The latest catalogs of rare books and print ephemera from ABAA members...
"Before a book is offered for sale, we rare book dealers record its physical attributes. Is it bound in cloth? Leather? Does it have any damage? Signs of previous ownership? We also write a brief summary of its importance, drawing on the work of other experts in our field and surrounding fields--not just literary critics and biographers, but also book historians, or scholars who study the history of the book. We call the result a catalog description, which becomes our official documentation for that rare book."
-- Rebecca Romney, Jane Austen's Bookshelf (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
Browse the latest catalogs, newsletters, and e-lists of rare books, fine bindings, incunabula, print ephemera, and much more from the members of the ABAA below. (Also includes podcasts, blog posts, and other digital formats.)
*New* indicates any catalogs brought to our attention since early-August 2025.
Featured item:
Rochester, NY: Stecher Lithograph Co., [@1880]. First Edition. Black pebbled cloth (5-3/4" x 8-3/4") with "No. 3" stamped in gilt on the front cover. Illustrated with a color title page and 55 chromolithographs, printed on rectos only, mostly of fruit. Plates clean with a few small closed tears; hinges reinforced with binder's tape. Small losses along spine edges. Very Good.
Offered by Charles Agvent and found in "Summer Miscellany 2025."
ANTIPODEAN BOOKS, MAPS, PRINTS
- E-list #44 ~ W.W.I., Americana, Australia, Photographs, Maps, Ephemera
- E-list #43 ~ Antipodean Books at the Brooklyn Virtual Book Fair
Featured item:
BROWN, Thomas. Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind.
Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for W. and C. Tait; and Longmans, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, Edinburgh, 1820. Volume 1: 1 blank leaf + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]-587 + 1 blank leaf; Volume 2: 1 blank leaf + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]-607; Volume 3: 1 blank leaf + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]- 638 + 1 blank leaf; Volume 4: 1 blank leaf + TP + [v]-viii = Contents + [1]-615 + 1 blank leaf; Octavo. First Editions.
Containing seventy-five lectures in four volumes that were published posthumously in the year of his death. One of two principle works by Brown – the other being his defense of Hume’s causal relations in Inquiry into the Relation of Cause and Effect which was first published in 1804, later revised in 1806 with the final enlargement occurring in 1818. “His lectures were published shortly after his death, and excited an interest wherever the English language is spoken, quite equal to that awakened by the living lecturer among the students of Edinburgh. They continued for twenty years to have a popularity in the British dominions and in the United States greater than any philosophical work ever enjoyed before. During these years most students were introduced to metaphysics by the perusal of them, and attractive beyond measure did they find them to be. The writer of this article [James McCosh] would give much to have revived within him the enthusiasm which he felt when he first read them… His reputation was at its greatest height from 1830 to 1835, from which date it began to decline, partly because it was seen that his analyses were too ingenious, and his omissions many and great; and partly because new schools were engaging the philosophic mind…” (McCosh, The Scottish Philosophy, pp. 324-5) Absolutely lovely contemporary ¾ calf with marbled boards. Spine with title and volume number in gilt lettering and designs on each of the five raised band. Small, neat contemporary signature to upper right corner of each title page: “D. Maclean”. A beautiful and almost flawless set.
Offered by Athena Rare Books and found in "Catalog 26."
W. C. BAKER RARE BOOKS & EPHEMERA
- eList 256: The Life of a Bookseller *New*
- eCatalog 13: Americana *New*
- Catalog 272: African-Americana *New*
- eList 255: New Arrivals *New*
- eList 254: Women *New*
- 2025-37 The Hotch Potch *New*
- 2025-36 The Hotch Potch *New*
BLUEMANGO BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS
- Recent Acquisitions *New*
- e-List #100: Herbaria *New*
- e-List #99: Color Plate Books *New*
- e-List #98: Vinyl Records *New*
Featured item:
Blues and Haikus (Original Press LP)
Kerouac, Jack; Al Cohn [Music]; Zoot Sims [Music]
New York: Hanover Records, 1959.
Original pressing. HM-5006. Promotional copy. Very LP with some wear and light scratching, side 1 has long but very light scuff, in a Very Good+ sleeve with a little wear to bottom hinge, bump to bottom corner with a little loss, faint dampstain to rear cover along bottom edge. Nice shape overall.
Kerouac's uncommon second album and his first as the sole poet, flanked by saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. A real high point of Beat poetry in its own way, combining jazz and occasionally brilliant short-attention-span zen poems; a format often parodied but seldom heard in its original incarnation.
Offered by Burnside Rare Books and found in "e-List #98: Vinyl Records."
ANDREW CAHAN, BOOKSELLER, LTD.
- E-List 57 - Art & Photography *New*
- E-List 56 - 20th-Century Poetry *New*
- E-List 55 - August New Arrivals *New*
Featured item:
Faith Ringgold; Michele Wallace [ed.]; Moira Roth, Eleanor Munro, Lucy Lippard et al. [contributors]
Faith Ringgold: Twenty Years of Painting, Sculpture and Performance (1963-1983) [Signed by Ringgold]
New York: The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1984. First Edition. Signed by Faith Ringgold at half title without personalized inscription. Quarto. 48pp. Color and b&w reproductions. Illustrated wraps. Rubbing and minor smudging to wraps; binding sound; pages unmarked; Very Good or better. Published for an exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem running from April to September, 1984. Includes the short essays "Afrofemcentric: Twenty Years of Faith Ringgold" by Frieda High-Wasikhongo and "Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima: History and Style" by Eleanor Munro, among others.
Offered by Capitol Hill Books and found in "E-List 57-Art & Photography."
