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cummins
bookseller
catalogue 128
‘First American edition’
a note on the catalogue
This collection, formed over a thirty-five year period, assembles first and early American editions of influential and significant works of English and European thought
from the seventeenth through early nineteenth centuries. The collection charts the
intellectual foundations of American activity in the fields of politics, philosophy, theology, medicine, science, mathematics, economics, travel, and education. The original
editions were published before 1825; the American editions date from 1729 through
the mid-nineteenth century (most before 1820). Spanning the colonial, Revolutionary,
and Federal eras, these works suggest the raw material distilled into the American
national character so clearly visible to foreign visitors.
Note that the date of a work’s first (European) publication is generally given following the statement of edition.
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front cover: item 23
inside front cover: item 149
inside rear cover: item 188
rear cover: item 164
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1
ADDISON, Joseph. The Poetical Works of Joseph Addison with the Life of the Author.
Frontispiece portrait engraved by David Edwin. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for
Benjamin Johnson, Jacob Johnson and Robert Johnson, 1805. First American edition.
Tickell’s edition of 1721 is the first collected edition. Contemporary sheep, spine gilt.
Rubbed, some gouging and scuffing, upper joint cracking, some browning and spotting
of text, signatures of E. Minor and Ann M. Paddillo on title and leaf following, in a
leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 7833; Stauffer, pp. 76-77,
portrait is no. 694.
With portrait frontispiece by David Edwin, Philadelphian engraver, well known for his
finely engraved portraits, including those of Thomas McKean, Thomas Jefferson, Dolly
Madison and several of George Washington. For some thirty years he was the “most
popular and prolific engraver of portraits in the United States” (Stauffer).
$200
2
ADDISON, Joseph. The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, with the exception
of his Numbers of the Spectator. Collected by Mr. [Thomas] Tickell. With a complete Index.
Frontispiece portrait in first volume, 8 engraved plates of medals in volume 4
(browned), frontispieces by Alexander Anderson in volumes 5 and 6. 6 vols. 8vo, New
York: Published by William Durell & Co. George Forman, Printer (vol. 1); C. S. Van
Winkle, Printer (vols. 2, 3, 5 and 6), D. & G. Bruce, Printer (vol. 4), 1811. First American
edition of the collected works. This edition was first published 3 October 1721 in four
volumes. Apparently the Spectator entries were included in the original edition. Bluegreen boards, orange printed labels, uncut. A few joints starting, some light rubbing,
some wear to heads and tails of a few spines, signature cut away on free endpapers,
some light marginal browning, else a striking set, in very good condition. In two brown
cloth open-end cases. NCBEL 2:1098.
Volumes 27 through 32 of the series “The British Classics.” Thomas Tickell was a poet
and friend of Addison. Shortly before his death Addison had selected him to collect
and publish his works. With a frontispiece by Alexander Anderson, the “father of the
American woodcut.”
$500
3
AESOP. Fabulae Aesopi Selectae, or Select Fables of Aesop; with an English Translation as
literal as possible … A New Edition wherein the errors in the Latin text of the best and latest
European copies of Mr. Clarke’s selection are corrected … by James Ross, Professor of the Latin
and Greek languages in Franklin College, Borough of Lancaster. Dual English and Latin
language text. 12mo, Lancaster: Printed by Burnside and Smith, 1804. First edition of
James Ross’ corrected edition of Clarke’s translation. Clarke’s translation first appeared
in 1774 and the first American edition was published in Boston in 1787. Contemporary
sheep. Rubbed, short crack along upper joint, head of spine chipped, some browning
and spotting, mostly marginal and strongest on endpapers, with the stamp of Phebe E.
Mitchell. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 5667; PMM
15 for the 1474 edition.
Based upon the 1794 ninth edition of H. Clark’s translation. The first American edition
of Aesop was Samuel Croxall’s translation published in 1777; the first American of
Robert Dodsley’s translation and that of Robert Burton was the same year.
$150
4
ARGENSON, René Louis Voyer, Marquis d’. Essays, Civil, Moral, Literary & Political.
Written after the Manner of M. De Montagne: Interspersed with Characters, Portraits &
Anecdotes. 12mo, Worcester: Printed by Thomas, Son & Thomas: sold by them at
the Worcester Bookstore, March 1797. First American edition. First published in 1785.
Contemporary sheep, black morocco label. Rubbed, especially fore-edges, worming
in inner upper corner of first few leaves, not affecting text, browning and spotting of
leaves. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. With the ownership signature of
Nathan Brayton. Shipton & Mooney 31748.
Argenson was a friend of Voltaire, Condillac and d’Alembert and a member of the Club
de l’Entresol which included Bolingbrook and Ramsay. Under Louis XV he was the
minister of foreign affairs and very involved in economic affairs. Argenson’s ideas and
theories share many similarities with those of the physiocrats.
$75
5
ARIOSTO, Lodovico. Orlando Furioso: translated from the Italian of Ludovico Ariosto; with
notes by John Hoole. 6 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Henry Hudson, 1816-1817. Second American
edition, following Hudson’s 5 volume edition published the year before. Panelled
polished American calf. Heads of two volumes loose, else in good condition. Shaw &
Shoemaker 36760.
$300
6
BACON, Francis. Essays Moral, Economical and Political. 12mo, Boston: Published by
Oliver and Munroe, 1807. First American edition of the first complete edition of Bacon’s
“Essays” and first separate American edition. In 1688 William Bradford had printed the
first American appearance of Bacon’s essays in the third part of a collection edited by
Daniel Leeds entitled The Temple of Wisdom for the Little World. Contemporary sheep,
red morocco label. Ex-library with small paper label on spine and pockets and labels on
pastedowns, rubbing and wear to extremities and joints, some browning of text, mostly
at the front and back and of endpapers. With the signature of William Pickering, the
gift to the library of Charles Walker Pickering. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. Grolier, English 13; Shaw & Shoemaker 43127. For the first complete edition:
Gibson 13; Pforzheimer 30.
Bacon’s theories and his reasoning methods were popular during the Jeffersonian era.
Jefferson catalogued his library using “Bacon’s classification of the human mind into
‘Reason,’ ‘Memory,’ and ‘Imagination’” (Brown, Thomas Jefferson, p. 196).
$350
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7
BACON, Francis. Essays Moral, Economical and Political. 12mo, Boston: Published by
Joseph Greenleaf [Printed by Oliver & Munroe], 1807. First American edition, with
a variant title-page. The imprint on this title reads “Boston:/ Published by Joseph
Greenleaf,/ No. 49, Cornhill,/ Boston./ [dotted line]/ 1807.” with no mention
of the printer. Also on this title “Lord High Chancellor of England” is 49 mm as
compared with 42 of the other; there is also a slight variation in the size of the date.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco gilt label. Quite rubbed, some light marginal
browning of text, endpapers browned, signatures of John Belknap, one signature on
title trimmed. Leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Grolier, English 13; Shaw &
Shoemaker 43127. For the first Complete edition of 1625: Gibson 13; Pforzheimer 30.
$300
8
BACON, Francis. The Works of Francis Bacon … A New Edition with a Life of the Author
by Basil Montague. 3 vols. Large 8vo, Philadelphia: A. Hart, late Carey & Hart, 1852.
First complete American edition of Bacon’s works. Slightly later half calf over marbled
boards, brown and morocco labels, gilt spine. Some rubbing of binding else a very good
copy.
$500
9
BARCLAY, Robert. An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, as the same is Held Forth,
and Preached, by the People, called in Scorn, Quakers: Being a full explanation and Vindication
of the Principles and doctrines, by many Arguments, deduced from Scripture and Right Reason
and the Testimonies of Famous Authors, both ancient and modern, with a full answer to the
strongest Objections usually made against them. Presented to the King. Written in Latin and
English by Robert Barclay, And since translated into High Dutch, Low Dutch, and French for the
Information of Strangers. The Sixth Edition in English. 8vo, Newport, Rhode Island: Printed
by James Franklin, 1729. First American edition. First published in Amsterdam in 1676 as
Theologiae verae Christianae apologia. First translated and published as An Apology for the
true Christian Divinity in Aberdeen in 1678. Contemporary panelled calf. Quite rubbed,
joints separated, chipping of spine and extremities, some browning of text, primarily
marginal, with the signatures of Ruth Trobridge, 1742, of Newport and Robert Mosher,
who bought the book of Ruth Trobridge 1743. In a brown cloth folding box, morocco
label. Alden, Rhode Island Imprints 11; NCBEL 2: 1648 (first edition); Sabin 3364; Shipton
& Mooney 329.
Printed by the first printer of Rhode Island, James Franklin, Benjamin’s older brother. It
is one of the earliest books printed in Rhode Island and a classic of Quaker theology.
$1,250
10
BARROW, John. Travels in China, containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons,
made and collected in the course of a short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yeun-Min-Yuen,
and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country, from Pekin to Canton. Frontispiece portrait
of Van-ta-gin engraved by C. Radcliffe (blind embossed stamp on image), music and
catalogue 128 | 3
illustrations in text. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by W. F. McLaughlin, 1805. First
American edition. The first edition was published in 1804. Contemporary sheep, red
morocco label. Rubbed, spine and joints worn, upper cover detached, browning and
spotting of text, first gathering sprung, blind embossed stamp on title and frontispiece,
with the signature of William Linker on the title. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case.
Barrow describes his observations of the country acquired while serving as comptroller
of the household of England’s first ambassador to the court at Peking, Lord Macartney.
The very successful journey of the Empress of China in 1784/5 is often seen as the
beginning of the American trade with China. While the trips were arduous, the profits
were enormous. The height of the American-China trade was around 1818. Barrow’s
text would have been very helpful for merchants and traders.
$100
11
BELL, John. Discourses on the Nature and Cure of Wounds. Two engraved plates by
Amos Doolittle. 8vo, Walpole, N. H: Printed for Thomas & Thomas & Justin Hinds by
George W. Nichols, 1807. First American edition. This was first published in Edinburgh
in 1795. The first American edition is from the second Edinburgh edition (1800) which
was corrected and amended. Two volumes bound in one. Contemporary sheep, red
morocco label. Rubbed, some browning and spotting of text, tear on vol. 2 page 55 not
affecting legibility, stamp of Dr. Walter R. Weiser on endpaper and on page 100 in the
first volume, 1818 signature (rubbed) of G. Russell of Boston and stamped booklabel of
E. Cushman of Orwell, Vermont, on endpapers, else a very good copy of this important
medical text. In a brown cloth open-end case. Austin 192.
Edinburgh was recognized at this time as having the best medical schools and prior
to 1800 it was somewhat traditional for a number of American students to go there
to study. By 1800 the American medical educational facilities had expanded — King’s
College (1767), William and Mary (1779), Harvard (1783), Rutgers (1793), Pennsylvania
(1783), Transylvania and Dartmouth all had programs to educate our own doctors.
Doolittle is a well known American engraver; he engraved Ralph Earle’s drawings of
the battle of Lexington and Concord, as well as numerous portraits, bookplates, views
and Bible illustrations.
$300
12
BERK[E]LEY, George. Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher. In Seven Dialogues. Containing
an Apology for the Christian Religion, against those who are called Free-Thinkers. xiii, [i], 15-388
pp. 8vo, New Haven: From Signey’s Press for Increase Cooke & Co, 1803. First American
edition, from the fourth London edition. First published in March 1732. Contemporary
sheep, red morocco label. Some rubbing, 2 pages advertisements at back of books
available at Increase Cooke and Co., some browning and offsetting of text, generally
light, upper corner of free endpaper removed. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end
case. Colby Library Quarterly, p. 233; Shaw & Shoemaker 3784.
With a leaf concerning the “Character of the Work” by Timothy Dwight, Yale College,
Dec. 23, 1802. In 1728 Berkeley went to America to look into founding a college in
4 | james cummins bookseller
Rhode Island. He lived on a farm outside Newport, Rhode Island until 1731 when he
returned to England. It was during his residence in America that most of Alciphron was
written and many of the descriptions of scenery are of the Newport area. Berkeley
was close friends with the American Samuel Johnson. Johnson’s Elementa Philosophica,
“the first text book in philosophy to appear in English-speaking America” (Cremin,
American Education, p. 296) owed much to the influence of Berkeley. In 1733 Berkeley
sent a large contribution of books to Yale for its library. “A finely written work in the
form of dialogue, critically examining the various forms of free-thinking in the age, and
bringing forward in antithesis to them his own theory, which shows all nature to be the
language of God” (Ency. Brit.).
$450
13
BERNERS, Juliana, Dame. An American Edition of The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an
Angle, from The Boke of St. Albans, by Dame Juliana Berners, A. D. 1496. Edited by Geo. W.
Van Siclen, of the New York Bar, A. D. 1875. Small 4to, New York: Jas. L. Black, Printer,
1875. First American edition. Reprinted from the London, Baskerville/Pickering 1827
edition. The first edition was printed by the Schoolmaster Printer at St. Albans 1486.
Original printed cream wrappers. Some light soiling, short tears along upper joint,
some rubbing, else a very good copy in a brown paper folding case (publisher’s?). Some
wear to case.
Dedicated by the editor to the Willewemoc Club.
$200
14
BÉZOUT, Etienne. First Principles of the Differential and Integral Calculus, or the Doctrine
of Fluxions, intended as an Introduction to the Physico-Mathematical Sciences; Taken chiefly
from the Mathematics of Bézout, and translated from the French for the Use of the Students of
the University at Cambridge, New England. Two folding engraved plates at the back. 8vo,
Cambridge, N. E: Printed by Hilliard and Metcalf, at the University Press. Sold by W.
Hilliard, Cambridge and by Cummings, Hilliard & Co., Boston, 1824. First American
edition. The first edition was published in 1779. Original paper-backed blue boards,
printed paper label. Joints and spine worn, some soiling of boards, browning and
staining of text, generally marginal and light. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 15338; DSB II, pp. 111-114; Karpinski, p. 256.
Except for the introduction and notes this is a translation of Principes de Calcul qui
servent d’Introduction aux Sciences Physico-Mathématiques. Bézout’s mathematical
works, including his “Theorie general des Equations algebriques” were important to
the history of maths. The First Principles introduced “modern calculus” to America.
“Bézout’s work on resultants stimulated many investigations in the modern theory of
elimination, including Cauchy’s refinements of elimination procedure and Sylvester’s
work on resultants and inertia forms. Bézout’s theorem is crucial to the study of the
intersection of manifolds in algebraic geometry” (DSB).
$300
catalogue 128 | 5
15
(BIBLE, French) Le Nouveau Testament de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ en Français, sur la
Vulgate. Traduction de L. M. De Sacy. Revue sur les Meilleures Editions. Half-titles, errata leaf
at back of second volume. 2 vols. 8vo, Boston: De l’Imprimerie de J. T. Buckingham,
1810. A thick paper copy of the first American edition and first French Bible printed in
America. Paper-backed boards, printed paper label, uncut, mostly unopened. Some
darkening and spotting, chipping and cracking of spines, skilful restoration to binding,
spotting and light soiling of text, mostly marginal and light. Very good copies in brown
cloth open-faced case. O’Callaghan 102; Shaw & Shoemaker 19531; Rumball-Petre, Rare
Bibles 185.
$750
16
(BIBLE, New Testament) Burkitt, William. Expository Notes, with Practical Observations
upon the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Wherein the Whole of the
Sacred Text is recited, the Sense explained, and the Instructive Example of the Blessed Jesus,
and His Apostles, to our Imitation Recommended. Text printed in two columns. 1168 pp. 4to,
New Haven: Printed by Abel Morse, for the Rev. David Austin of Elizabeth-town, 1794.
First American edition of Burkitt’s work and the first Bible printed in Connecticut. First
published in German at Halle in 1763-68. Contemporary calf, red morocco label, raised
bands, gilt rules next to bands. Binding rubbed, some scuffing, tears in preliminary
leaves not affecting legibility, browning of text, soiling and staining in margins at front,
a few leaves loosening and some at front creased, with the 1800 signature of Samuel Nye
on endpaper. Very good copy. Evans 26668; Trumbull, J.H., Connecticut 423; Hills 47 (26
is a ghost).
$1,850
17
(BIBLE). Biblia, Das ist: Die Heilige Schrift. Altes und Neues Testaments … Nebst einem
Anhang. Title printed in red and black. 4to, Germantown: Gedruckt bey Christoph
Saur, 1743. First edition of the “Sauer Bible,” the first German Bible printed in America
Contemporary calf over boards, spine with 5 raised bands, double blind rolls on either
side of each band, simple border of double blind rolls on covers, “V” at each raised
band, metal clasps at fore-edge. Joints cracked but stitching firm, a nail from hinge on
lower cover lacking, losses at lower corners, typical and usual staining and browning, a
few short tears, corners of text rounded at bottom, ownership notations on endpapers
including signature of Aron Georg who purchased this copy at the sale of Adam
Luckenbach in 1842 and that of William P. Smith who bought it as the sale of Aaron
George’s library at Richlandtown in November 1885. There are some notations in
German script with dates from the 1750’s on the free endpaper. Brown cloth folding box.
Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions 7; Shipton & Mooney 5128,
identical with 5127 except that title reads “Nebst dem Gewohnlichen Anhang”; Darlow
and Moule 4240; Hildeburn 804; Sabin 5191.
The first European language Bible printed in America, and the second Bible printed
in America after John Eliot’s Indian Bibles of the 1660s. The text is based on Martin
Luther’s version by way of the thirty-fourth edition of the Halle Bible, with Book
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Three of Edras, Book Four of Edras, and Book Three of Maccabees supplied from
the Berlenburg Bible. Believed to have been printed in an edition of 1200 copies, of
which slightly over one-tenth are known to have survived. Christoph Saur was a native
of Wittgenstein, Germany, who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania and practiced
medicine before turning to printing. A landmark in American religious and printing
history.
$7,500
catalogue 128 | 7
18
(BIBLE). H Kainh Diatheke [in Greek] Novum Testamentum. Juxta exemplar Joannis Millii
accuratissime impressum [edited by Caleb Alexander from Mill’s text with additions and
alterations and a chronological table of the books of the Testament]. 12mo, [Worcester]
Wigorniae, Massachusettensi: Excudebat Isaias Thomas, Jun, April 1800. First American
edition of Mill’s text. First published in 1707. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label.
Some rubbing, worming of lower cover and spine, tearing along gutter preceding the
title, usual browning of text, mostly marginal, title browned, chipping along upper
margin costing first line of title, running headline of a few pages trimmed, manuscript
notations throughout, signature and stamp of John Mason of Castine, Maine on
endpaper and fore-edge. Note on endpaper states that the advertisement leaf is not
present. Darlow and Moule II, Polyglots: 4775; Sabin 56204; Shipton & Mooney 36952.
$250
19
(BIBLE). Le Nouveau Testament de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, en Français. Traduction
de L. M. De Sacy. Revue sur les Meilleures éditions. 8vo, Boston: de L’Imprimerie de J. T.
Buckingham, 1810. First American edition of the famous Mons Testament (also known
as the De Sacy or Port Royal Version). Two volumes in one. Contemporary sheep,
red morocco label. Rubbed, joints cracking, half-titles, errata leaf, some browning and
spotting of text, marginal staining at front, some ownership signatures at the front. In a
leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 19531; Darlow & Moule
3756 for the first appearance, not this edition.
This translation from the vulgate was begun by Antoine le Maistre and completed with
some revisions by his brother Louis Isaac (known as De Sacy). Antoine Arnauld, their
uncle and a scholar, revised the edition with other members of Port Royal of the Fields
for publication in 1667. This is the first appearance in French of any part of the Bible in
America.
$300
20
(BIBLE). Ne Hoiwiyosdosheh Noyohdadogehdih ne Saint Luke, nenonodowohga
nigawenohdah/ The Gospel According to Saint Luke, translated into the Seneca Tongue
by T. S. Harris. Small 12mo, New York: Printed for the American Bible Society, D.
Fanshaw, Printer, 1829. First edition of any part of the Bible into the Seneca language.
Contemporary sheep. Some rubbing of binding, spotting and soiling of leaves, front
free endpaper torn. With the 1835 signature of James Jimison on the endpapers and an
early notation, “The Property of the Missionary School Alleghany.” In a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Sabin 79121.
Text in Seneca and English on facing pages. In the same year, T. S. Harris and J. Young
also published their translation into Seneca of “Christ’s Sermon on the Mountain,”
printed also by Fanshaw but published by the American Tract Society.
$300
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21
(BIBLE). [Torah, Nevi’in, U-Khetuvim]. Biblia Hebraica, Secundum Ultimatum Editionem
Jos. Athiae, A Johanne Leusden Denuo Recognitam. [6], 296; [2], 312 leaves. Half titles
present in each volume. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Cura et Impensis Thomae Dobson
edita ex aedibus Lapideis. Typis Gulielmi Fry, 1814. First American edition. Original
paper-backed boards, uncut. Spines worn, upper cover detached on first volume, some
browning of text. In a blue cloth folding box. Darlow and Moule 5168a; Rosenbach
171; Shaw & Shoemaker 30857; M. Vaxer “The First Hebrew Bible Printed in America,”
Journal of Jewish Bib., 1940, vol. 2, pp. 20-26; Goldman 4; Singerman 236.
The first complete Hebrew Bible printed in America. Hebrew type was first used in the
North American colonies in the Bay Psalm Book, printed in 1640 in Cambridge. Over
the next ninety-five years Hebrew type appeared in a handful of Shaw & Shoemaker,
usually in brief examples of single words or short sentences. Paucity of appropriate
type would continue to be a problem over the years that followed. The first Jewish
Psalter was finally published in 1809, followed by this complete Bible five years later.
“In 1812 Mr. Horwitz had proposed the publication of this edition of the Hebrew
Bible, the first proposal of the kind in the United States; early in 1813 be transferred
his right and list of subscribers to Mr. Thos. Dobson, who published, soon afterwards,
the 1st volume” (O’Callaghan). The title-page indicates that this work is a reprinting
of the second edition of the Joseph Athias Bible, edited by Leusden with Latin notes
by Everardo Van der Hought, and that the Hebrew is printed without vowels. An
important piece of American printing, and of Jewish Americana.
$15,000
catalogue 128 | 9
22
BICHAT, [Marie François] Xavier. A Treatise on the Membranes in General, and on
Different Membranes in Particular; … A New Edition enlarged by an Historical Notice of
the life and Writings of the Author by M. Husson. Translated by John G. Coffin, M. D. 8vo,
Boston: Published by Cummings and Hilliard, Cambridge: Hilliard & Metcalf, 1813. First
American edition. The first edition was in French and published in An VIII (1799/1800).
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Quite rubbed, short crack along upper joint,
text browned and spotted, front free endpaper excised. Leather-tipped brown cloth
open-end case. Austin 204; Shaw & Shoemaker 27941; Garrison & Morton 587.
Bichat was a pioneer in the field of pathology and is often considered the founder of
modern histology, combining clinical and pathological research with close observation.
He directed attention to structural changes which occurred in the organs brought on
by disease instead of following the generally accepted theory of Morgagni which stated
“that the individual organs were the seats of disease.” He is recognized as the “founder
of modern histology” and is best known for his 5 volume Traité d’Anatomie Descriptive.
It was in this work that he set forth this important concept that the disease of a tissue
is essentially the same regardless whatever organ it might be in or where located. At
this time in Boston there was a dearth of information on anatomy. It was against the
mores of society as well as the law to allow dissection of cadavers, a law which was
not repealed until 1831. Students were expected to study statuary and Vesalius to gain
an understanding of anatomy. In an effort to overcome the prejudices and to provide
instruction in anatomy, Dr. John Jeffries attempted to give a series of lectures on
anatomy, using a convict’s corpse. Unfortunately, a mob broke in and stole the body. In
1779-80 Dr. John Warren secretly conducted a series of lectures on anatomy in a military
hospital. These lectures were part of the foundations of the Massachusetts Medical
College, (later the Medical Institution of Harvard College) where Warren would be the
first professor of anatomy and surgery until his death in 1815.
$250
23
BLACKSTONE, William. Commentaries on the Laws of England. Folding Table of
Descents. [xvi], 485; [vi], 520, xix; [viii], 455, [1, ads], xxvii, Appendix; [xxx], 436; vii,
[i], [xxxix], [i] pp. 4 vols. 4to, America [Philadelphia]: Printed for the Subscribers, by
Robert Bell, Philadelphia, at the Union Library, in Third-street, 1771-1772. First American
edition. “Re-printed from the British Copy, Page for Page with the Last Edition.” First
two volumes in contemporary calf, the third and fourth volumes in contemporary
sheep, similarly bound, later crimson matching morocco labels. Heads and tails of spine
restored, rubbing and some other wear, typical browning and spotting of text. Two new
rust cloth open-end boxes. Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions,
p. 21; Shipton & Mooney 11996, 12327. For the first edition: Grolier, English 52; Higgs
4494; PMM 212; Rothschild 407.
Subscriber’s copy with the bookplate of William Nicoll. The subscriber’s list identifies
him as William Nicoll, Attorney at Law, Suffolk County, New York. The Nicoll family
was eminent in Long Island and especially Islip history since the late 1600s. There
are also the signatures of F. Nicoll Jr 1820 and Benjamin Nicoll (there is a pamphlet
publication, A Brief Vindication of the Proceedings of the Trusties. New York: Gaine, 1754,
by Benjamin Nicoll).
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Blackstone’s Commentaries was
published at Oxford in 1765-69
and was immediately successful.
Blackstone translated English
common law into layman’s
terms and as the colonial legal
system, and afterwards, that of
the United States, was based upon
the English legal system, it was
as important a text in America
as in England. Bell justifies his
piracy of this work by saying that
his edition helps the American
economy by keeping the
monies here and that his edition
will also be a great deal more
economical for the purchasers.
From his advertisement in
Volume I, “The inhabitants of
this continent have now an easy
and advantageous opportunity
of effectually establishing literary
manufactures in the British
colonies, at moderate prices
calculated for this meridian,
the establishment of which
will absolutely and eventually
produce mental improvement,
and commercial expansion, with the additional recommendation of positively saving
thousands of pounds to and among the inhabitants of the British empire in America.
The importation of one thousand sets of Blackstone’s Commentaries, manufactured
in Europe, at ten pounds per set, is sending near ten thousand pounds across the great
Atlantic ocean.”
A 22-page subscriber’s list in the fourth volume including many prominent people such
as John Dunlap, Printer; John Jay; Sir William Johnson; Andrew Oliver and Edmund
Quincy. There are quite a few of the signers of the Declaration on the subscriber’s
list, including John Adams, William Ellery, Philip Livingston, Thomas McKean, Lewis
Morris, Robert Morris, John Morton, Cesar Rodney, George Ross, Richard Stockton,
Roger Sherman, James Smith, George Taylor and Matthew Thornton. This publication
was the first major undertaking by Robert Bell in his printing and publishing business.
Known best to his contemporaries as an auctioneer, he has been credited with having
done more than any other printer in the Colonies to promote the reading of the classics
(Oswald). The first volume of Blackstone contains 4 pages advertisements and notices
from Bell including his notice “To the American World” explaining his “buy American”
theory and the advertisements pertain to the works of Hume, Ferguson and Robertson,
as well as Blackstone.
$15,000
catalogue 128 | 11
24
BLACKSTONE, William. Commentaries on the Laws of England. Folding Table of
Descents, engraved frontispiece portrait by S[amuel] Hill. 4 vols. 8vo, Worcester:
Printed by Isaiah Thomas, 1790. First Worcester edition, carefully reprinted from the last
London edition [1787], containing the last Corrections of the Author, the Additions by
Richard Burn [1783 edition] and continued to the Present Time by John Williams. This
is the first American edition of this revised edition of Blackstone with the additions.
Contemporary sheep, morocco labels. Most labels lacking, upper joint of second
volume cracked, others cracking, rubbed, spotting and browning, signatures of J.
Morton and Nathaniel Safford on endpapers. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton &
Mooney 22365.
$1,000
25
BLAIR, Robert. The Grave. 33 pp. 8vo, London, Printed: New York: Reprinted , and Sold
by Hugh Gaine, at the Printing-Office opposite the Old-Slip Market, 1753. “The Fourth
edition.” First American edition. First edition was 1743. Disbound. Evans 6966; Gaine,
The Journals of Hugh Gaine. Vol. I p. 88; Church 984.
“This is one of the earliest books from the press of Hugh Gaine, — the most prolific
press of its time in New York” (Church). OCLC locates only 5 copies.
$750
26
BOSWELL, James. A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson … containing
some Poetical Pieces by Dr. Johnson, Relative to the Tour, and Never Before Published: A Series
of his Conversation, literary Anecdotes, and Opinions of Men and Books: With an Authentic
Account of the Distresses and Escape of the Grandson of King James II, in the Year 1746.
8vo, Philadelphia: Published by John F. Watson [printed by R. & W. Carr], 1810. First
American edition, “from the London Edition, Revised and Corrected by the Author.”
The Inskeep and Bradford, New York and William M’Ilheny, Boston imprint appears
to be a variant title, both were printed by R. & W. Carr and the sheets and prefaces
are the same. Contemporary calf, maroon morocco label. Some rubbing to joints and
extremities, chipping of the head of the spine, front free endpaper removed as is upper
margin of title, some browning and spotting, lower free endpaper partially loose. In a
leather-tipped marbled open-end case. Pottle 63; Shaw & Shoemaker 19608. For the first
edition of 1785: Pottle 57; Rothschild 456; Tinker 333.
The American publisher has inserted an “Advertisement” at the front, making excuses
for Boswell. “In republishing a work, which … has so long subjected its author to the
sarcasms of foes, or to the plaudits of friends, it seems but the bounden duty of the
American editor, to suffer the author in this place to offer those vindications which he
afterwards saw fit to annex to his ‘Life of Johnson.’”
$300
12 | james cummins bookseller
27
BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson LLD. Comprehending an account of his
studies, and numerous works, in chronological Order; A Series of his Epistolary Correspondence
and Conversations with many Eminent Persons; and Various Original Pieces of his Composition,
never before Published. Two folding facsimiles (that in the third volume torn along fold).
3 vols. 8vo, Boston: Published by W. Andrews and L. Blake, Greenough and Stebbins,
Printers, 1807. First American from the fifth London edition (1807, edited by Edmund
Malone). The first edition was published in 1791. Contemporary sheep, black morocco
labels, red morocco number labels. Upper joint of first volume repaired, several joints
cracked or starting, rubbed, usual browning and spotting, tear on pages 265-6 in second
volume affecting a few letters, ownership signatures and stamps, but a good copy with
the interior sound. In a tan cloth folding box. Pottle 85; Shaw & Shoemaker 12184. For
the 1793 first edition: Courtney-Nichol Smith p. 172; Grolier, English 63; Pottle 79; Tinker
388.
$450
28
BOWRING, John, translator and editor. Specimens of the Russian Poets; with Preliminary
Remarks and Biographical Notices. 8vo, Boston: Published by Cummings and Hilliard,
Hilliard & Metcalf, Printers, 1822. First American edition of the first volume of
Bowring’s Specimens (all published at that time). Contemporary sheep. Worn, covers
detached, some browning and spotting of text. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. NCBEL 3:150: Shaw & Shoemaker 43430.
Bowring’s Specimens ultimately appeared in two volumes, the first published in 1821
and the second not until 1823. This volume includes poems of Derzhavin, Batiushkov,
Lomonosov, Zhukovsky, Karamsin, Dmitriev, Krilov, Khemnitzer, Bobrov, Bogdanovich,
Davidov, Kostrov, Neledinsky Meletzky, and a section of national songs and critical
notices.
$250
29
BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, Jacques Pierre & Etienne Clavière. The Commerce of
America with Europe; particularly with France and Great-Britain; comparatively stated and
explained. Showing the Importance of the American Revolution to the Interests of France,
and points out the Actual Situation of the United States of North America in regard to Trade,
Manufactures and Population. Translated from the last French edition, revised by Brissot and
called the second volume of his View of America. With the Life of Brissot and an Appendix by
the Translator [Joel Barlow]. Frontispiece portrait engraved by Scoles. 12mo, New York:
Printed and sold by T. and J. Swords, 1795. First American edition. The first edition
published in 1787 as De la France et des Etats-Unis and the first edition in English in 1788.
The first listing of this translation given in Sabin is that of 1794. Contemporary calf.
Rebacked, rubbed, stamp of the “Dashaway Reform Club” on endpapers, text browned
as usual, some spotting and staining, some short marginal tears. In a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Howes C464; Kress B2892; Sabin 8016; Shipton & Mooney
28343.
This volume was also published as the second volume of Brissot’s New Travels in the
catalogue 128 | 13
United States. Brissot was sent to the United States, just prior to the French Revolution,
to investigate the suitability of establishing a colony of people who wished to remove
themselves from the “then despotic government of France” (Sabin). The New Travels
and of course, this work, contain his findings.
$300
30
BROWN, William Laurence. An Essay on the Natural Equality of Men; or the Rights
that Result from It, and on the Duties which it Imposes: Corrected and Enlarged. 12mo,
Philadelphia: Printed for John Ormrod by William W. Woodward, 1793. First American
edition. Contemporary sheep. Rubbed, label lacking, some spotting and browning
of text, mostly marginal, two pages publisher’s advertisements at back, a few short
marginal tears. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 25234.
