Colonial Americana from Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA

Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1954. Hardcover. 4to. Blue cloth with gilt lettering, dust jacket. xvi, 181pp. Numerous illustrations (several foldouts). Fine/very good. Jacket rather age toned and edgeworn. Handsome first edition of this great reference. Laid in is the original 1955 AAS invoice.

Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967. Hardcover. Translation by Elizabeth Wilder Weismann. 4to. Straw cloth with black and gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xxvi, 493pp. Extensive illustrations, numerous full-page color plates. Fine/very good. Jacket spine sunned and a tad of edgewear. Quite handsome, tight and fresh second printing of this volume in "The Texas Pan American Series," covering… Read more about this item

On February 24, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed "An Act authorizing the President of the United States to accept the service of a number of volunteer companies, not exceeding thirty thousand men" during the Second Session of the Ninth Congress; the following year Van Rensselaer, the long-serving adjutant general of New York Militia (1801-09, 1810-11, 1813-21), who later served… Read more about this item

Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. Hardcover. Small 4to. Quarter calf with gilt spine lettering and tan cloth. x, 336pp. Top edge gilt. Near fine. Very faintest of binding wear only. Superp first edition, tight and lovely, of this important transcript (in English) of 120 years' worth of early colonial Spanish administrative correspondence. NOT an ex-library copy,… Read more about this item

This commissioned officer of the Continental Army served with the Maryland Rifle Company that came to George Washington's aid during the Siege of Boston in July-August 1775; he went on to become a justice of the peace and judge -- but is best known as the father of author Francis Scott Key of "Star-Spangled Banner" fame. DS, 1p, 16"… Read more about this item

Forestville, CA: Eclipse Books, 1991. Hardcover. Illustrations by author. Small 4to. Terra cotta cloth with gilt lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 126pp, (2pp ads). Numerous illustrations (many full page), maps. Near fine/near fine. Attractive first edition of this thrilling (to quote jacket front panel) "Illustrated Guidebook to the Great Trans-Allegheny Adventurers and Chiefs" -- one of 250 numbered copies (this… Read more about this item

This attorney and gentleman farmer served Maryland as member of the House of Delegates and as representative to the Second Congress (1791-93); his cousin was Philip Barton Key, uncle to Francis Scott Key. ALS, 1p (lettersheet), 8" X 10", Chaptico, MD, 1 March 1809. Addressed to General Samuel Smith (1752-1839, long-time Maryland senator and representative). Near fine. The former… Read more about this item

New York: Bonanza Books, 1960. Hardcover. 4to. Brown cloth with black lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 374pp. Numerous illustrations. Near fine/very good. Jacket mildly edgeworn and faintly rubbed, with a few miniscule edge chips. Lovely, tight reprint edition of a highly-regarded, well-illustrated study, with biographies of gunsmiths and other useful reference data.

Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company, 2006. Paperback. Small 8vo. Stiff glossy pictorial wrappers. vi, 207pp. Maps. Fine. Accompanied by 4 CD pictorial clamshell cases, each small 8vo, each housing 6 audio CDs (total of 24). Fine. Perfect and pristine set of this "Great Courses" seminar, the introductory book a guide and detailed syllabus to the 48 lectures recorded on… Read more about this item

New York: The American Past Book-of-the-Month Club, 1983. Hardcover. New foreword by Daniel J. Boorstin. Small 4to. Blue and salmon cloth with copper spine lettering and decoration, pictorial dust jacket, slipcase with pictorial label. xxii, 547pp. Color frontispiece, maps, illustrations, pictorial endpapers. Sewn-in blue silk page marker. Fine/near fine/very good. Jacket spine a bit sunned. Tight, handsome reprint of… Read more about this item

Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1978. Hardcover. 8vo. Quarter red cloth with gilt spine lettering and blue paper over boards, price-clipped dust jacket. xxvi, 398pp. Near fine/near fine. Tight and lovely later printing of the journalist and political philosopher's musings -- with a nice twist: Front flyleaf bears an interesting if unidentifiable nonauthorial gift inscription in black ballpoint on… Read more about this item

New York: William Morrow and Company, 1991. Hardcover. Small 4to. Quarter mustard cloth with gilt spine lettering and blue paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. xi, 370pp. Numerous illustrations (most color), maps. Near fine/near fine. Superbly tight and sharp first edition of this "Companion Volume to the PBS Series.

Barre, MA: Barre Publishers, 1968. Hardcover. Illustrations by Suzanne Carlson. Narrow folio. Beige cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 205pp. Extensive line drawings, text endpapers. Fine/very good. Jacket faintly edgeworn, with spine lightly sunned. Handsome, tight first edition of this study of colonial-era architects, those of the north and those of the south, and the major structures… Read more about this item

New York: John G. Shea, 1886. Hardcover. Small 4to. Blue cloth with gilt spine lettering. xvii, 663pp. Numerous illustrations, 6 full-page heavy stock tissue-guarded steel-engraved portraits. Near fine. Quite handsome, tight and bright first edition of this hefty history, and although ex-library the markings are quite few and discreet -- namely a small "Novitiate Library" stampon title page and… Read more about this item

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. Hardcover. Small 4to. Brown and tan paper over boards with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xvi, 374pp. Fine/fine. Circular blind-embossed ownership imprint on half-title page. Exceptionally tight and bright first edition.

N.p.: G.K. Hall & Co, 1963. Paperback. 16mo. Stiff blue wrappers. 24pp. Fine. Massachusetts Historical Society director Stephen T. Riley introduces this superb facsimile of "the only known nearly perfect copy... printed and sold in Boston by Benjamin Mecom in 1758" -- the first separate printing of Franklin's famed "Sayings of Poor Richard." A lovely Christmas keepsake and a… Read more about this item

Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2020. Hardcover. Complete 2-volume set. Small 4to. Burgundy cloth with gilt lettering. xi, 346pp; viii, 510pp. Illustrations, maps. Fine. A pristine, perfect pair of first editions of this hefty history.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Hardcover. 4to. Full brown leatherette with gilt lettering, rules and pictorial stamping 248pp. All edges gilt. Extensive color maps, illustrations, brown watered silk endpapers, sewn-in gold satin page marker. Near fine. Wonderfully tight and handsome first edition covering the early 16th century to the late 20th century.

Tampa: The American Patriots Society, 1962. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Pictorial paper over boards, pictorial price-clipped dust jacket. 46pp. Woodblock illustrations. Fine/near fine. Probable first and sole edition of this curiosity, an amusing retelling of Benjamin Franklin and Woodrow Wilson tales by this father/daughter combo. Printed by and easily identifiable as Peter Pauper Press.

Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1987. Paperback. 8vo. Stiff glossy pictorial wrappers. 44pp. Illustrations. Near fine. A bright and tight first edition of this useful, highly-focused study featuring 143 entries -- indispensable for serious research in this field.