Cormac McCarthy *New*
A Charles Bukowski Miscellany June 2025
Featured item:
McCarthy, Cormac
THE ORCHARD KEEPER & OUTER DARK - INSCRIBED TO TIM BURDINE & EDYTHE TARWATER.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1969-1970. First Paperback Editions. First Printings. Two octavo volumes (17.75cm); original pictorial card wrappers; dark yellow edge-staining; [vi],[2],3-198,[4]; [vi],[2],3-215,[3]pp. Both volumes are identically inscribed by McCarthy in a contemporary hand on the title pages to William Timothy Burdine and his wife, Edythe Tarwater, using both his nickname, "Mac," as well as his full name: "For Tim + Edythe / Mac / Cormac McCarthy." Orchard Keeper shows some foxing to inner covers, light wear to extremities, some mild dust-soil to wrappers, and a small tear to base of spine; contents clean; Very Good+. Outer Dark has a slight forward lean, faint vertical crease at spine and left edge of front wrapper, light dust-soil to wrappers, with some scattered foxing to inner covers; Very Good.
These copies constitute a seldom-seen pair of contemporary association copies: Burdine and his wife were friends with McCarthy, and from 1968-1970 neighbors with the author and their mutual friend, Bill Kidwell, in Rockford, Tennessee. While we have handled numerous inscribed books and presentation copies of McCarthy's works, our experience is that those inscribed to people who knew him during his Appalachian period appear quite infrequently in commerce.
Offered by Captain Ahab's Rare Books and found in "Cormac McCarthy."
Join the ABAA-Public Google Group, a listserv where ABAA members announce select books for sale, share information on their participation in upcoming book fairs, and showcase their recent catalogs!
The ABAA-Public Google Group is a read-only email group, so email traffic is kept to a minimum and only ABAA members can announce books for sale — ensuring all items are in full compliance with our Code of Ethics.
.jpg)
Subscribers to the group can opt to receive emails individually, or have each day’s emails combined into a daily digest to limit the number of emails they receive.
THOMAS A. GOLDWASSER RARE BOOKS
DAVID A. HAMILTON AMERICANA BOOKS
JONATHAN A. HILL, BOOKSELLER, INC.
- Japanese Recent Acquisitions (August 2025)
- Chinese New Acquisitions (July 2025)
Featured item:
FŪRA SANJIN 風羅山人.
Woodcut frontis. 84 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. blue patterned wrappers, block-printed label on upper cover, new stitching. Edo: Okadaya Kashichi & Izumiya Ichibei, [1833].
First edition and quite rare. This is a collection of planned menus, each involving a number of dishes, arranged by the four seasons. The fine full-page woodcut shows a kitchen scene in a wealthy household, with a chef cutting a fish with a knife and preparing ceremonial dishes (all the ingredients are apparent in the background). A female server is carrying a dish to the dining area.
The main body of the text lists dishes with their ingredients. The broad categories from which dishes are drawn, listed in the index, include: rice, pickles, many categories of broiled and braised dishes, sashimi, sake-marinated fish, many categories of soups, shellfish, kinds of desserts, fruits, etc. At the end is a list of exotic ingredients with instructions on how to prepare and cook them.
Nice fresh copy. Final ten leaves with some mostly marginal worming.
Offered by Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller and found in "Japanese Recent Acquisistions."
- elist 277 New Arrivals in Photography, Art, Poetry, Literature *New*
- elist 276 New Arrivals in Photography, Art, Poetry, Literature *New*
- elist 275 New Arrivals in Photography, Art, Poetry, Literature *New*
Featured item:
[James] Shirley Hibberd.
The Ivy, A Monograph; Comprising the History, Uses, Characteristics, and Affinities of the Plant.
London: Groombridge & Sons, 1872.
First edition of this richly illustrated introduction to the ivy by James Shirley Hibberd (1825-1890), one of the most popular gardening writers of the Victorian era.
Committed to the democratization of gardening, Hibberd wrote for amateur gardeners, especially those among the urban working class. He distinguishes varieties of ivy according to their observable characteristics, rather than using commemorative botanical names that refer to people or places. Hibberd considers the ivy’s folklore as well as its cultivation, noting that “Virgil did not hesitate to mingle the ivy with the laurel in preparing a wreath” for his patron Pollio.
In addition to The Ivy, Hibberd authored monographs on roses and ferns, and edited several popular gardening magazines, including Amateur Gardening, the oldest British gardening magazine, still published today. In a prefatory note to The Ivy, Hibberd discourages curious visitors to his own experimental city garden: “The Author’s garden is not open to public inspection.”
Provenance: Anthony David Estill, collector of Victorian illustrated books and publishers’ bindings; purchased from his estate by Ellen Morris and Edward Levin for their own collection of publishers’ bindings. An exceptionally fine copy. Single volume, measuring 8.25 x 6.25 inches: [8], 115, [1]. Publisher’s deep green cloth with beveled edges, upper board with elaborate borders stamped in black and gilt around inner field with gilt-stamped ivy and lettering; giltstamped ivy and lettering to spine; lower board with blind-stamped borders and floral centerpiece; all edges gilt. Chromolithographed frontispiece, extra title page, and two plates; wood-engraved floral borders on each page and sixty-six illustrations in text. Title page and a few leaves very lightly foxed. Bookplate of Anthony David Estill. Housed in Estill’s custom clamshell box.
Offered by Honey & Wax Booksellers and found in "Late Summer Miscellany" (item #3).
From the library of John Henry Nash -- list available on request from info@carpediemfinebooks.com...
BRIAN CASSIDY, BOOKSELLER AT TYPE PUNCH MATRIX
E-list: Photographic Archives, Latin-Americana, African-Americana, Lincoln Conspirators, American Indian History, and More -- Joint catalog with Auger Down Books
DE SIMONE COMPANY, BOOKSELLERS
New Arrivals (September 8, 2025) *New*
New Arrivals (August 25, 2025) *New*
New Arrivals (August 18, 2025) *New*
- e-list 109 Summer Miscellany: Hand Bell Ringers, Corsets, Proto Sign Language, Horticultural Riddles
- e-list 108 - Women: Domestic Arts, Work, Causes, Home Front, Medicine & Of Course, the Female Children
EDITIO ALTERA RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
Comic collection of William "Gatz" Hjortsberg -- Details available upon request from info@elkriverbooks.com...