This was one of the essays for which Brown received a prize from the Teylerian Society
at Haarlem in 1783. He was at that time the minister of the English Church in Utrecht,
having completed his theological studies in Utrecht in 1778.
$100
31
BUNYAN, John. The Doctrine of the Law & Grace Unfolded … The Third Edition. x, 215 pp.
12mo, Boston: Printed by J[ohn] Draper for D[aniel] Henchman, 1742. First American
edition. Contemporary sheep. Joints and extremities worn, text browned. Ownership
signatures of Seth Parsons, Abigail Parsons and Daniel Dayton on endpapers. In a
leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Harrison IV, pp. 8-10; Shipton & Mooney
4905.
Daniel Henchman “was the most eminent and enterprising bookseller that appeared in
Boston, or, indeed, in all British America before the year 1775” (Thomas, p. 196). He built
the first paper mill in New England. Thomas claimed that Henchman published, some
twenty years before Aitken, the “first Bible printed in America in the English language.”
Printed by Kneeland and Green, mainly for Henchman, but disguised with a London
imprint “Printed by Mark Baskett, Printer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty” to
avoid prosecution. The Doctrine of the Law & Grace Unfolded was first published in 1659,
one of four pieces by Bunyan written before he was imprisoned for conducting a service
outside of a church and for not being in episcopal orders.
$1,500
32
BUNYAN, John. The Pilgrim’s Progress. 12mo, Philadelphia: John McCulloch, 1789. First
complete American edition. Contemporary American sheep, covers plain, flat spine
divided by gilt rules into 6 compartments, red morocco spine label. Joints and tips
worn, light foxing and browning to text throughout, in half brown morocco slipcase.
Provenance: A.E. Newton (his bookplate).
sold
14 | james cummins bookseller
catalogue 128 | 15
33
(BUNYAN, John) The Visions of John Bunyan; Being his Last Remains: Giving an Account of
the Glories of Heaven, the Terrors of Hell, and of the World to Come. Woodcut frontispiece
of the Resurrection. 144 pp. 12mo, New York: Printed by John Harrison for Benjamin
Gomez, 1793. First American edition. First published at London in 1711 as The world to
come; or, The glories of heaven and the terrors of hell. Original decorated paper-covered
wooden boards, leather spine. Some light wear to binding (small chips to paper), a little
light scattered foxing internally, otherwise a remarkably well-preserved copy given its
inherent fragility. Bristol 46706; Hamilton 147, noting “books by Gomez, New York’s
first Jewish bookseller, are somewhat elusive”; Shipton & Mooney 46706; not in Vail;
OCLC: 53200254 (AAS, Princeton).
Although the preface is signed by Bunyan, this is in fact the work of publisher George
Larkin (cf. Brown, John Bunyan, p. 434).
$1,000
34
BURKE, Edmund. A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and
Beautiful. With an Introductory Discourse concerning Taste, and several other Additions.
Frontispiece stippled portrait by David Edwin, the issue showing Burke with glasses and
“Burke” spelled on the portrait. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for D. Johnson, Portland by
J. Watts, 1806. Second American edition, following the rare (known in only one copy)
1805 first edition. The printer, J. Watts, printed two issues of this work, this for Johnson
and Todd 5v for S. F. Bradford. Contemporary tree sheep, spine stained and gilt, maroon
morocco label. Some rubbing, some light browning and spotting of text, mostly at
the front and back. With the signature of Henry Savage Thacher of Concord, N. H.,
Jany 1817 on the endpaper. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 10065; Todd 5W; Stauffer, pp. 76-7, portrait is number 721 and in the second
state listed, that with the spelling “Burke.”
Popular work first published in 1756. It is said to have influenced Lessing and attracted
the attention of the German aesthetic school. Burke’s writing describes “anything
capable of exciting the idea of pain and danger” as a source of the sublime and that
beauty is the “property which causes love (as distinct from desire;) and that it consists in
relative smallness, smoothness, absence of angularity and brightness of colour” (Oxford
Companion).
$450
35
BURKE, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain
Societies in London relative to that Event. In a Letter intended to have been sent to a Gentleman
in Paris. [4], 196 pp. 12mo, London: Printed; New York: Re-printed by Hugh Gaine, at the
Bible, in Hanover-Square, 1791. First American edition. The first edition was published
the first of November 1790. Later printed wrappers. Some light offsetting or browning,
staining in the lower margin of several pages at the back, else an excellent copy. In a
green cloth open-end case. PMM 239 (first edition); Evans 23238.
M. Dupont, Burke’s friend, had requested Burke’s opinion on the French revolutionary
movement, apparently assuming that the response would be encouraging. The
16 | james cummins bookseller
Reflections carried his response and comments, which he intended as a warning for those
of the English who were in agreement with the revolutionary policies and especially
to the Revolutionary Society and the Constitutional Society. He spent a year writing
the work and within a year of its publication it had been through eleven editions. Its
reception was mixed, the King liked it, the Whigs, being pro-Revolutionary didn’t, and
the nation generally looked at the Revolution with a more critical eye. As time proved
his warnings correct he was credited with being somewhat of a prophet. There were
several written responses, including Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man.
$500
36
BURKE, Edmund. The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. 4 vols. 8vo, Boston:
Published by John West and O. C. Greenleaf, 1806-7. First American edition from the
last London edition. The first collected edition of Burke’s works was published in
London by Dodsley in 1792 in three volumes followed by five additional volumes over
1802 through 1827. Original orange paper-backed blue boards, uncut. Heads of spines
chipped, some short tears along joints, rubbing, some spotting of boards, some spotting
or browning of text, mostly of fore-edges. A very good copy in the original boards. In
brown cloth open cases. Todd 79i.
$1,750
catalogue 128 | 17
37
BURKE, Edmund. The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. 6 vols. 8vo, Boston:
Published by John West and O. C. Greenleaf [vols I-IV]; New York: Published by
Eastburn, Kirk and Co., and West and Richardson, and Oliver C. Greenleaf, Boston
[C. S. Van Winkle, Printer, New York] [vols V-VI], 1806-1813. First American edition
from the last London edition. Expanded with the two later volumes. Contemporary
sheep, morocco labels, slight variation in bindings on last two volumes. Rubbed, some
chipping, some light browning and spotting of text, endpapers and adjacent leaves
browned. A very nice copy with the signature of J. Abbot in the fourth volume. In
brown cloth open-end cases. Todd 79i.
Volumes V and VI with additional titles for Volumes IX and X, according to Todd
“apparently in anticipation of an expanded edition.”
$750
38
[BURNEY, Frances, Madame D’Arblay]. Camilla: or, A Picture of Youth. By the author
of Evelina and Cecilia. 5 vols. 12mo, New York: Printed by John Bull, 1797. Second (?)
American edition, one of three published in 1797. Contemporary tree calf, red and blue
morocco labels. Small wormhole along lower joint of first volume, some rubbing, lower
corner of N6 cut away with loss of portions of eight lines of text, some light browning
or soiling, mostly of endpapers, else a very attractive set with the contemporary
signature of Cornelius Bogert of Quincy on the titles and bookplate of David Ritzema
Bogert in first volume. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 31745. For
the first edition: Rothschild 550.
In 1797 there were three editions of this work published in America; this edition is
listed in Shipton & Mooney following that of Manning & Loring for Hall in Boston
and preceding an edition of five volumes in three published in Philadelphia by
Ormrod & Conrad, 1797. The introduction by the American publisher John Bull is
dated 1 December 1796. The first edition of this work was 1796. Closely follows the
text of the London edition with an exception, according to the note on the Author’s
“Advertisment” leaf by the American publisher: “Here follows in the London edition, a
long list of Subscribers, engrossing about forty pages …” which he has not included in
the American edition.
$600
39
BURNEY, Fanny. Evelina: or a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World. 2 vols. 224; 226 pp.
12mo, Worcester, Mass: Printed … by Thomas, Son & Thomas, for Thomas, Andrews
& Penniman, Booksellers, State Street Albany, August 1796. First Worcester edition and
the second American edition, after the very rare 1792 first American, of which Shipton
& Mooney record “only Vol I known.” Contemporary sheep, maroon morocco labels,
numbers in gilt on spine. Some rubbing, small chipping of heads of spines, tear on page
65 into text without loss of text in second volume which is also lacking lower endpaper,
browned, offsetting, some staining but a very good copy in open-faced brown cloth
case. Shipton & Mooney 29996, variant title of 29995.
$450
18 | james cummins bookseller
40
BURNS, Robert. Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Small 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed
for, and sold by Peter Stewart and George Hyde, 1788. First American edition, predating
M’Lean’s New York edition by a few months. First published in 1786. Contemporary
tree sheep, red morocco gilt label. Rubbed, joints worn, some chipping of spine, dent in
label, some browning of text, signature of A. Mayo or Mayr on title, that of Josephine
Mayo or Mayr on endpapers, bookplate of Dr. William Fitzhugh Jr. In a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Colby Library Quarterly, p. 234 (which incorrectly lists the
NY edition first ); Egerer 5; Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions,
p. 11; Grolier, English 61; Shipton & Mooney 20991. For the first edition: Egerer 1; PMM
231; Rothschild 555; Grolier, English 61.
$850
41
BURTON, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy, what it is, with all the kinds, causes,
symptoms, Prognostics and Several Cures of It. In Three Partitions … by Democritus Junior.
2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: T. Wardle, 1836. First American, from the thirteenth English
edition, corrected. First edition was published in 1621. Nineteenth-century half green
morocco, spines gilt. Some rubbing and light wear, some spotting of text. In a green
cloth open-end case. With the signature of G. W. Haven on half title. Grolier, English
18. For the first edition of 1621: PMM 120; Grolier, English 18; Church 210; Pforzheimer
119; Grolier, Langland to Wither 30.
$150
42
BURY, Richard Aungervile de. Philobiblion, A Treatise on the Love of Books … with the
Literal English Translation of John B. Inglis. Collated and Corrected with Notes by Samuel
Hand. Latin and English text on facing pages. 8vo, Albany: Joel Munsell, 1861. First
American edition, limited to 230 copies, from the 1832 translation of John B. Inglis.
The first printed edition published in 1473 and the first English edition in 1599. Original
brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Head and tail of spine worn, some light rubbing
elsewhere, light marginal browning, else an excellent copy of this rare book with the
signature of Charles Evans 1878, the noted bibliographer, on the title.
The first book on the love of books by the great English book collector Richard
Aungrville, known as Richard de Bury. With the biographical, bibliographical and
critical prefaces with notes from the French translation by M. Cocheris, first published
in 1856, translated into English and added to this edition.
$300
43
BUTLER, Samuel. Hudibras, in Three Parts: Written in the Time of the Late Wars. With
Annotations and a Complete Index. 12mo, Troy, N.Y.: Printed and sold at the Rensselaer
Book-Store, by Wright, Goodenow & Stockwell, 1806. First American edition.
Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco label. Rubbed, portion of lending library label
on pastedown from the Northfield Library with discreet markings, two leaves sprung,
some light browning and spotting, mostly marginal, in a leather-tipped brown cloth
catalogue 128 | 19
open-end case. Grolier, English 32; Shaw & Shoemaker 10078. For the first edition:
Church 211, 216, 219; Grolier, English 32; Grolier, Wither to Prior 126, 130 and 134;
Hayward 113.
While Smollett, Swift, Defoe and other English satirists had been popular for some
time, it was the publication of Hugh Henry Brackenridge’s Modern Chivalry” (1792-7)
which commenced the tradition of American satirical works and renewed the interest in
satires. Hudibras is a poetical satire on the hypocrisy and intolerance of the Puritans of
the Commonwealth set with a comic tone. It was first published in 1663, 1664 and 1678.
$300
44
CAESAR, Caius Julius. Quae Extant Interpretatione et Notis illustravit Johannes Godvinus,
Professor Regius, in usum Delphini. Folding frontispiece map and three other folding
engraved maps, only the last is signed, it is engraved by [William] Kneas[s]. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Ex officini Classica: Impensis W. Poyntell & Soc, 1804. First American
edition, from the best London edition, corrected, in this case the London Delphini
edition. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Some rubbing and scuffing, lower
joint cracking, front free endpaper removed, name mostly removed from title, text
browned especially at the front and back, errata leaf. In a leather-tipped brown cloth
open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 5971.
The intention of the Classic Press was to print a complete set of the Latin and Greek
classics, carefully edited from the best editions, in an affordable form for students. With
a frontispiece by William Kneass, Philadelphia engraver and the engraver and die sinker
at the United States Mint after Scott.
$300
45
CELLINI, Benvenuto. The Life of Benvenuto Cellini. A Florentine Artist. Containing a
variety of Curious and Interesting Particulars, relative to painting, sculpture and architecture;
and the History of His Own Time … translated from the original [Tuscan language] by
Thomas Nugent. 2 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia: Published by R. and T. De Silver, for sale in
Philadelphia by the Publishers, by M. Carey, Bradford and Inskeep and Moses Thomas;
in Baltimore by R. J. Coale, Neal and Wells and F. Lucas, Jun.; in Norfolk, by Caleb
Bonsal, 1812. First American edition. First published in 1730. Original blue printed
boards, uncut, title-page within ornamental border on upper covers, lower cover of
volume one with an advertisement for the “Improved Patent Binding” by Robert De
Silver and that of the second volume with an advertisement for Thomas De Silver,
Card Manufacturer. Tearing along joints, that of first volume separated, rubbed, some
offsetting and discoloration of text. In a grey cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker
25042.
$200
46
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de. The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don
Quixote. Translated from the Spanish … to which is prefixed, Some Account of the Author’s
Life by T[obias] Smollet [sic], M. D. 4 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia: Published by John Conrad
20 | james cummins bookseller
& Co.; M. & J. Conrad & Co., Baltimore; Rapin, Conrad, & Co., Washington City:
[vols. 2-4] Somervell & Conrad, Petersburg, Virginia; Bonsel, Conrad & Co., Norfolk.
R. Groff, Printer (vol. 1); S. C. Ustick, Printer (vol. 2); T. & G. Palmer, Printer (vol. 3);
A. & G. Way, Printer (vol. 4), 1803. First American edition. Smollett’s translation was
first published in 1755 in two volumes. Contemporary calf, burgundy morocco label.
Rubbing, mostly of extremities, some surface worming, upper joint of second volume
starting, some browning of text and endpapers, especially endpapers of the second
volume, with the signature of Asa Alden, Calais, in each volume and a note in the
first volume which reads “Calais Library price 50 cts.” In a brown cloth open-end case.
Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions, p. 12-13 which notes that
“perhaps the publisher was in a hurry to get it out because each of the four volumes has
a different printer;” Shaw & Shoemaker 3948-51. PMM 111 for the first edition of 1605,
1615.
The influence of the satirical style of Cervantes and others appears in American
literature most recognizably in the writings of Hugh Henry Brackenridge with his
Modern Chivalry (1792-7.) This work “marked the beginning of an authentic American
satiric tradition.” (Nye, Cultural Life in the New Nation, p. 254). As a literature, the
influence of Spanish culture was most evident beginning in the 1820s and in the works
of Bryant, Longfellow, Irving and others. “Begun as a simple satire on the tedious
chivalric romances of the time [it] broadened into a sweeping panorama of Spanish
society” (PMM).
$3,750
catalogue 128 | 21
47
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de. The History of the Ingenious Gentleman, Don
Quixote of La Mancha; Translated from the Spanish by Motteux. A New edition with copious
Notes and an Essay on the Life and Writings of Cervantes by John G. Lockhart. 4 vols. 8vo,
Boston: Little, Brown and Company [Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company;
Stereotyped by Stone and Smart], 1854. First American edition of Lockhart’s edition of
Peter Anthony Motteux’ translation. The first edition of Motteux’ translation was 1700,
the first of Lockhart’s edition was 1822. Original green cloth, blind stamped decoration,
lettered in gilt. Some rubbing, fraying of extremities, some light browning of text, a few
gatherings in the second volume sprung, some creasing at the back of the third volume.
In a cloth open-end case. With the signature of Mrs. H. H. Warren of Rochester on the
endpapers.
An exact reprint of the Lockhart edition published in five volumes in Edinburgh in 1822.
$150
48
CHAPTAL [DE CHANTELOUP], Jean Antoine Claude, Comte. Elements of
Chemistry. Translated from the French [by William Nicholson]. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed
by Lang & Ustick, for Selves, M. Carey, J. Crukshank, H. & P. Rice, T. Dobson, R.
Campbell, & J. Ormrod, 1796. First American edition. The first edition of Elémens de
chimie was published in 1790 and the first edition of Nicholson’s translation was in 1791.
Contemporary calf, red morocco label. Some rubbing, wax residue, small wormholes
on spine, some light spotting and browning of text, but a nice copy. The original
purchaser’s notations on the endpaper: “Jacob Outwater, Ejus Liber, Pretium 3 Dollrs.
Bought at Sam. Campbells, Pearl Street, New York Annon Domini 1796.” His signature
is also on the title-page. In a marbled open-end case. Clarkin 258; DSB III, p. 203; Gaskill
no. 28; Shipton & Mooney 30183; Duveen, p. 129 and Partington II, pp. 557-560 for the
first edition.
Chaptal’s contributions to chemistry are numerous. Beside this text and his Chimie
Appliquée aux Arts, his principle works, he set up the first French factory for the
commercial production of sulphric acid and encouraged the productions of heavy
chemicals; he was a strong adherent for the implementation of the metric system of
weights and measures and was instrumental in setting up a society of industries and
school of arts. He was also one of the first adherents to Lavoisier’s doctrine of antiphlogiston. This copy, as usual, has page 451 misnumbered 551 and has pages 655 through
664 ommited. The text is complete.
$500
49
CHASTELLUX, François Jean, Marquis de. Travels in North America, in the years 178081-82 … Translated from the French by an English Gentleman. With notes by the translator [J.
Kent.] Also a biographical sketch of the author; Letters from Gen. Washington to the Marquis
de Chastellux: and Notes and Corrections by the American editor. 8vo, New York: White,
Gallaher & White, 1827. First American edition. This edition published from the English
translation first published in 1787. First published in an unauthorized edition in 1785 and
an authorized edition in 1786. Cloth-backed blue boards, printed paper label, uncut.
22 | james cummins bookseller
Minor discoloration of binding, else a fine copy in a brown cloth open-end case. Howes
C324, stating “In its completed form constituted the first trustworthy record of life in
the United States;” Rink, Technical Americana 381; Sabin 12230.
Sabin quotes the “Monthly Review” which says that the work is “a heterogeneous
and multifarious account of everything that caught the lively traveller’s eager eye and
minute attention; and, as nothing escaped his active investigation, his work abounds
not only with observations which are of importance, but with details of even the most
trifling incidents … The translator is, in political principles, a violent American, and, as
such, he gives to the national reputation of poor old England many a stab, and to that
of her troops no quarter.”
$300
50
CHESELDEN, William. The Anatomy of the Human Body. 40 copperplate engravings.
[2], v, [1], 350, [2] pp. 8vo, Boston: Printed by Manning & Loring, for J. White, S. Hall,
Thomas & Andrews, D. West, W. Spotswood, E. Larkin, J. West, and the Proprietor
of the Boston Bookstore, 1795. First American edition. The first edition was published
in 1713. Sheep. Rebacked, some rubbing, some browning, staining and spotting of
leaves, especially of endpapers, stamp of Henry M. Beekman on endpapers, lower free
endpaper removed. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Austin 453; Blake, p.
86; Evans 28413. For the first edition: Garrison and Morton 390; Russell, British Anatomy
148; Wellcome II, p. 335; Chouland, p. 261; Cushing C205 (for Boston 1806 edition).
Cheselden was the leading British surgeon of the first half of the eighteenth century.
In 1752 James Lloyd “introduced Cheselden’s method of flap amputation and is said to
have been the first surgeon to perform lithotomy in Boston” (Packard, F. R. History of
Medicine in the United States). Cheselden’s influence was great and among his American
students he numbered Thomas Bulfinch and Thomas Cadwalader, who both became
eminent in the field of American medicine.
$500
51
CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Fourth Earl of. The Elements of a Polite
Education. Carefully Selected from the Letters of the late Right Honorable Philip Dormer
Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to his Son. By George Gregory. Revised and Improved by Jedidiah
Morse. 12mo, Boston: Printed for Joseph Bumstead and Sold by Him, By Thomas and
Andrews; E. and S. Larkin; W. Pelham; Wm. P. and L. Blake and C. Bingham, 1801.
First American edition of this selection. The first edition of the Letters was in 1774 and
the first edition of Gregory’s version was published in 1800. Contemporary sheep, red
morocco label. Rubbed, some browning of text, free endpapers removed, stamp on
title, some wear to edges, mostly at the back. Shaw & Shoemaker 299.
Chesterfield’s Letters to his Son contained some advice, especially those relating to
women, which were not considered suitable for the general reader. To encourage a
larger following the letters were carefully selected so as to include only those providing
instructions on moral and “polite” education.
$100
catalogue 128 | 23
52
CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Fourth Earl of. Letters written by the Late
Right Honorable Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to his son, Philip Stanhope,
Esq…Together with His Lordship’s Life and an Account of his Son; The Art of Pleasing; an
additional Series of Letters; Some Poems and Several Other Pieces on Various Subjects. 7, [3],
xxiii, [1], 460; 620 pp. 2 vols. 8vo, Boston; Newburyport: Printed for John Boyle and
John Douglass M’Dougall; Printed by John Mycall for John Boyle and J. D. M’Dougall
of Boston, 1779. Second American edition. Disparate contemporary sheep, three-eights
difference in height of text. Rubbed, labels damaged, joints on first volume restored,
head and tail of spine torn on same volume, endpapers removed, typical browning,
spotting and offsetting, staining in second volume, short tears, generally not affecting
legibility, else a very good copy in a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney
16534, 16535.
Chesterfield’s Letters was first published in London in 1774, where it immediately
attained popularity, going into five editions within a year. It appeared in America in
1775, published in four volumes by Rivington and Gaine in New York and was also a
success here even though its appearance both in London and New York drew criticism.
Abigail Adams is noted as having said that Chesterfield’s Letters encouraged “immoral,
pernicious and Libertine principals in the mind of a youth.”
The letters had been written to Chesterfield’s natural son and their worldliness and
comments on sexual relations and women, as well as some question regarding his
relations with Samuel Johnson and other factors, attracted disapproval.The Irish
presbyterian minister William Crawford’s work, Remarks on the late Earl of Chesterfield’s
Letters to his Son, 1776, and that of the English author and vicar Thomas Hunter,
Reflections, Critical and Moral on the Letters of the Late Earl of Chesterfield, 1776, were
among the most noteworthy responses. Many of the later editions were abridged due to
the bulk of the work as well as the questionable nature of some of its contents. In the
eighteenth century there were only two editions of the full work published in America,
the 1775 Rivington and Gaine edition and this 1779 second American edition.
$300
53
CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Fourth Earl of. The Life of the Late Earl
of Chesterfield: or, The Man of the World. Including His Lordship’s principal Speeches in
Parliament; his most admired Essays in the Paper called the World; his Poems; and the Substance
of the System of Education delivered in a Series of Letters to His Son. iv, 388 pp. 8vo, London,
Printed: Philadelphia, Re-Printed: for John Sparhawk, 1775. First American edition.
Contemporary full mottled calf, with red leather spine label. Booklabel of Joseph
Holmes. Some staining, but a very attractive copy. In half brown morocco slipcase.
Signed on ffep “Joseph Holmes/ Book Bot./ Philadelphia/ May 26th 1776 10p/ Earl of
Chesterfields Life” with notes at back. Signature on front pastedown of “James Maund
of Frederick County and state of Virginia.”
$1,250
24 | james cummins bookseller
54
CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Fourth Earl of. Principles of Politeness,
and of Knowing the World. By the Late Lord Chesterfield. Methodized and digested under
distinct Heads, with Additions by the Rev. Dr. John Trusler: containing Every Instruction
necessary to complete the Gentleman and Man of Fashion; to teach him a Knowledge of life,
and Make him well received in All Companies. To which is now first Annexed A Father’s legacy
to his Daughters: by the late Dr. Gregory. 12mo, Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Printed
by Melcher and Osborne, 1786. The first American combined edition. Contemporary
sheep-backed blue boards. Extremities worn, tail of spine torn away, corners rounded,
some browning and spotting of text, generally light and marginal. In a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 20003.
Fourth American edition of Principles, but the first edition printed in America to
contain both of these classic works of instructions for young women and men. The
first American edition of Gregory’s A Father’s Legacy was published in New York in 1775,
the first of Principles in 1778 in Philadelphia. The first edition of Trusler’s work was
published in 1775 and Gregory’s work was first published in 1774.
$75
55
CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Fourth Earl of. Principles of Politeness,
and of Knowing the World; by the late Lord Chesterfield. Methodised and digested under distinct
Heads. With Additions, by the Rev. Dr. John Trusler: Containing every Instruction necessary to
complete the Gentleman and Man of Fashion, to teach him a knowledge of life, and make him
well received in all Companies. For the Improvement of Youth. 24mo, Norwich: Printed and
Sold by John Trumbull, 1785. The third American edition. Trusler’s “Principles” selected
from Chesterfield’s Letters Trusler’s edition was first published in 1775. Contemporary
sheep. Some rubbing, surface worming on covers, front pastedown, publisher’s
advertisements serving as lower pastedown, text browned, thumbed, some marginal
tears. With the stamp of the Wilson collection and contemporary signature of Orramel
H. Fitch on the endpapers. In a brown cloth open-end case. Colby Library Quarterly, p.
252; Shipton & Mooney 19258.
$250
56
CICERO, Marcus Tullus. M. T. Cicero’s Cato Major, or His Discourse of Old-Age: With
Explanatory Notes. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed & sold by B. Franklin, 1744. First American
edition of Cicero’s Cato Major and the first American translation. It is the first edition
of this translation. This is a copy of the second issue with “only” correctly spelled
on page 27. Contemporary sprinkled calf, gilt ruled. Some rubbing, joints worn but
stitching firm, title printed in red and black, Sever’s signature on title, else a fine copy.
In a red morocco-backed folding box. Church 949; Clarkin 347; Hildeburn 868; Library
Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions, p. 18; Miller 347; Sabin 13040;
Shipton & Mooney 5361.
Rare in a contemporary binding. With a contemporary inscription of the original
purchaser: “William Sever’s Bot January the 14th 1744/45” on the endpaper and signed
“W. W. Sever 1815.” “Probably the finest production of Franklin’s press and really a
catalogue 128 | 25
splendid specimen of the art … It is doubtless, the second classic author translated
and printed in North America” (Sabin). Dr. James Logan, Franklin’s benefactor and
friend, had translated this work some years before for his friend Isaac Norris. Franklin
recognized its value and convinced Logan to allow him to print it. On the “Printer to
the Reader” leaf Franklin writes that he convinced Logan “as I believed it to be in itself
equal at least, if not far preferable to any other Translation of the same Piece extant in
our Language, besides the Advantage it has of so many valuable Notes, which at the
same time they clear up the Text, are highly instructive and entertaining.” He printed an
edition of one thousand copies in a large clear type.
$12,500
26 | james cummins bookseller
57
[CLARKSON, Thomas]. An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species,
particularly the African, translated from a Latin Dissertation, … with additions. xvi, [2], [21]155, [1, ads] pp. 8vo, London, Printed: Philadelphia: Reprinted by Joseph Crukshank,
1786. First American edition. Published the same year as the first edition. Disbound,
stitched. Some tears along spine, browning and spotting of text. With the signature of
Thomas Shoemaker on the title. Kress B1028; Library Company of Philadelphia Negro
History 1553-1903 46 (for the first edition); PMM 232; Sabin 13484; Shipton & Mooney 19561;
Work, p. 258.
Clarkson (1760-1846), along with William Wilberforce and Granville Sharp, was
instrumental in convincing the British public and Parliament of the moral necessity of
abolishing the slave trade. Clarkson’s work galvanized a small group of abolitionists,
though they were without political clout until Wilberforce, an MP, publicly took up the
cause a year later. A motion for abolition, championed in Parliament by Wilberforce,
was defeated in 1791. Not until 1807 did Parliament pass the act abolishing the slave
trade.
$2,500
58
COKE, Sir Edward. The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England; or, a
Commentary upon Littleton, Not the Name of the Author only, but of the Law Itself … revised
and corrected, with additions of Notes, References and Proper Tables by Francis Hargrave and
Charles Butler … including also the Notes of the Lord Chief Justice Hale and Lord Chancellor
Nottingham: and an Analysis of Littleton, written by an unknown Hand in 1658-9. To which
are now added, considerable improvements by Thomas Day, Esq. 3 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Published by Johnson and Warner, and Samuel R. Fisher, Jr, 1812. First American edition,
from the sixteenth European edition. First published in 1628. Contemporary calf,
morocco labels. Rubbed, upper joint of third volume cracking, others tender, endpaper
of second volume torn, browning of some text, variations in papers, with the signature
and stamp of N. J. Wyeth on all volumes (possibly Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, the explorer
of the northwest). In a cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 25106; HLC I, 413;
Marvin 204; NYU 35. For the first edition: PMM 126.
Coke’s Institutes were originally published in four parts. This first part was intended to
be used as a law student’s first text and included explanations. In an effort to emphasize
the importance of the study of legal origins, Coke clarified, commented and translated
Littleton’s treatise on tenures. Prior to this the information had to be searched for from
a number of sources. Its influence was great, both on subsequent writers of law and
those who used the texts. To the American edition a list of the cases cited is at the front
of the third volume and a separate index to the cases is listed at the end of volume
three. “The Institutes is a disorderly, pedantic, masterful work in which the common
thread is a national dogmatism, tenacious of its continuous self-perpetuating life. With
it the lawyers fought the battle of the constitution …” (PMM)
$350
catalogue 128 | 27
59
[COLQUHOUN, Patrick]. A Treatise on the Police of London; containing a Detail of the
Various Crimes and Misdemeanors by which Public and Private Property and Security are, at
present, injured and endangered: and suggesting Remedies for their Prevention. By a Magistrate.
Folding table, directions to the binder on verso of half-title, giving instructions for
inserting folding table. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for Benjamin Davies by Henry
Sweitzer, 1798. First American edition. The first edition appeared in London in 1796.
Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco label. Some skilful repair of upper joint and top
of spine, some rubbing, some browning and spotting of text, generally light. Leathertipped brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 33538.
Colquhoun’s intent was to bring to the attention of the populace and government
the inadequacy of the police system as it stood and to put forth recommendations for
remedying the situation. His work received great recognition and attention and brought
about changes in the system.
$300
60
COMENIUS, Johann Amos. Orbis Sensualium Pictus: hoc est Omnium Principalium in
Mundo Rerum, et in Vita Actionum, Pictura & Nomenclatura … Comenius’s Visible Works: or
a Nomenclature and Pictures of all the chief Things that are in the World … Translated into
English by Charles Hoole. Woodcut illustrations. 213 pp. 12mo, New York: Printed and
sold by T. & J. Swords, 1810. First American from the twelfth London edition, corrected
and enlarged. First published in 1659. Contemporary tree sheep, green morocco
label. Rubbed, some wear to head of spine, some light browning or spotting of text,
signatures of Horatio N. Joy of Geneva, 1828 and H. H. Ballard 1896. In a leather-tipped
marbled open-end case. PMM 139 for the first edition of 1654; Shaw & Shoemaker
198817; not in Welch; not in Rosenbach.
This was the “first European schoolbook based on the principle of … visual education”
(PMM). There is apparently some evidence that such was the influence of this work
that when both were in England in 1641 John Winthrop Jr. approached the Moravian
educator to head Harvard (Cremin, American Education). The original version was a
classic text for students to learn Latin.
$150
61
(COOK, Captain James) Hawkesworth, John. A New Voyage round the World, in the
Years 1768, 1769, 1770 and 1771; undertaken by Order of his present Majesty, performed by
Captain James Cook in the Ship Endeavour, drawn up from his own Journal and from the
Papers of Joseph Banks. Frontispiece plate of “A Dramatic Interlude & Dance given by
the Indians of Ulietea performed by two Women & Six men with three drums “ in first
volume, engraved by Paul Revere, that of second volume showing “A new Zealand
Warriour in his proper Dress and compleatly Armed/ Two natives of New Holland,
Advancing to Combat” also by Revere, folding map “protracted by B. Romans”; 18
page subscribers list, sorted according to location, including subscribers in Antiqua and
Jamaica. 2 vols. 8vo, New York: Printed by James Rivington, 1774. First American edition,
work first published in 1773. The first issue contains 17 pages of subscribers, covering
28 | james cummins bookseller
the several colonies, Canada and the West Indies, and consisting of 668 names. It is
one of the longest lists in any American book before the Revolution. Ours, a varying
issue, otherwise identical throughout, contains an additional list of 47 subscribers
on the reverse of page 17 with additional subscribers from New Haven and Antigua.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco labels. Most of label on second volume lacking,
some rubbing and scuffing, short crack along upper joint, some browning and offsetting
of text, front free endpaper loose, in a brown cloth folding box. With the engraved
armorial bookplate of Joseph Dart on endpapers. Beddie 656; Shipton & Mooney 13324
(for the first issue); Stauffer, nos. 2684 and 2685; Brigham, pp. 76-8, 102-5; Sabin 30936;
Streeter IV, 2407; Holmes 9; Wheat & Brun 1.
