Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2018 Issue

A Wide Range of Material from Back of Beyond Books

Catalogue No. 19.

Back of Beyond Books has issued their Catalogue #19. Back of Beyond was, and still is, a specialist in books about the American Southwest, but in their last couple of catalogues have expanded the offerings substantially. Here are the subjects represented in this latest selection: Western Americana, Exploration, Mormon, Photography, Travel and Railroad, Environmental Activism, Literature, Americana, Native Americana, Promotional, Mining, Trade Catalogues, Art, and Poetry. That should provide something for everyone. We can't cover all of these topics. but here are a few of the selections to be found in this wide-ranging collection.

 

We begin with the official account of the most important internal expedition of America. That would naturally be History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark... It was finally published in 1814, eight years after they returned. Lewis and Clark headed up the Missouri River, final destination the Pacific Ocean, at the behest of President Jefferson. Jefferson had only made the Louisiana Purchase a year earlier and wanted to know what was out there. It contains information about the geography, geology, flora, fauna, native peoples, and the journey. It contains Clark's detailed maps, including the large, loose folding map that was not provided with all copies, and is now missing from many that once held it. Unnumbered item. Priced at $72,500.

 

Item 163 contains one of America's most important documents, a preliminary printing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The preliminary draft was completed by President Lincoln on September 21, 1862. It was General Orders No. 139. It declares that all slaves within a state at war with the United States, meaning the Confederate States, would be free on January 1, 1863. It, in effect, gave the South a deadline to cease hostilities. Item 163 is a bound collection of General Orders No. 15, dated May 4, 1861, through No. 216, dated December 26, 1862. This is the first War Department printing of the Emancipation Proclamation and, Best of Beyond believes, most likely the fourth official printing of it. Item 163, $1,500.

 

This is one of the foundation works of the environmental movement. Item 131 is a first edition, first printing of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. It came out in an era when few people were aware of risks to the environment caused by human activities. There seemed to be enough land, air, and wildlife for humans to do as they pleased without causing any serious damage. Carson wrote about the effects of man-made chemicals, particularly pesticides, on the environment. Most notable was her description of how DDT, then regularly used to kill insects, was also killing birds. This copy includes three reviews of the book by publisher Houghton Mifflin's Publicity Department, and a typed "With Compliments of the Publishers" leaflet to Anne Ford, a company publicist, and other items. $800.

 

Next is a campaign flyer from the time leading up to Prohibition in 1920. It is headed United California Industries? and depicts a saloon, gambling hall, and brothel. It was issued by Frederick Head, who was the Prohibition Party candidate for Congress from the Napa County area in 1916. He was not successful. Referring to the liquor and associated industries displayed in the drawing, Head warns us "the products of these industries are: drunkards, harlots, paupers, insane, criminals, murderers, vagrants, tramps, bums, degenerates, feeble-minded, disease and death. Are these necessary to the prosperity of the state?" In hindsight, I guess we can answer Head's question with a "yes," since California has all of these, and is nonetheless quite prosperous. Item 184. $250.

 

This must have been one of the earliest of automobile travel guides. C. S. Medenhall of Cincinnati published touring guides during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Item 119 is Medenhall's Guide and Road Map of Ohio for the year 1905. What percent of Ohioans owned automobiles in 1905? It must have been tiny. Perhaps it reached a few others since it says the maps are meant for "Touring Automobilists, Cyclists and Wagon Road Travelers..." The cover depicts four men riding in a very early automobile. The driver is on the right side, the front passenger holding what is likely the map. Mendenhall's Guides had maps, but mostly it was a textual set of directions on traveling from one town to another. I have not been able to determine what happened to the company, but I don't find any of their maps after the late teens. $300.

 

Your automobile will need to replace tires and the Kenmore Manufacturing Company was there to fill your needs. Item 245 is a 16-page trade catalogue from 1914 of Kenmore tires, along with a wholesale price list and a letter to an inquirer. This is another company I have not been able to trace. They were making automobiles a few years earlier, but I don't know when they stopped making cars and tires. Nor can I find any connection with the Sears' Kenmore brand, though both were located in Chicago. $30.

 

You don't know how to read to appreciate this book. Item 273 is Ed Ruscha's Then & Now, Hollywood Boulevard 1973-2004. In 1973, Ruscha drove up and down Hollywood Boulevard, capturing every inch of the 12-mile route with a camera mounted on a tripod on the back of a pickup truck. He photographed both sides in black and white. In 2004, he repeated the process, only using color film this time. The book consists of sequential running images of the buildings alongside the road, 1973 on the top half of each page, 2004 on the bottom. $375.

 

Back of Beyond Books may be reached at 435-259-5154 or andy@backofbeyondbooks.com. Their website is www.backofbeyondbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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