Featured item:
Prayerbook of Jacques de Brégilles
In Latin, French, and Dutch, illuminated manuscript on parchment. Southern Netherlands (Brussels?), c. 1552.
83 folios on parchment, modern foliation in pencil, 1-83, complete (collation i6 ii8 iii12 iv6 v-ix8 x11), no signatures or catchwords, ruling in brown ink (justification 95 x 51 mm.), written mainly in dark brown ink in a handsome hybrid script (with changes in aspect, e.g. on f. 74, due to different scribes and different styles of script and perhaps different moments of intervention) in a single column on 17 lines, rubrics in red, 1-line initials in liquid gold on grounds alternating in red and blue, 2-line framed KL initials made from stripped branches on red or blue ground, 3-line initials formed of fine foliage and branches painted in liquid gold on grounds alternating in red, blue and green highlighted with liquid gold, FOUR FULL-PAGE MINIATURES, including two coats of arms, painted with rich colors and generous use of liquid gold within borders of trompe-l’œil golden picture frames, minor stains and signs of use, leaves slightly wrinkled, very small tears on the edges of some leaves, in overall excellent condition. Quarter-bound in brown morocco over wooden boards in the nineteenth century imitating a medieval binding, stamped with four floral ornaments and bands flanking the four raised bands on the spine, both covers with holes for a clasp and catch, now lost, minor signs of wear on the spine and the corners of the wooden boards, in overall excellent condition. Dimensions 135 x 88 mm.
Who owned illuminated manuscripts in the middle of the sixteenth century, long after the availability of print? This small handheld prayerbook supplies one concrete answer, since it includes the coat of arms of its original owner, Jacques de Brégilles, mayor of Brussels (and grandson of Jacques de Brégilles, the famous librarian and guardian of jewels to the dukes of Burgundy), and his wife. It is a luxurious manuscript, copied in an elegant script, with illuminated initials throughout and four miniatures. Its prayers in Latin, French, and Dutch testify to the piety and linguistic prowess of its original owner.
Provenance
1. The manuscript was made for Jacques de Brégilles, knight, lord of Château, and several times treasurer (receveur), alderman (échevin), and mayor (bourgmestre) of Brussels during the years 1539-1562, and in 1546, châtelain of Vilvorde. His coat of arms is painted on f. 1v, and on his surcoat in his portrait with Saint James on f. 16v. Brégilles was the descendant of another Jacques de Brégilles (d. 1475), former librarian of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. He was admitted to the Serroelofs lineage on June 13, 1536.
His wife, Helena Hinckaert, was the daughter of Philip IV Hinckaert, lord of Lille, who was lord of Philip II of Spain and mayor of Brussels. A framed portrait of her coat of arms held by an angel appears on f. 76v. Our manuscript was probably made around 1552, because the almanac (ff. 2v-3) begins with the year 1553, perhaps on the occasion of the couple’s betrothal; they married three years later, in 1555. The calendar includes the local St. Gudula of Brussels in red (8 January).
2. Still in use in the Southern Netherlands in the eighteenth century, when the calendar was completed with additional names of saints, including local saints such as St. Dymphna of Geel (15 May) and Gertrude of Nivelles (17 March). These were probably added by relatives of Pierre van Kampen, whose obit was inscribed on January 31.
Offered by Les Enlumineures and found in "E-Catalogue Nineteen."
Featured item:
Diana Wynne Jones
[London]: Methuen (1985). First UK edition. 8vo. [11], 4-341, [3] pp. Blue cloth with gold lettering on the spine. Price of £8.95 on the front flap of the dust jacket. Jacket art by Dave Eastbury. Near Fine. Textblock toned, else Fine; jacket with light edge wear. Based on ancient Irish and Scottish faerie tales, Wynne Jones’ novel centers on Polly and her two sets of memories: as she untangles her past, she must reconcile the complicated relationships that have shaped her life with the disfunctional people in her present. Jones’ draws inspiration from the tales of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer for this novel.
Offered by Evening Star Books and found in "Fantasy, Philosophy, amd Female Authors."
RODGER FRIEDMAN RARE BOOK STUDIO
Featured item:
Darwin, Charles. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex.
London: John Murray, 1871. 2 volumes octavo (20 cm). Original green cloth. Spine cocked somewhat on volume 1. Both volumes well-read, but quite good. Owner's name in pencil on title page of volume 1. References: Norman 599; Garrison-Morton 170. Corrections to the text in volume 1 mark this printing as the second issue of the first edition. Volume 2 is the first restriking (“seventh thousand.”) It is noted that the word "evolution" occurs here on page 2 of volume 1 for the first time in any of Darwin’s works.
Offered by Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio and found in "Darwin."
GEOGRAPHICUS RARE ANTIQUE MAPS
CartoCuriousity (Podcast) Latest episode: "Fu Sang, 5th Century Chinese Colony in North America" ( Apple / Website ) *New*
OCCASIONAL LIST 22: A Miscellany: Original Art Work; Small Archive of Major English Watercolourist; Interesting Theatrical Pieces; Manuscript Material, Etc., Etc. -- available on request from fgrare@fgrarebooks.com...
