED EDITION of 1075, this being #471 as indicated on the colophon, although the slipcase indicates copy #826, signed by both author and illustrator. Slipcase slightly corner bumped but in near-fine condition with spine label showing title and limitation in excellent shape. Calico cloth covered boards with quarter-bound linen backing, beautiful pictorial endpapers, top edge of all-rag paper is trimmed but other edges are untrimmed, both b/w and full color illustrations by Harold Brett, extra label at rear of book, otherwise in fine condition.
Told from the point of view of remembrances of the departing way of life in Cape Cod. Informal diaglogue brings back the time of general stores, ships that sailed without gasoline engines, travelling by horseback instead of car, fishing, all told with the Cape Cod landscape as a beautiful and scenic background.
Cardography and Card Catalogue
Eugene, OR: Hypatia Press, 1987. 183 pages + Afterward and maps. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2"; LIMITED EDITION, 76 deluxe editions with 56 having hand-tinted tarot cards of the minor arcana tipped in, like this one, being the Lady of Wands. Beige leather slipcase in fine condition; Beige leather over boards with gilt design and lettering on cover and spine, illustrations throughout including beautiful copper tinted gilt endpapers, signed by Orson Scott Card (author), David Hartwell (editor) and Leslie Newcomer (artist) on limitation page, all in fine condition. Includes Catalogue of Card's works, signed by the compiler, Michael R. Collings and Card.
Orson Scott Card (1951 - ) is an American writer, public speaker, and columnist. He is known for many genres but best known for his science fiction and fantasy books, most especially Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, both of which won Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Carletta; or "Going to Sing in Heaven"
Boston: American Tract Society, (ca 1850). 64 pp. 1 1/2 x 2". Brown cloth over blind stamped boards, gilt title and design on cover with gilt decorations on spine, owner's name on two front free endpapers, all edges gilt, text block attached upside down to cover, some foxing throughout, otherwise in near fine condition.
A juvenile Christian story, touching on the typical topics of salvation, Christian life and conversion. No date on this publication, likely because the tracts were often reprinted.
Cats
Spartanburg, SC: Kitemaug Press, 1968. [8] pp. Approx. 1 1/8 x 13/16". Tan paper wrapper with title on cover, 4 unnumbered leaves, letterpress, illustrations of cats, in fine condition. Very scarce - not found in WorldCat at this time (6/22). (Bradbury, Kitemaug Press 5)
Kitemaug Press is run by Frank J. Anderson and is a private press. The name Kitemaug comes from the Mohegan Indian language and it means "the place of good fishing." Anderson started printing in 1965 so this book is from very early on in his career.
Charles Warren Stoddard: California Classic Series
Los Angeles: Arroyo Guild Press, 1909. 63 pp. Approximately 6 1/4 x 5", oblong. First Edition. Grey paper over boards with dark lettering, some loss to spine, deckled edge paper, gift inscription on front free endpaper in beautiful script handwriting, loose boards, some rubbing to edges, otherwise in very good condition.
Charles Warren Stoddard (1843 - 1909), was an American author and poet who lived most of his life in California. He was in San Francisco during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and is buried in Monterey, CA. Included in this volume are his works: Apostrophe to the Skylark, The Bells of San Gabriel, Joe of Lahaina, and Father Damien Among His Lepers.
Cheaper by the Dozen
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1948. 237 pp. Approx. 5 1/2 x 8". Illustrated dust jacket in very good condition, darkened spine, some rubbing and small chips, some foxing to the inside of the cover along with old repair tape, original price of $3.00 intact. Orange cloth over boards with crisp black lettering on spine, foxing to page edges, SIGNED by both authors on the front free endpaper, first printing stated on copyright page, some corner bumping and wear near spine top, otherwise in near fine condition.
A semi-autobiographical novel in which the authors talk about their childhood growing up in a household of twelve children. In 1950, it was adapted into a movie starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy. Adapted again in 2003, the movie starred Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. A bestselling novel that still reads remarkably well, according to Jonathan Yardley from the Washington Post.