A very attractive copy of Cook’s first voyage. Brigham cited the advertisement in the
October 20, 1774 issue of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer which states “These books
were printed upon a paper fabricated by Mr. Christopher Leffingwell, of Norwich
in Connecticut with ink made at Boston, and every part of the labour effected by
inhabitants of New York.” The price of 12 shillings half bound and 16 shillings full
bound and lettered for the two volumes is also given in the advertisement.
The map, designed and engraved by Bernard Romans, shows the course of Cook’s
voyage, as well as Bougainville’s — it is the first world map published in the Americas
$20,000
catalogue 128 | 29
62
COWPER, William. The Task, A Poem in Six Books. To Which is Added Tirocinium
or, A Review of Schools … A New Edition. [6], 186; 32, [2] pp., with half-titles. The leaf
separating the two books not present. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for Thomas Dobson
Bookseller, 1787. First American edition. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label
reading “Task &c.” Lower portion of upper joint wormed with resultant crack, a few
small drop marks on upper cover, light rubbing or wear to spine, upper portion of front
free endpaper cut away, 1851 signature of Abby Humphreys of Conway, some light
spotting and offsetting, flower stain on pp. 66-7, marginal pencil marks and occasional
underlining (especially towards the back). Very good. Evans 20304; Russell ix; Grolier,
English 60.
The Task’s Calvinistic moral tone, as well as its quotability, made the poem very popular.
among Americans. While the literary critics were not so quick to appreciate The Task,
the American reading public’s response was similar to that of Franklin. In a letter to
Cowper he writes that “the relish for the reading of poetry had long since left me, but
there is something so new in the manner, so easy and yet so correct in the language,
so clear in the expression, yet concise, and so just in the sentences, that I have read the
whole with great pleasure, and some of the pieces more than once.”
$500
63
CRABBE, George, Rev. Poems. 8vo, Philadelphia: Published by Bradford & Inskeep
[Printed by Robert Carr], 1808. Second American edition, Philadelphia issue.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Some rubbing of joints and extremities, some
browning and spotting of text. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 14794.
The first American edition appeared the year before from the same publisher. Shaw
& Shoemaker list an 1808 New York imprint as well. Appearances in New York and
Boston or Philadelphia of the same sheets with variant title-pages often occurred with
publications printed by Carr. Contains “The Village,” “The Parish Register,” “The
Library,” “The Newspaper,” “The Birth of Flattery,” “Reflections upon the Subject,” “Sir
Eustace Grey,” “The Hall of Justice,” and “Woman.”
$100
64
CRUDEN, Alexander. A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments: or, a Dictionary and Alphabetical Index to the Bible … to which is added, A
Concordance to the Books Called Apocrypha. Frontispiece portrait engraved by W[illiam]
Kneass. Large 4to, Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Kimber, Conrad, and Co …, 1806.
First American edition. The first edition was published in 1738. Contemporary calf, red
morocco label. Upper joint cracked, stitching firm, title and endpapers quite browned,
elsewhere some browning or staining of leaves, mostly light and marginal, subscriber’s
list with some 277 subscribers. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 10233.
$100
30 | james cummins bookseller
65
DANTE ALIGHIERI. The First Ten Cantos of the Inferno. Newly translated into English
Verse [by Thomas William Parsons]. Frontispiece portrait by D[avid] C[laypool] Johnston
after a bust of Dante. 8vo, Boston: William D. Ticknor, 1843. First edition of this
translation and the first American translation of any length of Dante. Cloth-backed
boards, printed paper label (chipped). Some rubbing and discoloration of boards,
spotting of endpapers, some light offsetting of frontispiece and light spotting or
browning of text, mostly along gutters, else interior quite clean. In a brown cloth openend case. BAL 15518.
Inscribed on the half-title “To Ward Nicholas Boylston Esq. M. D. with the regards of
the Translator Sept. 1, 1848.” The engraver is often called “The American Cruikshank.”
$250
66
DANTE ALIGHIERI. The Vision; or Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Translated by the Rev.
Henry Francis Cary. Frontispiece in first volume by T[homas] Underwood engraved
by G[eorge] S. Lang, that of second volume engraved by W[illiam] Woodruff. 2 vols.
24mo, Philadelphia: Published by Samuel F. Bradford, for John Laval, Philadelphia:
James Eastburn, New York; and Charles Ewer and Timothy Bedlington, Boston.
M’Carty & Davis, Printers (vol. 1) William Brown, Printer (vol. 2), 1822. First American
edition of Cary’s translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. It was first published in 1814.
Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, brown morocco labels. Rubbed, portion
of front free endpaper excised, some light spotting and browning of text. Brown cloth
open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 8501; PMM 8 for the 1472 “La Commedia;” NCBEL
2:192 for the Cary translation.
Volumes VI and VII of The Works of the British Poets, with Lives of the Authors. Edited by
Robert Walsh Jr. Lang’s signed work is scarce according to Stauffler, the assumption being
that he had gone into bank note work. Underwood is best known for his bank note
engraving.
$450
67
DEFOE, Daniel. The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe … As Also,
A Relation how he was Wonderfully delivered by Pirates. The whole three volumes faithfully
abridged. 12mo, Boston: Printed by I. Thomas and E. T. Andrews, 1794. Early American
edition of the larger abridged version of this work. The full work first published in
1719. This edition was apparently printed from the 1722 abridged London edition.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label (chipped). Rubbed, small surface wormholes,
some browning and soiling of text, small hole on endpaper, a few gatherings sprung.
With the signatures of Samuel Reed 1801 and Selina K. Fletcher on endpapers. In a
brown cloth open-end case. Brigham 27; Shipton & Mooney 47024; Welch 275.27.
Several editions of Robinson Crusoe appeared on the American market, many in
chapbook form usually with less than 50 pages or in a shorter abridged version
averaging about 150 pages. This edition was apparently based upon the 1722 London
edition published by E. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth and others.
$350
catalogue 128 | 31
68
DODD, William, Rev. Thoughts in Prison: in Five Parts … To which are Added, his Last
Prayer, … and Other Miscellaneous Pieces. Small 4to, Boston: Printed by Robert Hodge,
[1783]. First American edition. The first edition was published in 1777. Contemporary
sheep. Rubbed, label lacking, browning and staining of text, some careful repair, short
marginal tears, p. 20 with signature of R. E. Jenkins and Adam Hubley Jr. on title. In a
brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 16261.
Dodd was an author and clergyman whose fancy living gave him the nickname
“the Macaroni Parson.” After some difficulties due to his behavior, he renewed his
acquaintance with his former pupil, now Lord Chesterfield, who presented him with
a living. Dodd, once again exceeded his income and in 1777 he offered a stockbroker
a forged bond in the name of Lord Chesterfield. This led to his imprisonment and
hanging. Prior to Dodd’s hanging, at the instigation of the Countess of Harrington and
Edmund Allen the printer, Johnson had agreed to attempt to assist Dodd. He wrote
most of The Convict’s address to his Unhappy Brethren. Delivered in the Chapel of Newgate, on
Friday, June 6, 1777 … To which is added His Genuine Speech to the Court previous to receiving
Sentence of Death, “several appeals and petitions for Dodd, as well as ‘Observations’
for the papers, including his famous appeal to the King for clemency” (Maggs, Samuel
Johnson 153). Adam Hubley (1740-1798) was a Pennsylvanian soldier, assemblyman and
afterwards state senator. The owner of this work may be this gentleman or his son.
$450
69
DODSLEY, Robert. Select Fables of Aesop and Other Fabulists. In Three Books. Containing
I. Fables from the Ancients. II. Fables from the Moderns. III. Original Fables Newly Invented by
Robert Dodsley. [Following the “Life” at the back is Six Oriental Stories Entertaining and
Instructive, with integral pagination]. Lacking 16 plates. [2], xxviii, [1], 30-162, [2], 163-371,
[1] pp. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Robert Bell, 1777. First American edition
of this collection. The first edition was published by Baskerville in 1761, the second in
1764, both illustrated with engraved plates and vignettes. Contemporary sheep, red
morocco label. Rubbed, head and tail of spine and corners chipped, small wormholes
on boards, rubbed, short crack along lower joint, some browning and staining of text,
short marginal tears. With the signatures of A. Adams and M. F. Morris on the half-title.
In a leather-tipped brick cloth open-end case. Rothschild 806 (first edition); Evans 15232;
Welch 19.1 calling for 16 engraved plates which are not present in this copy; Hildeburn,
C.R. Pennsylvania, 3542.
With a preface and “Life” from the French of M. de Méziriac. William Shenstone
advised and assisted Dodsley in the selection of the fables for inclusion. It is noted in
Rothschild that Shenstone “commented adversely on the cuts and emblematic prints”
and “procured a copy from Baskerville before the plates were inserted.” This copy
may have been sold to a person of similar tastes as it does not appear that the sixteen
plates which are called for in this work were ever present. In Edwin Pearson’s preface to
Bewick’s Select Fables of Aesop it is suggested that Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith were the
“authors” and Goldsmith, “the learned friend” mentioned (Newbigging, T. The Fables
and Fabulists, 1895, pp. 108-9).
$200
32 | james cummins bookseller
70
EDGEWORTH, Maria. Letters for Literary Ladies. To which is Added An Essay on the
Noble Science of Self Justification [bound after] The Modern Griselda. A Tale. 44, 46, 28,
[2, publisher’s advertisements]; 117, [1] pp. 12mo, George Town: Published by Joseph
Milligan, W. Cooper, Printer, 1810. First American edition of author’s first book and
first American edition of one of her popular novels. Contemporary sheep. Lacking
label, head of spine and upper joint chipped, short crack along upper joint, rubbed, ink
squiggles in margins on page 101, front free endpaper torn in lower corner, final blanks
for each work lacking, half-title of Letters lacking, some spotting and offsetting, light
browning, a few leaves loosened, creasing with a few pencilled remarks by the original
owner with her signatures, even so a very good copy of these rare works by this preeminent English novelist, in open-faced brown cloth case.
$500
71
[ENCYCLOPÆDIA]. Encyclopædia; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous
Literature; Constructed on a Plan, by which the Different Sciences and Arts are digested into
the Form of Distinct Treatises of Systems … The “finest group of American engravings of
the century” and as such signifying the “coming of age of American book illustration”
(Wroth). Illustrated with five hundred and forty-two copperplates engraved by Robert
Scott, James Thackara, E. Trenchard, the Smithers, John Vallance, James Akin, William
Barker, Joseph Bowles, Francis Shallus, Henry W. Weston, Joseph Seymour and others.
Leaves of illustration placement at the back of the volumes. 18 vols. 4to, Philadelphia:
Printed by Thomas Dobson, 1798. First edition of the first encyclopedia printed in
America, “greatly improved.” The text from the third edition of the “Encyclopedia
Britannica” with some revisions, including the section on “America” which was written
by Jedidiah Morse. Contemporary tree calf, citron morocco labels for title and black
morocco labels gilt for volume numbers. Rubbed, joints cracked on several volumes
but stitching firm, some chipping of labels especially those of volumes 10 and 18, spines
chipped on volumes 4, 11, 15 and 18, and waterstaining of lower covers and margins of
volumes 2 and 18. Some light browning or offsetting, the waterstaining in lower margins
of volume 18, but a very attractive copy of this work. In nine brown cloth open-end
boxes. With the contemporary printed booklabel of Joshua Davis in most volumes and
signature of Geo. P. Tyler. From the library of Norman Rockwell. Evans 22486; Library
Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions, p. 10; Rink, Technical Americana
116; Silver, The American Printer; Sabin 22555. PMM 218 for the first edition of the
Encyclopedia Britannica.
A landmark publication, not just the largest printing project undertaken in America at
the time, but one that marked “the end of printing in America as a household craft and
the beginning of its factory stage of development.” (Wroth, p. 294)
$7,500
72
ENFIELD, William. Institutes of Natural Philosophy, Theoretical and Practical … With
Some corrections; change in the Order of the Branches; and the Addition of An Appendix to
the Astronomical Part, selected from Mr. [Alexander] Ewing’s Practical Astronomy. By Samuel
catalogue 128 | 33
Webber. The Introduction to the First Principles of Chemistry, being made an Appendix. 15
folding engraved plates at the back, one signed by Gridley (some creasing, discoloration,
careful repairs and short marginal tears). 4to, Boston: Printed by Isaiah Thomas and
Ebenezer T. Andrews; sold at their bookstore; by Thomas, Andrews & Penniman,
Albany; and by Thomas, Andrew & Butler, Baltimore, Jan. 1802. First American edition
from the second London edition, with some corrections. The second London edition
being 1799, the first published in 1785. Contemporary sheep, covers ruled in blind. Head
and tail of spine skilfully repaired, new label, some browning, and soiling, mostly light,
signatures of William Pousey, 1809 and John Langdon on endpapers. In a leather-tipped
marbled open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker lists number 6253, an 1804 edition first.
According to the Advertisement for this American edition, “the principal object … was
to supply our Colleges with a book, which is held in so high estimation for the use of
Students in recitations to the Instructors … It was the opinion of the Rev. Dr. Willard,
President of Harvard College, and Professor Webber, that it would be a valuable
improvement in this part of Collegial Instruction to substitute Enfield’s Astronomy for
Ferguson’s, provided some additions were made, … particularly those relating to the
Calculation and Projection of Solar and Lunar Eclipses, including the necessary Tables.”
The Appendix was selected from Alexander Ewing’s Practical Astronomy published in
1797.
$150
73
EULER, Leonhard. An Introduction to the Elements of Algebra designed for the Use of those
who are Acquainted only with the First Principles of Arithmetic. Selected from the Algebra of
Euler. Errata leaf at back, half-title. Tall 8vo, Cambridge, N. Eng: Printed by Hilliard
an Metcalf at the University Press. Sold by W. Hilliard and by Cummings and Hilliard,
1818. First American edition. Written originally in German in two volumes, these
selections are taken from the first English edition with some corrections and correcting
of phraseology. Original cream paper-backed blue boards, printed paper label, uncut.
Some wear to spine and joints, light browning of text but a very attractive copy of this
work. With the pencilled signature of A. Abbot on pastedown. In a brown cloth openend case. Shaw & Shoemaker 43962.
Edited by John Farrar, Professor of mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the
University at Cambridge. Farrar is recognized for his having helped introduce and
make familiar to the American public European works on mathematics and astronomy,
especially those of Legendre and Bézout as well as Euler. He was known for his papers
on astronomy and meteorology as well as mathematics.
$150
74
FÉNELON, François de Salignac de la Mothe. The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of
Ulysses. From the French of Fenelon by the celebrated Jon. Hawkesworth Corrected & Revised by
G. Gregory. With a Life of the Author and a complete Index Historical and Geographical. Plates
engraved by Thomas Clarke of New York, engraved titles by [John] Roberts, that in the
first volume after Milns, the frontispiece plate of the “Two Basso-Relieves representing
Ulysses and Telemachus” in vol. 2 is engraved by Thomas Clarke with vignette by
34 | james cummins bookseller
[Peter] Maverick after Shepherd. Apparently lacking the plate “The Departure of
Ulysses” in vol. I. 2 vols. 8vo, New York: Printed by T. & J. Swords for David Longworth
[second volume reads Printed For & Published by David Longworth], [1797]. The
second American edition in English, preceded by the 1797 edition by Nancrede in
Boston. First published in 1699. Contemporary calf, red morocco labels. Worn, some
spotting and browning, mostly of endpapers, interior sound. Shipton & Mooney 32126.
Thomas Clarke, engraver, is best known for his work in the American Universal Magazine.
John Roberts was a painter and engraver known for his engraved scripts and miniatures.
Peter Maverick was known for his bank note and letter engraving. He produced
copperplates and later lithographs. Fenelon’s romantic prose-poem “may be said to
have inaugurated the novel of religious and political allusion of which the ‘philosophes’
made frequent use” (Oxford Companion).
$150
75
FÉNELON, François de Salignac de la Mothe. Fenelon’s Treatise on the Education of
Daughters: Translated from the French and Adapted to English Readers, with an Original
Chapter “On Religious Studies.” Translated by T[homas] F[rognall] Dibdin. Engraved
frontispiece drawn and engraved by G[ideon] Fairman after a design by I. J. Masquerier.
12mo, Albany: Printed and Published by Backus and Whiting, 1806. First American
edition. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Head and tail of spine chipped, joints
and extremities rubbed, joints starting, front free endpaper removed, marginal tears
and browning, endpapers browned. Leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 10402.
Fénelon’s Traité de l’éducation des filles was first published in 1687. It was written at
the request of the Duchess of Beauvilliers who had eight daughters and was the first
attempt to deal with this subject in a systematic manner. As such it was his most
influential work. Dibdin’s translation was first published in 1805.
$300
76
FERGUSON, James. Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles, and made easy
to those who have not studied Mathematics. To which are added, a Plain Method of Finding the
Distances of all the Planets from the Sun, by the Transit of Venus over the Sun’s Disc, In the year
1761: An Account of Mr. Horrox’s Observation of the Transit of Venus, in the year 1639: and of
the the Distances of All the Planets from the Sun, as deduced from observations of the Transit in
the year 1761. Folding frontispiece and 17 folding plates (frontispiece and plate 5 torn), one
plate signed by [Francis] Shallus and another by J. Ferguson (plates spotted, marginal
soiling and fraying). 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for and Published by Mathew Carey. For
Sale by John Conrad & Co. Samuel F. Bradford, W. W. Woodward, James Crukshank,
W. P. Farrand & Co. Kimber, Conrad & Co., Ronalds & Loudon, Bernard Dornin, P. A.
Mesier. Isaac Riley & Co, & Evert Duyckinck, 1806. First American edition from the last
London edition. First published in 1756. Contemporary calf. Rebacked, most of original
spine laid down, rubbed, some light browning and spotting of text. With the signature
of Lucia A. Woodward, a gift inscription from her to Alexander & Charles Wilkin. From
the science library of Robert B. Dunham with his signature. Shaw & Shoemaker 10405.
catalogue 128 | 35
This work was an “immediate and complete success … Astronomical phenomena were
for the first time described in familiar language” (DNB). It became the standard work
on the subject. This American edition added “Tables of the periodical times, distances,
magnitures and other elements, of all the planets, both primary and secondary, in the
solar system; according to the latest observations” and “a copious explanation of all
the principal terms in astronomy, chronology and astronomical geography, occuring
in the work, arranged in alphabetical order” (Preface, signed Philadelphia, Feb. 14,
1806). Interest in astronomy was strong in America and the College of Philadelphia
(later the University of Pennsylvania) was more serious about the sciences than many
institutions. Under the direction of William Smith, the College of Philadelphia set up
a system requiring students to devote a great deal of their time to scientific subjects.
Smith was closely involved with the American Philosophical Society and a benefactor
to David Rittenhouse. During these early years the American Philosophical Society
published more articles relating to astronomy than any other field. From 1767-1771
David Rittenhouse constructed his first orrery in Philadelphia which is considered to
be the first American constructed telescope. After the College of Philadelphia became
the University of the State of Pennsylvania (in 1779) Smith was replaced by John Ewing
who continued to support the study of the natural philosophies. It was at this time that
Robert Patterson joined the faculty. Both these men were very active in the scientific life
of Philadelphia (cf. Brooke Hindle, The Pursuit of Science in Revolutionary America). The
plates of the first edition were drawn by Ferguson, these are probably after those.
$350
77
FERGUSON, James. An Easy Introduction to Astronomy, for Young Gentlemen and Ladies.
Seven folding copperplate engravings, two signed by P[eter] Maverick and two
signed by Scoles (plate 5 repaired). Directions to the Binder leaf at the back. 12mo,
Philadelphia: Printed for Bernard Dornin, New York by William F. M’Laughlin, 1805.
First American from the seventh London edition. This was first published in 1768 under
the title The Young Gentleman’s and Lady’s Astronomy, familiarly explained in Ten Dialogues
between Neander and Eudosia. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Joints cracked,
rubbed, some surface worming, some browning or spotting of text, generally light,
endpapers browned, interior good. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker
8436.
This was one of Ferguson’s most popular books and the first of its type in presenting
the subject for a juvenile audience. The dialogues are between himself, as “Neander”
and Anne Emblim, afterwards Mrs. Capel Lofft, one of his pupils, as “Eudosia.”
$400
78
FERGUSON, Adam. The History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic.
From the Classic Press. 6 folding maps, that in the first volume is engraved by Marshall,
one of the maps in the second volume is signed by J[oseph] H. Seymour. 3 vols. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Printed for the Proprietors, Wm. Poyntell & Co., 1805. First American
edition. First published in 1783. Contemporary attractive tree sheep, red morocco labels.
Some worming of bindings, rubbing, offsetting and browning from maps, front free
endpaper in volume one loose. Shaw & Shoemaker 8435.
36 | james cummins bookseller
Seymour engraved numerous pieces for Isaiah Thomas, in 1803 removing to
Philadelphia where he remained until 1822. This work was Robertson’s only nonphilosophical work of importance. He was best known for his History of Civil Society
which traces the development of civilization. Friend of Hume and Smith, he was
one of the major figures of the Scottish enlightenment. The “impact of the Scottish
Enlightenment on colonial educational thought was absolutely pervasive, going far
beyond John Witherspoon and the College of New Jersey to touch every conceivable
realm of curricular substance and method” (Cremin, American Education, p. 378).
$150
79
[FIELDING, Sarah]. The Governess: or, Little Female Academy Being the History of
Mrs. Teachum, and Her Nine Girls. With their Nine Days Amusement calculated for the
Entertainment and Instruction of Young Ladies in their Education. By the Author of David
Simple. A New Edition. 16mo in 8s, Philadelphia: Printed by T. Dobson, 1791. First
American edition and only American edition of this work. This was first published in
London by Samuel Richardson on the 2nd January 1749. Original sheep. Joints carefully
repaired, new label, some light overall browning and soiling of text but an attractive
copy. In a brown cloth open-end case. Block, p. 74 (for the first edition); Colby Library
Quarterly, p. 239; Evans 23372; Welch 409; ESTC W12475.
“The first English novel written for children” (Battestin, Henry Fielding. A Life, p. 445). It
is also one of the earliest children’s storybooks. Based upon the author’s experiences at
Mary Rooke’s boarding school in the Close, Salisbury, where the four Fielding girls were
educated. Moral lessons are taught by the use of stories about young girls at school.
An excerpt from this work was earlier published in America by Mein and Fleeming in
Boston.
$1,500
80
FIELDING, Henry. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. 3 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia:
Printed for Jacob Johnson & Co. and Alexander M’Kenzie & Co, 1794-95. First American
edition of the complete work, having appeared several times previously in America
as a chapbook and in 1786 in abridged form. The first edition was published in 1749.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco gilt labels and black morocco volume number
labels. Some rubbing, label on second volume chipped, some gatherings sprung, halftitles, each volume with section of upper margin and, on last two volumes, the center
of the page cut away apparently to remove a name, on the third volume title a word is
affected, some browning and spotting of text, stamp of Harry C. Evans on endpapers.
In a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 26972 and 28671. For the first
edition: Cross III, 316-17; Rothschild 850.
$600
81
FROISSART, John. Chronicles of England, France, Spain and the Adjoining Countries, from
the latter part of the Reign of Edward II to the Coronation of Henry IV. Translated from the
French, with variations and additions … by Thomas Johnes. To which are prefixed a Life of the
catalogue 128 | 37
Author, An Essay on this Works and a Criticism on his History with an Original Introductory
Essay on the Character and Society of the Middle Ages. [Translated from the French of Jean
Baptiste de la Curne de Sainte-Palaye] By Rev. John Lord. Illustrated title engraved by
Lossing and illustrations throughout. 4to, New York: J. Winchester, n.d. [binding
dated 1844, NUC dated 1843?]. First American edition. The Johnes translation was first
published in 1803-5 at the Hafod Press (his own press). Contemporary [?publisher’s] half
morocco, spine gilt, gilt knight on upper cover. Some rubbing of bindings, stitchmarks,
browning and spotting of text, as usual for this paper, some wear along gutters at front,
blank at front repaired. Presented in 1845 for the Lawrence Price in the English High
School to F. N. Fogue of Boston with gift plate, gilt crest and inscription. In a leathertipped brown cloth open-end case.
Originally issued as 10 extra numbers of The New World edited by Park Benjamin with J.
Winchester, Publisher.
$350
82
GAY, John. Gay’s Fables. In One Volume Complete. 6 plates, unsigned. Small 12mo,
Philadelphia: Printed by Mathew Carey, 1808. First illustrated American edition
and second American edition following the Carey edition of 1794. First edition was
published in 1727-1738 in two parts. Early red morocco-backed marbled boards.
The marbled papers are printed checks, they show through on the lower cover.
Some rubbing of boards, spine restoration barely discernable, some browning and
discoloration of text, corner of endpaper torn, but a very good copy. In a leather-tipped
marbled and black cloth open-end case. Clarkin 560; Rosenbach 365; Shaw & Shoemaker
15090.
$300
83
GIBBON, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Frontispiece
portrait engraved by A[lexander] Lawson after Joshua Reynolds (trimmed along
lower margin affecting imprint); folding map of “Parts of Europe and Asia adjacent
to Constantinople,” other map removed and lacking. 8 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Published by William Y. Birch & Abraham Small, Printed by Robert Carr, 1804-5. First
American edition. First published in 1776-1788. Contemporary sheep, red morocco
label. Wormholes and trails on a few of the bindings, some rubbing, light browning of
text, even lacking the map a very attractive copy in two cloth open-end cases. Norton
48 (maps and portrait were bound in volumes one and two rather than as noted in
Norton). PMM 222 for the first edition.
Lawson engraved plates for the first volume of Wilson’s Ornithology and those in the
continuation by Bonaparte.
$600
84
[GIFFORD, John]. A Residence in France during the Years 1792, 1793, 1794, and 1795; described
in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French
Character and Manners. Prepared for the Press by John Gifford. 8vo, Elizabeth-Town: Printed
38 | james cummins bookseller
by Shepard Kollock for Cornelius Davis, 1798. First American edition. Contemporary
tree sheep, red morocco label. Rubbed, especially extremities, joints cracked, some
browning and spotting of text, mostly marginal, with signature of Mary E. Fitch on the
title and that of H. A. Smythe, Esq. New York City on the endpapers. Mac Carthy, B. G.
The Later Women Novelists 1744-1818, pp. 79-82; Shipton & Mooney 35030 and 33797.
The editor and probable author, John Gifford — whose name was actually John
Richards Green but changed after bankruptcy forced him to leave the country — wrote
a History of France in 1791-4, Reign of Louis XVI, a complete History of the French Revolution
in 1794, and numerous other “miscellaneous” pieces as well as translated French antirevolutionary pamphlets. This work is generally attributed to Helen Maria Williams
but as Janet Todd notes, in A Dictionary of British and American Woman Writers, Williams
is “Unlikely to have written [this work. even though], attributed to her, since its antirevolutionary tone is less in keeping with her sentiments than with those of John
Gifford, the ostensible editor.”
$350
85
GODWIN, William. Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on Morals and
Happiness. xvi, [1], 22-362; viii, 400 pp. 2 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed by Bioren and
Madan, 1796. First American from the second London edition, corrected. First published
in 1793. Contemporary calf, red morocco label. Some rubbing of binding, paste-over
along upper edge of title covering signature of Isaac Fletcher, half-titles, some browning
of text, generally light, but an attractive copy in a cloth open-end case. Kress B3134;
Shipton & Mooney 30493; PMM 243 and Rothschild 1016 for the first edition; Cohen 5765;
Adams, Radical Literature in America, p. 40.
The Enquiry “was one of the earliest, the clearest, and most absolute theoretical
expositions of socialist and anarchist doctrine. Godwin believed that the motives of all
human action were subject to reason, that reason taught benevolence and that therefore
all rational creatures could live in harmony without laws and institutions. Godwin’s
passionate advocacy of individualism, his trust in the fundamental goodness of man,
and his oppostion to all restrictions on liberty have endured” (PMM).
$1,500
86
GODWIN, William. Lives of the Necromancers. Or, an Account of the Most Eminent Persons
in Successive Ages, who have Claimed for Themselves, or to whom has been imputed by Others,
the Exercise of Magical Power. 12mo, New York: Published by Harper & Brothers and Sold
by the Principal Booksellers throughout the United States, 1835. First American edition.
The first edition was the year before. Original green cloth. Some fading and soiling of
cloth, rebacked with new label, title on a stub (?cancelled), signature of John S. Wright
on endpapers, some spotting and browning of text, mostly marginal. In a brown cloth
open-end case. NCBEL 2: 1250; Shaw & Shoemaker 31862.
$300
catalogue 128 | 39
87
GODWIN, William. Mandeville. A Tale of the Seveteenth Century in England. 2 vols. 12mo,
New York: Published by W. B. Gilley and C. Wiley and Co., C. S. Van Winkle, Printer,
1818. First American edition of his third novel. This was first published in three volumes
in Edinburgh and London in 1817. Contemporary sprinkled sheep, dark green morocco
labels. Some light rubbing and soiling, signature of C. Anderson of Westchester on halftitle, light browning and offsetting of text but a very nice copy of this popular novel by
the noted political writer. In a marbled paper open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 44168;
NCBEL 2:1250. For the first edition: Block, p. 85; NCBEL 2:1250; Summers, p. 398.
According to Summers, the story of Mandeville was taken from Joanna Baillie’s Hate.
The Gothic novel, as originated in England by Monk Lewis, Mrs. Radcliffe, Godwin,
Walpole and others, became a very popular style in America. The first major American
novelist who used this style was Charles Brockden Brown. Of this work Shelley wrote
“In style and strength of expression Mandeville is wonderfully great and the energy and
the sweetness of the sentiments are scarcely to be equalled.”
$400
88
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust: A Dramatic Poem. Translated into Englishprose, with Notes &c by A. Hayward, Esq. xxxi, 317 pp. 8vo, Lowell: Daniel Bixby. New
York: D. Appleton and Company, 1840. First American from the Third London edition.
Contemporary half green calf, spine gilt, marbled boards. Some rubbing, signature of
John S. Bake on the title. In a green leather-tipped cloth open-end case. Morgan 2726;
Shaw & Shoemaker 40-2667, citing 5 copies. PMM 298 for the 1834 edition.
German literature and culture was very popular in America during the early half of the
nineteenth century. American men of letters travelled to Germany and returned with
great admiration for many things German. In the early part of the century William
Dunlap had produced a great number of Kotzebue’s plays which introduced German
sentimental drama to the Americans. Goethe was also associated with the German
Romantics and the second part of Faust is an example of his “romantic” phase. In 1808
Goethe’s Faust, Der Tragödie erster Teil was published. Abraham Hayward’s translation
appeared in 1833, privately printed. It was well received and “Carlyle considered it the
best English version” (DNB).
$300
89
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von. Herman and Dorothea, A Poem. Translated by Thomas
Holcroft. Frontispiece of lyre. 12mo, Richmond, Virginia: Printed at the Enquirer
Press (T. Richtie), 1805. First American edition. The first edition of Hermann und
Dorothea was published in 1797, Holcroft’s translation was first published in London in
1801. Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco labels. Some rubbing, signature of W.
Churchwell. Shaw & Shoemaker 8540.
Set during the years following the French Revolution when the French were invading
Germany, the violence contrasting and offset by the simple romance and honesty of the
characters.
$300
40 | james cummins bookseller
90
GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Werter … A New Translation, revised
and Compared with all the Former Editions by Dr. [Samuel Jackson] Pratt. [iv], [1]-94; [iv], 97
pp. 2 volumes bound in 1. 12mo, Litchfield, [Connecticut]: Printed by Thomas Collier,
1789. Second American edition, with title-page of volume one dated MDXXXIX and the
second dated correctly MDCCLXXXIX. Contemporary calf, first title-page missing a
large portion at outside margin. Evans 21859; Sabin 87170; ESTC W29852
$300
91
GOETHE, [Johann Wolfgang von]. Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. A Novel, from the
German of Goethe [Translated by Thomas Carlyle]. xiv, 235; 203; 222 pp. 3 vols. 12mo, Boston:
Wells and Lilly-Court Street, 1828. First American edition. Contemporary quarter red
morocco and marbled boards. One head chipped.
The first American edition, translated by Thomas Carlyle, who was an important link
between German Romanticism and American Transcendentalism. In fact, Emerson
inscribed a copy of this very edition to Thoreau.
$1,500
92
GOLDSMITH, Oliver. An Abridgment of the History of England from the Invasion of Julius
Caesar, to the death of George the Second. By Dr. Goldsmith and Continued by an Eminent
Writer to the present Time. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for R. Campbell, 1795. First
American edition. The first edition of the abridgment appeared in 1774. Contemporary
sheep, maroon morocco label on spine, some rubbing and wear to extremities, some
browning and spotting of text, especially at front and back, last gathering trimmed in
upper margin, ownership signatures of Benjamin Parry, dated 1795, Richard Randolph
Parry (label) and the Parry engraved bookplate. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. NCBEL 2:1200; Shipton & Mooney 28754.
$300
93
[GOLDSMITH, Oliver]. The Citizen of the World: or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher
Residing in London, to his Friends in the East. vi, [i]-8-458, v pp. 12mo, Albany: Re-Printed
by [John] Barber and [Solomon] Southwick for Thomas Spencer, Bookseller, 1794.
