The Declaration of Independence & the Articles of Confederation As Published in the Annual Register... For the Year 1776

London, J. Dodsley, 1779. Second Edition. Hardcover. Bound in contemporary calf-backed boards. Though not a First Edition, still an early eighteenth-century printing of one of the most desirable volumes of this prestigious series as this year contains two of the most important documents in American history. Where the text states "The history of the present ----- of --------- ------------- is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations," someone has added in ink in an early hand "King of Great Britain. Early ink name crossed out on the title page, light to moderate foxing; pages 255 to 258 in the second section lacking, otherwise complete with the entire text of the Declaration and the Articles present. Binding tight with some wear but easily Very Good .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 018517

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: 18th Century Literature, Colonial Americana, Independence, American History Americana Declaration of Independence American Politics American Revolution

[GRAM, Hans; HOLDEN, Oliver; and HOLYOKE, Samuel]

The Massachusetts Compiler of Theoretical and Practical Elements of Sacred Vocal Music. Together with a Musical Dictionary. And a Variety of Psalm Tunes, Chorusses, &C. Chiefly Selected from Modern European Publications First American printing of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

Boston, Isaiah Thomas and Ebenezer T Andrews, 1795. First Edition. Hardcover. Oblong quarto (10-3/4" x 8-3/4") in modern 3/4 deep navy blue morocco leather retaining early silk-finished blue boards; [v], vi - xxxvi, [1] - 71, [1 - index] pages. Divided into three parts, the first devoted to certain theories of music, the second giving observations on singing and a dictionary of musical terms, and the third comprising bits of sacred music. Among the 72 compositions present, 6 are composed by Americans and 55 are first American printings, including the popular Christmas carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”. New endpapers but retaining old endpapers as well. Light browning to text. Near Fine The printer Isaiah Thomas was the first to import music types to America in 1784. Before that all music printed in America was printed from engraved plates.

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 021465

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Early American Imprints, Isaiah Thomas, Music, Sacred Music, Religion, Colonial Americana Americana Early American Imprints Music Religion

Memoir of John Howe Peyton, in Sketches by His Contemporaries, Together with Some of His Public and Private Letters, Etc. , Also a Sketch of Ann M. Peyton

Staunton, VA, A. B. Blackburn & Co. 1894. First Edition. Hardcover. Gray cloth stamped in black; [ii], vi, 3-297 pages. Compiled by the Author of the History of Augusta County. Includes many letters by "one of Virginia's purest men and greatest lawyers." HOWES P-278. Slightly shaken. Very Good .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 020599

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Biography, Americana, Virginia, Law Americana Law Southern Americana Virginia

Photo Album of an Automobile Tour of the West in 1927 by a Group of Women

1927. Softcover. Decorated suede covers (9-1/4" x 6-1/2") with a rawhide tie containing 94 4-1/4" x 3-1/2" original photographs captioned in white ink on the album pages and 6 4" x 6" commercial photographs with captions in the negatives, all documenting an automobile trip out west, starting in or near Indiana. Photographs include stops in Kansas, New Mexico (Native Americans at Santa Domingo and a Zuni Reservation near Gallup), Colorado (Pike's Peak), Arizona (Grand Canyon), California (Yosemite and San Francisco), Oregon, Washington, Idaho (Gold Hunter Mine), Montana (Missoula Auto Camp), many photos of Yellowstone, Wyoming, and South Dakota. A few of the photographs at the end of the album, dated the same summer, are of Chicago and Niagara Falls. A number of the photographs are now loose from the album. The photographers/travelers are a group of 4 or 5 young women in what must have been something of a daring adventure at the time. Two photos show them repairing flats, and several show them with people they meet along the way. Fading to some of the photographs but most are not too bad. Very Good .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 020860

Catalogue: Western Americana

Keywords: Western Americana, Automobile Tour, Photograph Album, Illustrated Books, Travel, Yellowstone, Native Americans Western Americana Automobile Tour Photograph Album Native Americans

The United States Constitution As Published in the Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1787

London, J. Dodsley, 1789. First Edition. Hardcover. Bound in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards. While some copies have a title page dated 1788, the first edition was published in 1789. One of the most desirable volumes of this prestigious series as this year contains an early printing of the United States Constitution including the text of its submission signed in type by George Washington. There is also an account of the examination of "a motley-coloured, or pye Negro Girl and Mulatto Boy" from Guadaloupe exhibited before the American Philosophical Society. Early ink stamp on front pastedown; clean copy in a worn binding with the spine dry and rubbed and the joints split but holding tight. Good .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 021523

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: 18th Century Literature, Colonial Americana, U.S. Constitution, American Politics, American Revolution Americana U.S. Constitution American Politics American Revolution

