Early and Exotic Imprints from the William Reese Company.
By Michael Stillman
The most recent catalogue from the William Reese Company, number 261 of this three-decade long series, is entitled Early and Exotic Imprints. It is divided into three parts: first, the United States and Canada, next the Caribbean and Latin America, and finally, the smallest section covers the remainder of the world. With the last group heavy in imprints from Mauritius, Tasmania, and Greenland, you might get an unusual impression as to what were the world's most important printing centers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nevertheless, the collection of works from the Western Hemisphere is both extensive and quite interesting, or "exotic" as the title states. These are not items with which you are necessarily familiar, and you won't find them everyday. Here is a look at a few of these items of "exotica."
Item 5 explains one reason why New York needed a printer. It is a city form, published during the reign of Queen Anne. That dates it to sometime between 1702 and 1714, and it would have come from the press of New York's first printer, William Bradford, as he was the only game in town at the time. This is a blank license form, which entitles the as yet unnamed merchant "to sell wine, beer, brandy rum, syder, or any other sorts of strong liquors by retail." New Englanders may have had their tea parties and been debating theology and witches, but New Yorkers had other spirits on their mind. Priced at $850.
Who would have thought little New Hampshire would have been ready to take on the Royal Navy during the Revolution? Well, this is the "live free or die" state, and these ornery Yankees were not about to put up with anyone taking their freedom. In 1776, the newly self-declared independent state issued An Act for Encouraging the Fixing Out of Armed Vessels, to Defend the Sea Coast of America, and to Cruize on the Enemies of the United States Colonies, as also for Erecting a Court, to Try and Condemn All Ships...Goods, Wares and Merchandizes Belonging to Any Inhabitant or Inhabitants of Great Britain, Taken on the High Seas. New Hampshire may not have had a navy, but they were determined to make up for it by encouraging privateers to harass the British on the high seas on the state's behalf. Item 42. $1,500.
Many Englishmen were sent on extended "vacations" to Australia in the early 19th century, but very few Americans were sent off to be unwilling settlers of the land down under. However, Linus W. Miller was granted unwanted passage to the British penal colony in 1840. Miller was an American who joined the rebels in the ill-fated Canadian Revolution of 1837-38. He was just 22-years-old at the time, and he would spend most of his 20s in unpleasant surroundings for his participation in a lost cause. Reese notes that there are nine published accounts by exiles to Australia from the Canadian rebellion, but this is one of the best. Miller recounts incidents from the rebellion, his trial, and his time in Australia. Eventually, he was pardoned and returned to his home in upstate New York, where in 1846 he published Notes of an Exile to Van Dieman's Land... Item 13. $1,750.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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 Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.