First American edition. The first collected edition was London, 1792. These letters
had originally appeared in the Publick Ledger from January 1760 through August 1761.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco gilt label. Some cracking along joints, rubbing,
typical marginal browning and gift inscription on endpaper. Evans 27057; Colby Library
Quarterly, p. 240, citing the AAS copy as well.
The printers, John Barber and his brother-in-law Solomon Southwick, were partners
from 1792 until 1800. Southwick, the son of the publisher of the Newport Mercury, would
gain for himself the reputation as “one of the best known printers in New York State
during the early nineteenth century” (Oswald).
$300
catalogue 128 | 41
94
GOLDSMITH, Oliver. The Deserted Village, A Poem. The Sixth Edition. vii, [1], 20 pp.
12mo, New York: Printed by John Holt, 1771. First (?) American edition. The Bradfords
in Philadelphia published an edition the same year (Shipton & Mooney 12060), priority
unknown. The first edition was published in 1770. Wrappers, stitched. Last gathering
restitched and inserted, some browning and soiling of text but a very good copy
of a rare pamphlet. In a morocco-backed portfolio case. With the signature of W.
Lockwood(s) on title and half-title, watermarks of what appears to be “L V C” under a
pedestal. Not in Evans, Bristol or Shipton & Mooney, 2 locations in NUC (Harvard and
Yale); ESTC W39106.
Rare. John Holt is known primarily for his newspaper publishing in New York, Kingston
and Norfolk, Virginia. He was the publisher of the New York Journal, or General
Advertiser; he was involved in the publication of the New York Gazette: or, the Weekly
Post-Boy and after the Revolution established the Independent New York Gazette.
$3,000
95
GOLDSMITH, Oliver. An History of the Earth and Animated Nature. 55 copper plates
engraved by J. Seymour, James Smithers and Scot & Allerdice, some after H. Weston.
4 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for Mathew Carey [by R. Folwell (vols. 1 and 2); by
Wrigley & Berriman (vol. 3)], May 12, August 5, Sept. 3, and Nov. 5, 1795. First American
edition, one of 3,000 copies printed. Contemporary tree calf, spines attractively giltdecorated. Some rubbing, chipping of spines, some browning and offsetting, mostly of
endpapers and of index, 10-page subscriber’s list at the back of vol. 4 including Thomas
Paine AM, Timothy Pickering, Willam Franklin, Henry Ten Brook, Robert Trail[l] of
Easton, Laurence Washington and Bushrod Washington. In a brown cloth open-end
case. Shipton & Mooney 28756; Clarkin 213.
Subscriber’s copy with signature of Rob. Traill on titles — he is on the subscriber’s
list as Robert Trail of Easton, (Pa.). Joseph Seymour is known best for the plates
he engraved for Isaiah Thomas’ Bible. James Smithers, apparently did quite a bit of
engraving for Robert Bell. He is thought to have been a gunsmith and ornamenter of
guns as well as engraver (Fielding, Dictionary of American Painters, p. 872). Robert Scott,
was a Philadelphia engraver and watchmaker. In 1793 he was appointed the engraver
of the United States Mint at Philadelphia. Riding on the vogue of Newtoniana and its
popularity Goldsmith wrote this work. It was so popular, especially in America, that
apparently Parson Weems sold one thousand copies of this title in one year (Nye).
$750
96
GOLDSMITH, Oliver. She Stoops to Conquer; or, the Mistakes of a Night. A Comedy. With
Alterations and Amendments as Performed at the Theatre in Boston. 12mo, Boston: Printed
for David West and John West, [1794]. Second American edition, first Boston edition,
following the 1773 Dunlap edition (Shipton & Mooney note a ghost edition, New York
1773). Near contemporary wrappers made from a sheet drawn and written upon by a
child, stitched. Rubbed, some wear, with the signature of Lucia S. Alden on the title.
From the library of H. Bacon Collamore with his bookplate. In a morocco-backed
42 | james cummins bookseller
catalogue 128 | 43
portfolio case. Shipton & Mooney 27059. For the first edition: Temple Scott, p. 310;
Ahsley II, 150; Roscoe A197; Rothschild 1037; Tinker 1131.
John and David West appear to have been active in printing plays in 1794; beside the
above work they produced at least Hamlet and Twelfth Night, Henry Brooke’s Gustavus
Vaso and Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem. They must have had some connection
to the theater as most of the plays read “as Performed at the Theatre in Boston.”
This would have been the new Federal Street Theater (Boston Theater) designed by
Charles Bulfinch, which opened in February 1794. The theater’s permanent company
was managed by Charles Stuart Powell. The theater of the 1790s was just gaining some
respectibility, Boston and other major cities made it a status symbol and President
Washington gave his approval, all hoping to overcome longtime theological opposition,
prejudices and laws. During the Revolution, Philadelphia had placed a ban on plays that
was not revoked until 1789. New York did not have any legal bans on the theater but
there was a great outcry against it as evil. It would not be until 1785 that the American
Company would be licensed there. In Boston, the anti-theatre legislation was not
repealed until 1793. In the years prior to these changes managers had been sometimes
forced to use subterfuge, presenting the plays as “moral lectures.” Richard III was billed
as The Fate of Tyranny, Hamlet as Filial Piety, King Lear as The Crime of Filial Ingratitude
and She Stoops to Conquer as Improper Education.
$400
97
[GOLDSMITH, Oliver]. The Vicar of Wakefield. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for William
Mentz and sold by most of the Booksellers in America, 1772. Second American edition,
following the rare Mein and Fleeming (Boston, 1767) edition with false Dublin imprint.
Two volumes bound as one. Modern crushed red morocco gilt by Riviere. Some
rubbing to joints, browning and staining of text, tears repaired. From the libraries of
Harold Greenhill and H. Bradley Martin. Half red morocco case. Grolier, English 53n;
Colby Library Quarterly, p. 240; Shipton & Mooney 12405. For the first edition of 1766:
Grolier, English 53; Temple Scott, pp. 177-8; Rothschild 1028.
The first generally attainable American edition of one of the earliest novels printed in
America. The first American edition is a 1767 Mein and Fleeming Boston printing with
false Dublin imprint, known in only a handful of copies.
$4,000
98
HAYDN, Franz Joseph. The Creation, An Oratorio … Arranged for Voices, Organ or Piano
Forte by Muzio Clementi. From the London edition. Title, verso blank, Advertisement from
American publishers with subscriber’s list on verso, [7]-169, [2, blank], [1, Index] pp. 4to,
Boston: Printed by Thomas Badger Jr, 1818. First American edition. Old half sheep over
marbled boards with the 1827 signature of Emma L. [name illegible] on upper cover and
title written in ink, very rubbed, free endpaper removed, signatures of Charles Spencer
and William Deming and William Deming Jr of Litchfield, Ct on title and endpapers,
some pencilled notations in margins, offsetting, some leaves torn in gutter, generally
affecting margins only. A very good copy in open-faced brown cloth case.
$400
44 | james cummins bookseller
catalogue 128 | 45
99
HAYLEY, William. The Triumphs of Temper: A Poem in Six Cantos. Seven plates by
Joseph Seymour. 12mo, Newburyport: Printed by John Mycall, for Joseph H. Seymour,
Engraver in Boston, [1794]. First American edition with plates. The first edition was
published in 1781. Contemporary sheep, red morocco gilt label. Joints and extremities
rubbed, some cracking along upper joint, rubbed, marginal browning, especially of
plates, in a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 27104; Sabin
31035; Stauffer, p. 244.
With the attractive printed booklabel of Edward Penington on the pastedown. This
may be the Philadelphia Quaker merchant who was a member of the American
Philosophical Society, a city councilman for many years and the author of “Poetical
Proclamation,” a satire on the Philadelphia committee of inspection. He died in 1796.
There is a description of this plate in Charles Dexter Allen’s American Book-Plates,
number 659, which misspells Penington’s name. In 1826 Freeman, Son & Potter sold the
Edward Penington library of over 6,000 books (McKay 214).
Mycall was noted for his attention to the visual appearance of his productions and is
unusual in that his work shows French influence rather than the English as was most
common in America. He is notable for having used three color printing in a pamphlet
as early as 1789, and has been compared to an “early Bruce Rogers” for his pattern
decorations of printer’s flowers. This edition was an example of the cost-effective
system of producing volumes page-for-page after their London counterparts with the
plates inserted to make it more attractive to purchasers. Seymour was a skilled engraver,
best known for the 32 plates he made for Isaiah Thomas’ Bible of 1791.
$150
100
HERODOTUS. Herodotus, Translated from the Greek, with notes by the Rev. William Beloe.
Three engraved folding maps (some tearing along stub, one into image). 4 vols. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Published by Edward Earle: and by Eastburn, Kirk and Co., New York,
William Fry, Printer, 1814. First American from the last corrected and enlarged London
edition. Beloe’s edition first appeared in 1791. Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco
labels. Some joints worn, chipping of spines, rubbed, leather cut on upper cover of
volume 4, some marginal browning of text. With signature of Geo. M. Tibbets, March
29th 1819 on endpaper, library stamp on title and pencilled notations on dedication leaf.
In two brown cloth open-end boxes. Shaw & Shoemaker 31699.
First American edition of Herodotus with the ownership signature of George Tibbits,
credited with having come up with the plan to finance the Erie Canal. He was a
merchant from Lansingburg, and then Troy, New York, where for a time he was mayor.
He was a member of the Prisons Commission and acted on the commission that built
Sing Sing.
$400
101
HERVEY, James. Meditations and Contemplations. The Eighth Edition. 2 vols. 12mo,
Boston: Printed and Sold by Daniel Fowle … and by Daniel Gookin, 1750. First
American edition. First published in 1747-8. Old calf. Some repairs to spines, rubbed,
46 | james cummins bookseller
some chipping, joint of second volume starting, some browning of text, with the
contemporary signatures of Katharine Whipple in each volume. In a brown cloth openend case. Shipton & Mooney 6516.
Mott, quoting an American publisher of this work in 1794, wrote “this book has been
more read since it was first published than any other in the English language excepting
the Holy Bible” (p. 16). Apparently another edition of this work was published the same
year by Bradford in Philadelphia.
$350
102
(HINDUISM) The Bhagvat-Geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon. Translated by Charles
Wilkins. Title printed in red and black. [2], 117 pp. 8vo, New York: Reprinted for Geo. P.
Philes, 1867. First American edition, one of 261 copies for subscribers, being a facsimile
reprint of the London, 1785, edition of Wilkins’ translation, originally published for
the East India Company. Original plain gray boards, new paper spine and label. Slight
scuffing to covers; faint stain to lower, inner margin, not affecting text. Very good.
Wilkins’ was the first translation of the Bhagavad-Gita into English, and it was of
enormous importance in spreading the spiritual heritage of India across the Atlantic.
It was through Wilkins’ 1785 translation and the copy initially given to Emerson by
Carlyle, that Emerson discovered the Bhagavad-Gita. It may well be said that this one
book, more than any other, is responsible for the growth of American Transcdentalism.
Emerson’s own writings, in turn, stimulated a demand for reprints of the Wilkins
translation, which no doubt this New York edition of 1867 — the first printed in
America — was meant to fill. In 1868, Emerson wrote to Emma Lazarus: “And of books,
there is another which, when you have read IT, you shall sit for a while and then write a
poem — [it is] the ‘Bhagvat-Geeta,’ but read it in Charles Wilkins’ translation.”
$500
103
HOMER. The Iliad of Homer. Translated from the Greek by Alexander Pope. 484 pp. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Printed for J. Crukshank, W. Young, M. Carey, 1795. First American edition
of Homer and the only eighteenth-century American edition. The Pope translation
was first published 1715-20. Contemporary sheep. Head of spine and joints worn as are
corners, lower free endpaper removed, some browning and spotting, page 477 torn, no
loss of text, signature of A. E. Morley on the title, else a very good copy of this piece. In
a brown cloth open-end case. Evans 22852.
$950
104
HORACE. The Lyric Works of Horace, translated into English Verse: to which are added a
Number of Original Poems. By a Native of America [John Parke]. Frontispiece by James Peller
Malcolm. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed by Eleazer Oswald, 1786. First American edition of
Horace in translation. Contemporary sheep. Rebacked, original red morocco gilt label
laid down, rubbed, some browning and spotting of text, signature of John Morton Jr.
1794 on blank and title (possibly the son of the Pennsylvania signer of the Declaration),
a list of subscribers at back containing some 480 people, including Caleb Buglass,
catalogue 128 | 47
Tench Cox, Charles Carroll, the Marquis de la Fayette (for 12 sets), and Horatio Gates.
In a marbled paper and brown cloth open-end case. Evans 19717; Harris Collection of
American Poetry, p. 190; Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions, p.
19; Wegelin 303; Sabin 33005.
John Parke, the editor and translator, was a poet who served with Washington during
the Revolution in the quartermaster’s department, retired a Colonel, and had been
educated at what is now the University of Delaware and University of Pennsylvania.
He was also a member of the Library Company of Philadelphia. This work is
dedicated to Washington. Parke has paraphrased some of the lyrics to contain local
and contemporary accounts and substituted Americans in place for Roman worthies.
For example, the Ode celebrating Augustus’ return from Spain is altered to represent
Washington’s return from Virginia.
The bookseller Henry Stevens once described this work as “The rarest and oddest of all
the American books of poetry.” John Wilcocks, a close friend of Parke’s and a British
officer, contributed poems to the “Original Poems” section, as did John Pryor. Parke has
contributed “Virginia: A Pastoral Drama, on the Birth-day of an Illustrious personage
and the Return of Peace, February 11th, 1784” which is the “earliest known attempt to
celebrate Washington’s birthday” (Wegelin 303).
$850
48 | james cummins bookseller
105
HORACE. Opera, Interpretatione et Notis, Illustravit Ludovicus Desprez, Cardinalitius
Socius ac Rhetor Emeritus, Jussu Christianissimi Regis; in usum Serenissimi Delphini ac
Serenissimorum Principum Burgundiae … Vita Horatii cum Dacerii Notis by Horace Quinti
Horatii Flacci. 8vo, Philadelphia: Ex Officina Classica: Impensis W. Poyntell & Soc.
[Typis Bartholomew Graves], 1804. First American edition of Horace’s Works in Latin
from the best London edition, edited and corrected. Contemporary calf, red morocco
label. Some staining and rubbing of binding, wear to upper joint and inner hinge, some
light browning, with the signatures of Peter Osgood 1812 and Osgood Putnam 1907 on
the endpapers. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 6500
citing three copies.
A consortium of Philadelphia publishers, wishing to share the costs of publishing
standard works with unusual expense or special requirements, formed the Classic
Press. This press, under the direction of William Poyntell, provided affordable texts for
students and teachers. The intention of the press was to publish all the Greek and Latin
classics from the best editions, in their original languages and with excellent notes.
$250
106
HUME, David. Philosophical Essays on Morals, Literature and Politics; to which is Added,
The Answer to his Objections to Christianity by Dr. Campbell. Also an account of Mr. Hume’s
Life, an Original Essay and a few notes by Thomas Elwell, M.D. of Virginia. 2 vols. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Published for the Editor by Edward Earle, 1817. First American edition.
Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco labels. Rubbed, some cracking of joints on
second volume, browning of text, mostly at front and back, else a very good copy.
Brown cloth open-end box. Shaw & Shoemaker 41099/100.
This collection contains selections from several of Hume’s works, especially his Political
Discourses, and contains many of his important economic pieces. It includes his essay
“Of the Balance of Trade,” which puts forth one of his greatest contributions to
economics — the “price specie-flow mechanism” to promote international equilibrium.
His essay, which anticipated Malthus, “Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations,” is
present, as are his essays “Of the Jealousy of Trade” and “Of Commerce.” The second
volume contains his essays on philosophical topics and religion, including “The Natural
History of Religion.” According to the editors, this collection was not previously
printed in the United States due to a misunderstanding of Hume’s philosophies and his
religious views. They go on to say that the “Suspicions of their agency in producing
that infuriation of mind, regardless of morals, and devoted to revolutions, that marked
the age which has just past by, are now subsiding.” There was a resurgance of interest
in Smith, Hume and in the Scottish Enlightenment in the early nineteenth century. The
“impact of the Scottish Enlightenment on colonial educational thought was absolutely
pervasive, going far beyond John Witherspoon and the College of New Jersey to touch
every conceivable realm of curricular substance and method” (Cremin, American
Education, p. 378).
$500
catalogue 128 | 49
107
HUNTER, John. A Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-Shot Wounds. To which is
Prefixed a Short Account of the Author’s Life by his Brother-in-Law, Everard Home. 5 engraved
plates, one signed by E. Trenchard, another by [John] Vallance. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Published by Thomas Bradford, Printer, Book-seller & Stationer, no. 8, South FrontStreet, 1796. First American edition from the first edition London quarto of 1794.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco labels. Joints cracked, some rubbing and surface
worming, text browned, in a rust cloth open-end case. With the bookplate of Alfred
Jerome Brown in second volume and signature of Wellford Addis and that of John
Ridgely, Tripoli, April 3rd 1804. Austin 1002; Blake, p. 226; Evans 30608; Stauffer, p. 280.
For the first edition: Garrison & Morton 78 “the veritable founder of experimental and
surgical pathology and one of the three greatest surgeons of all time.”
Hunter’s last work and his most important one. Cited by Paget as the “founder of
scientific surgery” for his teaching methods and his manner of studying the process
of the diseases and the necessary repair with an intense concentration upon the
physiology. His experience of gunshot wounds and the resultant inflammations came
from his year with the British army at Belle Island, Portugal in 1762 during the Seven
Years War, but it wasn’t until thirty years later that he summarized his findings and
subsequent discoveries. “His studies on inflammation in particular are fundamentals
for pathologye” (Garrison & Morton 2283). Among Hunter’s American students was
Dr. William Shippen of Philadelphia, who made significant contributions to American
medicine.
John Ridgeley was the surgeon aboard the Philadelphia, which was wrecked during
the war with Tripoli and all hands captured and held for ransom. Ridgely’s surgeon’s
mate, Jonathan Cowdery’s journal of their captivity was published in Boston in 1806.
Ridgeley remained a captive until the peace was signed some nineteen months later and
then remained as chargé d’affaires at Tripoli, later resigning and returning to Annapolis
where he established his practice. John Valance was a Philadelphia engraver, was one of
the founders of the Association of Artists in America and known for having engraved a
large number of encyclopedia plates.
$750
108
HUNTER, John. Treatise on the Natural History and Diseases of the Human Teeth:
Explaining their structure, use, formation, growth and Diseases. In Two parts. With Notes by
Thomas Bell. 9 plates. 8vo, Philadelphia: Haswell, Barrington and Haswell, 1839. First
American edition. First published in 1771-2. Sheep. Rebacked, red morocco label, rubbed,
some spotting of text and plates. In a brown cloth open-end case. Asbell 56; Crowley
1783; Campbell 455; Weinberger, Dental Bibliography, p. 7 and 70; Osler 1224 (having
only the New York second edition); Bibliotheca Wallerana 10651; Lilly, Notable Medical
Books 131; PMM 186n (for Fauchard).
A classic text. “Hunter was the first to apply medical science to the structure of the
teeth” (PMM 186n) and “the first to suggest the biological interdependence of the teeth
and the body as a whole, perhaps the most important single principle of dentistry”
(Kobler, p. 141).
$350
50 | james cummins bookseller
109
[HURDIS, James]. The Village Curate. A Poem. With half-title. 12mo, Newburyport:
Printed and Sold by Blunt and Robinson, 1793. First American edition, the first edition
printed in 1788. Contemporary calf. Spine chipped at head and tail, upper joint
separating, some spotting and offsetting, short marginal tears in blanks, else a very good
copy. Shipton & Mooney 25642.
Following his education at Oxford, Hurdis was Curate at Burwash, Sussex, for six years.
This poem was his first published work and helped establish his literary reputation,
going though four editions within a short time. He became a close friend of Hayley
and Cowper and Professor of Poetry at Oxford. He also had a small private press
in Bishopstone, Sussex upon which he printed some of his later works. His poetry,
described by the DNB as “flaccid and monotonous” and as a “pale copy of Cowper’s,”
must have had enough of an American following, as a second American edition was
printed in Newburyport in 1808.
$300
110
JACOB, Giles. The Law-Dictionary: explaining the Rise, Progress, and Present State of
the English Law … And Comprising Copious Information on the Subjects of Law, Trade and
Government. Corrected and Greatly Enlarged by T. E. Tomlins. viii, 531; [2], 543; [2],618; [2],
472; [2], 553; [2], 471 pp. 6 vols. 8vo, New York: Printed for, and Published by I. Riley, New
York and P. Byrne, Philadelphia. I. Riley, Printer, 1811. First American from the second
London edition. This edition with Tomlin’s additions was first published in 1797, the
original work in 1729. Contemporary reverse calf, morocco labels. Chipping of spines,
some joints cracked, library pockets and bookplates, text browned, the “Advertisement
to Tomlins’ Second Edition” off-register and the lower portion of the page cut off,
in brown cloth open-end cases. With the signature of J. W. Scott on titles. Shipton &
Mooney 23105.
Jacob compiled several general reference law texts including the Laws of Taxation and
The Common Law common-placed; he is also known for having compiled the Poetical
Register, or Lives and Characters of the English Dramatic Poets, 1719-20. The New LawDictionary was first published in 1729 and is “Jacob’s masterpiece and constituted an
entirely new departure in legal literature, the dictionary which is also an abridgment”
(Cowley, p. xci).
$750
111
JOHNSON, Charles, Captain. The History of the Pirates, containing the Lives of those
noted Pirate Captains, Misson, Bowen, Kidd, Tew, Halsey, White, Condent, Bellamy, Fly,
Howard, Lewis, Cornelius, Williams, Burgess, North and their Several Crews … To which is
added a Description of Magadoxa in Ethiopia. 12mo, London: Printed, Norwich: Re-printed
by R. Hubbard, 1814. First American edition. The first edition was published in 1724.
Contemporary sprinkled calf, maroon morocco label. Some rubbing of calf, some
spotting and light browning of text, mostly marginal, especially of endpapers. With
ownership signature of Eben Nash of Greenfield. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. Shaw & Shoemaker 31831; this edition not in Gosse’s “My Pirate Library.”
catalogue 128 | 51
This American edition was actually a reprinting of the second volume of Johnson’s A
General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates, an extremely
popular work. After the fourth edition in 1726, additional lives and an appendix
were added and the work became two volumes. Pyle apparently used some of these
descriptions in his Buccaneers and Marooners of America. This would have been of
particular interest to the reading public as it was printed during the War of 1812, with its
sea battles, raiders and its own pirates, the privateers.
$300
112
JOHNSON, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language in Which The Words are
Deduced from Their Originals Illustrated in their Different Significations by Examples from
the Best Writers to which are prefixed A History of the Language and an English Grammar.
Engraved frontispiece portrait of Johnson in vol. I. 2 vols. 4to, Philadelphia: Moses
Thomas ( Johnson’s Head) No. 52 Chestnut-Street. Sold in Maryland, by N.G. Maxwell,
Baltimore, 1818. First unabridged American edition. Period-style American brown
calf, spine labels, edges uncut. Some minor paper flaws in margins, generally clean
and bright. Fleeman 55.4D/21a; Shaw & Shoemaker 44473; For the first edition of 1755:
Courtney-Nichol Smith, pp. 54-5; Chapman & Hazen, pp. 137-8; PMM 201; Rothschild
1237.
A beautiful, uncut copy of the first complete American edition of Johnson’s Dictionary,
preceded only by heavily abridged and corrupted editions. “More enduringly significant
than the European influence of the Dictionary was its influence across the Atlantic.
The American adoption of the Dictionary was a momentous event not just in its
history, but in the history of lexicography. For Americans in the second half of the
eighteenth century, Johnson was the seminal authority on language, and the subsequent
development of American lexicography was coloured by his fame” (Hitchings, Defining
the World, p. 244).
$5,000
113
JOHNSON, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language: … To which are prefixed, A
Grammar of the English Language and the Preface to the Folio Edition. The Whole Improved
by the Standard of Pronunciation, established in the Critical Pronouncing Dictionary of John
Walker. 8vo, Philadelphia: Published by Jacob Johnson & Co, Archibald Bartram, Printer,
1805. First Octavo American edition. Contemporary sheep. Quite rubbed, label replaced,
joints starting, some browning and spotting of text, a few leaves sprung, some tears in
blank margins, ownership scrawlings on endpapers including signatures of Adele Smith,
Hand Everett Smith and Margaret Smith. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case.
Shaw & Shoemaker 8705. For the first edition of 1755: Courtney-Nichol Smith, pp. 54-5;
Chapman & Hazen, pp. 137-8; PMM 201; Rothschild 1237.
$750
114
JOHNSON, Samuel. A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. 8vo, Baltimore:
Published by Philip H. Nicklin, and Co; Farrand, Mallory and Co Boston; J. Green,
52 | james cummins bookseller
Albany; E. Earle and B. B. Hopkins and Co. Philadelphia, Fry and Kammerer, Printers,
1810. First American edition. Contemporary sheep, maroon morocco label. Some
rubbing, front free endpaper loose, manuscript marginalia on page 21, leaves E2[3] and
E4 and F2[3] and F4 transposed, some light marginal browning but a very nice copy.
In a brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 20456; Tinker, Catalogue of an
Exhibition of … Samuel Johnson, Yale, 1905. For the first edition of 1775: Courney &
Nichol Smith, p. 122; Chapman & Hazen, p. 151; Rothschild 1256.
$300
115
JOHNSON, Samuel. The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets; with Critical Observations
on their Works. A New Edition, Corrected. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for Benjamin
Johnson and Samuel F. Bradford, Coale & Oliver, Printers, 1803. First American edition.
First edition was published 1779-81. Contemporary calf, red morocco gilt labels and gilt
rules on spines (rules are not placed the same on both volumes). Some rubbing and
scuffing, careful and skilfull restoration, some browning and spotting of text, blank
and endpaper at back of second volume cut. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 4455.
$500
catalogue 128 | 53
116
JOHNSON, Samuel. Table Talk: Containing Aphorisms on Literature, Life and Manners with
Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons. Small 12mo, Boston: Published by Joseph Greenleaf,
1809. First American edition. Contemporary sheep. Upper joint and label restored,
rubbed, some browning and spotting of text, with the signature of A. T. Judson on free
endpaper. This may be Andrew Thompson Judson, a lawyer, “one of the most active
members of the Toleration party” (Appleton), and district judge of Connecticut from
1837 until 1853. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 17839.
For the first edition: Pottle 107.
Contains selections from Boswell’s Life of Johnson and published originally in 1798 while
the third edition of Boswell’s Life was in the press.
$200
117
JOHNSON, Samuel. The Works of Samuel Johnson. With an Essay on his Life and Genius
by Arthur Murphy. Engraved titles, that of the second volume drawn and engraved by
A[lexander] Dick and the portrait of Johnson on the first engraved title engraved by
F[rances] Kearny. 2 vols. Folio, New York: George Dearborn, Publisher and sold by
Collins, Keese, & Co., etc [Printed by Scatcherd & Adams], 1837 [date on spine reads
1836]. Title-page reads “First Complete American edition.” In the original blue cloth,
elaborately embossed with floral and foliage, spine lettered in gilt. Some light fading of
spines, light rubbing, some spotting of text. With the signature of Nath. Lord Jr. on the
endpapers dated 1847. Blue cloth open-end box.
Rare in this condition. “Advertisement to the American Edition” follows “An Essay on
the Life and Genius …” dated New York September 1832.
$300
118
JOSEPHUS, Flavius. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated into English by Sir Roger
L’Estrange … to which are Prefixed, Two Discourses, and several Remarks and Observations
upon Josephus. The Seventh Edition. 4 vols. 8vo, London, Printed, Philadelphia: Reprinted
(vol. 1); America (vol. 2); (vols. 3-4) New York: (vol. 1): Re-Printed by W. and T. Bradford,
for John M;Gibbons; (vol. 2): Printed for the Subscribers; (vol. 3):Printed by Hodge and
Shober for John M’Gibbons; (vol. 4): Printed by Shober and Loudon for John M’Gibbons
and Robert Hodge, 1773-1774-1775-1775. First American edition. The L’Estrange edition
was first published in 1702. Contemporary sheep, disparate labels. Rubbed, spines worn,
second volume shorter, text browned, a few endpapers torn or removed. Gift inscription
in first and last two volumes to Charles R. Alsop from C. and L. Whittelsey dated 1812,
the second volume with signatures of Lewis Jenkins, John Bartlett, Joshua Brown and
Josiah and William Carr. In two brown cloth open-end cases. Rosenbach, An American
Jewish Bibliography, 55, 64, 66, 67; Shipton & Mooney 12822, 13357 (noting that Evans had
taken his entry from an advertisement), 14135 listing Hodge and Shober for M’Gibbons
for both vols 3 and 4; Hildeburn 2892.
The printing was begun by the Bradfords and completed by Hodge and Shober and
Shober and Loudon. Complete sets are uncommon. Hildeburn notes that the three
New York volumes “average five hundred pages, and in that respect, as a bookseller’s
54 | james cummins bookseller
venture, have no peers among the colonial books of New York” (Sketches of Printers …
Colonial New York, p. 147)
$4,000
119
JUAN [Y SANTACILIA], Jorge and Antonio de Ulloa. Voyage of Don George Juan and
Don Antonio de Ulloa to South America. Small 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by
Joseph & James Crukshank, 1801. First American edition. The first English edition was
1758. Contemporary marbled boards. Some rubbing, chipping of spine, light browning
of text. Curiously most of the last gathering is in a smaller font (possibly supplied?),
with stitching, in a white linen open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 1594 located three
copies, NUC locates four. This edition not in Sabin.
An abridged version of this work. Signatures of Jacob B. Crests on endpapers and title,
with notation “bougt of a Traveling Bookseller.”
$400
120
JUNIUS, pseud. Junius: Including Letters by the same Writer, under others signatures (now
first Collected) To which are added, His Confidential Correspondence with Mr. Wilkes, and his
Private letters addressed to Mr. H. S. Woodfall. With a Preliminary Essay, Notes, Fac-Similes,
&c. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Published by Bradford and Inskeep; and Inskeep and
Bradford, New York, William Fry, Printer, 1813. First American edition of this collection.
Contemporary green stained calf, green morocco labels with the gilt crest of Simeon
Henry Remsen on the covers, his bookplates on the pastedown. Some discoloration of
binding and rubbing, small discreet library stamp on titles, some spotting and browning
of text. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 28853.
Appearing in Woodfall’s Public Advertiser from January 1769 to January 1772, the Junius
Letters were very outspoken against the government, especially against the actions
and decisions of the Duke of Grafton and Lord North, and they expressed very proGrenville and Whig attitudes. Sir Philip Francis is most frequently put forth as the
author of these letters.
$250
121
JUNIUS, (pseud). The Letters of Junius. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by
Prichard & Hall, 1791. First American edition. Shipton & Mooney describe an edition
to be published by Carey the same year but it is known only from an advertisement.
The first authorized edition appeared in London in 1772 although some twenty-eight
unauthorized editions had been published before 1771. Contemporary sheep, maroon
morocco gilt label. Some rubbing, some spotting and browning of text and endpapers,
free endpapers removed. Leather-tipped brown cloth open-end box. Rothschild 1282 (for
the first authorized edition); Shipton & Mooney 23477.
$200
catalogue 128 | 55
122
JUSTINUS, Marcus Junian. De Historiis Phiippicis et Totius Mundi Originibut.
Interpretationed et Notis illustravit Petrus Josephus Cantel … Accessere Jacobi Bongarsii
Escerptioned Chronologicae ad Justini Historias Accommodate. 8vo, Philadelphia: Impensis
M. Carey, Johnson & Warner, E. Parker, A. Finley, A. Small, J. F. Watson, M. Thomas, T.
& W. Bradford, Bennet & Walton and I. Peirce. A. Small, Printer, 1815. First American
edition. The “editio princeps” was published in 1470. Contemporary tree sheep, red
morocco label. Rubbed, some spotting and browning of text, ownership stamps of
Peter S. Palmer on several leaves, other ownership marks. In a leather-tipped brown
cloth open-end case. Clarkin 840; Shaw & Shoemaker 35037.
This was Justinus’ epitome of Pompeius Trogus’ “Historiae Philipicae” in Latin. The
“narrative was elaborate in the hellenistic fashion with dramatic presentation and a
moralizing tendency … this character is reflected in the epitome of Justinus” (Oxford
Companion to Classical Literature).
$200
123
JUVENAL. A New Translation, with Notes, of the Third Satire of Juvenal. To which are added
Miscellaneous Poems, Original and Translations. Latin and English text of Juvenal, William
Gifford’s translation edited by John Duer. Half-title and two errata leaves. 12mo, New
York: Printed for E. Sargeant [S. Gould, Printer], 1806. First edition of this collection
with the Miscellaneous Poems and first separate American edition of Gifford’s
translation of Juvenal’s “Third Satire.” Contemporary mottled sheep. Joints starting,
one restored, head of spine chipped and some rubbing of corners, else a very good
copy. Wegelin 1323.