ADAMS, John

A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, Against the Attack of M. Turgot in His Letter to Dr. Price, Dated the Twenty-Second Day of March, 1778

Philadelphia, Budd and Bartram, For William Cobbett [volume 1]; H. Sweitzer for William Cobbett [volume 2]; William Young for William Cobbett [volume 3], 1797. Third Edition. Hardcover. Three volumes in early 19th Century half polished black calf with marbled boards and calf corners; 6, xxxiii, [1], [3]-392; [vi], 451; [ii] 528, [36] pages. With the six-page subscriber list in the first volume and the half-title page in the second volume. The portrait frontispiece, found in some copies, is not present here. The Third and final edition, a reprint of the 1794 London edition, which is itself a reprint of the first edition, and the first complete three-volume text published in the United States of this important work in which the second president states the principles on which his new country was founded. Pencil signature on front pastedown of each volume, ink signature "Blair" dated 1798 on the title page of the first volume, the title page of the third volume browned but in general the text is clean and free from foxing. Very Good .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 018975

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: 18th Century, Americana, Legal High Spots, Law, Government Presidents Constitution Law Americana

BICKHAM, George

Proposals for Engraving by Subscription. The British Monarchy: Or, a New Chorographical Description of All the Dominions Subject to the King of Great Britain... Comprehending the British Isles, the Electoral States, the American Colonies, the African Settlements... The Respective Counties of England and Wales...

London, Benj. Dodd, August 1743. First Edition. Hardcover. Folio (7-1/2" x 12-1/2") bound in contemporary marbled boards rebacked with a modern calf spine and a maroon gilt-lettered leather spine label. Engraved frontispiece of Britannia (strengthened), title, "Conditions," subscribers' list (2 leaves), engraved double-page map, engraved table (torn at fold with half loss), and 190 numbered plates (lacking plate 163, which is the missing half of the previously noted table), plates 83 and 164 loosely inserted from another copy). All pages entirely engraved and printed on the recto only, with most pages illustrated. Among the illustrations are four maps, numerous scenic views, and vignettes of people engaged in various activities. Separate title page dated 1747 for the American Colonies section which includes 21 pages with illustrations of Native Americans, colonists, ships, etc. with descriptions of Carolina, New England, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Africa and India are also represented, though very briefly. Sabin 5222. Contemporary armorial bookplate of James Norman, likely a relation to John Norman, a listed subscriber, on the front pastedown. Ill.: George Bickham. Four vignettes partially hand-colored, browning and occasional moderate waterstaining, final leaf trimmed, a few contemporary marginal notes. A Very Good, attractive example, nearly complete but for the missing half of the table, of this uncommon early title with much on the American colonies The title page is a subscribers variant, with non-subscribers editions omitting "Proposals for Engraving by Subscription" and with a different imprint. George Bickham the Elder (1684-1758) was an English writing master and engraver. He is best known for his engraving work in THE UNIVERSAL PENMAN, a collection of writing exemplars which helped to popularize the English Round Hand script in the 18th century.

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 016455

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Indians, England, Southern Americana, Colonial George Bickham Illustrated Books Native Americans Engraved Books 18th Century

BOSSU, [Jean-Bernard]

Nouveau Voyages Dans L'Amerique Septentrionale, Contenant Une Collection de Lettres Ecrites Sue Les Lieux, Par L'Auteur, a Son Ami, M. Douin, Chevalier Capitaine Ans Les Troupes Du Roi, CI-Devant Son Camarade Dans le Nouveau Monde

Amsterdam [actually Paris], Changuion, 1777. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo (4-3/4" x 7-3/4") bound in contemporary diced calf leather with a lovely gilt decorated spine with 5 raised bands and a gilt-lettered morocco label, marbled endpapers, and text edges stained red; xvi, 392 pages. Complete with half-title page. Illustrated with 4 engraved plates, one folding, after G. de St.Aubin. Written in epistolary form with many details about the countryside, Indian customs, slavery, etc. Bossu, a French army officer, made two trips to Louisiana which he described in his first book, NOUVEAUX VOYAGES AUX INDES OCCIDENTALES, published in 1768. This scarcer title is an account of his third trip and was published with an Amsterdam imprint as he had previously got into trouble with the authorities after criticizing the governor of New Orleans. Clark's TRAVELS IN THE OLD SOUTH II:5; HOWES B-627; SABIN 6470; STREETER Sale 1520: "This is the account of Bossu's third voyage to Louisiana country made early in 1770. He revisited his old friends, the Arkansas Indians, and on their behalf made a mission to the Caddos and Attakapas, and then returned to France in 1771. Most of the letters are dated from the Arkansas post"; WIKIPEDIA: "Bossu was a keen observer making the accounts of his travels an important source for historians and ethnologists on New Orleans, the French colony and the Indian tribes in Mississippi region during the 18th century. Contents crisp, clean, and bright. Tiny chip to leather on the front cover. Fine .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 020361

