Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2018 Issue

A Book Collector on the Prowl

A useful but less than collectable copy

A useful but less than collectable copy

Recently I purchased an obscure Munsell imprint.  Such imprints were the production of Joel Munsell of Albany.  His was a modest printing establishment, initiated in 1834, that would run beyond his lifetime [he passed away in 1880], to be carried on into the early 20th century by his sons and heirs.  He kept, and in 1871 published, records of the material he printed during the period 1834-March, 1871 thus opening a window that has permitted collectors and scholars to better understand survival rates, be they his books, pamphlets or broadsides.  For about 1,000 of the 2,278 items whose printing history he detailed in his Munselliana, we know what he believed were the print runs.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, for the obsessed and obsessive it’s now possible to track reappearances across the Internet and compare their number to the form and print run and the numbers don’t always add up.  It has turned out that some printings with print runs above 2,000 have become all but invisible but other printings that he said were hundred or less seem to be frequently available.

 

Anyway, I’m one, perhaps the only one, to track his printings, and have been trying to develop a complete collection of his imprints.  After ten years, I have 400 to 500 [I’m estimating] of the 2278 publications he listed in Munselliana.  Unfortunately, I’ve also determined that he undercounted his printings because about 15% that I’ve found aren’t mentioned in Munselliana.  So I’ll guess the real number is about 2,600.  Therefore, after ten years, I’ve only found about 20% of them.

 

All this is simply to explain why I recently purchased on eBay:

 

History of the Israelitish Nation, from Abraham to the Present Time, Derived from the Original Sources.  Vol. I.  Published by J. Munsell, Albany, 1854.

 

To which the following disclaimer was attached:

 

Acceptable.  Ex-lib of Newton Theological Institution with label to spine, stamp to inner board and title.

 

The price was $47.50 plus $4.00 for shipping.

 

This will be my first copy. 

 

I’ve seen it before, both in the Rare Book Hub Database and recently, in Books for Sale.  I hadn’t bought it previously as most Munsell imprints can, with patience, be purchased for $25 to $125.  As indicated in the seller’s description they knew it was complete in one volume but priced it reasonably nevertheless.  Thank you for that.

 

Based on the records we have in the RBH Transaction Database we estimate its current value to be $626.  That’s probably a bit high as Eric Chaim Kline is offering a nice copy for $500.

 

In Munselliana the print run is listed at 2,000.  For Munsell that’s a relatively long run, his average run being 300 to 400.  As to how many copies show up in the OCLC the actual copies are 8 to which there are also later printings and electronic copies and, in Google Books a complete searchable copy.  In other words, it’s a rare book but accessible.

 

Here is the Google Books link:  https://books.google.com/books?id=lFXXAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=history+of+Israelitish+nation+wise&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipxsuQjZLYAhVS5GMKHSS1AH4Q6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20Israelitish%20nation%20wise&f=false

 

I’m glad to have this copy.


Posted On: 2018-01-03 03:14
User Name: mairin111

A good piece, Bruce, on Munselliana, perfectly engaging, and I esp like the Albany, NY, connection and, above all, this new attention on Joel Munsell.
All best for the new year,
Maureen E. Mulvihill / Rare Book Hub guest writer, 2016.
____


Rare Book Monthly

  • RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    ABAA Dealer
  • Sotheby’s
    Bibliotheca Brookeriana:
    A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection D-M
    18 October 2024
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Herodianus Syrus, Herodiani Historiarum, Venice, Heirs of Aldo & Torresano, 1524, Parisian binding for Jean Grolier by Jean Picard, ca. 1540
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro, Venice, Aldo, 1495 (Greek text), interleaved with 1497–1498 (Latin text), English olive morocco by Charles Lewis, the Botfield copy
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Horatius Flaccus, Horatius, Venice, Aldo, 1501, Bolognese brown goatskin (between 1501 and 1503), arms of Mino Rossi and illuminated initials throughout
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Lucretius, De rerum natura, Venice, Aldo, 1500, English early eighteenth-century red morocco, the Fletcher copy
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Dante, Le terze rime, Venice, Aldo, 1502, illuminated, contemporary Bolognese morocco binding
  • One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Book Auction
    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Abraham Lincoln Signed Letter on Executive Mansion Stationary To Secretary of The Navy re: Appointment for Naval Academy!
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Extremely Rare Ben Franklin Printed: Considerations on Keeping Negroes...Part Second. 1762.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: An impressively extra-illustrated copy; Including an Original leaf from Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio!
    One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Book Auction
    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Rarest Naval Autograph James Lawrence “Don’t give up the ship On " U.S. Ship Hornet June 19th 1812.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Oversize Ernest Hemingway Signed Photo with long Inscription about Drinking Wine to his dear friend and Secretary Roberto Herrera.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: VOLTAIRE Signed Receipt about a partial payment of debt for the Duke of Wuerttemberg.
    One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Book Auction
    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: [Maps] Gio. Ant. Magnini, Italia, 1620.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: LAWMAN SALOON JUDGE ROY BEAN Signed Legal Document 1895-RARE!
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Autograph Album with James Garfield as President, Chester A. Aurthur as VP, William T. Sherman, Burnside, P.T. Barnum and many more!
    One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions
    Rare Autograph and Book Auction
    October 17th, 2024
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Signed Four Language Ship's Paper.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Hector Berlioz Autograph Musical Quotation Signed.
    One of a Kind Collectibles, Oct. 17: Important Memorandum the Day after Gettysburg July 5th, 1863 where Lincoln asks all Department Heads of the cabinet to meet him at the Executive Mansion.

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions