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Gift Ideas, Page 1
Placing
an Order
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PRESENTATION INSCRIPTION TO DEAN WITTER
ABDY, Rowena Meeks. “San Francisco’s
Wall Street.” Period print of one of the artist’s charcoal drawings. 7x5¼
inches plus borders. Signed within the plate. Framed and glazed. A fine copy.
(San Francisco: by the artist, 1921). SOLD.
Print of one of the artist’s charcoal drawings. Titled
by the artist at lower left margin. Presentation inscription by
the artist at lower right margin: “To Mr. Dean Witter from the artist,
Christmas, 1921.” Rowena Meeks Abdy (1887-1945) was an American painter who
flourished in Northern California. The artist worked in oil, watercolor and
charcoal and achieved prominence in the plein air painting school. The print
offered here is of San Francisco’s Montgomery Street, our “Wall Street” of the
West. The image is inscribed by the artist to Dean Witter (1887-1969), head of
Dean Witter & Company, the well-known stock brokerage and securities firm with
company headquarters on Montgomery Street. Provenance: the late Ann Witter of
San Francisco.
EXCELLENT
HISTORICAL WORK ON THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
AMBROSE, Stephen E. Nothing Like It
in the World. The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869.
431pp. Reproductions of vintage photographs. Notes, bibliography, index.
Two-tone boards. A very fine copy with pictorial dust jacket. New York: Simon &
Schuster, (2000). SOLD.
First edition. The full story of the building of the
railroad and the men involved: the backers, engineers, surveyors, the Chinese,
Irish and defeated Southern laborers, and others. Book and jacket flawless.
A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING AND SUPERB
REFERENCE
BAIRD, Jr., Joseph Armstrong and Edwin Clyve Evans. Historic
Lithographs of San Francisco. Oblong atlas folio (2x3 feet). Extensive
descriptive text. 47 facsimile lithographs of San Francisco, many hand-tinted or
exquisitely hand-colored, 1 folding. Typographic design by Adrian Wilson.
Original blue cloth, bound by hand. Offsetting to front blank endpaper from
binder’s glue (typical). A fine copy, crisp and clean. San Francisco: Published
by Steven A. Waterson for Burger and Evans, 1972. $5,000.
First and only edition. A massive undertaking listing and
collating over 230 lithographs of San Francisco during the 19th and early 20th
centuries, with superb reproductions of some of the best examples. A majority of
the facsimile lithographs were printed full size and hand-colored or tinted to
match the originals. The stated limitation is 1000 copies. In fact, less than
150 copies were ever completed. Mr. William Burger has stated that no more than
120 copies of this book were produced (ie: hand-colored, bound and numbered).
The present copy is numbered “102.”
CLASSIC ACCOUNT OF 18TH CENTURY
AMERICAN TRAVEL
BARTRAM, William. Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East
and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the
Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws… Pp.
xxiv, 520, [12, index]. Frontis portrait, 7 engraved plates (1 folding), folding
engraved map. Collated complete. Early 20th century three-quarter tan
polished calf, marbled boards, gilt decoration between spine panels, red leather
spine label, gilt. An exceptional copy, crisp and clean throughout. London: J.
Johnson, 1792. $6,500.
First English edition (published the year after the
extremely rare American first edition) of Bartram’s “unrivaled” account of life
on the southern frontier. The frontispiece is a portrait of the chief of the
Seminoles; the seven engraved plates show botanical and zoological subjects.
This classic account of 18th-century American travel is one of the most lively
and informative works published on the South. Bartram traveled from Georgia and
South Carolina as far north as Tennessee and west to modern-day Louisiana. His
account is notable for its literary style. “Bartram’s account of the remote
frontier, of the plantations, trading posts, and Indian villages at the end of
the 18th century is unrivaled” (Streeter II: 1088). Although primarily a
naturalist, Bartram neglects nothing. He not only gives us an accurate picture
of Indian life, but includes the peculiarities of the tribes he visited.
Especially informative are the tables of the names and localities of the
numerous towns of the populous nations of the Creeks and Cherokees. “Extensive
travels, in the early years of the Republic, through the southern frontiers and
among the Creeks and Cherokees. A work of high character well meriting its wide
esteem” (Howes). The copy offered here is in exceptional condition. Penciled on
the endpaper in a neat hand: “March 4, 1878. From the T. W. Riley collection”
Also penciled is the name, “Blanchard.” [Clark I: 197; Howes I: B-223; Howes II:
B-220; Sabin: 3870; Streeter: 1088; Vail: 849].
