Argonaut Book Shop        
    San Francisco          

SELECTED RARE BOOKS AND ORIGINAL EDITIONS
IN A WIDE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS

Placing an Order

Orders for any of the listed books may be placed at the following link which allows one to send us an email order. Please click on the link below and send us full particulars about the book you wish to order. Remember to include your email address and/or phone number. Thank you for your consideration.

Orders:  Book_Orders@PacBell.net

Please contact us if you would like further information on any of the titles listed below

BEELER, Joe. Joe Beeler Portfolio. Folio. Title-page and 20 charming prints after pen & ink drawings by Beeler, each with protective tissue guard. Each signed in pencil. Housed loose as issued in black cloth portfolio stamped in silver. A fine copy. Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1978. $1,750.

Earliest recorded cattle drive

EDWARDS, Philip Leget. California in 1837. Diary of Co. Philip L. Edwards containing an Account of a Trip to the Pacific Coast. 12mo. 47pp. Original printed wrappers. Very minor chipping to extreme spine ends, but a very fine copy of this fragil little book. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Sacramento: A.J. Johnston, 1890.     $1,750.
              First separate edition. The Littell – Volkman copy with their small leather book labels on the inner cover of the clamshell box. Very rare, especially in the original printed wrappers and in this condition. First published in an early California magazine, Themis (1860). Treasurer of the Willamette Cattle Company, Edwards arrived in San Francisco on February 29, 1837. He had originally come to Oregon in 1833 with Captain Wyeth’s party, which included Jason and David Lee. This day-by-day narrative ends on September 18, somewhere near Mt. Shasta, as the company attempts to reach the Willamette Valley with 729 head of cattle. His account of the six months spent in the Bay Area is among the most important early descriptions of pastoral California. Also considered one of the first western cattle accounts. “This rare little booklet is written in the form of a diary and contains details of the earliest cattle drive” (Adams). “Aside from its cattle interest… the book is also a California and fur item” (Six-Score). The work was reprinted by the Grabhorn Press in 1932. [Adams, Herd: 747; Cowan: p.192; Graff: 126; Howes I: E-66; Howes II: E-66; Merrill Aristocrat; Six-Score: 36; Wagner-Camp: 48n].

[LITHOGRAPH]. Stockton Looking East. San Joaquin County, Cal. Original Bird’s-Eye View. 24x38 inches. Lithographed in black on white. A fine, crisp copy. San Francisco: Sketched by C.P. Cook; Lithographed by W.W. Elliott, n.d. (c.1890). $3,250.

Jack London first editions

LONDON, Jack. Collection of First Editons. 49 volumes. Original pictorial cloth. Generally fine to very fine condition.   price upon request
              We are pleased to offer a collection of all [except 1] of Jack London’s major works in first edition, all in first issue printings and first issue bindings. Includes the rarest and scarcest of London’s books. The titles range from London’s first published book, The Son of the Wolf (1901) to his last full-length novel (1920), as well as his three extremely scarce plays. Also included are a few peripheral works and a small archive of letters signed by Jack and Charmian London. Price (and further information) upon request.

The Great Earthquake at Lima, 1746

[LOZANO, Pedro]. A True and Particular Relation of the Dreadful Earthquake Which happen’d at Lima, the Capital of Peru, and the neighbouring Port of Callao, on the 28^th of October, 1746. With an Account likewise of every Thing material that passed there afterwards to the End of November following…To which is added, A Description of Callao and Lima before their Destruction… Small octavo. xxiii, [1], 341, [3, ads]pp. Copper engraved folding frontis map, 3 folding copper engraved plans, 5 folding copper engraved plates. Text notes. Bound by master French binder, Max Adjarian in three-quarter tan leather, marbled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt decorative elements between panels, gilt-lettered red leather spine label, top edges gilt. 2 end leaves with minor tape repair to inner border, but a very fine and clean copy throughout. London: Printed for T. Osborne, 1748.  $2,500.
                First English edition. Very rare. This work has been attributed to Pedro Lozano; the translation to Henry Johnson. Lima had suffered from two previous disastrous earthquakes prior to this – one in 1687 and another in 1586. The so-called great earthquake of 1746 caused massive destruction, killing about 18,000 people. Callao, a sea-port town, two leagues south from Lima was, of course, also hit. Just as the people of Callao were starting to come to their senses, a giant Tsunami hit the port. Callao was swallowed up by the sea and basically vanished. The folding map shows the country around Lima, with Callao just to the south, a plan of the road from Lima to Callao, a plan of the town of Callao (as it was before the earthquake), a plan of the city of Lima, and several plates of the natives. Included is an historical account of Callao and Lima, and of Peru in general with information on the people, their manners, customs, religion, government, commerce, etc. Appended is an account of the earthquake in Jamaica in 1692. [Cox II: p.272, not noting the first edition; Sabin 42593].

Please contact us if you would like further information on any of the titles listed above

Orders:  Book_Orders@PacBell.net

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Date last modified 01-29-2008