Featured item:
SIR QUIXOTE OF THE MOORS: Being Some Account of an Episode in the Life of the Sieur de Rohaine
Buchan, John
London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1895. First Edition. Hardcover. Presentation inscription on the front free endpaper to Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman (1836-1908), a British statesman and Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908, from his brother. The author's first novel, set in Galloway in Scotland during the Covenanting period (the middle or late 17th century). Buchan (1875-1940) was nineteen and an undergraduate at Glasgow University when the book was published. Small octavo: 188 p. with [4] p. publisher's advertisements. In the publisher's black flat-weave cloth binding, with red-stamped geometric titles, yellow-stamped titles, and red and green-stamped stylized lillies against a pink-stamped brick wall. Tiny gift inscription to the front pastedown, with some very light wear to the corners and tips; else near fine. Provenance: from the Publishers' Bookbindings collection of Ellen K. Morris and Edward S. Levin. Near fine.
Offered by Johnson Rare Books & Archives and found in "Publisher's Bookbindings Collection of Ellen K. Morris and Edward S. Levin."
JOSLIN HALL RARE BOOKS, EPHEMERA & PHOTOGRAPHY
Short List 35: 19th century Eastern American Newspapers 1803 -1892 from Maine to South Carolina
Short List of Travel, Exploration, & Tourism in Latin America
JOHN W. KNOTT, JR., BOOKSELLER
GERARD KOSKOVICH QUEER ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS
- Catalog #74: 100 Rare Books -- with an emphasis on history and military affairs. Please request from mail@kubikbooks.com...
- ABAA 75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
- Claude Shannon's Library Catalog 1: Papers he wrote or co-authored
MICHAEL LAIRD RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Recent Acquisitions: English, American & Continental Law, 1535-1925 (Sept. 9, 2025) *New*
- Irish, Scottish & Welsh Law (September 2, 2025) *New*
- Catalogue 110: Recent Acquisitions *New*
- Recent Acquisitions: English, American & Continental Law, 1484–1959 (August 12, 2025) *New*
DAVID M. LESSER, FINE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS
LIBER ANTIQUUS, EARLY PRINTED BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
Featured item:
ROY, Arundhati
Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy
(New Delhi), Hamish Hamilton/Penguin, (2009). Essays by the Booker Prize winning author of The God of Small Things, an examination of rising wealth disparity, corporate power, religious majoritarianism, cultural nationalism, neo-fascism, and an unaccountable judiciary, in India. Inscribed by the author in New Delhi in the year of publication. In recent decades Roy has been known at least as much for her writings and activities as a political and social activist as for her literary writing. She was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004, and her two most recent volumes prior to this one were both nonfiction. This is the first Indian edition. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a small (Indian) bookstore label at the lower edge of the rear panel.
Offered by Ken Lopez Booksellers and found in "e-list 207: New Arrivals."
J. & J. LUBRANO MUSIC ANTIQUARIANS
- CATALOGUE 110: Rare Printed and Manuscript Music, Musical Autographs, Iconography - June 2025
- Catalogue 109: MUSICAL MANUSCRIPTS, FIRST & EARLY EDITIONS OF PRINTED MUSIC, MUSICAL AUTOGRAPHS - 16th - 20th Centuries
STUART LUTZ HISTORIC DOCUMENTS
- Labor List *New*
- From the Hands and Studio of Daniel Kelm *New*
- Playing Games *New*
- Short, Eclectic List of Interesting Things *New*
Kelm, Dan. Templum Elementorum (Sanctuary of the Elements) [Artist Book].
Northampton, MA: Dan Kelm, 1994 [2018]. Limited Edition. Bright and unmarred. Complex structure: glass cylinders, six-inch diameter by six and twelve inches high; base, twenty-twoinch diameter materials: paper and paper board; stainless steel wire; brass sheet, channel, and tubing; thread; lead; copper sheet and foil; tin; iron; borosilicate glass; wood; acrylic paint; solder; felt; gold leaf; patina solution; LED light panels; latex saturated felt; acrylic sheet production methods: wire edge binding; sandblasting; patination; stenciling; painting; spattering; gilding; soldering; letterpress and laser printing; laser etching and cutting. np. Illus. Edition of five book sculptures. Fine in Fine Case.
The creation of Templum Elementorum (Sanctuary of the Elements) was initiated by an invitation in 1995 to produce a book for the Smithsonian Institution Library exhibition Science and the Artist’s Book. Inspired by Biringuccio’s De la pirotechnia (On working with fire), first published in 1540, Templum Elementorum is a stylized version of the alchemical furnace known as the Tower of Athanor, as pictured in Biringuccio’s book. “Athanor” refers to the “undying” fire which is achieved by the use of the self-feeding fuel hopper at the center of the furnace.
Kelm created a book sculpture comprised of four glass cylinders and metal bindings — one for each of the elements. Together they represent a furnace within which the four alchemical elements are operating — earth bath, water bath, air furnace, and fire box. Colors, symbols, words, and metals contained on the cylinders and in the bindings all correspond to the four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. The metal bindings open to reveal a pop-up decorated with the symbol for the element to which it corresponds, and contain text panels that carry the “voice” of the alchemical element, for example, “I am Earth. . . .” The metal bindings slide into their glass cylinders and are displayed upright.
Offered by Lux Mentis Booksellers and found in "From the Hands and Studio of Daniel Kelm."
MAIN STREET FINE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Dealer's Choice: Ken's Selections from the Latest Acquisitions (Sept. 9, 2025) *New*
- Many Voices: Poetry, August 2025 *New*
- Miscellaneous Literature, August *New*
Featured Item:
Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems
Oliver, Mary
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Hardcover. First Edition. 109pp. Very good hardback in a jacket that is a bit sunned on the spine. Very good.
Offered by Kenneth Mallory, Bookseller and found in "Many Voices: Poetry."