Gifford’s translation of Juvenal was first published in 1802. He was the editor of the
Anti-Jacob and later the Quarterly Review, where he is remembered for his reviews of the
Romantic poets’ works. Among his own work he is best known for his commentaries
against the Della Cruscians published as the Baviad (1794) and the Maeviad (1795). In
addition to his translation of Juvenal, he translated Persius in 1821. The prefatory “Letter
from a Friend” evaluates the state of American poetry with much criticism: “they seem
to be the offspring of minds faintly glowing with the fire of genius, and unprovided
with large stores of wisdom acquired by literary research or extensive observation of
mankind,” a state for which which he blames the lack of encouragement from the
American people. Several of the “Original Poems” were also contributed by the author
of the preface, many of which had been previously published in the Port Folio or New
York Evening Post. The editor of this American edition, John Duer (1782-1858), grandson
of William Alexander, Lord Stirling, was an attorney. He studied law in the offices of his
father’s friend Alexander Hamilton and was admitted as an attorney in 1806. He became
an eminent lawyer, and most of his writings pertain to legal matters. His elder brother
William Alexander, was also an eminent lawyer and a close friend of Peter Irving,
Washington’s doctor brother who was editor of the Morning Chronicle and The Corrector.
$100
56 | james cummins bookseller
124
KORAN. The Koran Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mahomet. Translated from the Original
Arabick into French by the Sieur De Ryer. The Whole now Faithfully Translated into English.
8vo, Springfield: Printed by Henry Brewer, for Isaiah Thomas, Jun. Sold by his at his
respective Stores in Springfield and Worcester; by Thomas & Whipple, Newburyport
and by Thomas & Tappan, Portsmouth, October 1806. First American edition and first
Koran printed in America. The first edition in English was translated by George Sale
and published in 1734. Contemporary sprinkled sheep, red morocco label. Rubbed, some
wear to head of spine, browning and spotting, especially of endpapers, some short
tears, with the signature of George Barber[y?] and bookplate of James Wilson Clark.
In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Library Company of Philadelphia, First
American Editions, p. 8; Shaw & Shoemaker 10684.
With the Barbary Wars and the anti-Muslin sentiments due to those wars and piracy,
there was some curiousity and interest in the “Bible” of the “infidels.” This edition
of the Koran is not intended for use by Muslims as is apparent from the introduction
which belittles the work with its discrepencies: “He divided it into many signs, or
verses, that contained his ordinances and fables, without observation either of the
consequence, or connexion of the discourse, which is the cause that thou shalt find in
this book a multitude of incongrous pieces and divers repetitions of the same things.”
$450
125
LENCLOS, Ninon de. Memoirs of Ninon de l’Enclos. With her Letters to the Marquis de
Sevigne and Mons. De St. Evremond. Translated from the French [by Elizabeth Griffith]. 312
pp. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed by T. S. Manning for Tho. Palmer, 1806. First American
edition (Mrs. Griffith’s translation first appeared in London, 1761). Contemporary tree
sheep, blue morocco label. Edges rubbed, front free endpaper removed, signature
impression front blank, N and last gatherings browned, section of upper blank margin
of title torn away removing signature, some spotting and soiling, mostly marginal,
marking from inserted flower on two leaves, light browning, contemporary signature
on endpaper, otherwise a very good copy in open-faced brown cloth case. Shaw &
Shoemaker 10716.
First American edition of the Memoirs of this celebrated beauty and wit, who counted
among her many lovers Condé, La Rochefoucauld, and St Evremond. Apparently this
is mainly a translation from Douxmenil’s Memoires et lettres pour servir à l’histoire de la vie
de Mademoiselle de l’Enclos. The Lady who translated is probably Elizabeth Griffith, Irish
playwright and actress, whose own Letters to and from her husband Richard Griffith,
had been a popular success (“The wit, variety, and politeness of the letters made them
famous…” — Todd), and whose numerous translations from the French included
Voltaire (see Todd, pp. 141-42). Her own work included three popular epistolary novels
and numerous plays produced at Drury Lane and Covent Garden.
$300
catalogue 128 | 57
126
LA PÉROUSE, Jean François Galaup de. A Voyage round the World. Performed in the Years
1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, abridged from the Original French Journal … which was lately published by
M. Milet-Mureau … To which are added, A Voyage from Manilla to California by Don Antonio
Maurelle and an Abstract of the Voyage and Discoveries of the late Capt. G. Vancouver. 12mo,
Boston: Printed for Joseph Bumpstead and sold by Him … by Thomas and Andrews, E.
and S. Larkin, Wm. P. and L. Blake, W. Pelham and C. Bingham, 1801. First American
edition in condensed form of these three travels. La Pérouse was first published in
English in 1785, Maurelle’s circa 1780 and Vancouver’s work in 1798. Contemporary
tree sheep, red morocco gilt label. Some rubbing of extremities, small chip at top of
upper joint, lower edge of upper cover chipped for about 1-1/2 inches, some staining
and marginal browning of text and endpapers (front free endpapers frayed). With the
notation “Foster Social Library 90” on title and stamp of “Foster Manton Library” on a
few leaves. Even as described, a good copy of these three travels. In a brown cloth openend case, leather-tipped. Shaw & Shoemaker 789; not in Cowan; Howes L 93; Sabin
38966; Ferguson 333; Hill, 976.
The text is based on the 1798 Edinburgh abridgement. The Hill copy includes a map
but this was added later. Although merely a precis, this work also includes the first
American appearance of Vancouver’s voyage in print. The three accounts condensed
in this text are all important records of the explorations of the Pacific Northwest. La
Pérouse’s being the earliest “visit of a foreigner to the missionary establishments in
Upper California” (Howes), Maurelle’s being the only contemporary account of the
earliest Spanish expeditions to Alaska and Vancouver’s explorations of the Pacific
Northwest are among the most important and best known. The editor notes in his
introduction that the three authors of these works were first and foremost navigators
and that it is this aspect of their works on which he concentrated. La Perouse’s voyage
sought to build on Cook’s efforts to discover a North-West Passage. Like Cook, he failed
to return from the voyage, having shipwrecked off Vanikoro.
$2,500
127
LACKINGTON, James. Memoirs of James Lackington … Containing, among other Curious
and facetious Anecdotes, a succinct account of the Watch-nights, Classes, Bands, Love-feasts
&c of the Methodists … 12mo, Newburgh: Printed by D. Denniston for J. Fellows, New
York, 1796. First American edition from the second London edition. First published in
1792. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Rubbed, some browning and spotting
of leaves, mostly at the front and back. With the signature of Nathn. Hk. White on the
title. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Evans 30668 citing four locations:
AAS, JCB, LOC and NYPL.
As is evident from the title, the American edition of Lackington’s Memoirs emphasized
the Methodist portion of the work rather than the economical and bookselling aspect.
The 1790s in America were the beginnings of the “Second Great Awakening,” a revival
of religious piety and religious evangelism. One of the results of this “Second Great
Awakening” was that the Methodists and Baptists became the most powerful American
sects in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
$200
58 | james cummins bookseller
128
LIVY, [Titus Livius]. Historiarum Ab Urbe Condita Libri. 8vo, Boston: Excudebant
Thomas et Johannes Fleet, 1788. First American edition of Livy. Contemporary sheep,
red morocco label. Rubbed, lacking free endpapers, text browned, a few gatherings
sprung. Several ownership signatures including Nathan Plimpton West, Nathaniel
Sprague, William Ainsworth (1809) and Frederick May. Leather-tipped brown cloth
open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 21206.
$400
129
LOCKE, John. An Abridgement of Mr. Locke’s Essay concerning Human Understanding.
12mo, Boston: Printed by Manning & Loring, for J. White, Thomas & Andrews,
D. West, E. Larkin, J. West and the Proprietor of the Boston Bookstore, 1794. First
American edition of the abridged version of Locke’s Essay and its first appearance in
America in any form. Contemporary sheep, green morocco label. Very rubbed, joints
cracked, upper cover detached, head of spine chipped, some browning and offsetting of
text. Yolton 132; Attig, p. 49, no. 280; Shipton & Mooney 27227; Colby Library Quarterly,
p. 244; Grolier, English 36; Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions 6;
Grolier, English 36; Alston 7:135; ESTC w23203.
This abridgment was originally prepared for the use of students by John Wynne,
afterwards bishop of St. Asaph and of Bath and Wells. This was done with Locke’s
approval and published in 1696. This was well received by scholars, including Thomas
Hearne, and was soon translated into French and Italian.
$500
130
LOCKE, John. An Essay concerning Human Understanding. To which are now Added,
An Analysis of Mr. Locke’s Doctrine of Ideas, on a large Sheet; A Defence of Mr. Locke’s
Opinion concerning Personal Identity, with an Appendix; A Treatise on the Conduct of the
Understanding; Some Thought concerning Reading and Study for a Gentleman; Elements of
natural Philosophy; A New Method of a Common-place Book. Extracted from the Author’s
Works. To which is prefixed The Life of the Author. Folding table. 3 vols. 12mo, Boston:
Printed by David Carlisle for Thomas & Andrews, Joseph Nancrede, William P. &
Lemuel Blake, West & Greenleaf, James White & Co., John West, and Caleb Bingham,
1803. First American from the twentieth London edition. This is the first complete
American edition, an abridged version having been published in 1794 (see previous
item). Contemporary half sheep over marbled boards. Worn, volume 2 rebacked, some
browning and staining of text, tear on title of first volume, signatures of Frederick
Hobbs Jr. and Frederick H. Allen on endpapers, but interior sound. In a cloth and
marbled paper open-end box. Attig, pp. 40-41; PMM 164 (for first edition); Shaw &
Shoemaker 4533; Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions 6, which
quotes Franklin describing this as “the best Book of Logick in the World.”
Locke’s theories and writings were seized upon by the rebellious American colonists,
especially his “doctrine of natural rights,” his theories on “life, liberty and property,”
religious toleration and proper representation in government. His writings gave the
colonist a firm foundation upon which to base many of their statements. To Locke
catalogue 128 | 59
goes much of the credit for many of the ideas forming the Virginia Declaration of
Rights drafted by George Mason. Many of the other states used that constitution as a
basis for their own. Locke’s advocacy of a “laissez faire” economic policy was shared by
Jefferson, who agreed with the idea that the “government is best which governs least”
(Cohen, American Thought, p. 132). The conclusion reached in the Essay, “that though
knowledge must necessarily fall short of complete comprehension, it can at least be
‘sufficient’; enough to convince us that we are not at the mercy of pure chance, and can
of some extent control our own destiny” summarizes American intent and beliefs.
$650
131
LOCKE, John. A Letter Concerning Toleration. The Third Edition. 12mo, Boston: Printed
and Sold by Rogers and Fowle, 1743. First American edition and first work by Locke
printed in America, one of the earlier philosophical works printed in America. The first
edition was printed in 1689. Recent marbled wrappers, stitched, uncut. Some soiling of
the title, light browning and staining of some leaves but a very good copy of this rare
work, with the final blank but without half-title. In a black folding cloth case. Yolton, 6;
Attig 54; Evans 5227; McCoy L324; Sabin 41728; ESTC w019884.
The effect of Locke’s philosophy on the American nation might best be summarized
in his note “To the Reader” which reads “Absolute Liberty, Just and True Liberty, Equal
and Impartial Liberty, is the thing that we stand in Need of.”
$3,000
132
LOCKE, John. The Reasonableness of Christianity, as Delivered in the Scriptures. With a
preface by the American Editor. 8vo, Boston: Printed by T. B. Wait and Company, 1811.
First American edition. First published in 1695. Contemporary paper-backed blue
boards, printed paper label, uncut. Spine discreetly repaired, some rubbing, front free
endpaper removed, some light spotting of text, with the large bookplate of the Library
of St. James’ Church Greenfield. Brown cloth open-end case. Attig 647; 639 for the first
edition; Yolton, p. 293.
Locke was criticized by certain ecclesiastical circles regarding scepticism expressed in
his Essay. Responding to this criticism and possibly having seen a draft of Christianity
not mysterious (1696) by John Tolland and providing a response in advance, Locke wrote
“The Reasonableness of Christianity.” Attig described this work as “an exploration of
the content of faith … It was a defense of the christian faith and scriptural revelation
from the dangers of extreme scepticism. Ironically, the publication of Reasonableness
merely called attention to the sceptical tendencies in Locke’s “Essay” and the author
found himself accused of the very Deism he was trying to combat” (Attig, p. 102).
$100
133
LONGINUS, Dionysius. De Sublimitate [commentary by Zacharias Pearce]. 8vo, New York
[Novi-Eboraci]: Impensis Ebenez. F. Backus, Albania, Typis D. & G. Bruce, 1812. First
American edition. This work first published in 1724. Smith’s edition was first published
in 1739. Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco label. Joints and extremities worn, some
60 | james cummins bookseller
spotting and browning of text, signature of P.E. Stevenson on title. Leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 25876.
This treatise on the sublime identified five sources of the Sublime in literature,
“significant thoughts, intense emotion, powerful figures of speech, excellence in choice
of language and effective organization” (Benet). It had a wide following, especially in
the eighteenth century, admired by Fielding, Goldsmith, Gibbon and others.
$150
134
LONGINUS, Dionysius. On the Sublime: In Greek, Together with the English Translation by
William Smith, Dean of Chester. 8vo, Baltimore: Published by the Principals of Baltimore
College, Edward Matchett, Printer, 1810. First American edition of this translation with
catalogue 128 | 61
Greek and English texts. Contemporary sheep, spine in 6 panels, green morocco label.
Rubbed, some browning and staining of text, generally light and marginal, loss in blank
margin of page 23 of English text, signature of H. E. Duncan on endpapers. A very nice
copy in a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 20588.
An early example of a university press publication. Intended to introduce students to
the classics, the dual texts provide the reader with the “opportunity of ascertaining
the comparative beauty and merits of each language, and advancing his classical
knowledge, while he aquires a critical taste” (Preface). Smith’s translation was first
published in England in 1739.
$250
135
LUCIAN. The Select Dialogues of … to which is added, A New Literal Translation in Latin,
with Notes in English. By Edward Murphy, M.A. xvi, 172; 100 pp. A-Q6 S-U6 V6 W6 X-Z6.
Text in Greek. 12mo, Philadelphia: Joseph James, 1789. First American edition of
Lucian’s Dialogues. Contemporary calf, black leather spine label. Some slight occasional
pencilled underlining in Preface, slight rubbing to edges. Very good. Cloth slipcase.
Murphy’s translation of Lucian was first printed in London, 1744. The Joseph James
edition represents the first time any edition was printed in America.
$550
136
LUTHER, Martin and John Calvin. A Selection of the Most Celebrated Sermons … (Never
before published in the United States). To which is prefixed, a Biographical History of Their
Lives. 8vo, New York: Compiled and Published by R. Bentley for sale by G. & C. & H.
Carville [Ludwig & Tolefree, Printers], 1829. First American edition. Contemporary
sheep. Rubbed, some wear, some spotting and light browning of text. Shaw &
Shoemaker 39341.
From the 1580 English edition of Calvin’s sermons and the 1649 edition of the translated
sermons of Luther, revised and corrected by the editor.
$250
137
LYTTELTON, George, First Baron Lyttelton. Dialogues of the Dead. 12mo, Worcester:
Printed … by Thomas, Son & Thomas, Sold by them, and in Boston, by Thomas &
Andrews, April 1797. First American edition from the fifth London edition, corrected.
Contemporary sheep, green morocco gilt label. Rubbed, corners knocked, spine
chipped, some browning of text and marginal tears or fraying, in a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. With the signature of J. H. Cobb on the title. This may be
Jonathan Holmes Cobb, a manufacturer, the first to “interest himself in the cultivation
and manufacture of silk in the United States.” He succeeded in raising silk worms in
Dedham, Mass. and wrote the Manual of the Mulberry-Tree and the Culture of Silk (1881).
Evans 32396; Colby Library Quarterly, p. 244.
First published in 1760, this was extremely popular both here and in England. Three of
the dialogues were written by Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, including that between Charon,
62 | james cummins bookseller
Plutarch and a modern bookseller. She was one of the leaders of the Blue Stocking
circles, and a well-known hostess, numbering among her coterie of friends Edmund
Burke, Lord Lyttelton, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds and David Garrick.
$250
138
MACHIAVELLI, Nicolas. The Art of War. In Seven Books. To which is added, Hints relative
to Warfare, By a Gentleman of the State of New York. With seven folding plans showing
twelve battle forms, ten text diagrams in the “Hints relative to Warfare.” 349, [1] pp. 8vo,
Albany: Printed by Henry C. Southwick, 1815. First American edition and the first of
anything by Machiavelli published in America. Original paper-backed printed boards,
uncut, with advertisements for Riley’s bookstore reading “300,000 Volumes of Books, in
all Classes of Literature will be sold uncommonly cheap, as asked for at No. 39, Prunestreet, Philadelphia, within six Months by [illegible] Riley.” The lower cover reads “One
Thousand Volumes of Pamphlets on Political, Religious, Commerial, Philosophical
and Almost every other subject for sale Cheap, at No. 39, Prune-street Philadelphia.”
Rebacked, boards rubbed with some loss of text, embossed ownership stamp on title
and marks of removed bookplates from endpapers, some light spotting and browning
of text. Rink, Technical Americana 2144; Shaw & Shoemaker 35164.
First published in 1521 by the “founder of the science of modern politics” Machiavelli
puts forth his beliefs on war and emphasizes the necessity of a standing trained national
military for a country to retain its independence. Following the “Art of War” is a short
work entitled “Some Anecdotes; relating to the Life and Writings of Nicolas Machiavel,
collected from Various Authors.” “Hints relative to Torpedo Warfare” — generally
attributed to Robert Fulton —follows the “Anecdotes.”
$750
139
[MACKENZIE, Henry, et al]. The Mirror. A Periodical Paper, published at Edinburgh in
the years 1779 and 1780. 316; 316 pp. 2 vols. Folio, Boston: Printed at the Apollo Press in
Boston, by Belknap and Hall, for the Proprietors of the Boston Bookstore, No., 59,
Cornhill, 1792. First American edition. Bound in contemporary full mottled calf, red
leather title labels. Staining and toning to text. Signed on title-page “Mary Ann Greene’s
1816.” Rothschild 1347 (first edition).
The Mirror was originally edited by the Scottish author and lawyer Henry Mackenzie.
“As president of the famous literary club of Edinburgh, Mackenzie edited its occasional
magazine, the ‘Mirror’ from 1779 to 1780 … These were collections of essays in
‘Spectator’ style.” Mackenzie wrote at least forty-two of the hundred and ten essays
which appeared in The Mirror. Mackenzie was a champion for both Burns and Scott,
raising money to keep the former from having to emigrate, and becoming a friend and
advocate of the latter (Kunitz & Haycraft).
$200
catalogue 128 | 63
140
MACPHERSON, James. The Poems of Ossian, the Son of Fingal. A New Edition, carefully
Corrected and Greatly Improved. (ii), (i) ii-vii (viii-xi), 12-502 pp. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed
by Thomas Lang, 1790. First American edition. The first edition was published in 17603. Contemporary sheep, maroon morocco gilt label. Rubbed, scraping of covers, short
cracks at top and bottom of joints, text browned. Signatures of Sam. B. Wylie on title,
that of Margaret Wylie on endpaper and A. McKinney 1803 with notation “Erin go
Brah” on lower endpapers. Samuel B. Wylie was a clergyman and eminent classical
and Oriental scholar. He held the chair of languages at the University of Pennsylvania
from 1828 until 1845 and from 1838 to 1845 he was also vice-provost. Originally from
Ireland, Wylie attended the University of Glasgow and returned to Ireland. He was
forced to leave “in consequence of his efforts in favor of Irish independence”(Appleton).
He arrived in the United States in 1797 and taught in Pennsylvania. Shipton & Mooney
22633; Bate p. 521.
These poems were very popular even after the forgery was revealed, and they greatly
influenced the Romantic poets. Byron’s “Death of Calmar and Orla” in Hours of Idleness
is in direct imitation as are some of Coleridge’s poems. Goethe “acknowledged its sway
in his ‘Sturm und Drang’ period, and introduced from ‘Fingal’ the song of Selma into
his Werther’s ‘Leiden’“ (DNB).
$400
141
[MAHOMET]. The Life of Mahomet; or, the History of That Imposture which was begun,
carried on, and finally established by him in Arabia; and which has Subjugated a larger Portion
of the Globe, than the Religion of Jesus has yet set at Liberty. To which is added an Account of
Egypt. viii, [13]-154, [2] pp. Small 12mo, Worcester: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Jun, May
1802. First American edition. Contemporary sheep-backed marbled boards, morocco
label. Worn, rubbed, chipping of boards, some browning and spotting of text, mostly
light. Ownership signatures of Mary Turner and Capt. George Walsh of Charlestown,
Mass. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 2535.
There was a strong interest in the Muslim states at this time as numerous sailors and
ships had been taken prisoner in the Mediterranean. In 1801 when Jefferson became
the president, the United States had already paid almost two million dollars to Tripoli,
Tunis, Morocco and Algiers, either to allow our ships passage on the Mediterranean or
to ransom prisoners. The bashaw of Tripoli had even declared war on the United States,
as he thought that he deserved additional monies as tribute. This war began in May of
1801 and continued until 1804 with the attack on Tripoli by Commodore Preble in the
“U.S.S. Constitution.”
$750
142
MALTHUS, Thomas. Additions to An Essay on the Principle of Population &c.
Georgetown, D. C.: Published by Charles Cruikshank, Rind’s Press, 1831. First American
edition, first published in London in 1817. Original cloth backed tan boards, printed
paper label reading “Additions / to an / Essay /on / Population / by T.B. Malthus,”
uncut, partially unopened. Some spotting and browning of binding, rubbing with some
64 | james cummins bookseller
wear to extremities, some foxing and spotting of leaves, insect trail along lower inner
hinge, marginal tears on R4 and Cc4 not affecting text. A very good copy, in brown
cloth clamshell box. Goldsmiths 26723.2; Kress C2883. For first edition: Kress B6973,
Goldsmiths 21762, Einaudi 3664.
Very scarce.This work contains new chapters, additions, and corrections included in the
fifth edition separately published with a new title-page and pagination for those who
already had the earlier editions. The Contents leaf lists: Book II Chapters I [Checks to
Population in France] and VII [Checks to Population in England]; Book III Chapters
II [Of Systems of Equality], IV [Of Emigration], VI [Of Poor Laws], VIII-XIV [the
Agricultural and Commercial Systems, Corn Laws, Exportation and Importation,
and “Of increasing Wealth as it affects the Condition of the Poor]; Book IV Chapters
VI [“Effects of the Knowledge of the Principal Cause of Poverty on Civil Liberty”]
XII [“Different Plans of Improving the Condition of the Poor considered”], and the
Appendix. There are new chapters on the Poor and Corn Laws and a revised chapter
on rent. The change in Chapter III which formely dealt with Godwin and his “Systems
of Equality” now relates to Robert Owen, his Utopian systems and his “New View of
Society.” In 1817, at the height of his success, Robert Owen addressed the House of
Commons, speaking on his methods and ideas. Owen had disagreed with Malthus’
theories of population. In 1824 Owen had come to America and purchased what
became New Harmony, a communal society experiment — it was not successful and
Owen returned to England in 1828. The Appendix contains Malthus’ responses to the
publication of Principles of Population and Production by Mr. Wayland and An Inquiry into
the Principle of Population by James Grahame. Each chapter notes where the additions
should be placed, referring to the English edition of 1807 and American edition of 1809.
$500
143
MALTHUS, Thomas R. An Essay on the Principle of Population or, a View of its Past
and present Effects on Human Happiness; with an Inquiry into our Prospects Respecting the
Future Removal or Mitigation of the Evils which is Occasions. xvi, 510, xxxiv; vii, 542 pp. 2
vols. 8vo, George Town: Published by J. Milligan, at J. March’s Bookstore, R. Chew
Weightman, Printer, 1809. First American, from the third London edition. The third
edition contained substantial changes to the fourth and sixth chapters of the second
volume. This was the first appearance of any of Malthus’ works in America. The first
edition was published in 1803. Contemporary tree sheep. Rebacked, rubbed, some light
browning and spotting of text, marginal worming at the back of the first volume. In
brown cloth open-end case. With the contemporary signatures of John and Elizabeth
Teackle and Jos. Willey on the endpapers. Carpenter, Economic Best Sellers before 1850
xxxii (3); Kress B5542; Goldsmiths 19819. For the first edition: PMM 251, McCulloch, pp.
259-60, Garrison & Morton 1693 and Einaudi 3667.
“Malthus’ law, that population increases at a greater rate than the means of subsistence;
was one of the first and still one of the most widely debated of modern economic
theories. The work aroused a storm of controversy since Malthus held that checks
on the growth of population would be necessary, a theory which is still not finally
extinguished. Malthus has exercised a strong influence, not merely in economics, but
in the whole realm of social theory” (PMM). At the time of this writing, Britain was
suffering under the problems of poverty, unemployment, population and diseases —
catalogue 128 | 65
many the effects of the Industrial Revolution. In America, a surplus of raw materials
and a shortage of manpower gave a different point of view on Mathusian theories.
Chapter Four pertains specifically to the American Indians.
$1,500
144
MALTHUS, Thomas R. Principles of Political Economy considered with a View to their
Practical Application. 8vo, Boston: Wells and Lilly, 1821. First American edition. First
66 | james cummins bookseller
published in 1820. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards by P. Low, Boston, with his
label. Rubbed, some discoloration of spine and partial removal of labels and pastedown
on front pastedown, library stamps on endpaper. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. Kress C 737; Goldsmiths 23117; Shaw & Shoemaker 5926. For the first edition:
Schumpeter, pp. 480-1; Einaudi 3680; McCulloch, p. 18.
$500
145
MASON, George. A Supplement to Johnson’s English Dictionary: of Which the Palpable
Errors are Attempted to be Rectified, and its Material Omissions Supplied. 8vo, New York:
Printed for H. Caritat, Bookseller and Librarian, 1803. First American edition. From the
London quarto edition. First published in 1801. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label
(chipped). Rubbing, upper joint starting, some browning and spotting of leaves, mostly
marginal except for endpapers, signature of Ezra Leonardi on endpapers. In a leathertipped brown cloth open-end case.
$200
146
MATHER, Cotton. Magnalia Christi Americana: or, the Ecclesiastical History of NewEngland, from its first Planting in the year 1620, unto the year of our Lord, 1698. In seven
Books. 2 vols. 8vo, Hartford: Published by Silas Andrus. Printed by S. Converse-New
Haven, 1820. First American edition from the London edition of 1702. Contemporary
tree sheep, red morocco labels. Some small surface worming and rubbing, some light
browning and spotting of text. From the library of Charles Whiting Baker with his
bookplate and manuscript notation on endpapers. In a brick cloth open-end case.
Grolier, American 6; Howes M-391; Sabin 46393. Sabin quotes Southey in the Quarterly
Review as saying “One of the most singular books in this or any other language. Its puns
and its poems, its sermons and its anagrams render it unique in its kind.” For the 1702
edition: Church 806; Holmes “Cotton Mather” 213-A.
An indispensible source for the history of New England, both for its biographies
and its history of civil, religious, and military affairs. The work is divided into seven
books: antiquities, being the settlement of New England; biographies of Governours
and magistrates; biographies of sixty famous divines; an account of the University of
Cambridge in New England, and “lives of some eminent persons educated in it;” “Acts
and Monuments of the Faith;” “Record of many illustrious, wonderful Providences,
both of mercies and judgments on divers persons in New-England;” and “The Wars
of the Lord. Being an History of the manifold Afflictions and Disturbances of the
Churches in New England … to which is subjoined, an Appendix of Remarkable
Occurrences which New-England had in the wars with the Indian salvages (sic),
from the year 1688, to the year 1698.” This is one of the first collections of American
biographies. In addition, Mather included many of the “wonders” gathered by Increase
Mather and others, including the depossession of the Goodwin children, stories of
ghosts and strange premonitions, and the captivity of Hannah Duston.
$350
catalogue 128 | 67
147
[MERCIER, Louis Sebastien]. Memoirs of the Year Two Thousand Five Hundred. Translated
from the French by W[illiam] Hooper. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed by Thomas Dobson,
1795. First American edition. The original edition, entitled “L’An 2440” was published
in 1770. In this edition the translator has included a note stating that the only change he
made in the book was rounding up the date. The text is that of the Dublin 1772 edition.
Contemporary sheep, maroon morocco gilt label. Some rubbing, mostly of extremities,
some light spotting and browning, a very good copy with the contemporary signature
of Hudson Burr, June 20th 1795 on the endpaper. In a red cloth folding box. Bowe and
Daniels F633; Bleiler, p. 26; Shipton & Mooney 29068; Wilke, “L’Ans 2440,” Harvard
Library Bulletin; Lewis “Utopian Literature in the Pennsylvania State University
Libraries,” p. 120. For the first English edition of 1772: Block, p. 160; Negley, Utopian
Literature: A Bibliography 772; Versins, Encyclopédie de l’Utopie, des Voyages
Extraordinaires et de la Science Fiction, p. 582. Bleiler (1978), p. 138; Reginald 10017.
The rare first Utopian novel printed in America. Trousson calls Mercier “the father
of the modern Utopia” as his is the “first genuine utopia set in future times” (Lewis).
In this work the writer sleeps 670 years and awakens in a reformed France without a
monarchy, where there is a leveling of wealth, no international trade or colonies and
the American colonies are independent but “united under one spirit of legislation.” This
was deemed seditious and banned.
$1,750
148
[MERRY, Robert]. The British Album. A Collection of Poems. [second title] The British Album.
Containing the Poems of Della Crusca, Anna Matilda, Arley, Benedict, The Bard, &c. Revised
and Corrected by their Respective Authors. Frontispiece portraits of Della Crusca and Anna
Matilda, both engraved by Samuel Hill. 8vo, Boston: Printed at the Apollo Press by
Belknap and Hall, 1793. First American from the fourth London Edition. Contemporary
tree calf. Spine and extremities worn, typical spotting and browning of text, creasing of
a few fore-edges, else a very good copy with the signature of J. C. Ladd on blank. Evans
25807.
$100
149
MILTON, John. Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books. With the Life of Milton by Thomas
Newton [and] Paradise Regain’d. A Poem in Four Books. To which are added, Samson Agonistes:
and Poems on Several Occasions. With the Life of the Author by Thomas Newton. Frontispiece
portrait of Milton engraved by John Norman (according to Hildeburn, “a very good
specimen of John Norman’s work”), probably after the Vertue copy of Faithorne’s
engraving. The first American portrait of Milton. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed and
Sold by Robert Bell, 1777. First American editions of these works. The first editions
were published in 1667 and 1672. Newton’s edition was first published in 1749. The two
works similarly bound in contemporary sheep, red morocco label on the first volume.
Publisher’s advertisements on the verso of the half-title of the first work, label lacking
on second work, both quite rubbed, extremities and joints worn, some light browning
of text with interior sound. Contemporary signatures of Nancy P. Fox of Spruce St
68 | james cummins bookseller
Philadelphia, A. Ewing and the initials “J. H. W.” on the titles. In a brown moroccobacked slipcase. Shipton & Mooney 15443; Grolier, Tercentenary of the Birth of John
Milton (1908) 388; Fielding, p. 679; Stauffer, no. 2341; Hildeburn 3582. For the first edition:
Pforzheimer 716; Hayward 72; Grolier, Wither to Prior 599; Grolier, English 33.
Very rare — the first American editions of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise
Regained. The portrait of the author by John Norman is the first American portrait of
Milton. Norman is thought to have been the first in America to attempt a portrait of
Washington (about 1779).
$5,000
150
MILTON, John. Paradise Lost: A Poem in Twelve Books … from the Text of Dr. [Thomas]
Newton. With the Life of the Author. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for William Young and
Joseph James, [1787]. Second American edition, following the Bell edition of 1777. The
first edition was published in 1667 and the first Newton edition in 1749. Two volumes
bound in one. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Rubbed, upper joint cracking,
fore-edge of H1 cut away to remove signature, affects some individual letters but not
legibility of text, endpapers torn, text browned and spotted. In a leather-tipped brown
cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 20525.
$750
catalogue 128 | 69
151
MONTESQUIEU, Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de. The Spirit of Laws [With an
“Account of the Author’s Life and Writings” extracted from “Eloge de M. de Montesquieu” by M.
de Maupertuis]. 2 vols. 8vo, Worcester: Printed by Isaiah Thomas, Jun. sold by him and
by Mathew Carey, Philadelphia; also by the various Booksellers throughout the United
States, July 1802. First American edition. The first edition was published in 1748. The
first translation into English was by Thomas Nugent in 1750 (1752 according to the DNB)
which went through several editions. It may be this translation in the American edition.
Modern calf-backed marbled boards. Some browning of text, generally light. With the
signature Jos. Allen on titles. Shaw & Shoemaker 2682; Tchemezine vii 459/460 and
PMM 197 for the first edition, McCulloch, pp. 356-8 for the first English edition.
In thirty-one books Montesquieu treats the historical origins and principles of laws.