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Americana, French, Slavery, Louisiana, 18th Century Americana, New Orleans, Travel, Illustrated Books, Indians, Native Americans Americana Illustrated Books Native Americans Louisiana

(DENSLOW, W[illiam] W[allace], Illustrator)

History of Northampton County, Pennsylvania; with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery... From Original Sketches by Artists of the Highest Ability

Philadelphia and Reading, Peter Fritts, 1877. First Edition. Hardcover. Folio (11" x 14") in original pebbled cloth with gilt-lettering on the front cover and spine; [3-], 293 pages. With 4 double-page and 23 full-page lithographs, including three signed in the print by W. W. Denslow; also, with 3 steel-engraved portrait plates, a hand-colored map, and several wood-engraved text illustrations. The three plates signed by Denslow are: "Easton Pa. In 1876. Viewed from Mt. Parnassus" (double-page plate, often considered Denslow's first published work, previously believed to be issued as a separate print), "The Lehigh University" (full-page plate), and "Quarries of Chapman Slate Company" (double-page plate). The double-page plates are both signed "W. W. Denslow"; while the full-page plate is signed with the artist's initials. Each is a finely detailed lithograph. The first plate is the frontispiece, and comprises a splendid view of the city of Easton on the Delaware River. Denslow is best remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations for THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Front endpaper lacking with the title page reinforced at the gutter; Easton plate with partial tear along centerfold; Lafayette College plate with complete tear along centerfold; Bethlehem & South Bethlehem plate with fold and crease down centerfold; one plate with small chunk out of corner touching image; overall some soiling and darkening. Fraying at bottom of spine with cover a little loose. A Good example of this uncommon book .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 021353

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Northampton County, W. W. Denslow, Illustrated Books, Oz, Americana, Local History, Pennsylvania Americana Local History Illustrated Books Pennsylvania

(DENSLOW, W[illiam] W[allace], Illustrator)

History of Northampton County, Pennsylvania; with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery... From Original Sketches by Artists of the Highest Ability

Philadelphia and Reading, Peter Fritts, 1877. First Edition. Hardcover. Folio (11" x 14") in original pebbled cloth with gilt-lettering on the front cover and spine; [3-], 293 pages. With 1 (of 4) double-page and 21 (of 23) full-page lithographs, including one signed in the print by W. W. Denslow; also, with 3 steel-engraved portrait plates, a hand-colored map, and several wood-engraved text illustrations. Two of the three plates signed by Denslow are missing: "Easton Pa. In 1876. Viewed from Mt. Parnassus" and "The Lehigh University" (full-page plate). The "Quarries of Chapman Slate Company" (double-page plate) is present. Denslow is best remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations for THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Lacking 5 plates, as noted. Contents page with tape repairs and wrinkles; occasional light edgewear to text and plates. Binding firm and decent. Fair due to the missing plates .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 021354

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Northampton County, W. W. Denslow, Illustrated Books, Oz, Americana, Local History, Pennsylvania Americana Local History Illustrated Books Pennsylvania

[DICKINSON, John]

[Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies]

[Philadelphia], [David Hall, and William Sellers], [1768]. Second Edition. Softcover. Stitched wraps, the original cover present with the rear lacking; 3 - 71, [1] pages. Lacking the title page with a photocopy of it bound in. The exceptionally scarce First Edition was published in March, and this Second Edition, very scarce in its own right, in June. EVANS 10875; HOWES D-329: "Earliest serious study into colonial legal rights"; SABIN 20044. Dickinson was a leading voice against British Parliamentary acts that imposed a tax on items by requiring the purchase of a stamp. He argued that these various acts were intended to raise revenue, a power held only by the colonial assemblies. As a direct result of the popularity of Dickinson’s letters, widely read throughout the Thirteen Colonies as well as in Europe, there were calls and petitions for the boycotting of imported goods throughout the colonies. The eventual result of this unity amongst the colonies against a common enemy was the First Continental Congress. Housed in a cloth folding case with a gilt-stamped brown morocco spine label. Title page lacking and replaced by a modern photocopy; “Fahnestock Bequest 1869” embossed stamp on the first page of text; early owner signatures on the top blank margin of two text pages; closed tear with no loss to margin of another page; even browning to text. Overall, despite the missing title page, a Very Good example of this scarce and important piece of Americana .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 020427

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: 18th Century, Colonial Law, Early American Imprints, Rare, Americana Colonial Law Early American Imprints Rare Americana

FLETCHER, Richard

Mr. Fletcher's Address to His Constituents, Relative to the Speech Delivered by Him in Faneuil Hall