- Summer List 2025 *New*
Rare Book Chat (Podcast) Latest episode: "Curious George Orwell and the Tony Soprano Collection" (Apple / Spotify) *New*
Skateboarding, Marijuana, Graffiti, African American Commencement Program. Back to School List *New*
New Arrivals *New*
- Not for Publication: Historical Voices Preserved in Manuscript *New*
- Mirroring Culture: Broadsides, Chapbooks & Contested Social Norms *New*
Featured item:
Cambridge, MA: [1909]. One page Typed Letter on Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Settlement letterhead, measuring 8.5 x 11 inches with text to recto only. Signed in type by Black education activist Charlotte E. Hawkins (later Charlotte Hawkins Brown) in her role as President. Two vertical foldlines and one horizontal foldline with minimal wear; faint offsetting to header else clean. Accompanied by the handwritten transmittal envelope addressed to Mrs. George Rolfe initially at her home in Cambridge with forwarding information to her home in Martha's Vineyard. Documenting important fundraising efforts run by two leaders of the American women's education movement as they initiated a premier co-educational boarding school in Sedalia, North Carolina.
Born in North Carolina in 1883, Charlotte Eugenia Hawkins' family "moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts early in her childhood to avoid racial discrimination in their home state. In Cambridge, she attended Allston Grammar School, Cambridge English High School, and Salem State Normal School" (Black Past). It was during Hawkins' final year of highschool that she met Alice Freeman Palmer, the daughter of white midwestern farmers who had resisted her pursuit of education. Despite this, Palmer had gained access to the University of Michigan, and upon graduation she took a job at Wellesley College -- the school where she would become president in 1882 at the age of 27. Nearly 30 years Hawkins' senior, "Palmer would become a role-model, mentor, and major influence in Hawkins' life...the two women developed a lifelong bond, with Palmer assisting Hawkins financially in attending Salem State Normal School" (Black Past). Together in 1902, the two women partnered to "establish the Alice Freeman Palmer Institute. The school, located in Sedalia, North Carolina, instructed children between the elementary and junior college level" (Black Past).
While the Institute would eventually be nationally recognized as a prestigious boarding school housing over a thousand Black students, at the time of this letter in 1909 it was still in its infancy. Per Hawkins' letter, "we have 125 children, many of whom are poor and depend upon the school for home, shelter, food, and clothing." Participating in a larger educational movement post Civil War, Hawkins and her colleagues recognized the need for a holistic approach to education if those formerly enslaved were to gain access to intellectual and economic resources so long denied to them. Full bellies and rested bodies made for more apt students; and the Institute was committed to this, and to even placing students in jobs as they graduated. For Hawkins, it was a cause worth sacrificing for. Not only does she appeal to the recipient to donate $2 (roughly $70 today), but she explains that she and the other teachers have contributed in their own way as well. "Much has been the toil, many the sacrifices, oft times our last dollar has been spent without any outlook for more. Four or five years, I worked without a penny for salary." When she considered her own reasons for her commitment, Hawkins tells the recipient that as the beneficiary of aid, she must also give back. "In grateful acknowledgement of the help [Palmer] gave me while I was pursuing my education in the North [I do] the work of uplifting other negroes of the rural districts of the South."
The Institute thrived and remained in operation until the 1970s, when it was transformed into a memorial and museum. While operating the school, Hawkins continued her own growth, receiving "honorary degrees and traveling in circles that included Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Eleanor Roosevelt" (Black Past).
Offered by Marginalia Rare Books and found in "Not for Publication: Historical Voices Preserved in Manuscript."
MEXICAN ILLUSTRATED BOOKS. 50 YEARS OF ILLUSTRATED BOOKS PUBLISHED IN MEXICO -- catalog available to institutional buyers by request from mmbooks@comcast.net
Illustrated Catalog on Carlos Merida (1891–1984) -- Mexican painter, sculptor, writer and graphic designer -- available by request from mmbooks@comcast.net
MARTAYAN LAN RARE BOOKS & MAPS
List #63 *New*
BRUCE MCKITTRICK RARE BOOKS, INC.
- Uncovering Antiquity *New*
- Eros *New*
- Fun with Math *New*
- Bad Ends *New*
Featured item:
Ebensten, Hanns.
London: DerekVerschoyle, 1954. Second edition. 8-3/4 x 5-3/4 inches. 94,[2]pp. Orange cloth stamped in gilt, in whitedust jacket printed in blue, black, yellow and red. Color frontispiece, b&w illustrations throughout.Light shelfwear to spine ends and corners; foxing to text block; ownership blind stamp to epigraphleaf. Dust jacket edgeworn, with tearing and slight loss to spine ends; not price-clipped. Good+ in Good dust jacket.
An early history of European tattooing. From the 1953 book review in the New York Times of the first US edition: Pierced Hearts and True Love, by Hanns Ebensten, "a South African who went to Englandafter the war, tells the history of tattooing in a blithe, brief and most interesting manner. Theillustrations, photographs of eminent or erotically tattooed folk and line-drawings showing bothstrange and standard tattoo designs, are honeys. Practically all of them would make pleasingdivertissements on the skin—somebody else's skin, not mine. Apparently not on Mr. Ebensten's skineither, for the jacket states that he has only one small emblem tattooed on his arm, put there 'just tosee if it would hurt. It didn't.'"
Uncommon in commerce.
Offered by Kate Mitas, Bookseller and found in "E-List No. 24: The Art of the Tattoo."
- Louis M. Jason's book Literary (and Other) Celebrity Doodles II is now available. Contact the store at info@mysterypierbooks.com to order...
- Father's Day Gift Offerings
"Printed catalogues give the potential buyer time to contemplate the item on offer, read through sometimes lengthy descriptions at their leisure, and consider buying a book.... A print catalogue is more like browsing the shelves of a well-managed bookshop."
-- Adam Douglas, head cataloguer at Peter Harrington.
- Catalog 53 -- featuring Fine Books and Manuscripts from 1641 to 1930, with special emphasis on High Spots in English and American Literature, Fine Bindings, Illustrated Books, 1890’s, Press Books and early, scarce children’s books.