The books fall into six sections, the first dealing with forms of government and law in
general (eight books); the second with taxation and military arrangements (five books);
the third, with manners and customs and their “dependence on climatic conditions”
(six books); the fourth with economic matters (four books); the fifth consisting of three
books relates to religion; and the last five books (sixth section) with Roman, French
and feudal law. This work is “an assemblage of the most fertile, original and inspiriting
views on legal and political subjects, put in language of singular suggestiveness and
vigour, illustrated by examples which are always apt and luminous, permeated by
the spirit of temperate and tolerant desire for human improvement and happiness,
and almost unique in its entire freedom at once from doctrinairism, from visionary
enthusiasm, from egotism, and from an undue spirit of system” (Ency. Brit.) “One of
the greatest masterpieces of political theory and a pioneering work in sociology …
In its stress on the historical role of the nobility as a check to royal power it provided
a theoretical justification for the resurgance of aristocratic power which was so
important in the origins of the French Revolution … its emphasis on the separation of
powers of government and on a system of checks and balances profoundly influenced
constitutional thought in both America and France” (MacNamara, France in the Age
of Revolution, Cornell, 1981). Montesquieu’s disapproval of slavery and of religious
intolerance are both voiced in this work as are his views on witchcraft (sceptical). In the
“Preface” the author writes “I have laid down the first principles, and have found that
the particular cases apply naturally to them, that the histories of all nations are only
consequences of them; and that every particular law is connected with another law,
or depends on some other of a more general extent.” One of the primary evidences
of Montesquieu’s teachings that “in a republican government the whole power of
education is required if the virtue that makes men choose public over private interest is
to be sustained” appears in Jefferson’s “Bill for More General Diffusion of Knowledge”
of 1779 (Cremin, American Education, p. 439).
$1,000
152
MONTGOMERY, James. The Poetical Works of James Montgomery, including Several Poems
now First collected, with a Sketch of His Life. Stipple frontispiece portrait by A[bel] Bowen,
decorated title-pages other frontispieces also engraved by Bowen but after [Elkanah]
Tisdale and T. Behan. 3 vols. 12mo, Boston: Published by Leonard C. Bowles, J. H. A.
Frost, Printer, 1821. First American edition. This would appear to be the first collected
70 | james cummins bookseller
edition of Montgomery’s works. The first collected edition listed by NCBEL is 1829.
Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco label. Some light rubbing and wear, browning
and spotting of text, primarily at front and back, with contemporary signature of
J. B. Yates and label of the Library of Yates Union Free School of Chittenango on
pastedown. This would have been John Barentse Yates, 1784-1836, congressman, lawyer
and judge. In a brown cloth case. Shaw & Shoemaker 6098. Curiously both the DNB
and NCBEL described the earliest collected poetical works as being published in 1829,
there is no mention of either this edition or that of 1825; Stauffer, pp. 26-7 and 272-3.
Abel Bowen was a publisher and engraver. In 1834, with Alonzo Hartwell and John C.
Crossman, he established the American Engraving and Printing Company. Elkahah
Tisdale was an engraver and miniature painter, he founded the Hartford Graphic and
Bank Note Engraving Company.
$150
153
MOORE, John. Medical Sketches: In Two Parts. 8vo, Providence, R. I: Printed …
by Carter and Wilkinson, 1794. First American edition. First published in 1786.
Contemporary tree sheep. Rebacked, rubbed, some browning of text, mostly marginal,
endpapers browned, with an inscription presenting the volume to the Chicago
Historical Society by Edwin M. Stone on the pastedown, Albert Edgar Lownes’
bookplate, a note of the Libbie Sale of Oct. 27, 1914? and on the title a faint release
stamp from the Historical Society. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Austin
1330; Blake p. 311; Shipton & Mooney 27344.
The first part relates to digestion, circulation, secretions, respiration, and the
nervous system. The second part relates to fevers. This last was improved upon from
instructions Moore had written up for a cousin who was to go to America for the War
of Independence and wanted information on diseases he might encounter and what to
do for them.
$300
154
MORE, Thomas. The Common-Wealth of Utopia. Containing a learned and pleasant
Discourse of the best State of a Publick Weal, as it is found in the new Island called Utopia. 126
pp. 8vo, London: Printed, Philadelphia: Reprinted and sold by James Chattin, in ChurchAlley, 1753. First American edition. First published in 1516. The first English translation
was by Ralph Robinson and published in 1551. Later sprinkled calf, maroon morocco
labels on spine. Front cover detached, some rubbing of extremities, inked label reading
“John Kelso, Jamestown, Virginia” on front pastedown, some staining of title, title on
stub, small hole in blank portion of title, some marginal repairs to leaves, in a rust cloth
open-end case. Lewis, A. O. Utopia Literature in the Pennsylvania State University
Libraries, p. 132; Evans 7068; Sabin 50547; for the First English edition: Pforzheimer 740.
More’s classic book takes on an added significance with an American imprint: “In
placing his ‘Utopia’ somewhere in the New World, More must have greatly heightened
the imaginative effect of the work to readers of his own time. The sense of illusion
thus given at the outset is remarkably well maintained throughout. No other creator
of imaginary societies has been so successful in directly impressing the reader with the
catalogue 128 | 71
feasibilty of his scheme of social betterment” (O.M. Sprague, Lectures on the Harvard
Classics, 1904-14). More’s Utopia is found by his hero Hytholodaye during one of his
three voyages with Amerigo Vespucci.
$10,000
155
MORE, Hannah. Essays on Various Subjects, principally designed for Young Ladies. 12mo,
Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Young, Stewart and M’Culloch, 1786. First American
edition. The first edition having appeared in 1777. Floral and leaf stamped wrappers,
stitched. Wrappers torn, lacking lower portions and spine, some light browning and
spotting of leaves, short marginal tears, signature of Hannah Fox[e] 1794 on title and
endpaper. NCBEL 2:1599 (for first edition); Shipton & Mooney 19810.
$300
72 | james cummins bookseller
156
MORE, Hannah. Sacred Dramas, chiefly intended for Young Persons … and Essays on Various
Subjects principally designed for young Ladies. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for Thomas
Dobson, 1787. First American edition of this edition of the two works. “Sacred Dramas”
was first published in 1782 and Essays on Various Subjects in 1777. Essays was published in
America first in 1786. Contemporary sheep. Joints cracked, upper inner hinge reinforced,
rubbed, some spotting and browning of text, primarily marginal, with the signature of
Marjorie Lord 1805 on the blank. With a page of publisher’s advertisements at the back.
In a leather-tipped marbled paper open-end case. NCBEL 2:1599 (first edition); Shipton
& Mooney 20534.
$500
157
NEWTON, Isaac. Newton’s Principia. The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
Translated into English by Andrew Motte. To which is added Newton’s System of the World;
With a Life of the Author by N. W. Chittenden. Frontispiece portrait taken from the bust in
the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, diagrams in text. 8vo, New York: Published by
Daniel Adee, 176 Fulton Street [Turney & Lockwood’s Stereo], [1846]. First American
edition, the rare first printing, not even noted in Gray. The first edition was published
in 1687. Original green cloth. Head of spine carefully restored, some rubbing, some
light browning, mostly at front and back, a very good copy of this important work. In a
leather-tipped green cloth open-end box. Bookplate of O. Stuck on endpapers. Babson
23; Gray 26 (citing the 1848 second printing only); Karpinski, p. 491; Horblit 78; PMM 161.
The first English edition of Newton’s “Principia” was translated by Andrew Motte,
a mathematician, who with his brother Benjamin, the publisher, had edited the
abridged Philosophical transactions. This first English edition was published in 1729 from
the third and definitive Latin edition of 1726. Newton’s A Treatise of the System of the
World was first published in English in 1728. The American edition bears a dedication
and an introduction directed to teachers, “If to educate means, not so much to store
the memory with symbols and facts, as to bring forth the faculties of the soul and
to develope them to the full by healthy nurture and a hardy discipline, then, what so
effective to the accomplishment of that end as the study of Geometrical Synthesis?
… Let the Principia then, be gladly welcomed into every Hall where a True Teacher
presides.” “The greatest work in the history of science … the “Principia” provided the
great synthesis of the cosmos, proving finally its physical unity … for the first time a
single mathematical law could explain the motion of objects on earth as well as the
phenomena of the heavens” (PMM).
$1,000
158
NEWTON, Isaac. Newton’s Principia. The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, By
Sir Isaac Newton; Translated into English by Andrew Motte. To which is added Newton’s System
of the World; With a portrait taken from the Bust in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. First
American edition, carefully revised and corrected. With a life of the author, by N. W. Chittenden,
M. A., &c. Frontispiece portrait taken from the bust in the Royal Observatory at
Greenwich printed by William Wurts. This is as the portrait in the first printing except
catalogue 128 | 73
for the imprint. Diagrams in text. Royal 8vo, New York: Published by Daniel Adee,
107 Fulton Street [Turney & Lockwood’s Stereo, 1848]. First American edition, second
printing. The first edition was published in 1687. The first translation into English,
this translation, was published in 1729 from the third and definitive Latin edition of
1726. Contemporary sheep. Rebacked, black morocco label, some rubbing of corners,
some light browning of text, mostly marginal, with the bookplate from the Neils Bohr
Library of the History of Physics. Babson 24; Gray 26; PMM 161.
Inscribed by the editor N. W. Chittenden to N. Chittenden on the endpaper.
Chittenden’s Life is described by Babson as “well-written and informing.” Dedicated to
the Teachers of the Normal School of the State of New York.
$2,000
159
ORTON, Job. Religious Exercises Recommended: or Discourses on Secret and Family Worship,
and the Religious Observation of the Lord’s Day. With Two Discourses on the Heavenly
State, considered under the Idea of a Sabbath. 12mo, Bridgeport: Printed and Sold by S.
Backus & Co. [G. L. Austen, Typographer], 1809. First American edition. This was first
published in 1769 at Salop. Contemporary calf. Lacking label, some rubbing, some
browning, staining and spotting of text, mostly marginal, endpapers browned, early gift
presentation on front free endpaper. Maroon leather-tipped marbled and cloth open-end
case. Shaw & Shoemaker 18306, citing two locations.
$250
160
OVIDIUS NASO, Publius. Metamorphoseon Libri X. Or, Ten Select Books of Ovid’s
Metamorphoses; with an English Translation compiled from the two former translations by
Davidson and Clarke; A Prosody Table and References, (after the Manner of Mr. Stirling)
pointing out, at one view, the scanning of each verse; and Davidson’s English Notes. Some
woodcut head- and tail-pieces. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed by William Spotswood, 1790.
First American edition of this work and the first Ovid printed in America. John Clarke’s
work first appeared in 1735 and that of Joseph Davidson in 1748. Contemporary sheep,
maroon morocco label. Some rubbing, lower portion of spine repaired, text browned,
a few short tears, mostly marginal. With the contemporary signatures of William
Mitchel, James T. Wilson, his great grand nephew (1891), James W. Mitchell Jr. (1846),
stamp of Robert K. Mitchel and pencilled scrawl of John Mitchel. In a brown cloth
open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 22753.
$400
161
OVIDIUS NASO, Publius. A Translation of the first book of Ovid’s Tristia, in heroic English
verse, with the original text. [translated by Francis Arden, Counsellor at Law]. 8vo, New York:
Printed and Published by C. S. Van Winkle, 1821. First edition of the first American
translation of Ovid’s “Tristia.” Original boards, original printed paper label (chipped),
uncut. Boards spotted and soiled, spine worn, endpapers browned but text quite clean.
Signature of W. Woodruff of Plymouth, Connecticut. In a brown cloth open-end case.
Shaw & Shoemaker 6358.
74 | james cummins bookseller
Text in Latin and English. Dedicated to John Jay, with special thanks to the noted
philologist Peter Wilson.
$150
162
PAINE, Thomas. The Writings. 8vo, Albany: Printed by Charles R. & George Webster,
[1792]. First edition of the first collected writings issued in America. The first collection
of Paine’s works was published in 1792. Contemporary sheep. Repaired, front free
endpaper removed, title soiled, some gatherings sprung, some browning and soiling
of text, signature of Wm. Jones (curiously dated 1790) on title, on the endpapers are
the signatures of Jonas J. Clark of Marysville, Ohio and of Elias Convers, Darby Creek,
Madison Co. Ohio, 1855, and the signature of James Thompson on the lower endpaper.
There is a James Thompson of Stillwater on the subscriber’s list. In a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 24658; Sabin 58247.
The Subscriber’s list includes Elbridge Gerry, James Madison, Dewitt Clinton, Thomas
Chittenden, and Salmon Chase. To Benjamin Waterhouse, John Adams wrote “I know
not whether any man in the world has had more influence on its inhabitants or affairs
for the last thirty years than Tom Paine” (letter of 29 October, 1805, cited in W. C. Ford’s
Statesman and Friend, 1927, p. 31).
$100
163
PALEY, William. The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Printed for Thomas Dobson, 1788. First American edition (with “seventh edition
corrected” on title). First published in 1785. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label.
Some rubbing, some browning or offsetting of text, generally light. With the printed
and accomplished booklabel of Samuel G[reen] Arnold of Providence dated June 1796.
Shipton & Mooney 21356; PMM 245; Goldsmiths 12824 and Einaudi 4262 for the edition
of 1785.
Paley’s lectures were gathered and expanded for this work. It was very popular and
went through some fifteen editions during the author’s life. The pigeon illustration
which appeared in the English editions of the chapter on property and gained him
the nickname “Pigeon Paley” does not appear in the American edition. This was a
standard text on ethics both here and in England and generally referred to as Paley’s
practical explanation and proof of the existence of God. Paley’s text was replaced with
the advent of the Scottish philosophers and the publication of Francis Wayland’s The
Elements of Moral Science in 1835. Among the other subjects covered are property, crime
and punishment, constitutional theory, economic policy, contract and domestic law.
$400
164
[PALTOCK, Robert]. The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins; or the History of the Flying
Islanders. Taken from his own Mouth, in his Passage to England, from off Cape Horn in
America, in the Hector. By R. S. a Passenger in the Hector. Frontispieces engraved by David
Claypoole Johnston. Illustrated titles. These plates are considered the first fantastic or
“fantasy” plates published in America. 2 vols. Small 12mo, Boston: Published by Baker &
catalogue 128 | 75
Alexander. Rufus Colton, Printer, Woodstock, VT, 1828. First American edition. Original
rose cloth-backed boards, printed paper labels (worn). Cloth faded with some tears,
binding rubbed, inner hinges of first volume broken, front free endpaper there lacking,
shaken, a tear on p.86/7 with loss affecting 4 lines of text, some browning and staining,
generally light and in the second volume. With the signature of Francis H. Hunston
dated 1834 on endpaper. Brown cloth and marbled paper open-end case. Bleiler, p. 162;
Sabin 58394; Shaw & Shoemaker 34637; Rhanders-Pehrson 13 “… the story of Peter
Wilkins is one of the best known among the early aviation novels …”
The adventures, or mis-adventures of Wilkins, from his life in Cornwall, to his journeys
and shipwrecks at sea, to Africa and slavery and to the land of the flying islanders, the
Glums and Gawrys. The illustrations depict these flying beings. Originally published
in 1751 with illustrations by Louis Philippe Boitard. Written in imitation of Gulliver’s
Travels and Robinson Crusoe this romantic and imaginative work soon became very
popular. Coleridge, Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb, Sir Walter Scott and Southey were great
admirers of this work. In Southey’s “Curse of Kehama,” his “Glendoveers” were based
upon the “Gawrys.” David Claypoole Johnston, engraver (1797-1865), is best known
for his annual publication Scraps, first issued in 1830. He earned the nickname “The
American Cruikshank” from his caricatures. (Fielding, Dictionary of American Painters).
$1,500
165
PARKINSON, James. The Chemical Pocket-Book; or Memoranda Chemistry. Frontispiece
and one additional plate. xii, [1], 14-215, [1] pp. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by
James Humphreys, 1802. First American edition from the second edition of 1802. The
first edition was London 1800. Original sheep. Very Good. Ownership signature of J.H.
Jennings Cleveland, Ohio. Shaw & Shoemaker 2849.
James Parkinson (1755-1824) was an English physician and scientist known for his
description of the “Shaking Palsy” which is now called “Parkinson’s Disease” after him.
$500
166
PARK, Mungo, Dr. Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa … With an Appendix containing
Geographical illustrations of Africa by Major Rennell. Folding map engraved by Scoles after
Major Rennell (lacking first section). 8vo, New York: Printed and sold by J. Tiebout,
1800. First American edition. First edition was published in 1799. Early sheep, ruled in
blind, red morocco label (possibly from earlier binding). Rubbed, browning and spotting
of text, generally light and marginal, Negro Song with Postscript and the Mandingo
vocabulary at back. In a marbled paper and brown cloth open-end case. Library
Company of Philadelphia, Negro History 1553-1903 13; PMM 253 (first edition); Shipton
& Mooney 38189.
“[A] classic of travel literature, and its scientific observations on the botany and
meteorology of the region, and on the social and domestic life of the negroes, have
remained of lasting value” (PMM). On the pastedown is the booklabel from the Adams
Library, apparently a lending library, dated 21 December 1803. Listing loan restrictions
and fines — “dropping tallow or ink, on a leaf, not less than 8 cents” among others.
$350
76 | james cummins bookseller
167
PASCAL, Blaise. Thoughts on Religion, and other Subjects. A New Translation and a Memoir
of his Life by the Rev. Edward Craig … To which are added Introductory and Other Notices.
304 pp. 12mo, Amherst, Mass: Published by J. S. and C. Adams, 1829. First American
edition. Translated from an 1819 Paris edition of the “Pensées.” The first attempt at the
collection of the “Pensées” was in 1670. The first edition in English was the translation
by Joseph Walker published in 1688. Contemporary cloth-backed brown boards.
New labels, some rubbing and wear to binding, some spotting and browning of text,
generally light, small tears on title from partial removal of a signature. In a leathertipped brown cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 39971.
Craig’s edition includes most of the “Pensées” with exceptions of those pieces relating
to the Catholic church which he felt inadequate to translate and those pieces that did
not relate to religion. “The work is notable for its acute analysis of human character,
for many striking sayings, and for its combination of powerful and persuasive reasoning
with passionate devotion” (Oxford Companion).
$200
168
[PENN, William]. Some Fruits of Solitude, in Reflections and Maxims, relating to the Conduct
of Human Life. In Two parts. The Eighth edition. [12], 158, [8] pp.; [6], 104, 107-108, [2] pp.
24mo, Newport, Rhode-Island: Printed by James Franklin, at the Town-School-House,
1749. First American edition. It was first published in 1693. Contemporary sheep. Upper
joint repaired, lower joint starting, corners worn, some browning and short tears of
text, corners rounded, signature of Mary Mowry on endpapers and bookplate of Paul
Jordan Smith. In a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 6392.
One of the important aspects of this work is that it provides the basis for the
Pennsylvanian attitude towards education. “We are in pain to make them [the children]
Scholars but not Men! To talk rather than to know; which is true Canting … We press
their Memory too soon, and puzzle, strain and load then with Words and Rules; to
know Grammar and Rhetorick, and a strange Tongue or two, that is ten to one may
never be useful to them; leaving their natural Genius to Mechanical and Physical, or
natural Knowledge uncultivated and neglected; which would be of exceeding Use and
Pleasure to them through the whole Course of their Life. To be sure, Languages are not
to be despised or neglected. But Things are still to be preferred. Children had rather be
making of Tools and Instruments of Play, Shaping, Drawing, Framing, and Building &c
than getting Some Rules of Propriety of Speech by heart: And those also would follow
with more Judgement, and less Trouble and Time … “ (Reflections and Maxims 3-17
contain Penn’s thoughts on education.) James Franklin, Benjamin’s nephew, was the son
of James Franklin, the first printer of Rhode Island. It was on the present work that the
name of this James Franklin first appears alone in the imprint. Franklin had returned to
Newport in 1748 to continue his father’s press which his mother had been running. He
had spent the few years previously working in Benjamin Franklin’s printing office.
$400
catalogue 128 | 77
169
PEPYS, Samuel. Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys [deciphered by John Smith.] With
a Life and Notes by Richard Lord Braybrooke. Portrait of Pepys engraved by J[ames] W.
Steel, Philadelphia engraver after Sir. G. Kneller and a portrait of Mrs. Pepys engraved
by J. W. Steel after Hailes. 4 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co, 1856. First
American edition from the fifth London edition, although it is the Preface to the Fourth
edition which is included. First published in 1825 as Memoirs. Original brown cloth.
Some fading of spines, some tears or fraying along edges and extremities, spotting,
browning and some staining of text. With the signature of Robinson Gibbons dated
1865 on endpapers. In a brown cloth open-end case.
In the first edition of this Braybrooke edition only a small portion of the Diary was
included. In 1848-9 an enlarged and corrected edition was published including some
two-fifths of the Diary. It would have been a later edition of this enlarged edition which
was reprinted for this first American edition.
$200
170
PERCY, Thomas. Reliques of Ancient English Poetry: Consisting of Old Heroic Ballads,
Songs, and Other Pieces of our Earlier Poets; together with some few of later Date. Halftitles, glossary at the end of second volume. 8vo, Philadelphia: Published by James E.
Moore and James V. Seaman, New York, J. Hardins, Printer, 1823. First American from
the fifth London edition. First published in 1765. Original boards, printed paper labels,
uncut. Upper joint on vol. 1 separating, spine of first volume cracked, some spotting,
portion of blank at end of second volume torn out, some spotting and light browning,
ownership signature on front free endpaper. A very good copy. Shaw & Shoemaker 13727
or 13728; Grolier, English 45. For the first edition of 1765: Courtney-Nichol Smith, p. 111;
Grolier, English 45; Rothschild 1521; Tinker 1662.
$600
171
[PESTALOZZI, Johann Heinrich]. Leonard and Gertrude. A popular Story, written
originally in German; translated into French and now Attempted in English with the Hope of its
being Useful to All Classes of Society. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for and Sold by Joseph
Groff, Robert Carr, Printer, 1801. First American edition. This work was first published
in 1781. Later lavender cloth, stamped in blind. Some fading and rubbing of cloth, lower
inner hinge tearing, text browned, some staining and variation in papers. With the
signature of M. H. Eames on the title. Shaw & Shoemaker 1141. For the first edition:
PMM 258n.
The story of a good woman’s reformation of her family and village; it is considered one
of this famous Swiss educational reformer’s best works. In 1800 Pestalozzi had begun a
school in Yverdon, Switzerland based upon his educational methods. This school drew
a lot of attention from Europe and especially from America. His theory was that the
problem of teaching “was how to bring the elements of every art into harmony with
the very nature of the mind, by following the psychological mechanical laws by which
mind rises from physical sense impressions to clear ideas” (Graves, Great Educators
of Three Centuries, 1912). Pestalozzi also believed that teachers needed to be properly
78 | james cummins bookseller
trained, and it was following these dictates that the Reverend Samuel Hall, a disciple of
Pestalozzi, opened the first private teacher-training institute in America in 1823.
$400
172
PETRARCH, Francesco. Petrarch Translated; in a Selection of his Sonnets and Odes;
Accompanied with notes by the Translator of Catullus. Small 12mo, Boston: J. Belcher,
Printer, 1809. First American edition. Nott’s translation was first published in 1777.
Original half maroon morocco over marbled boards. Quite rubbed, discoloration, some
browning and spotting of text, free endpaper at the back removed, hole in front free
endpaper. With the pencilled signature of N. F. Cabell and engraved booklabel of Josiah
B. Abbott. Shaw & Shoemaker 18369; NCBEL 2:1548.
Petrarch’s philosophical idealism, his strong interest in nature and the individual, and
his love for Laura would all be aspects which would appeal to the literary age of the
early nineteenth century, that of the American Romantic movement. This must be
John Nott’s translation and notes as he also translated Catullus. NCBEL notes a revised
1808 edition but describes contents as three odes and thirty sonnets. There are seventy
sonnets and ten odes in this edition.
$100
173
PLATO. Phaedon: or, a Dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul. Translated from the Original
Greek by Madam Dacier [Andre Dacier]. With Notes and Emendations. To which is Prefixed
the Life of the Author, by Fénelon. 12mo, New York: Published by W. Gowan, 1833. First
American edition and first appearance in America of any work by Plato in book form.
From the 1701 London edition. Cloth-backed green boards, printed paper label. Some
soiling, rubbing of binding, fraying along spine, some spotting of leaves, mostly at the
front and the back of the volume, two pages publisher’s advertisements at the back. In
a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Library Company of Philadelphia, First
American Editions, p. 21.
The 1830s in New England were the early years of the New England Transcendentalist
movement. Platonic thought as well as German philosophy and Oriental influences
were integral parts in this movement. The publisher William Gowan (or Gowans)
was an antiquarian bookseller and sometime auctioneer. Phaedon is one of his earliest
publications. He also reprinted rare historical Americana tracts and pamphlets. He
apparently had an arrangement with the auction houses that anything going unsold was
knocked down to him under his pseudonym “Mr. Chase” (Appleton). His catalogues
contain valuable notes not only on the books but on some of the authors who Gowan
knew.
$300
174
PLUTARCH. Plutarch’s Lives, translated from the Original Greek: with notes Critical
and Historical, and a New Life of Plutarch. By John & William Langhorne. Frontispieces
engraved by Amos Doolittle, all dated June 1804. 6 vols. 8vo, Worcester: Printed by
Isaiah Thomas, Jun. Sold by him, and by Thomas & Andrews, Boston and by Thomas
catalogue 128 | 79
& Whipple, Newburyport, April-August-August-December-December-June, 1804. First
Worcester edition, carefully corrected and the index much amended and accurately
revised throughout. The First American edition had been published the preceding year
in Philadelphia. Contemporary sheep, maroon morocco labels. Joints cracked on several
volumes, heads and tails of spines chipped, some light browning of text, in open-end
cases. With the signature of W. L. G. Peirce on endpapers. Shaw & Shoemaker 7072-3.
The Langhorne brothers were both poets and published several volumes of their own
works, but they are best remembered as the translators of Plutarch’s Lives. It was first
published in 1770.
$550
175
PRIESTLEY, Joseph. An Interesting Appendix to Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries
on the Laws of England. [iv], [5]-119, [1], xii, 155, [1] pp. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for
the Subscribers, by Robert Bell, at the late Union-Library, in Third-Street, 1772. First
American edition. Contemporary calf. Cloth folding box. Eller 256; Cohen 5369; Evans
12684; Hildeburn 2859.
$900
176
PRIESTLEY, Joseph. Lectures on History and General Policy; to which is prefixed An Essay
on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life and an Additional Lecture on the
Constitution of the United States. 4 pages advertisements for Law and Miscellaneous
Books from the Publisher at the back of the first volume. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Printed for P. Byrne [From the Press of William Spotswood], 1803. First American
edition. First published in 1788 in Birmingham. Contemporary American calf, red
morocco labels, spine gilt. Rubbed, some wear to extremities, upper joints cracked
but stitching holding, last gathering in second volume browned elsewhere only light
marginal discoloration. A very good copy with signatures of Andrew McIntyre, L. Van
Rensselaer, L. G. Hun and Reynolds.
$300
177
PRIESTLEY, Joseph. Miscellaneous Observations relating to Education. More Especially
as it Respects the Conduct of the Mind. 12mo, New London: Printed by J. Springer for T.
C. Green and S. Green and J. Trumbull, Norwich, 1796. First American edition. First
published in 1778. Contemporary half sheep over marbled boards. Some light rubbing
and browning of binding, short crack along upper joint, some browning and spotting
of text, mostly light, two pages publisher’s advertisments at back. In a leather-tipped
marbled open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 31054.
According to Cremin’s American Education: The National Experience (p. 109), Jefferson,
while not paying close attention to education while he was either president or vicepresident, did keep in close correspondence with Priestley and Du Pont de Nemours
“concerning the proper system of schooling for a republic.”
$500
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178
[QUINCY, John]. Quincy’s Lexicon Physico-Medicum Improved: or a Dictionary of the Terms
employed in medicine, and in Such Departments of Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Literature,
and the Arts, as are connected therewith. Containing Ample Explanations of the Etymology,
signification, and use of those Terms. 8vo, New York: Printed by T. & J. Swords, 1802.
First American edition. “From the eleventh London edition. With many Amendments
and Additions, expressive of Discoveries lately made in Europe and America.”
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Head of spine and corners chipped, some
rubbing, joints starting, some light marginal browning, with the signature of Augustus
Mulford on the endpapers. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case. Austin 1577;
Shaw & Shoemaker 2959.
Quincy’s work was the standard medical lexicon used by American physicians
throughout the nineteenth century. He first published it in 1717, based upon the lexicon
of Bartholomew Castellus.
$300
179
RADCLIFFE, Ann. The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. A Highland Story. 12mo,
Philadelphia: Published by Thomas Bradford, 1796. First American edition.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Some chipping of spine, rubbing, some
browning and spotting of text, tears, mostly marginal though that on I6 with loss of
four lines of text. Shipton & Mooney 31067. For the first edition: Block, p. 193; Summer,
p. 135; Tinker 1700.
Her first book, published in 1789. Described by Baker as a “sham historical novel mixing
up baronial and highland life on the north-east coast of Scotland with the courtly and
chivalrous society of Gothic romance” (p. 21). Radcliffe is known best for her Gothic
novels where acts of the supernatural and the mysterious are used to draw horror and
terror from the reader and are ultimately given some commonplace explanation. The
Gothic novels of Radcliffe, Walpole, Godwin and others greatly influenced American
novelists, especially Charles Brockden Brown who adapted the Gothic elements to the
American climate and audience.
$750
180
RICHARDSON, John. An Account of the Life of that Ancient Servant of Jesus Christ,
John Richardson, Giving a Relation of many of his Trials and Exercises in his Youth, and his
Services in the Work of the Ministry, in England, Ireland, America &c. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Printed and Sold by Joseph Crukshank, 1783. First American edition. First published in
1757. Contemporary sheep. Rubbed, some browning and spotting of text, ownership
signature of Ruth Green in 1808. Shipton & Mooney 18158; Sabin 71023.
Richardson, a Quaker, was an itinerant preacher. In November 1700, after having
travelled across England and Wales several times, he journeyed to America. There he
journeyed some 4,000 miles preaching, meeting with William Penn, George Keith, Lord
and Lady Baltimore and Thomas Story among others. He returned to England in 1703,
travelled through Ireland and then back to America in 1731.
$100
catalogue 128 | 81
181
ROBERTSON, William. An Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the
Ancients had of India; and the Progress of Trade with that Country prior to the Discovery of
the Passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope. With an Appendix on the Civil policy-the Laws
and Judicial Proceedings-the Arts-the Sciences-and Religious Institutions, of the Indians. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Printed by William Young, Bookseller, 1792. First American edition. The
first edition was published in 1791. Contemporary sheep, red morocco gilt label. Upper
joint restored, some wear to head of spine and corners, some worming tracks on lower
cover, some light browning and spotting, mostly marginal and of the endpapers. With
the signature and booklabel of Joseph Battell. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end
case. Shipton & Mooney 24752. For the first edition: Goldsmiths 16402; McCulloch, p.
104.
In the 1780s America started seriously trading with the Orient and India and by the 1790s
trading in the West Indies, China, Russia and India was going strong and very profitable.
The audience for this work would not only have been those interested in trading there
and interested in learning about the country but at this time there was a great interest
in travel books, especially journeys to exotic lands. Robertson’s last work and written at
the urging of Gibbon. In describing this work Stewart says that it “exhibits a diligence
of research, a soundness of judgement, and a perspecuity of method not inferior to
those which distinguish his other performances” (Dugald Stewart, Life of Robertson).
$250
182
ROBERTSON, William. The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. With a View of
the Progress of Society in Europe, from the Subversion of the Roman Empire, to the Beginning
of the Sixteenth Century. Frontispieces by Alexander Anderson after Ansell and Titian.
3 vols. 8vo, New York: Printed by Hopkins & Seymour, and sold by G. F. Hokins, 1804.
Second American edition from the tenth London edition, and likely first American
illustrated edition. The first edition was published in 1769. The first American in
1770. Contemporary sheep, red morocco labels. Rubbed, upper joint on first volume
cracking, heads of spines chipped, some wrinkling of label on second volume, offsetting
from frontispieces, upper corner of titles cut away, some tears, mostly marginal, some
browning and spotting but mostly at front and back, with the signature of William
Strong of Piqua, Miami County, Ohio dated 1854 on various leaves, this may be the
Associated Justice of the Supreme Court. Hamilton 226; Shaw & Shoemaker 7205;
Stauffer, nos. 62 and 47.
Robertson’s histories were quite popular and successful both in England and America.
Alexander Anderson is generally recognized as “the father of Wood Engraving in the
United States.”
$300
183
ROUSSEAU, Jean Jacques. A Dissertation on Political Economy: to which is Added A
Treatise on the Social Compact, or the Principles of Politic Law [translated by William Kenrick].
Frontispiece portrait engraved by [Gideon] Fairman. 12mo, Albany: Printed and Sold
by Barbar & Southwick, 1797. The First American edition “compiled from the works of
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the Author. These pieces were extracted from the London Translation of Rousseau’s
miscellaneous works printed in 1767” (Preface). Kenrick’s translation was first published
in 1767 in 5 volumes. Sprinkled calf, red morocco label. Some browning and staining of
text. At the back of this work is a page and a half of subscriber’s names, the other half
of the page is advertisements for the publishers. In a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. Shipton & Mooney 32780.