Washington DC, (J. H. Eastburn), 23 December 1837. First Edition. Pamphlet. String-tied pamphlet; 15, [1] pages. Addressed to the people of Boston regarding the establishment of a National Bank. Small stain to front page. Near Fine .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 019674

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Banking, Americana, Financial, 19th Century Financial Banks 19th Century Americana

[CALIFORNIA & PACIFIC NORTHWEST] HOYT, Mrs. Francis and HINES, H. K

Manuscript Letter with a Copy of Missionary History of the Pacific Northwest, Containing the Wonderful Story of Jason Lee, with Sketches of Many of His Co-Laborers All Illustrating Life on the Plains and in the Mountains in Pioneer Days

Portland, OR and San Francisco, H. K. Hines and J. D. Hammond, 1850 and (1899). First Edition. Letter. A closely-written 4-page letter on one sheet of paper (15-1/2" x 9-7/8") folded in half and written on all 4 pages of neat script in black ink with another 2 pages of content overwritten vertically in red ink. Written by the wife of the Rev. Francis S. Hoyt, a Methodist minister, previously of the New Jersey Conference, and first president of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, to her parents in Cincinnati, Ohio. Writing from Salem on 10 December 1850, Mrs. Hoyt describes their steamer trip from the Isthmus of Panama, north along the Pacific Coast (with stops at Acapulco, Mexico, and San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco, California) and on to their new home. She notes that the steamer she was on was the first to "bear the news of the admission of California as a State" to the people of San Francisco. A sign was draped from the side of the ship announcing the news as it sailed along the bay front, firing a 100-gun salute from its cannon, the noise upsetting Mrs. Hoyt. She vividly describes the city, with its summer dust and winter mud, its rich gambling houses and houses of ill repute, and the many miners down from the hills to "lose all they have earned, and are obliged to go back to the mines again." She describes the gambling houses: "the rooms are fitted up beautifully with large mirrors and paintings, and every thing to look pretty and then an orchestra of fine music that plays all the time.. Frank looked into one for a little time, and said he never saw such piles of money as was there." She did not note if the good reverend checked out the brothels. On one page of the letter, she has drawn a small map showing their route from the Pacific to Portland and on to Salem. Her husband's life as an educator in Salem is reported in the book that comes with the letter, beginning on page 431, which mentions that the steamer reached Oregon in late October, 1850, "landing at Portland, then a rustic hamlet of some twenty or thirty habitations, and a few places of business." The book is INSCRIBED by the author on the front endpaper "To Rowland Abram Waltz/Very Truly Yours/H. K. Hines/Portland OR/June 21st 1901." In addition it is inscribed "Dr. F. S. Hoyt/with compliments of/Mr. & Mrs. Sam Gill/Portland Oregon/June 26-/1911." A fascinating letter with first-hand glimpses of life in early San Francisco and Oregon. The letter in Near Fine condition with normal folds from mailing; the writing in red ink a little difficult to read but legible. The book is Very Good with some edgewear .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 020857

Catalogue: Western Americana

Keywords: Western Americana, Oregon, California, San Francisco, Americana California San Francisco Western Americana Oregon

[CALIFORNIA] (FRIEND, Herve)

Picturesque Los Angeles County, California. Illustrative and Descriptive

Chicago, American Photogravure Co. 1887. First Edition. Hardcover. Folio (9-3/4" x 12") in broken publisher's gilt-decorated leather-backed cloth; 16 pages of text and 65 full-page photogravure plates with tissue guards. From the unidentified author's preface: "To fully illustrate the many beautiful spots to be found in Los Angeles County .. we have taken the choicest (views) from varied subjects .. to familiarize the tourist and resident with localities as will excite and interest in them." Photographer Herve Friend was one of the most skilled landscape photographers working in the United States at the time. Images include the San Gabriel Canyon and the San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica, Arroyo Seco, Long Beach, and Catalina Harbor. Spine perished, front cover and endpaper detached; contents Fine Cowan (III) page 397.

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 018628

Catalogue: Western Americana

Keywords: Americana, Illustrated Books, California, Los Angeles Photogravures Americana Los Angeles Illustrated Books

[GREELEY, Horace]

Life of Col. Fremont

New York, Greeley and M'Elrath, 1856. First Edition. Pamphlet. Pamphlet in self wraps; 32 pages. Illustrated with a portrait of Fremont taking more than the first half of the front page and two full-page engravings. A short life of Fremont from his early childhood to his presidential nomination in 1856, the first presidential candidate of the Republican Party. Fremont made his reputation as an explorer and an officer in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Occasional foxing, mostly clean. Very Good .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 019608

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Western Americana, Americana, Presidents, 19th Century, Republican Party Presidents Western Americana 19th Century Americana