- Catalog 52
- Catalog 70, August 2025 -- by subscription only. Contact oldwestbooks@earthlink.net for details about obtaining a copy. *New*
Dance *New*
Featured item:
Illustrated letterhead of Lincoln University, with manuscript letter by its founding president to Senator Edwin D. Morgan
John Miller Dickey
Published by Philadelphia, 1866.
Handwritten letter by founding president of Lincoln University, one of the first African American institutions of higher education, on engraved letterhead featuring an illustration of the Lincoln campus. Single bifold sheet, with two pages of letter text and recipient's docketing to final page. Sent in 1866 by John Miller Dickey to New York Senator Edwin D. Morgan, the letter notifies Morgan of his appointment as a trustee of Lincoln and goes on to detail the importance of the university in educating African Americans in the wake of emancipation. Founded by Dickey as the Ashmun Institute in 1854, it was renamed as Lincoln University, and served as the first degree-granting institution specifically for African American scholars in the United States. This bookseller has been unable to locate any other copies of the illustrated letterhead, either in commerce or in institutional holdings.
Offered by Open Boat Booksellers and found in "RBMS."
Featured item:
Cain, James M.; Merritt, A.; et al.
Avon Murder of the Month 2-4 [with] Murder Mystery Monthly 5-6 [5 Issues]
New York: Avon Book Company, 1942. First editions. 5 volumes, 8vos in illustrated wrappers. Generally very good or better with occasional creasing at spines and corners, soiling to spines and rear covers. Pages lightly toned.
Small run of early Avon Murder Mystery Monthly's, the first 4 of which were called Murder of the Month.
#2 Mysterious Mickey Finn by Elliot Paul
#3 Silinski: Master Criminal by Edgar Wallace
#4 The French Key Mystery by Frank Gruber
#5 Burn Witch Burn by A. Merritt
#6 The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Offered by Peruse the Stacks and found in "Golden Age Horror Pulp."
PHILLIP J. PIRAGES FINE BOOKS & MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS
- 2025 New Acquisitions List #27 *New*
- 2025 New Acquisistions List #26 *New*
- 2025 New Acquisitions List #24 *New*
PRIMARY SOURCES, UNCHARTED AMERICANA
Featured item:
New Orleans, Louisiana, March 4, 1808. Letterpress funeral invitation, 9 1/2 x 7 in. (24 x 18 cm). English and French text in parallel columns, surrounded by decorative frame. Woodcut devices in margins around frame. Old folds, some ink smudging, docketed on verso. About fine.
John Ward Gurley was struck dead in New Orleans on March 3, 1808, at the tender age of twenty-nine. At the time of his death, he was serving as attorney-general for the newly established Territory of Orleans, as registrar of the land office, and as aide-de-camp to the governor, William C. C. Claiborne, who had appointed the young man--holding a degree from Yale--attorney general four years earlier. By most measures, Gurley’s future in frontier politics, and perhaps even at the national level, seemed preordained. Yet to his constituents in New Orleans, among whom he was as well known for his hot temper and quickness to duel as for his political acumen, it must have come as no surprise when pistol and ball sent him to his grave. Early the next day, his parents and friends issued a hastily printed notice in English and French, inviting guests to the funeral at four that afternoon, adding that “The corpse is deposited at the house of Wm. Simpson, Esq., Dauphin street [son Corps sera exposé chez M. Wm Simpson, rue Dauphine].” This remarkable imprint is surely among the most haunting such notices in the genre, especially for its time and place. It also appears to be the earliest surviving specimen of New Orleans job printing.
Offered by Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana and found in "Catalogue 8" (item #4).
Inspired by History (Podcast) Latest episode: "Revere & The Minutemen of Massachusetts, An Archive of Patriotism and Faith" (Apple / Spotify) *New*
RABELAIS BOOKS ON FOOD & DRINK
RICHARD C. RAMER, OLD & RARE BOOKS
- Special List 546: Malta and the Knights of Malta *New*
- Special List 545: Colonial Era Sermons Preached in Brazil and/or by Brazilian authors *New*
- American Innovation List *New*
- Call of Duty *New*
- Summer Leisure Activity *New*
- American Literature *New*
ROOTENBERG RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
Recent Acquisitions (September 9, 2025) *New*
- Metaphysics, Hermetica & the Occult – Part 3
- Catalogue #64: The I.W.W. & 20th Century Radical Politics
This lot consists of business correspondence between C. C. Post, a Vermont manufacturer of “Maple Sugar Fixtures,” and L. W. Hamlin, a potential sales agent in the upper northwest corner of Pennsylvania. In total, there are four illustrated advertising envelopes, five letters on illustrated letterhead, and seven different pieces of advertising ephemera. One of the letters contains hand-drawn sketches illustrating the placement of buckets, hangers, and spouts. All in nice shape with minor soiling to the envelopes and one of the letters.
The four advertising envelopes feature illustrations of Post’s patented “indented tin sap bucket” and two different “Galvanized Eureka Sap Spouts and Bucket Hangers.” The letterhead sheets feature an illustration of the fixtures in use, titled “Eureka Sap Spout, with Indented Sap Bucket and Cover attached.” The ephemera range in size from about 4” x 3” to 5” x 14”. One piece is a price list; one is a blank receipt, three contain directions for using spout-hangers; one advertises “tree plugs” to fill holes after spouts had been removed; and one is a long essay (originally printed in the Rural New Yorker) about “Sugar Making in Vermont.”
While most of us associate maple sugar with Vermont and Canada, far fewer recognize that northern Pennsylvania has been a major producer since the 1790s, when it became a winter “crop” for otherwise idle farmers. One tree provided up to three gallons of sap per day, which the farmers collected in horsedrawn tanks. After it was boiled into syrup, part of it was allowed to harden into a sugar cake, and part was turned into granules of maple sugar through continued boiling. Sugar granule shipments were easily transported and just as easily converted back to syrup for sale after arriving at their destination.
