“Wet Paper” from the Ten Pound Island Book Company

Enough pleasantness. Item 82 is the play La Perouse, A Drama in Two Acts, by August von Kotzebue. It is a play about the great French explorer who captured the world's imagination by disappearing in 1788. He was never heard from again. The mystery only grew over the years, as attested by this play, published in 1799. It would not be until 1826 that wreckage from his ships were discovered near Vanikoro, where they wrecked upon a reef. Author von Kotzebue would suffer his own personal tragedy two decades later, murdered by a political opponent. $1,250.

Item 57 is a steamer trunk. Measuring 10 x 19 x 8, it is lined with an advertisement on the inside of its top for The Steamer Telegraph. Another broadside for the Bangor is found on the trunk's bottom. These steamers were active in New England in the 1840s. $500.

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