Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2020 Issue

A Holiday Catalogue from Whitmore Rare Books

Whitmore Rare Books' Holiday catalogue.

Whitmore Rare Books recently issued their Holiday Catalogue. While they don't specify a topic, it is filled with great literature. Novels are the largest part of the selection, but there is also some history, sport, poetry, home and garden books, and children's books. These are significant works and their condition is highly collectible. These are a few.

 

No list of great American writers can not contain the name of John Steinbeck. His novels, primarily set in California, provide some of the most realistic portraits of individuals ever put to text. He wrote during the middle of the twentieth century, which included the Great Depression. His novel, The Grapes of Wrath, written during that hard time, is likely the best portrayal of that era ever written. However, after the war, Steinbeck wanted to write something more upbeat, which takes us to this book, Cannery Row, published in 1945. It is also set during the Depression, on Cannery Row, a street along the California coast in Monterrey. It was so called because of the sardine canneries located along the street. The book follows the lives of several people living in the area and their attempts to return the favors of a character based on Steinbeck's close friend, marine biologist Ed Ricketts. Some are down and out, and undoubtedly would be even if it weren't the Great Depression, but people get by. In the years since this book was published, the sardines have gone away and the canneries closed down. The street, which was then officially Ocean View Avenue, was renamed “Cannery Row,” and it has become a tourist attraction, based largely on the association with Steinbeck's novel. Item 76. Priced at $1,500.

 

This is one of the foundational works of the modern environmental movement. Item 13 is Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, published in 1962. At the time, few people were aware of the extent of the environmental damage being caused by chemicals, in this case, pesticides in particular. DDT was the most used insecticide then and it was not only killing insects, but birds as well. DDT would get into the birds' food supply. It altered their calcium balance, with the result being their eggshells were thinner. They would break before they could hatch. Carson's book brought this to the attention of the public, leading to pressure on the government to take action. Within a few years, DDT was banned and the government created the Environmental Protection Agency. $750.

 

Here is another influential book, even more so, published a century earlier. Item 81 is Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly by Harriett Beecher Stowe, published in 1852. This one hardly needs introduction. It is the story of slave life in the South before emancipation. There were already many people in the country opposed to slavery on intellectual grounds, but it was Mrs. Stowe's novel that truly portrayed the practice in human terms. Stowe had been inspired to write her novel by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, that forced people in non-slave states to participate in the practice by requiring they return runaway slaves to their masters. Uncle Tom's Cabin stirred great moral outrage and determination that slavery needed to be abolished. Printing and the Mind of Man says of this book, “the social impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the United States was greater than that of any book before or since.” This copy includes a letter written by Mrs. Stowe in 1889 in response to a letter from an autograph seeker. She received many of these, but by this point was suffering from dementia and needed much help from her daughter in providing these responses. $6,500

 

Britain's most notable traveler, explorer, adventurer of the nineteenth century was Richard Burton. He visited numerous places in the Middle East and Africa, including one to find the source of the Nile, even once went to America to visit Salt Lake City. Among his most important and dangerous was a visit to Mecca during the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the Holy City Muslims are expected to make sometime in their lives. The problem is that only Muslims are allowed to visit the Holy City and Burton was a Christian. For non-Muslims to attempt this journey was to put their lives at grave risk. The result was that Burton needed not only to learn the language, accent, and the religion, he had to learn the customs, dress, and the habits of a Muslim, in his case, that of an Afghan Muslim whom he was attempting to impersonate. Burton was a learned and clever man and somehow managed to pull it off without being exposed. He made his journey in 1853 and in 1855, published this account of his trip, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage of El-Medinah and Meccah. Item 10. $5,000.

 

This is the autobiography of a President who rarely shows up on people's lists of the greatest or their favorite Presidents. However, he was high up on Ronald Reagan's list and of some others of conservative leanings. Item 16 is The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge. “Silent Cal” certainly fit the model of a conservative. He inherited the presidency in 1923 when Warren Harding died in office, ran successfully in his own right in 1924, and left office in 1929, declining to seek reelection. Coolidge promoted tax cuts, was somewhat isolationist in foreign policy, and opposed extensive government programs and involvement in the economy. It came from his own values of hard work and frugality. It is ironic that he served in a period when the dominant ethic was the opposite – the Roaring Twenties. Coolidge disapproved of such behavior, but did little to curb its excesses. The result of such economic behavior would be left for his successor, Herbert Hoover, to handle a short time after his exit in early 1929. Timing is everything. In his autobiography, Coolidge describes his life in the years both before and during his presidency. Published in 1929, item 16 is part of a signed limited edition. $1,250.

 

Whitmore Rare Books may be reached at 626-714-7720 or info@whitmorerarebooks.com. Their website is www.WhitmoreRareBooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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.

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