For years maple sugar, which was far less costly than cane sugar, was an American staple, used to both sweeten foods and cure meats. In time, after cane sugar became less costly, farmers began to market maple syrup as a topping for pancakes instead of lemon juice and sugar, which are still the norm in much of the English-speaking world. (For more information, see “Maple Sugar and Syrup” at The Land of Penn and Plenty website.) At the time of listing, nothing similar is for sale in the trade and the Rare Book Hub shows nothing similar has appeared at auction. OCLC shows no similar materials are held in institutional collections. This is likely a unique collection of material related to an important American food staple.
Offered by Kurt A. Sanftleben and found in "September 2025 Paper Americana."
Featured item:
Berlin, Irving. (1888-1989). "Flowers for Harold Arlen" - Original Artwork by Berlin, ca. 1970.
An original painting by the composer Irving Berlin, including inset clipped photographs of Harold Arlen and wife Anya Taranda. Oil and a mounted reproductions of photographs on board, signed "IB" at lower right, the board mounted to a painted backing and framed. Overall 11 x 12 inches.
In addition to composing over 1500 songs, many of which are now considered American standards, Irving Berlin was a hobbyist painter who frequently gifted artwork to friends. This gift work is notable for its association with Harold Arlen, the distinguished American composer best known for his songs for the film The Wizard of Oz. Provenance: Collection of Harold Arlen (The Rita Arlen Trust).
The Russian-born composer and lyricist proclaimed by many to have been the greatest American songwriter of all time, is best known for his celebrated Christmas tune, "White Christmas." Written sometime around 1940, the tune was popularized by Bing Crosby, who first performed the song on December 25, 1941. The song was originally recorded by Crosby in 1942, but due to overplay, the master was damaged. The version widely recognized by audiences today is a 1947 re-recording by Crosby. The song is now the best-selling single of all time with over 50 million copies sold.
Offered by Schubertiade Music & Arts and found in "Summer 2025."
- List: 150th Anniversary of Mendeleev's Periodic System
- California Book Fair 2019: 130 Items on Science and Medicine is now available on request from scientiabk@gmail.com...
- Occasional List 90: Everyone is impressed by typesetting *New*
- Occasional List 89: One might say judged
- Catalogue 350: Women: Books from the 16th Centiury to the Present (Summer 2025)
- Catalogue 462: Winter 2025, New Arrivals
E-List #195: The William Bird Library (Three Mountains Press) *New*
E-list 190: New Arrivals *New*
E-list 188: New Arrivals *New*
E-list 186: African Americana from the Gabler Collection *New*
Featured item:
Smith, William Jay
New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1960. First Edition, First Printing. Small Quarto, 32 pages. In Very Good condition with a Very Good minus dust jacket. Spine tan with black lettering. Dust jacket protected with mylar covering, price uncut: "$2.95". Slight age toning and scuffing to dust jacket. Small closed tear with crease to bottom edge of rear cover of dust jacket. Slight chipping to edges and corners of dust jacket. Text block clean. Inscribed by Smith on title page.
Offered by Second Story Books and found in "E-list 190: New Arrivals."
MARC SELVAGGIO, BOOKS & EPHEMERA
- Catalogue 151: The Practice of Persuasion—American and European Examples of Advertising, Marketing, and Graphic Design *New*
Catalogue No. 150, Advertising and Marketing Matters
MICHAEL R. THOMPSON RARE BOOKS
- Children’s Books: Fables, Games, Ephemera, Nursery Rhymes, Moral Instruction and More (July 2025)
- Summer Miscellany 2025: Education, Science, Illustration, Culinary Arts, Pioneering Women’s Fiction, and More
- Archive of a Cape Cod Women's Organization/ The Research Club of Provincetown *New*
- Prison Journals and Writing 2005-2012 *New*
Featured item:
BECKETT, Samuel.
Echo’s Bones and Other Precipitates
Paris: Europa Press, 1935. First edition. [38] pp. Publisher’s printed wrappers. Some minor creasing to covers, else fine. $7500 One of 300 copies on Alfa, of a total edition of 327 copies, this copy unnumbered. Inscribed by Beckett on the half-title, “‘Echo’s Bones were turned to stone’ Ovid Met. 3 --- for Alain and Norma Bosquet in friendship Sam Beckett Paris August 1956” Beckett retained copies of the book for decades as it had sold very poorly, and gave some out as gifts to friends. Beckett translated several of Bosquet’s poems. A rather uncharacteristically warm inscription. Federman & Fletcher 22.
Offered by Triolet Books and found in "New Acquisitions, August 2025."
Featured item:
Harris, Trent.
The Beaver Trilogy: Groovin Gary Video Club.
Chicago: Deadly Prey, 2018. Illustrated poster [56 cm x 36 cm] 'A' condition. Fine. Excellent poster for the misunderstood masterpiece, The Beaver Trilogy, by the Ghana based artist, Jeaurs Oka Afutu 'Heavy J'
The Beaver Trilogy is a series of three pieces about the same subject, a young man from the small town of Beaver, Utah who is obsessed with Olivia Newton John. The first piece, "The Beaver Kid" is a documentary about Dick Griffiths (Groovin' Gary) and his Olivia fascination. The second piece, 'Beaver Kid 2' is a drama based on the documentary with Sean Penn playing the part of Dick Griffiths. The third piece, 'The Orkly Kid' is yet another dramatic work based on the documentary, this time with Crispin Glover in the lead.
Offered by Tschanz Rare Books and found in "List 174: Trent Harris Retrospective" (item #24).
- Color Theory: Interactions *New*
- Color Theory: Chromatics *New*
- Color Theory: Spectrum *New*
Featured item:
FIELD, George.