ONE OF FIFTY COPIES WITH AN ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR
BEELER, Joe. The Joe Beeler Sketch Book. Foreword by Frederic
G. Renner. Quarto. x, 141pp. Profusely illustrated with black & white
reproductions (one in color). Full pictorially embossed leather. A very fine
copy with pictorially-stamped cloth slipcase. (Flagstaff): Northland Press,
(1974). $1,250.
First edition. Number 23 of 50 copies, specially bound and
slipcased, and signed by the artist, and with an original
watercolor portrait sketch of an Indian. Very scarce. Includes the artist’s
character sketches, book illustrations, lithographs, early works, etc.
THE LAST OF THE
ARCTIC VOYAGES
BELCHER, Sir Edward. The Last of the Arctic Voyages; Being a Narrative of
the Expedition in H.M.S. Assistance, Under the Command of Captain Sir Edward
Belcher, C.B., in Search of Sir John Franklin, During the Years 1852-53-54...
2 volumes. Royal octavo. Pp, xx, 383 + vii, [1], 419. Collated complete with 3
folding engraved maps, 1 lithograph map and 36 lithograph plates (11 in color);
25 wood engravings in the text. Handsomely bound in three-quarter black
goatskin, blue marbled sides and ends, red leather spine labels. Ex-library
(withdrawn in the 1920’s) of Dartmouth College with their perforation on blank
portion of title and a few other pages. With the exceptions noted, a fine and
clean set. London: Lovell Reeve, 1855. $4,000.
First edition. Halifax-born Belcher gained considerable
distinction as a surveyor in the royal navy. He served under Beechey on the
western arctic coastal survey in 1825-27, and subsequently headed surveys of the
west coast of North and South America and in the South China Sea. In 1852, he
was placed in command of an expedition of five ships (Resolute,
Intrepid, North Star, Assistance and Pioneer) to search
in the Canadian Arctic for Sir John Franklin, missing since 1845. Belcher
records his sailing through Wellington Channel and discovery of Exmouth and
North Cornwall Islands and the Belcher Channel leading to Jones Sound. Also
described is the meeting and rescue of Commdr. Robert McClure of the
Investigator on northern Banks Island by the western arm of the expedition
under Henry Kellett. Belcher's decision to abandon four ships icebound in
Wellington Channel in 1854 led to his court-martial, and despite his acquittal,
he continued to be severely criticized in England. Weather and ice conditions
are recorded throughout, as well as optical phenomena, natural history, scurvy,
etc., and a summary of results of Franklin's search expeditions to date.
Appended are several scientific reports on natural history: John Richardson’s on
fishes, J. W. Salter on fossils, Lovell Reeve on shells, Thomas Bell on
crustacea, etc. [Abbey: 645; Hill: p.21; Hill II: 106; Sabin: 4389].
CORRUPTION WITHIN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
BONELLI,
William G. Billion Dollar Blackjack. xii, 230pp. Bibliography and index.
Original pictorial wrappers printed in yellow, black and blue. Light rusting to
staples at gutter of front flyleaf, tiny gouge to fore-edge of last few leaves,
but a fine copy, apparently unread. Beverly Hills: Civic Research Press, (1954).
$125.
First edition. The story of corruption within the Los
Angeles Times. The author was a member of the State Board of Equalization. The
book was suppressed by the newspaper and every copy found was destroyed. The
original paperback version, as offered here, is extremely obscure. “...first
complete and authentic report on the Otis-Chandler family and three generations
of civic, governmental and industrial corruption unparalleled anywhere else in
American history” (dust jacket). We also offer the hardback version.
THE FIRST MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION INTO CHINA
BONINGTON, Chris.
Kongur, China’s Elusive Summit.
Foreword by H.R.H. the Duke of
Edinburgh. Introduction by Michael Ward. 224pp. Profusely illustrated with
(mostly) color and black & white photographs; maps, Black cloth. A very fine
copy with unclipped pictorial dust jacket. London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd.,
1982. $75.
First edition. The main Himalayan chain of the unexplored
mountains of Tibet and Chinese Central Asia is now open to foreigners. The
British Mount Kongur expedition was the first to be allowed into China. This
excellent work discusses the expedition that conquered the summit. The author
was part of the 4 man expedition.
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