The Dissertation was the book production of Rousseau’s famous article on Political
Economy in the Encyclopédie. The publisher decided that the article, being included in
the expensive Encyclopédie, was not accessible enough to the public and made a separate
publication. This is the first American edition of that work. Rousseau was not an
economist but a political philosopher and reformer, but wrote at a time when there was
not a clear distinction between political economy and political philosophy.
$1,000
184
ROUSSEAU, Jean Jacques. Eloisa: or, a Series of Original letters, collected and Published by J.
J. Rousseau. Translated from the French [by William Kenrick.] Together with the Sequel of Julia;
or, the new Eloisa. (Found amongst the Author’s Papers after his Decease.). vii, 275; 267; 259 pp.
3 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for Samuel Longcope, 1796. First American edition.
Kenrick’s translation was first published in 1761, it was the first edition in English.
Contemporary tree sheep, red morocco gilt labels. Joints and extremities worn, some
darkening and soiling of bindings, surface worming of the third, some spotting and
soiling of the text, mostly at the front and back of the volumes, a few marginal tears. In
a brown cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 31122.
With the lending library label of the Tremont Library, Boston, on the pastedowns. Julie
ou la Nouvelle Héloïse was Rousseau’s “attempt to rehabilitate human nature in as much
of the supposed freshness of primitive times as the hardened crust of civil institutions
and social use would allow” (Oxford Companion quoting Morley). As moralistic
sentimental drama it was extremely popular and is credited with having brought about
a “sort of moral revolution” in the lives of the society of its day. It was first published in
1761.
$300
185
SAADI, Musle-Huddeen, Sheik of Shiraz. The Gulistan or Rose Garden. Translated from
the Original by Francis Gladwin. With an Essay on Saadi’s Life and Genius by James Ross
and a Preface by R. W. Emerson. 8vo, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865. First American
edition. The first edition of this translation was published in 1806. Original brick cloth.
Some rubbing and fraying of extremities, tears starting along inner hinges, some light
marginal browning of text, else a very good copy with the bookplate of William W.
Gay. In a leather-tipped maroon cloth open-end case. BAL 5247; Myerson D55.
Emerson’s introduction explains the reason for the late date of publication: “The
slowness to import these books into our libraries — mainly owing, no doubt, to the
forbidding difficulty of the original languages — is also due in part to some repulsion
in the genius of races. At first sight, the Oriental rhetoric does not please our Western
taste …” Francis Gladwin translated several of the Oriental writers and wrote a
catalogue 128 | 83
History of Hindostan. In addition to his numerous translations he also produced several
vocabularies and grammatical works, including a Persian-Hindustani-English dictionary
which was published in 1809. In the 1860s there was a revival of interest in Persian
poems at the time of and following the publication of the “Rubaïyat.” Sa’dî was an
early 12th century Persian poet, described by the Encyclopedia Britannica as “the greatest
didactic poet and the most popular writer of Persia.” Richard Burton and Sir Edwin
Arnold both were interested in him and translated his works as did several others. Saadi
was Emerson’s favorite poet — apparently he considered using Saadi in Representative
Men in place of Shakespeare. In 1841 he wrote a poem for The Dial entitled “Saadi.”
German thought, Oriental influences and Platonic thought were all integral parts of the
New England Transcendentalists.
$200
186
SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS, Gaius. Opera Omnia, quae extant, Interpretatione et Notis
Illustravit Daniel Crispinus. 8vo, Philadelphia: Ex Officina Classica: Impensis W. Poyntell
& Soc. [B. Graves, Printer], 1804. First American edition, from the best London 8vo
edition, corrected and amended. Contemporary sheep, red morocco gilt label. Upper
joint cracking, head of spine chipped, some scuffing and rubbing, free endpaper
removed, some browning and spotting of text. With signature and some marginal
notations by Oliver G. Fessenden, pencilled library numbers on verso of title and in
gutter. Leather-tipped marbled open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 7227.
A consortium of Philadelphia publishers, wishing to share the costs of publishing
standard works with unusual expense or special requirements, formed the Classic Press.
This press, under the direction of William Poyntell provided texts for students and
teachers at affordable prices. The intention of the press was to publish all the Greek and
Latin classics from the best editions, in their original languages and with excellent notes.
Sallust was of course the “first artistic writer of Roman History.” (Benet).
$300
187
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Dramatick Works of William Shakespeare. Printed Complete
with Dr. Samuel Johnson’s Preface and Notes. To which is prefixed the Life of the Author [by
N. Rowe]. Engraved titles by [Enoch G.] Gridley of New York. 8 vols. 8vo, Boston:
Printed by Munroe & Francis, 1802-4. Munroe & Francis edition. The first Boston
edition. According to Jaggard, David Francis (one of the publishers) was probably the
editor. The first edition of Johnson’s edition of Shakespeare was in 1765. Contemporary
sheep, spine ruled in gilt, red morocco labels, small circular black morocco volume
number labels. Some rubbing, upper joints of volumes 7, 4 and 1 starting, some
chipping, at the back of the 8th volume is a “List of the Subscribers to the First Boston
Edition of Shakespeare’s Dramatick Works” including John Quincy Adams, Benjamin
Crowninshield, the Reverend William Emerson and many others from the Boston area.
Some spotting or browning of text, generally light. A very attractive set in open-end
cloth cases. Jaggard, p. 508, which calls for a portrait, no separate portrait in this copy
but the title vignette is a portrait of Shakespeare; Courtney-Nichol Smith, p. 110.
$2,000
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188
SHAKESPEARE, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. A Tragedy. Printed from the Text of
Mr. Malone’s Edition. 12mo, Boston: Printed by Hosea Sprague, 1805. Second American
edition, following that produced in Boston by David and John West in 1794. The first
Quarto of Hamlet is 1603. Contemporary red morocco-backed marbled boards. Edges
of boards stained and chipped, marbled sheets worn, some browning and spotting,
mostly of edges and endpapers, short tear along lower gutter of title, else interior quite
clean. In a leather-tipped marbled open-end case. Jaggard, p. 309; Shaw & Shoemaker
9343 which describes it as the “first separate edition” and cites three copies only.
Very rare, known only in a few copies. The earliest printings of Shakespeare’s plays
in America appear to be known only from advertisements: King Lear (N. Y., 1761);
The Tempest (N.Y., 1761); Catharine and Petruchio (Philadelphia, 1762); and The Twins
(Philadelphia, 1767). In 1794 David and John West of Boston printed both Hamlet and
Twelfth Night. The last was the first of Shakespeare’s plays both printed and produced
in America. Both of the West’s plays are very rare. In 1795-1796 an edition of The Plays
and Poems was printed in Philadelphia. Silver notes that Sprague was considered “an
unusually able pressman.” The first professional performance of Hamlet in America is
generally thought to have been in 27 July, 1759 at a theatre on Philadelphia’s Society Hill.
That was Garrick’s version of Hamlet and performed by the Hallam company.
$3,000
catalogue 128 | 85
189
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare. Corrected from
the Latest and Best London Editions, with Notes, by Samuel Johnson, to which are added, A
Glossary and the Life of the Author [Introduction by J. Hopkinson]. Frontispiece portrait
engraved by R[obert] Field (backed). Jaggard describes this as the first portrait of
Shakespeare to be printed in America but the Lilly catalogue describes an unsigned
portrait engraving in the Columbian Magazine of March 1787. 8 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia:
Printed and Sold by Bioren & Madan, 1795-6. First American edition and first edition
of Shakespeare to be produced outside the British Isles. The first edition of Johnson’s
edition was published in 1765. Later half burgundy morocco, spines gilt. Some
rubbing, titles of first two volumes repaired as is flytitle in the second volume, some
browning and spotting of text, signature of Jacob Smith on a few volumes. A good set
of this collection in brown cloth open-end cases. Jaggard, p. 507; Library Company of
Philadelphia, First American Editions, p. 12; Lilly “Grolier 100 Famous Books in English
Literature” 19; Shipton & Mooney 295.
sold
190
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Poems of Shakespeare. To which is Added An Account of his
Life. 12mo, Boston: Published by Oliver and Munroe, and Belcher and Armstrong, 1807.
First separate American edition. The first edition of Shakespeare’s “Poems” was 1640.
Original burnt orange boards, uncut. Spine and extremities worn, some waterstaining,
mostly light and marginal, some light browning and spotting of text. In a burgundy
morocco-backed slipcase. Jaggard, p. 436; Shaw & Shoemaker 13575. For the 1640 first
edition: Pforzheimer 880.
Includes the first biography of Shakespeare printed in America.
$2,000
191
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Works … with the Corrections and Illustrations of Dr.
Johnson, G. Steevens and others. Revised by Isaac Reed. 36 engravings by Dr. Alexander
Anderson (repair of tears by backing one plate in first volume). 9 vols. 8vo, Boston:
Printed by Munroe, Francis & Parker for Themselves, Ezra Sargeant, New York and
Hopkins & Earle, Philadelphia, 1810-12. The Third Boston from the Fifth London
Edition. May be the first American illustrated edition of Shakespeare’s works.
This edition of the Johnson-Steevens-Reed Shakespeare was first published in 1785.
Contemporary sheep, morocco labels, gilt ornaments in each panel including a man
sailing. Rubbed, some wear to edges, some browning and spotting, mostly light,
waterstain in lower margins of volume 5, tape repair of two pages in volume 3, some
gatherings sprung, even so a very attractive copy of this work. In cloth open-end cases.
Each volume has the signatures of James McKinstry and Justus McKinstry with the Mac
Kinistrae bookplate. Jaggard, p. 509-10.
James Paterson McKinstry was a naval officer, he was in charge of the Monomgahela in
1862 at the Western Gulf blockade, present at Vicksburg and Port Hudson and in 1866
was appointed commodore. Justus Mckinstry was a soldier. He was the quartermaster
attached to Fremont’s staff in 1861 and also the quartermaster of the Department of the
86 | james cummins bookseller
West. He was accused of dishonesty in his quartermaster duties and court-martialed.
He was dismissed for neglect and dereliction of duty in 1863 and in 1864 became a
stockbroker in New York until 1867 when he became a land-agent in Rolla, Mo.
$1,250
192
SHORE, John, Baron Teignmouth. Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Correspondence of
Sir William Jones. Frontispiece portrait by W. Haines after A. W. Devis, leaf of facsimile
at the back. 8vo, Philadelphia: From the Classic Press. Printed for the Proprietors Wm.
Poyntell, & Co. [by Robert Carr], 1805. First American edition. Contemporary sheep,
red morocco label (buckled), inked names of Esmund Bartlett, [__] Thompson and S.
Magowen on lower cover, Magowen’s signature on endpapers and half-title, that of M.
W. C. Haydon, dated 1809 on title. Some rubbing and wear, small hole on spine and
chipping of head of spine, marginal waterstaining of endpaper and first few leaves,
inkings and erasures on endpapers, spotting and browning, some pages creased. Brown
cloth open-end box. Shaw & Shoemaker 9459.
Lord Teignmouth, a close friend of Sir William Jones, was governor-general of India
from 1793- 1798, he succeeded Jones as the president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and
became a prominent member of the evangelical Clapham sect. His biography of the
Oriental scholar and philologist was first published in 1804.
$250
catalogue 128 | 87
193
SIDNEY, Algernon. Discourses on Government. To which is added, An Account of the
Author’s Life, and A Copious Index. [Preface by John Toland the publisher of the 1698 edition].
Frontispiece portrait, unsigned. 3 vols. 8vo, New York: Printed for Richard Lee, by
Deare and Andrews, 1805. First American edition. Two editions were printed the same
year, priority has not been established. Contemporary stained calf, morocco labels.
Rubbed, especially joints and corners, one label chipped, some browning and offsetting
of text, stamp of I. Stephen on title, signature of John Stephen on endpapers. In brown
cloth open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 9360.
Written in answer to Filmer’s Patriarcha (first published in 1680), this work was first
published in 1698. This edition, beside the main work, contains “The Apology of
Algernon Sidney in the Day of his Death” and “The Trial of Algernon Sidney.”
Sidney’s “Discourses on Government” “vindicates the propriety of resistance to kingly
oppression or misrule, … maintains the authority of parliaments” and “upholds the
doctrine of the mutual compact” (Ency Brit). As can be imagined, this work was of
great interest to the American colonies. Influenced by Sidney and the writings of Locke
and Harrington, the Americans in the 1760s and 1770s attempted to prove that the King
was taking away rights and liberties to which they were entitled as Englishmen. They
“argued and fought, not to obtain freedom but to confirm the freedom they already had
or claimed” (Morison, Oxford History).
Sidney was a close friend with William Penn and his involvement in the drafting of
Pennsylvania’s constitution has often been speculated. Curiously enough, around
1803 and for several years following, political pamphlets and essays were published by
“Algernon Sidney.” They tended to be explanations or defenses of Jefferson’s policies.
These were the work of Gideon Granger, American statesman, and postmaster general
during Jefferson’s administration and during much of Madison’s. As postmaster general
he journeyed about the country for Jefferson and reported on the people and political
situations in the country. He was the author of A Vindication of the Measures of the
Present Administration (1803); An Address to the people of New England (1808) (a vindication
of Jefferson’s administration); and other works under his own name. For an account of
Sidney’s influence on the colonies see Caroline Robbins’ “Algernon Sidney’s ‘Discourses
Concerning Government:’ Textbook of Revolution.” The William and Mary Quarterly,
Third Series, IV, (1947), pp. 267-96.
$450
194
SIMPSON, Thomas. A Treatise of Algebra: wherein the Principles are Demonstrated and
applied in many Useful and Interesting Inquiries … To which is added, The Geometrical
Construction of a great Number of Linear and Plane Problems, with the Methods of resolving
the same Numerically. Diagrams in text. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for Mathew Carey.
Sold by C. & A. Conrad & Co.; Bradford & Inskeep; Hopkins & Earle; Johnson &
Warner; Kimber & Conrad; Birch & Small; and Evert Duyckinck. Printed by T. & G.
Palmer, March 17, 1809. First American edition, from the Eighth London edition. The
first edition was printed in 1745. Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Corners and
spine chipped, light rubbing elsewhere, some spotting and browning of text. With the
signature of Josia Clapham on endpaper and title, dated January 20, 1814. Brown cloth
open-end box. Shaw & Shoemaker 18615; Clarkin 614.
88 | james cummins bookseller
The author’s intent in composing this work was “an earnest desire to see a subject of
such general importance established on a clear and a rational foundation, and treated
as a science, capable of demonstrations, and not a my[s]terious art.” He obviously
accomplished this as it was quite successful. He is best known for his mathematics
relating to astronomical movements and statistics.
$250
195
SMELLIE, William. The Philosophy of Natural History. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed for
Robert Campbell, Bookseller, 1791. First American edition. Contemporary sheep,
morocco label. Upper cover scraped, small surface wormtrail on upper cover, rubbed,
some browning or discoloration of leaves, mostly of endpapers, with the contemporary
signature of Isaac Green on the endpaper. In a rust cloth open-end case. Shipton &
Mooney 23766.
Smellie, a naturalist and antiquary was also a printer and probably best known as the
editor/contributor of the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Smellie’s intent
was to give a general overal view of natural history and presenting it in a manner for
the student or those “as may have paid little attention to the study of nature” to give
them an understanding of it. Smellie also translated and edited Buffon’s “Natural
History” and the “Natural History of Birds” and was the keeper and superintendent of
the museum of Natural History. Originally published in 1790 in 2 volumes, the second
volume was edited by Smellie’s son Alexander.
$300
196
SMELLIE, William. A Set of Anatomical Tables, with Explanations, and an Abridgment of
the Practice of Midwifery, with a view to Illustrate a Treatise on that Subject, and Collection of
Cases. To which are added, Notes and Illustrations, Adapted to the present Improved Method of
Practice. By A. Hamilton. 40 engraved plates, unsigned. 8vo, Worcester: Printed by Isaiah
Thomas, Sold at his Bookstore in Worcester; by said Thomas, and Andrews, Boston;
and by said Thomas, and Carlisle in Walpole, New Hampshire, 1793. First Worcester
edition, with an entirely new set of plates, carefully corrected and revised. First edition
published in 1754. Contemporary sheep, black morocco label. Some rubbing, wear to
upper joint, some browning and offsetting of text, endpapers browned. In a marbled
paper open-end case. Austin 1755; Blake, p. 420; Shipton & Mooney 26166.
With “Additional table number XL, by the Late Dr. Thomas Young, with improvements
by Dr. Hamilton” on pages 82 to 84. At this time in American medical history there
was little anatomical study available other than Vesalius and statues. Many prominent
American students of medicine went to Europe for their medical study. There they
studied under Smellie, Chelsenden, the Hunters and others. One of Smellie’s students
was Dr. William Shippen Jr., who would greatly influence American medicine.
$700
catalogue 128 | 89
197
SMITH, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. A New
Edition. viii, [9]-412; vi, [7]-430; v, [i], [7]-387, [1], [53, index], [1] pp. 3 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Printed for Thomas Dobson, 1789. First American edition. With the “Advertisement
to the Third Edition” on the recto of the “Advertisement to the Fourth Edition.” First
published in 1776. Contemporary sheep. Rubbed, heads of volumes one and three
chipped or worn, manuscript chapter notations in margins, some browning of text,
blank in third volume removed. Signatures of D. Yancey dated ‘95 and of William
Crawford dated 1809 (possibly William H. Crawford, Under Secretary of the Treasury,
1772-1834) on endpapers and blanks. A very nice copy in a open-end cloth case. Kress
B1721; Evans 22148; Sabin 82305; Goldsmiths 11392; Einaudi 5328; Rothschild 1897;
Vanderblue, p. 3; McCulloch, pp. 11-5; PMM 221, these last for the first edition of 1776.
The Wealth of Nations contains the foundations, concepts and theories of Smith’s
Classical school of economic thought. Unlike his predecessors, “Smith looked at the
economy as a whole and emphasized growth and development. Machinery and division
of labor increase the production of wealth. The division of labor increases productivity,
and the emphasis lies there rather than on trade and accumulating treasure. Trade is
90 | james cummins bookseller
significant because it permits labor specialization, which is limited by the extent of the
market. Widening markets therefore increase productivity” (Oser and Blanchfield. The
Evolution of Economic Thought, p. 80). America is given as an example of a land where
the merchantilist system would not be successful — cheap and plentiful land, shortage
of labor (which would maintain wage levels), the free flow of information and suitable
institutions for the dissemination of it, an increasing population and the ability not only
to market products but to manufacture them would render the merchantilist system
ineffective. Smith lists the discovery of America with the discovery of the passage to
the East Indies via the Cape of Good Hope as the most important events in man’s
recorded history. As a major figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith’s influence was
extensive. The “impact of the Scottish Enlightenment on colonial educational thought
was absolutely pervasive, going far beyond John Witherspoon and the College of New
Jersey to touch every conceivable realm of curricular substance and method” (Cremin,
American Education, p. 378).
$10,000
198
SMITH, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments; or, an Essay towards an Analysis of the
Principles by which Men Naturally judge concerning the Conduct and Character, first of their
Neighbours, and afterwards of Themselves. To which is added, A Dissertation on the Origin
of Languages. 8vo, Philadelphia: Published by Anthony Finley, J. Maxwell Printer, 1817.
First American edition from the twelfth Edinburgh edition. Contemporary sheep. Quite
rubbed, label lacking, ownership signatures on endpapers and blank, usual spotting and
browning of text. Publisher’s advertisements at back dated August 1817. Brown cloth
open end box. Kress B7052; Muller, J. “Adam Smith in His Time and Ours.; O’Brien
“The Classical Economists,” 1975, p. 29; Vanderblue, p. 40; Goldsmiths 9537; Higgs 1890;
Einaudi 5346 (these last four for the first edition of 1759); Shaw & Shoemaker 42128.
Smith’s first book, “written primarily for intellectuals concerned with the philosophical
definition of virtue and social scientific explanation of how men become moral”
(Muller, p. 7). It established Smith’s reputation as a philosopher. In this work, and his
lectures of 1762-3, first appeared Smith’s “development of a unified concept of an
economic system and mutually interdependent parts” (O’Brien) which was further
expanded and put forth in his Wealth of Nations. When first published in 1759, this work
was “received with acclaim” in England, Scotland and the Continent; Burke gave it an
“intelligent and enthusiastic review in the Annual Review” (Muller). It was not published
in America until 1817, the same year that Hume’s Philosophical Essays on Morals, Literature
and Politics were first published here. There apparently had been some suspicions on the
philosophical and religious ideas put forth in these works. There was a resurgance of
interest in Smith and in the Scottish Enlightenment in early nineteenth century. Finley,
the publisher of this work, also published several other works by authors of the Scottish
Enlightenment including Stewart’s Philosophical Essays. Smith’s unfortunate portrayal of
Americans as “the refuse of the jails of Europe” and his statement “That fortune never
more cruelly exerted her empire over mankind than when she subjected those nations
of heroes (the negroes) to the refuse of the jails of Europe” may not have helped his
reception here.
$1,250
catalogue 128 | 91
199
SMITH, John. The True Travels, Adventures and Observations of Captaine John Smith in
Europe, Asia, Africke, and America: Beginning about the Yeere 1593 and continued to this present
1629. Frontispiece portrait, frontispiece coat of arms and two large folding maps and a
large folding plate (short tears on the three folding plates where attached to volume,
extending into images an inch or so). 2 vols. 8vo, Richmond: Republished at the
Franklin Press, William W. Gray, Printer, 1819. First American edition from the London
edition of 1629. Contemporary tree calf, red morocco label on spines. Some careful
restoration of binding, cracking along upper joint of second volume, some spotting and
browning of text, last few leaves of first volume creased. Brown cloth open-end box.
Sabin 82852; Shaw & Shoemaker 49438.
The editor and publisher of this is said to be the Reverend John Holt Rice, D.D. of
Richmond.
$750
200
SMOLLETT, Tobias. The Adventures of Roderick Random. 2 vols. 12mo, Philadelphia:
Printed for Mathew Carey, Sept. 24, 1794. First American edition. The first edition
was published in 1745. Contemporary sheep, red morocco labels. Some chipping and
rubbing, two pages publisher’s advertisements at the back of the second volume, some
spotting and browning. From the libraries of George Talbot Goodspeed, Harry Bacon
Collamore and Michael Papantonio, the first two with bookplates. Brown cloth openend case. Colby Library Quarterly, p. 252; Evans 27715; Clarkin 198, who states that the
work is on two grades of paper. This copy has the misnumbering of pages 253 and 254.
For the first edition: Rothschild 1905; Tinker 1924.
$800
201
SMOLLETT, Tobias. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker. 2 vols. Small 12mo, Boston:
Published by Watson & Bangs, 1813. First American edition of this very popular novel.
The first edition was published in in 1771. Contemporary sheep, red morocco labels.
Some chipping and worming of spines and labels, some rubbing, some light spotting
and rubbing of text, signature of S. Chapin on titles, in a brown cloth and marbled
paper open-end case. Shaw & Shoemaker 29813. For the first edition: Rothschild 1925;
Tinker 1933.
$500
202
[SNORRI STURLUSON]. The Younger Edda: Also called Snorre’s Edda, or the Prose Edda.
An English version of the Foreword; the Fooling of the Gylfe, the Afterword; Brage’s Tale, the
Afterword to Brage’s Tale, and the Important Passages in the Poetical Diction (Skaldskaparmal),
with an Introduction, Notes, Vocabulary and Index by Rasmus B. Anderson. 8vo, Chicago: S.
C. Griggs and Company, London: Trübner & Co. [Press of Knight & Leonard Chicago],
1880. First American edition of this translation. Original rust cloth, decorated in black,
lettered in gilt from Donohue & Henneberry, Binders, Chicago. Some darkening of
spine, light wear, some overall browning of text, 8 pages publisher’s advertisements at
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back, a very good copy of this collection of Norse mythology from the collection of
Henry Cabot Lodge with his bookplate.
Properly known as Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, this prose account of the Eddas was
gathered and edited by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic historian of the early thirteenth
century. Most of the pieces are believed to have been composed in the twelfth century
and they are a collection of the myths and legends known at the time of Snorri (11781241). There are two sections of the Eddas” the Younger, or Prose Edda and the Elder or
Poetic Edda. There are three fourteenth-century manuscripts of the Prose Edda: the
Wurm Manuscript; the Codex Regius (also the principle manuscript for the “Elder
Edda”) and the Upsala Codex. In 1848-52 the Arne Magnaean Society in Copenhagen
published what Gosse describes as the best edition of this work (Ency. Brit). The first
English translation appears to be that of Thomas Percy in 1770 from the French edition
by P. H. Mallet.
$100
203
SOTHEBY, William, translator. Oberon: A Poem. From the German of Weiland. With
a Preface, containing Biographical Notices of the Author and Translator, and a Review of
the Work. 2 vols. 12mo, Newport, R. I: By L[ouis] Rousmaniere, and J[oshua] Belcher,
Boston, 1810. First American edition from the third London edition. Original rose paperbacked boards, printed paper labels. Labels and paper spines worn, some rubbing and
spotting of boards, some light browning of text which is uncut. With the pencilled
signatures of E. Hubbard. In a brown cloth open-end box. Shaw & Shoemaker 22052.
$150
204
SOUTHEY, Robert. Poems. 12mo, Boston: Printed by Manning & Loring for
Joseph Nancrede, 1799. First American edition. First published in Bristol in 1797 (for
1796). Contemporary half calf. Rebacked, boards quite rubbed, 7 pages publisher’s
advertisements at the back, some tears along gutter of front free endpaper, some
spotting and light browning of text, with the signature of D. Osband on the title and
upper board. In a light brown leather-tipped cloth open-end case. NCBEL 3:255; Shipton
& Mooney 36345.
Southey and Thomas Campbell were among the first of the British Romantic poets
to be printed in America. Among the poems included in this collection are: “To Mary
Wollstonecraft;” “The Triumph of Woman;” “Poems on the Slave-Trade;” “To the
Genius of Africa;” and “Botany Bay Eclogues.”
$600
205
SOUTHEY, Robert, translator. Chronicle of the Cid, from the Spanish. 8vo, Lowell:
Daniel Bixby [Printed by Freeman and Bolles], 1846. First American edition. Southey’s
translation first published in 1808. Richly bound in dark brown morocco ruled in blind
with all edges gilt and gauffered. Binding by P. Low of Boston with his stamp on the
endpaper. A fine and attractive copy. NCBEL 3:256.
Southey gathered, edited and translated some of the numerous stories of the legendary
catalogue 128 | 93
Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz, known better by the title given him by the Arabs of “El
Cid” or “El Seid.” Inscribed on the endpaper “John Clark Esq. with the regards of
Daniel Bixby. Lowell March 1848.” A pencilled notation on the endpapers provides
the following information: “He married Priscilla Sparhawk Hodges (sister of George
Atkinson Hodges) Sept 4, 1821. She died Oct. 12, 1882 he died Jan. 28, 1851, both in
Salem.”
$500
206
ST. PIERRE, Jacques Henri Bernadin de. Botanical Harmony Delineated: or, Applications
of Some General Laws of Nature. Translated by Henry Hunter. Four plates labeled
Frontispiece, III, IV and V. Evans notes that only four plates in total are called for and
not bound into all copies (the labeling accounted for by the fact that they are some of
the same plates used in the three volume Studies of Nature by St. Pierre, also published
the same year). Plates engraved by S. Hill of So. Boston and Rollinson of New York.
8vo, Worcester: Printed for J. Nancrede [by Thomas, Son & Thomas], 1797. First
separate American edition. Tree sheep. Rebacked, original red morocco label laid down,
some rubbing, text and plates foxed or browned, some fraying of edges. Leather-tipped
marbled open-end box. Evans 32795; Sabin 75474n.
Samuel Hill was an engraver, operated mostly in Boston, known for his views and
portraits, several done for the Massachusetts Magazines. William Rollinson, was an
engraver and miniaturist. He was probably a silversmith as well and is credited
with having ornamented the silver button on the coat worn by Washington at his
inauguration as President. (Fielding, Dictionary of American Painters, p. 786).
Paul Joseph Nancrede was a bookseller, printer, editor and French literature and
language professor at Harvard. He found, as an instructor, that there was a lack of
suitable texts in French. His response, written in a letter to Harvard: “With a view
to supply this deficiency I have been engaged for upwards of twelve months, in
collecting pieces in several different styles, from our best authors.” In 1792, this work
was published as L’Abeille Françoise and is “undoubtably the first French school text
composed especially for use in American colleges” (DAB).
$350
207
ST. PIERRE, Jacques Henri Bernadin de. Studies of Nature. Translated by Henry Hunter.
5 engraved plates, some folding, engraved by S[amuel] Hill of So. Boston and [William]
Rollinson of New York. 3 vols. 8vo, Worcester: Printed for J. Nancrede [by Thomas,
Son & Thomas], 1797. First American edition. Contemporary tree sheep, green and red
morocco labels and volume numbers. Four pages publisher’s advertisements. Joints
cracked, spines worn, some light marginal browning of text, bookplate removed, else
interior sound. In a brown cloth open-end case. With the signature or stamps of J. L.
Adamson dated Washington 1870. Shipton & Mooney 32796.
With a four-page subsciber’s list including Washington, Nathaniel Dummer, Elbridge
Gerry, Timothy Dwight, Henry Knox, Thomas Paine, Josiah Quincy, Timothy
Pickering, Joseph Warren and Alexander Wolcot. The description of this work in
the publisher’s advertisements states “No book displays a more sublime Theology;
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inculcates a purer morality, or breathes a more ardent and expansive philanthropy. St.
Pierre has enabled us to comtemplate this universe with other eyes, had furnished new
arguments to combat atheism; has established, beyond the power of contradiction,
the doctrine of a Universal Providence … “ The publisher issued separate editions of
portions of this work as : A Vindication of Divine Providence; Botanical Harmony Delineated
and Paul and Virginia. Paul and Virginia was also available in French.
$350
208
STERNE, Laurence. “The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.” The
frontispiece portrait of Sterne by John Norman is not present. 2 vols. Small 12mo,
London Printed, Philadelphia Reprinted: By James Humphreys, Jun, 1774. The first
American appearance of Tristram Shandy printed in the first two volumes of the five
volume first American edition of The Works. The first separate American edition of
this would not appear until 1813. The first edition was published in 1760-67. The first 2
volumes only of 5, containing the nine volumes of “Tristram Shandy” (with separate
undated title-pages). Contemporary sheep. Spines repaired, paper labels identifying
contents as “Tristram Shandy” (browned), rubbed, text browned, but very rare. With
12 page list of Subscribers including: Solomon Drown[e], James Logan, Benjamin Rush,
Anthony Wayne and William Franklin. Shipton & Mooney 13640; ESTC W20945.
$1,500
209
STERNE, Laurence. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, with A Life of
the Author, written by Himself. Five woodcut plates by Alexander Anderson. 4 vols. 12mo,
New York: Published by D. Huntington, Clayton and Fanshaw, printers, 1816. Second
separate American edition, the first separate American edition having been published
in 1813. The first American appearance of Tristram Shandy was in the five volume
first American edition of The Works (see previous item). The first edition printed in
1760-7. Original yellow printed boards, publisher’s advertisements on the back covers
within an ornamental border, the text of the title, minus the printer’s imprint within
an ornamental border on the upper cover. Spines and joints worn, rubbing, some free
endpapers removed, some light marginal browning but even so an attractive copy of
this work. With the signature of Captain P. Howland dated Athens 1833. In a brown
cloth open-end case. Fielding, p. 20; Stauffer, pp. 8-9; Shaw & Shoemaker 39010 citing 4
copies; Hamilton 261. For the first edition; Rothschild 1970; Tinker 1973.
$250
210
[STERNE, Laurence]. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. By Mr. Yorick.
A-H6; A-G6, H8 [terminal leaf blank]. Pp. 96; 98, [2, blank]. Pagination errors, v. 1 96
misnumbered 66; v. 2, p. 57 misnumbered 47. 2 volumes in one. 12mo. [Boston: Mein &
Fleeming], 1768. First American edition. Contemporary sheep. Rubbed, joints tender
(inner hinges repaired). First title-page soiled, some foxing. A sound, attractive copy
in custom red half morocco slipcase and chemise. Not in Evans; Bristol B2957 (MH);
Shipton-Mooney 41886; Alden, “John Mein, publisher …” Papers of the Bibliographical
catalogue 128 | 95
Society of America 36 (1942): 214. Microfilm only in OCLC. Provenance: Nath. Niles
(owner’s signature on title of v. 2, partly lost to binder).
Exceedingly scarce first American edition of Sterne’s celebrated work, published the
same year as the London edition.
$3,500
211
STEWART, Dugald. Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind. 8vo, Philadelphia:
Printed by William Young, 1793. First American edition of his most important work
and first book, originally published in London in 1792. Contemporary tree calf, spine
gilt with burgundy morocco label. Some chipping and wear of spine, small worm
hole at top, upper joint cracked, some rubbing especially of extremities. Signature of
James Andrew on endpapers, as is stamp from Tredyffrin Observatory and a tipped in
description regarding the author, some spotting and browning, mostly of endpapers,
upper portion of dedication page cut away, the slice penetrating the several leaves
following. Publisher’s advertisements on verso of contents leaf and a duplicate of this
gathering “a” inserted in the back following page 498. Brown cloth open-end box. Evans
26212; Hunter and Macalpine, pp. 640-3 (first edition): Sabin 91676.