Folio, 327 x 240 mm, contemporary half morocco. London: Charles Tilt, 1835.
First edition of the most influential work on pigment chemistry written in England in the early 19th century. "In many ways, the most useful literary source concerning pigments rather than painting of the period is Field's Chromatography, published in 1835 ... The first part of Chromatography is concerned with colour theory, followed by a section in which the nature and composition of individual pigments are discussed. The last part contains some comments on oils, varnishes and picture cleaning ... From an historical point of view an important feature of the first edition is the inclusion of a large number of pigments, no matter how obscure, so that the book fills the gaps left by most of the early 19th-century books on painting" (R. D. Harley, Artists' pigments, pp. 27- 28).
Among the subscribers were both Constable and Turner. There were a number of later editions, however the first is rare.
Offered by Ursus Rare Books and found in "Color Theory: Interactions."
- 25 Recent Acquisitions of Graphically and Visually Interesting Material *New*
- 2025 E-List #3 - Eighteen Recent Acquisitions
Featured item:
AUSTEN, Jane
New York: Pantheon Books, undated [1949]. Six volume set, each volume 17.5x10.5cm. Pagination as follows: Pride & Prejudice (viii, 386pp.), Persuasion (vi, 254pp.), Emma (viii, 15-496pp.), Sense & Sensibility (viii, 374pp.), Northanger Abbey (viii, 236pp.), and Mansfield Park (viii, 479pp.). The Novel Library Edition. Volumes housed in the publisher’s decorative paper-covered slipcase, matching the polkadot motif of the Northanger Abbey binding. Each volume is bound using a different colored polkadot paper over a black cloth spine with gilt tilting. Spines are lightly, but uniformly, sunned with ends gently nudged. A few small spots of discoloration on the spine of Emma. Otherwise, boards are bright and vibrant with only trace wear to edges. First 14 pages of Emma appear to be missing, likely due to a binding error, as the binding is sound and there is no evidence of a gathering being excised. Small stain with a few wrinkled pages in Emma. Front hinge of Northanger Abbey starting. Otherwise, all volumes internally clean and bright. Light wear to slipcase with corners gently nudged. Overall, Better than Very Good in a Near Fine slipcase.
A charming and vibrant set that would add a splash of color to any Austen lover’s bookshelf, made affordable due to the binding error!
Offered by Walnut Street Paper and found in "25 Recent Acquisitions of Graphically and Visually Interesting Material."
Sci-Fi & Fantasy *New*
Featured item:
White, T. H. The Sword in the Stone
London: Collins, 1938. First edition. A Near Fine copy in like dust jacket. Black cloth printed in white on the spine. Book with slight foxing to the closed textblock and a previous owner's name on the front pastedown. Dust jacket entirely unrestored and is not price clipped. Minor chips and tears to the spine ends and corners, but a sharp copy overall.
A beautiful copy of White's most famous book, his modern interpretation of the Arthurian legend (based on Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur). Adapting Arthurian legend for modern readers, White provided Arthuriana fans with a backstory on the childhood and education of the boy who would become king. Tracing Arthur’s youth and training with Merlin, the novel also put the young hero in contact with other familiar Medieval figures including Robin hood. Basis for the beloved 1962 Disney film of the same name and a classic of modern literature in its own right. “The single finest fantasy novel written in our time, or for that matter ever written, by any conceivable standard must be T.H. White’s” (Carter). Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.
Offered by Whitmore Rare Books and found in "Sci-Fi & Fantasy."
JOHN WINDLE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER
- Catalogue 205, Miscellany II, 21 Rare Books, Almost All New Acquisitions
- Catalogue 203 - Book Arts & Printing History
Featured item:
E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS & CO.
DuPont Photographic Papers. Distinctive, Versatile, Attractive.
DuPont Co., Photo Products Division, Wilmington, Del., N.D. [but ca. late 1940s]
A very rare sample book (OCLC locates only three copies, see below). “Presented in this album are specimen prints showing surfaces available in Du Pont photographic papers:”
“APEX” photographic contact paper
“VELOUR BLACK” photographic projection paper
“VARIGAM PROJECTION PAPER” variable contrast projection paper
HIGH SPEED “VARIGAM” variable contrast projection paper
WARMTONE TYPE 9034 photographic projection paper
“IVORA” sensitized white photographic film “
ADLUX” photographic film for transparencies
CANVAS fabric coated with “Velour Black” projection paper emulsion
BLACK & WHITE PROOF PAPER (projection speed)
The most interesting feature of this sample book (to me) is the final section, “Texture Screens”. There are six of them and sample prints are given for each. They are: Type A-Dry point etching. Type B- Steeline. Type C-Tapestry. Type E-Bromoil. Type F-Paper negative. Type G-Salon tapestry. For most of these you can see with the naked eye the effect of the Texture Screen. There is one additional plate which is not a print but a negative. It is “ADLUX” photographic film for transparencies. I have never seen a negative in sample books of papers.
Square large 8vo (6 x 6"), 3-ring loose leaf binder, title on spine and cover. 13 stiff card leaves of text most printed on both sides), and 58 sample prints, plus one negative. Except for the metal spine which is slightly corroded, a fine copy with all the prints in fine condition
Offered by Charles B. Wood, Booksellers and found in "Catalogue 205."
Modern First Editions *New*
Monographs on Artists *New*
Portland & Environs -- catalogue issued in conjunction with the Rose City Book & Paper Fair
Dreaming of the Open Road: Automobile Dealer Literature, Catalogue Two
--
Remember, you can always browse and download the latest catalogs published by ABAA members on ABAA.org by visiting the following link: https://www.abaa.org/catalog/... (You can also access this page by selecting 'Booksellers' from the top menu, scroll to the bottom of the page to 'Member Catalogs', and click on 'View All'.)