A disciple of Thomas Reid, Stewart’s theory of morality was based upon Reid. He
“upheld Reid’s psychological method and expounded the ‘common-sense’ doctrine
… Unconsciously, however, he fell away from the pure Scottish tradition and made
concessions both to moderate empiricism and to the French ideologists (Laromiguière,
Cabanis and Destutt de Tracy)” (Encyc. Brit). In the chair of Moral Philosophy at
Glasgow, a position which he held for more than 25 years, Stewart made it a center of
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“intellectual and moral influence.” His students came from England, the Continent and
America, and his influence was widely felt. Sir James Mackintosh wrote in his Ethical
Philosophy (1872) “Without derogation from his writings, it may be said that his disciples
were among his best works.” This work contains Stewart’s treatise on dreaming ,which
was presented at Glasgow while a student. The “impact of the Scottish Enlightenment
on colonial educational thought was absolutely pervasive, going far beyond John
Witherspoon and the College of New Jersey to touch every conceivable realm of
curricular substance and method” (Cremin, American Education: The Colonial Experience,
p. 378).
$400
212
SWEDENBORG, Emanuel. The Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, as Revealed from
Heaven. Translated from the Latin by the Rev. John Clowes. 8vo, Boston: Printed by Thomas
Hall, 1794. First American edition of the first of Swedenborg’s trilogy on the New
Jerusalem, from the Fourth London edition. The first edition was published in 1763,
Clowes’ translation was first published in 1786. Modern red cloth, some browning and
spotting of text, generally light, pencilled signature on blank. In a leather-tipped red
cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 27764.
Swedenborg spent the first part of his life as a scientist in the fields of geology,
paleontology, physics and others. He is credited for the “first attempt to establish a
system of crystallography … and devised a method of determining longitude at sea
by observations of the moon among the stars” and “cured smoky chimneys, took a
lively interest in machine-guns and even sketched a flying machine” (Ency. Brit). In
1745 he experienced a spiritual illumination and from then on he was “the divinely
commissioned expounder of this threefold sense of the word [of the Scripture], and so
the founder of the New Church.” He is recognized as having had a great influence on
the Brownings, Carlyle, Coleridge, Coventry Patmore, William Blake and Henry Ward
Beecher among others.
$250
213
SWEDENBORG, Emanuel. A Treatise on the Nature of Influx: or, of the Intercourse between
the Soul and body, which is supposed to be either by Physical influx, or by Spiritual influx, or by
Pre-Established harmony. Translated from the Latin of the Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg by the
Rev. Thomas Hartley. 12mo, Boston: Printed at Boston by I. Thomas and E. T. Andrews,
1794. First American edition from the Third English edition. Modern calf, red morocco
label. Stamp on title, tissue repairs along a few gutters, text spotted and browned, some
chipping of edges. In a leather-tipped rust cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney
27765.
In the “Appendix by the Editor” at the back is included “An Eulogius on the lately
deceased Mr. Emanuel Swedenborg” by Monsieur Sandel. Of great interest also
are three pages at the back entitled “A Catalogue of such of the Theological Works
of Emanuel Swedenborg, as have been translated from the Latin and published in
England, &c” with the last section listing those which have been printed and published
in America, citing 6 titles. His treatise expounds on the three hypotheses “to account
catalogue 128 | 97
for the communication between soul and body” as “natural Influx, that is from body
acting on spirit: the second, from a contrary Influx, or from spirit acting on body: and
the third, from a settled law of sympathy or harmony between both established at the
creation” (p. 29). Hartley knew Swedenborg for several years and is known best as the
translator of Swedenborg’s works from the Latin. This is a translation of Swedenborg’s
De Commercio Animae et Corporis of 1769, first published in English in 1770.
$400
214
SWIFT, Jonathan. The Works of Rev. Jonathan Swift. Arranged by Thomas Sheridan …
corrected and revised by John Nichols. 24 vols. 12mo, New York: Published by William
Durell and Company, 1812-13. First American edition of Swift’s collected works with
first American edition of Tale of a Tub (volume 3, 1812). Reverse calf binding, circa 1830s,
with black morocco labels for titles and volume numbers, simple black fleurons tooled
on spine and edges of boards, ownership signature dated 1838. Some light rubbing of
bindings, minor discoloration of text, else a fine example of this set and most unusual at
having survived in such condition. Shaw & Shoemaker 26839; Teerink 132.
Thomas Sheridan (1719-1788) was the godson of Swift, the husband of the dramatist
Mrs. Francis Sheridan, and the father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The Works of Swift,
with Life first appeared in 1784 in 18 octavo volumes. Sheridan had been a friend of
Johnson’s, but after a falling out, Sheridan stated that Johnson had “gigantic fame in
these days of little men” to which Johnson responded “Sherry is dull, naturally dull; but
it must have taken him a great deal of pains to become what we now see him. Such an
excess of stupidity is not in nature.” John Nichols (1745-1826) was a printer, author and
prolific editor. His corrected and revised edition of Sheridan’s Swift was first published
in 1801 and reprinted in 1803 and 1808 in 19 volumes (DNB).
$1,500
215
TACITUS, Cornelius. The Works of Cornelius Tacitus: with an Essay on his life and Genius,
Notes, Supplements, &c. by Arthur Murphy. Four folding maps (some offsetting). 6 vols.
8vo, Philadelphia: Published by Edward Earle and by Eastburn, Kirk and Company,
New York, William Fry, Printer, 1813. First American from the London edition with
the Author’s last Corrections. The first edition of Arthur Murphy’s edition was 1793.
Contemporary half green calf over marbled boards, morocco labels on spines. Some
darkening of spines, head of a few spines chipped, some rubbing, titles in three volumes
with corner or segment cut away removing previous owner’s name, this area repaired
with brown paper, some browning, mostly of endpapers, tears into text on leaves 2C4
and 2D2 in volume 3 else a good set. In two green cloth open-end cases. An attractive
set. Shaw & Shoemaker 29910.
Earle published several works by classical authors. “From Tacitus it was the decadence
of the later Roman (read English) empire” which was studied (Cremin, American
Education: Colonial Experience, p. 460).
$250
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216
TASSO, Torquato. Jerusalem Delivered: an Heroic Poem. Translated from the Italian … by
John Hoole. Frontispiece and most plates by W[illiam] Hooker, one by P[eter] Maverick
of Newark, N.J. after Stothard. 2 vols. 8vo, Newburyport: Published and Sold by Edward
Little & Co., Exeter: Printed by C. Norris and Co. and E. C. Beals, 1810. First American
edition from the eighth London edition, with notes. Hoole’s edition first was published
in 1763. Contemporary tree calf, spine in 6 panels, stained bands, gilt decoration of small
tools, some blind tooling. Joints cracked, rubbing, some marginal browning, mostly at
front and back. With the signatures of William Pickman in each volume.
William Hooker was a noted map engraver. Peter Maverick was one of the founders of
the National Academy of Design.
$200
217
TAYLOR, John. Sermons on Different Subjects, left for Publication. Published by the Rev.
Samuel Hayes. To which is added a Sermon written by Samuel Johnson for the funeral of his
Wife. 8vo, Walpole, N. H: Printed for Thomas and Thomas by G. W. Nichols, 1806.
First American edition. First edition of this work printed 1788-1789 in two volumes.
Contemporary sheep. Joints cracked, spine and extremities quite rubbed, some
browning and offsetting. In a brown cloth open-end box. Courtney-Nichol Smith, p. 171;
Shaw & Shoemaker 11435.
It is believed that many of the sermons in this volume were composed by Johnson.
$150
218
THOMAS À KEMPIS. The Christian Pattern, Or the Imitation of Jesus Christ, Being an
Abridgement of the Works of Thomas à Kempis. By a Female Hand. London: Printed 1744.
Germantown: Re-Printed by Christopher Sowr, 1749. First American edition of De
Imitatione Christi. Contemporary sheep, blind rules on covers, raised bands. Head
of spine lacking, some tears along joints, front endpaper and final leaf of Table of
Contents partially pasted to endpapers, small library stamp on second leaf, some leaves
loosened, browning. With an inscription on the endpapers “Catherine Waters her Book
given by William Fishbourn (or Fishburne). Dated December the Sixth 1749.” Below
the same name with a 1759 date. In a black morocco slipcase. Library Company of
Philadelphia, First American Editions, p. 9; Parsons “Catholic Americana” 6; PMM 13
(for 1473 edition); Shipton & Mooney 6342; Finotti, Bibliographia Catholica Americana,
p. 181; Seidensticker 9.34; Hildeburn 1136.
First American edition of this book of Christian mystical thought, which has historically
appealed to Catholics and Protestants alike. Indeed, it has been “the most widely read
devotional manual apart from the Bible, perhaps even surpassing the influence of such
books as Pilgrim’s Progress and St. Augustine’s Confessiones … this is at least partly due
to the great simplicity of its style and its freedom from intellectualism or theological
dogmatism” (PMM).
$4,500
catalogue 128 | 99
219
THOMAS À KEMPIS. Of the Imitation of Christ: in Three Books. Translated from the Latin
of Thomas a Kempis by John Payne. 12mo, London: Printed, Philadelphia: Re-printed by
Joseph Crukshank, 1783. Second American edition. Modern panelled calf, red morocco
label. Some light browning and soiling of text but good copy. Evans 17992; Parson,
Catholic Americana 45; Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions, 9
(for the earlier edition); not in Finotti. For the 1473 edition: PMM 13.
Second American edition of this classic work (following the exceedingly rare Sauer
edition of 1749) but the first American edition of Payne’s translation. Curiously, the
DNB dates the first edition of Payne’s translation as 1785. Includes “The Ingenious and
Pious Author of The Amaranth, a Collection of Religious Poems, printed 1767, gives
the following Account of Thomas à Kempis” preceding the text. This work was first
translated into English by William Atkinson and published in 1503 by the Duchess of
Beaufort.
$2,000
220
THOMSON, James. The Seasons: … With Poems on Several Occasions. To which are added,
An Account of the life and Writings of the Author. Frontispiece portrait engraved by J[ohn]
Norman. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Robert Bell, 1777. Second American
edition but first available, the only known copy of the first being the defective copy at
AAS. First edition was published in 1726-30. Contemporary sheep. Rebacked, leather
cracking, rubbed, text browned, paper repairs in a few gutters. With contemporary
inscription on endpaper “Ruffus Merrin. his Book bought of Thomas Adams Jany 1780
price 0:12:0 silver.” Three pages publisher’s advertisement at back. In a leather-tipped
brown cloth open-end case. Evans 15613; Colby Library Quarterly, p. 253.
Most of the work by the American engraver John Norman (1748-1817) consisted of
adaptations or copies of English engravings and paintings. He is best known as quite
likely having been the first engraver in America to attempt a portrait of Washington
(1779) (Fielding, Dictionary of American Painters).
$1,000
221
TOOKE, John Horne. Eπea ∏tepoenta. Or, the Diversions of Purley. Frontispieces
engraved by William Kneass. 2 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed by Wm. Duane [Wm.
Duane & Son, Printers], 1806-7. First American edition from the second London edition.
The first volume had been published in 1786 with the second appearing (with the second
edition of the first volume) in 1805. Original paper-backed boards, uncut. Spines worn,
front cover vol. 2 detached, some spotting and browning of text. With the signature of
Paul N. Weaver in each volume. In cloth folding box. Shaw & Shoemaker 11462.
Tooke’s philogical work which established his reputation in that field as apart from his
better known involvement in politics. At the end of the second volume is a notation
from the publisher “that the author proposes to publish a third part of this invaluable
work: … As soon as it shall be published, that part also will be re-printed by the
publisher of this edition; who also contemplates, should he be encouraged, to publish
a memoir of J. H. Tooke; which will not however, be attempted without his own
100 | james cummins bookseller
sanction, fairly obtained.” This volume was never completed and in his last illness he
burned all his papers and notes.
$150
222
VERGILIUS MARO, Publius. The Georgics of Virgil: Translated by William Sotheby. A
frontispiece plate engraved by W. S. Leney after E. Tisdale dated 1809 precedes title.
12mo, Middletown, Conn: Printed for I. Riley, New York [Richard Alsop, Printer], 1808.
First separate American edition. Errors in the London edition were corrected and
in this edition Mr. Murphy’s translation of Jacopus Vanierius’s “The Bees” from the
Praedium Rusticum has been added. The first edition of Sotheby’s translation was in 1800.
Nineteenth century half calf over marbled boards, morocco label. Some discoloration,
wear to spine and corners, joints cracked but stitching firm, some spotting of text , gift
inscription on the endpapers, stamp on half-title, in a leather-tipped brown cloth openend case. Shaw & Shoemaker 16620.
William Satchwell Leney, engraver, supposed to have studied under Peltro W.
Tompkins in England, came to American in about 1805 where he continued in the
trade of engraver. He is said to have received a gold medal for the plate “Moses in the
Bullrushes” which was used in Collin’s Bible. Elkanah Tisdale, founded the Hartford
Graphic and Bank Note Engraving Company. He was an engraver and miniaturist
and did quite a bit of work for Samuel F. Goodrich. (Fielding, Dictionary of American
Painters).
$250
223
VERGILIUS MARO, Publius. The Works, translated into English Prose. 2 vols. 8vo, New
York: Printed by G .F. Hopkins, No. 118 Pearl-Street, 1803. First American edition,
carefully revised and collected by Malcolm Campbell, A.M., Teacher of Languages.
Bound in full mottled American brown calf, red title label. Booklabel of J. Grier
Ralston and signed by him and below “Presented by Rev. R.M. White” in both volumes.
Bookplate of Montgomery Evans. Handsome copy. Shaw and Shoemaker 5498 citing
three copies.
$400
224
VERGILIUS MARO, Publius. Opera. Interpretatione et Notis Illustravit Carolus Ruaeus.
xx, 608 pp. 8vo, Philadelphia: Ex Officina Classica: Impensis W. Poyntell et Soc. [H.
Maxwell, Printer], 1804. First American edition. Modern calf-backed marbled boards,
red morocco label. Some browning and spotting of text. Shaw & Shoemaker 7657 citing
three copies. For the Rome 1469 Opera: PMM 6.
$250
catalogue 128 | 101
225
VOLTAIRE, François-Marie Arouet. Miscellanies … containing: I. The Pupil of Nature. II.
The Princess of Babylon. III. Zadig; or the Book of Fate, an Oriental history. Translated from
the French with notes, historical and critical by T[obias] Smollett and T[homas] Francklin. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Printed by Robert Bell, 1778. First American edition of this translation.
Contemporary sheep, later red morocco label. Spine and edges worn, joints cracked
but stitching firm, some browning and spotting of text, but interior is sound. With the
signatures of Solomon Drown and James Gifford on the endpapers and title. This would
be Solomon Drowne, (1753-1834) who was known as a surgeon and physician, who
travelled through Europe visiting hospitals and medical schools, had been a surgeon on
the privateer Hope (his journal from that journey was published), and was recognized
for his knowledge of botany as well. In a leather-tipped brown cloth open-end case.
Evans 16162.
Apparently from Smollett and Francklin’s edition of Voltaire’s 38 volume Works first
published in 1761-74 with a second edition appearing in 1778. Francklin’s involvement in
this work appears to have but in the loaning of his name as his only contributions to the
Works were Orestes and Electra (DNB). The Pupil of Nature was first published in English
in 1771. It had originally been published in 1767 as L’Ingenue. The Princess of Babylon was
first published in 1768 and the first edition in English appeared the same year. Zadig was
first translated into English in 1749. It had originally appeared under the title Memnon
in 1747 and then as Zadig in 1748. Zadig is the first title included in the Haycraft-Queen
cornerstone list. In the early years of the nation there was a great interest in Voltaire,
Condillac and other French “free-thinkers.”
$3,000
102 | james cummins bookseller
226
[VOLTAIRE, Francois Marie Arouet de]. The Philosophical Dictionary, for the Pocket.
Translated from the French Edition. Corrected by the Author. Engraved title with vignette
portrait by P. R. Maverick of New York. 12mo, Catskill: Printed by T. and M. Croswell
for selves and J. Fellows & E. Duyckinck, New York, 1796. First American edition.
This edition was first published in 1764. Contemporary sheep, morocco label. Careful
restoration of spine, marginal browning of text, browning or staining of endpapers,
else a very good copy with the contemporary signature of John Gebhard Jr on free
endpaper. Library Company of Philadelphia, First American Editions, p. 5; Shipton &
Mooney 31518.
The editor notes on the advertisement leaf that he recognizes that there might be
criticism for the translation and publication of this work “on account of the author’s
freedom in regard to matters of religion” but feels that the quality of the work exceeds
its criticisms and the “True religion is not afraid of bearing the strictest examination.”
$300
227
WALTON, Isaak, and Charles Cotton. The Complete Angler; or, the Contemplative Man’s
Recreation By Isaac Walton. And Instructions how to Angle for a Trout or Grayling in a Clear
Stream. By Charles Cotton. With Copious Notes, for the most part Original. A Bibliographical
Preface, giving an account of Fishing and Fishing-Books, from the earliest Antiquitiy to the time
of Walton, and A Notice of Cotton and His Writings by the American Editor. To which is added
an appendix, including Illustrative Ballads, Music, Papers on American Fishing and the Most
Complete Catalogue of Books on Angling etc. ever printed. Also, a general Index to the Whole
Work. Plates, facsimiles and illustrations, some by J[ohn] W[illiam] Orr. 8vo, New York
and London: Wiley & Putnam [Robert Craighead, Printer; T. B. Smith, Stereotyper],
1847. First American edition. The first edition was published in 1653. Original dark
green cloth, vignette in gilt on upper cover, blind on the lower, gilt fish on spine. Small
blindstamp on endpaper reading “From Bradley’s,” 6 pages publisher’s advertisements
at back, some light fading of spine, a few short tears or frayings along spine, some light
browning and spotting of text. With the signature of Samuel Thompson on the blank.
Leather-tipped grey cloth open box. Coigney 62; Henderson, p. 247; Van Winkle, pp. 1156; Horne 60; Westwood & Satchell 231, first binding.
The Appendix includes a section “Arrangement (according to the method of Cuvier)
of the American Species of Fishes Alluded to in the Preceding Pages. By James E. De
Kay” as well as other articles and also “A Waltonian Library, or, A List of Such Works
as Relate to Fish, Fishing, Walton and Cotton. By the American Editor.” [founded on
Sir Henry Ellis’s Catalogue but greatly enlarged and carefully corrected]. John William
Orr was an Irish-born wood engraver who established one of the best known engraving
businesses in New York.
$750
228
WANOSTROCHT, Nicholas. Recueil Choisi de Traits Historiques et de Contes Moraux: avec
La Signification des mots en Anglois au bas to chaque Page. À l’usage des jeunes gens, de l’un et
de l’autre sexe, qui veulent apprendre le françois. 8vo, Boston: Imprimée pour Jean West.
catalogue 128 | 103
Manning & Loring, Imprimeurs, 1805. First American edition, from the last English
edition, reviewed and corrected. The first edition was published in 1785. Contemporary
sheep, red morocco gilt label. Some chipping of spine, rubbing of extremities, blanks at
front and back loose, some browning, mostly marginal, in a brown cloth open-end case
with leather tips. Shaw & Shoemaker 9684.
Historical tales, anecdotes of important, good personages and ideas were intended to
inspire the young reader to praise-worthy actions as well as teach them French. While
French culture and thought were no longer as popular as in the years previously and the
Federalists were vocally against the French and blamed them for many problems, the
language was still considered a necessary part of the proper education for a lady.
$250
229
[WARBURTON, William]. Letters from a late Eminent Prelate to One of his Friends. 8vo,
New York: Printed for E. Sargeant, 1809. First American edition. Contemporary sheep,
maroon morocco label gilt. Some cracking along upper joint, spine chipped, some light
browning and spotting of text, mostly marginal. With the signature of M. L. North 1830
on title and that of John Poindexter Londers on endpaper. In a rust cloth open-end case.
Shaw & Shoemaker 19132; NCBEL 2:1871 for the first edition.
These letters were addressed to Richard Hurd, Bishop of Worcester and were first
printed by Hurd for the benefit of Worcester Infirmary in 1808. A second and third
edition were published in 1809. Warburton was Hurd’s friend and literary patron. On
Warburton’s death Hurd purchased his library and undertook to edit his works as well
as arranging this work.
$250
230
WATTS, Isaac. Horæ Lyricæ: Poems, Chiefly of the Lyric Kind, in Three Books. 248, [4] pp.
12mo, Boston: Rogers and Fowle … and J. Blanchard, 1748. First American edition.
Contemporary colonial sheep, covers ruled in blind with double fillet border, spine in
five compartments with raised bands. Wear to binding with some loss at head of spine,
bookplate removed from front pastedown, lower corner torn from penultimate leaf.
Early owners’ inscriptions on endpapers and title-page (“Dan Appleton His Book 1768,”
”Matthew Whipple,” ”D.A. Taylor, No. 1692 ex dono Elizabeth [?] Young,” etc.). Evans
6263.
$500
231
WESLEY, John. An Extract of the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s Journals. Volume I [all published].
Two pages publisher’s advertisements at back listing books published “for the Use of
the Methodist Societies in the United States of America.” Small 12mo, Philadelphia:
Printed by Henry Tuckniss and sold by John Dickins, 1795. First American edition.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Rubbed, some browning of text, else a very
good copy. Shipton & Mooney 29861.
The first extract concerns “From his embarking for Georgia, to his Return to London;”
104 | james cummins bookseller
the next “From February 1, 1738 to his Return from Germany;” the third from August
1738 to November 1, 1739. After the Revolution the Methodist church in America, as
others, reorganized. In 1784 the Methodist Episcopal Church was founded, the first
major step in establishing American Methodism. Following the Revolution Wesley
had encouraged the Americans to establish an American branch and prepared a special
liturgy for use in America. There had been some difficulties arising from the fact that
the Wesley had been pro-Britain during the Revolution and had not encouraged the
pursuit of independence.
$100
232
WHITE, Gilbert. The Natural History of Selborne. With Additions by Sir William Jardine.
12mo, Philadelphia: Carey and Lea, 1832. First American edition, from the 1829 London
edition and “confined to the Natural History of Selborne alone, including extracts from
the author’s Miscellaneous Observations, which are occasionally introduced as notes”
(preface). The first edition was published in 1789. Original purple cloth, printed paper
label on spine. Some fraying of cloth, faded, text loose in binding but interior sound.
From the library of Charles A. Kofoid. In a cloth open-end case.
Jardine explains that there was an audience for this abridged version of the work
due to the resurgence of interest in natural history and its importance to commerce,
manufacturers and domestic economy.
$250
233
WILBERFORCE, William. A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of
Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes, contrasted with Real Christianity.
4 page subscriber’s list at back including: Elias Boudinot, William Cobbett, James
Cummins and Benjamin Rush. The subscriber’s list is described by the publisher as
being incomplete due to time and distance problems. 8vo, Philadelphia: Printed by John
Ormrod, 1798. First American edition. Contemporary tree sheep, green morocco label.
Some rubbing and wear, small wormhole at tope of spine, browning of text with some
short marginal tears, with the signatures of Eliza and Eleanor Potts as well as that of H.
M. Marshall on the endpapers and the lower outer corner of the front free endpaper cut
away. In a rust open-end box. Shipton & Mooney 35026; not in Sabin.
This work was published in April 1797 — within six months over 7500 copies had been
sold. It was extremely popular and is recognized as “the manifesto of the evangelical
party of the time”(DNB).
$500
234
[WOLCOT, John]. The Works of Peter Pinder, Esq. Complete. 3 vols. 12mo, New York:
Printed for L. Wayland, 1793. First American edition of these works of the satirist and
poet. The first edition was published in Dublin in 1788. Contemporary tree sheep.
Rebacked, some cracking of joints, upper edges showing signs of fire, soot stains on
endpapers. The Table of Contents for the three volumes at the end of volume 3 lists
“Advertisement” at the front of the first volume, this is not present, but at the end of
catalogue 128 | 105
vol. 2 is a leaf “Directions to the Binder.” Signature of William Morse on titles of three
volumes but partially cut away on the second, some browning, mostly marginal of
text. In a brown cloth open-end case. Colby Library Quarterly, p. 256, also citing the
Huntington copy; Shipton & Mooney 46950.
Rarely found complete. The only copy noted by Shipton & Mooney, that of the
Huntington Library, has only volumes one and two.
$450
235
WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary. Letters written during a short Residence in Sweden, Norway,
and Denmark. Small 12mo, Wilmington, Del: Printed for, & Sold by J. Wilson , & J.
Johnson, Booksellers, 1796. First American edition, published the same year as the first
edition. Nineteenth century half morocco. Rubbed, text lightly browned. With the
contemporary signature of Elizabeth Yeates on the title. From the library of Redmond
Conyngham with his bookplate. In an open-end cloth case, leather-tipped. Shipton &
Mooney 31653 citing the AAS copy as does the article in the Colby Library Quarterly. For
the first edition: Rothschild 2598; Windle 7.
Having journeyed to Norway, Sweden and Denmark to make arrangements for some
of Gilbert Imlay’s commercial speculations and having written to him of her progress,
Wollstonecraft extracted those passages describing the country and peoples and
published them.
$750
236
WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With strictures on
Political and Moral Subjects. 340 pp. 8vo, Boston: Printed at Boston by Peter Edes for
[Isaiah] Thomas and [Ebenezer T.] Andrews, 1792. Second American edition, same
year as the first and second editions. It was also translated into French that year.
Contemporary sheep, red morocco label. Quite rubbed, edges worn, free endpapers
removed, browning, some chipping and wear of edges, erasures on half-title. Leathertipped brown cloth open-end case. Windle A5d; Colby Library Quarterly, p. 256; Shipton
& Mooney 25054, For the first edition: PMM 242; ESTC W2450.
Tallyrand’s new system of national education was proposed to the French Assembly
in 1791. In it only males would be educated. This inspired Wolstonecraft to write this
work to show the need for the education of both sexes. Wollstonecraft’s theory, as
defined in a letter to Tallyrand, was “built on this simple principle that, if woman be
not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress
of knowledge, for truth must be common to all.” Her work was “a rational plea for a
rational basis to the relation between the sexes” (PMM).
This Boston edition most likely appeared shortly after the Philadelphia edition printed
in the same year; among the prominent American women’s rights activists known to
have read and been influenced by the Vindication are Judith Sargent Murray, Abigail
Adams, and (later) Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
$2,500
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catalogue 128 | 107
237
WORDSWORTH, William [and Samuel T. Coleridge]. Lyrical Ballads, with Other
Poems. xxii, 159, [1]; 172 pp. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by James Humphreys,
1802. First American edition, from the London second edition. With page “96” in
vol. 1 misnumbered “78” and in vol. 2 “57..” Contemporary tree sheep. Rebacked, red
morocco label, repairs in gutters of first few and last few leaves, browning and spotting,
generally light. A good copy of this rare piece. In a brown cloth open-end case. Lilly
“The Indiana Wordsworth Collection” no. 7; Cornell Wordsworth Collection 14; Shaw
& Shoemaker 3593. For the first edition: Hayward 202; Grolier, English 66 (a “Landmark
in Romanticism”).
With the finely engraved American bookplate of Ralph Assheton M. D. of Philadelphia
on the endpaper, signature of E. M. Hoover on the endpaper and in text, and that
of Mrs. Frances Augusta Henry on the title-page. With an “Advertisement” from the
Philadelphia publisher to the subscribers explaining the delay in publication. The text
is that of the London second edition with the exception of the poem “The Convict” —
which was retained in the American edition — and the arrangement of poems in the
first volume. This edition was sold by subscription but there is not a list of subscribers
included. There is also a variant title-page to this edition for which the imprint reads
“Printed by James Humphreys. For Joseph Groff, at No. 75, South Second-street, 1802.”
$2,500
238
XENOPHON. The Art of Horsemanship. Translated, with chapters on the Greek Ridinghorse and with Notes, by Morris H. Morgan. Frontispiece, plates and illustrations in text.
8vo, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1893. First separate American edition of Peri
108 | james cummins bookseller
Hippikes. This work had been included in a collection of Xenophon’s minor works
published in Philadelphia 1845, translated anonymously. Original blue cloth gilt. Some
rubbing of cloth, some light marginal browning of text. In a blue cloth open-end box.
Xenophon’s Treatise of Horsemanship first appeared in English in R. Berenger’s History of
Horsemanship in 1771.
$100
239
XENOPHON. [Cyropedia in Greek and Latin.] De Cyri Institutione. 8vo, Philadelphia: Ex
Officina Classica: Impensis Wm. Poyntell et Soc. [Printed by John Watts], 1806. First
American edition. Contemporary sheep. Label lacking, joints and extremities quite
rubbed, small paper label at bottom of spine, some browning of text, mostly marginal.
With ownership signatures and stamps including that of “Carolus Davis” dated 1811.
Brown cloth open-end case.
The first book printed from American-made Greek type. It was cast by Binny and
Ronaldson directed by John Watts who had been specifially brought over for its
production as well as printing and editing the work. Xenophon was a soldier, historian
and philosopher. He had been with Cyrus in his war against his brother Artaxerxes II,
and after Cyrus’ death Xenophon took over command of the Greek mercenaries. The
author uses a romanticized version of the life and education of Cyrus, the founder
of Persia, to put forth his own ideas on education and training, derived mostly from
Socrate’s teachings and Spartan institutions. Literal truth is bent to suit a moralistic
tone and teach a lesson. It is said that this was written in response to Plato’s Republic.
Part of the Classic Press series of Latin and Greek classics for students, though this title
does not contain Poyntell’s usual printed explanation of intent. The previous owner,
Carolus Davis, may be Charles Davis, the lawyer and later judge and district attorney of
Vermont, Middlebury class of 1811.
$300
240
[YOUNG, Edward]. The Centaur, not Fabulous. In Six Letters to a Friend, on the Life in
Vogue. Printed by W.W. Woodward. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for T[homas] Stephens
and W[illiam] W[allis] Woodward, 1795. First American from the ifth European edition.
Contemporary tree sheep, maroon morocco label. Joints cracked, spine and extremities
rubbed, some browning and offsetting of text, generally light and marginal, with the
armorial bookplate of “Parry” on the pastedown, the 1797 signature of Benjamin Parry
and 1856 signature of Richard R. Parry on blanks and title. Not in Evans, Shipton &
Mooney or Bristol. For the 1755 first edition: Rothschild 2621; Sale 439.
Rare. The amusing introductory dedication explains the title: “The men of pleasure,
the licentious, and profligate, are the subject of these letters … farther, I call them
Centaurs ‘not fabulous,’ because by their scarce half-human conduct, and character, the
enigmatical, and purely ideal figure of the ancients, is not unriddled only, but ‘realized.’”
This was first published in 1755.
$250
catalogue 128 | 109
241
YOUNG, Edward. The Complaint; or Night-Thoughts on life, death, and immortality. / By
the Reverend Edward Young, LL.D. ; To which are added, a poetical paraphrase on part of the
Book of Job; and his poem on the last day. ; [Six lines from Fleetwood]. Frontispiece engraved
by John Norman. Half title present; three pages publisher’s advertisements at back,
the first advertising Military Books to interest Gentlement of the American Army. 8vo,
Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Bell, in Third-Street, 1777. First American
edition. Contemporary sheep. raised bands, single letter Y on spine. Worn, small loss
to blank margin of frontispiece, marginal tear on Dd2 into text without loss, some
spotting, offsetting and browning, signature of Eliza Peirce on half title with erasure
underneath, sgnature of Elizabeth Peirce and stamp of George C. Shattuck on title.
Very good. Evans 15714; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 3652; Pennypacker 943-7-65.
Whether Geo. C. Shattuck was the father (1783-1854) or the son (1813-1893), both were
eminent Boston physicians and philanthropists. The son, with Oliver Wendell Holmes,
James Jackson, and Henry Ingersoll Bowditch, founded the Boston Society of Medical
Observation and in 1864 was made Dean of the Harvard Medical School. The son also
founded St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1855. Elizabeth Peirce is most
likely a member of the family of Benjamin Peirce, mathematician and astronomer,
as he was a friend and classmate of Oliver Wendell Holmes and Bowditch as well as a
professor at Harvard.
$800
242
ZIMMERMANN, Johann George. Solitude considered with Respect to its Influence upon
the Mind and the Heart. Written originally in German by M. Zimmermann. Translated from
the French of J. B. Mercier. 12mo, Philadelphia: Printed for J. Crukshank, W. Young, T.
Dobson, M. Carey, H. & P. Rice, B. Johnson and P. Hall, 1793. First American edition
translated from Mercier’s translation and abridgment of the 4 volume work by
Zimmermann. Contemporary sheep, maroon morocco gilt label. Joints and extremities
rubbed, short cracks at top and bottom of joints, some browning of text, in a brown
cloth open-end case. Shipton & Mooney 26528. From an advertisement Shipton &
Mooney list a copy published in 1792? by Young (Shipton & Mooney 25072); Clarkin 130.
A translation of “Uber die Einsamkeit” originally published in 1784 but also a selection,
primarily from the last two volumes of the Swiss philosopher, writer and physician’s
four volume “Solitude.” Zimmermann was physician to George III and attended
Frederick the Great during his last illness.
$400
110 | james cummins bookseller