Rare books from Bauman Rare Books

1939. First Edition . JOYCE, James. Finnegans Wake. London: Faber and Faber, (1939). Large octavo, original red cloth, uncut and unopened, original dust jacket. $5500.First trade edition of Joyce’s ""last and most innovative prose work.""Finnegans Wake stands as ""Joyce's last and most innovative prose work, written in a revolutionary narrative style that approximates the protean nocturnal dream world… [that gave] Joyce the freedom he needed to weave together archetypal and historical themes that embrace, among other things, the creation, the fall and the resurrection of humanity"" (Fargnoli & Gillespie, 74). Joyce began writing Finnegans Wake in 1922, the same year Ulysses saw publication. Compared to that book, Finnegans Wake ""took longer to write… was conceived and executed under a greater range of symbolic and mythic guidelines, was dictated to more famous amanuenses, among them Samuel Beckett, was used as a weapon of… Read More

1864. (WASHINGTON, George and Martha) MIDDLETON, E.C. Framed chromolithographic portraits. Cincinnati: E.C. Middleton, 1864. Together, two framed pieces. Paper on canvas, oval image measures 13-1/2 by 16-1/2 inches; handsomely framed, each piece measures 19 by 22 inches. $6500.Mid-19th-century chromolithographic portraits of George and Martha Washington, laid on canvas, each in a contemporary gilt frame.Cincinnati engraver Elijah C. Middleton used a unique method of lithography—printing on canvas-backed paper in oil-based inks—to produce color images of unusually high quality that were still affordable. Starting around 1861, his portraits—often of figures such as George and Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster or General Grant—were prized not just locally, but even drew the attention of East Coast markets and competitors. A few minor cracks to frames, a few spots of discoloration to Martha Washington portrait, not touching her face. Near-fine condition.

1907. Signed. TWAIN, Mark. Christian Science. With Notes Containing Corrections to Date. New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1907. Octavo, original red cloth. $13,500.First edition, first state, of Twain’s satirical diatribe on Christian Science—then a relatively new and rapidly growing religion in the United States—and the religion’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy, wonderfully inscribed by Twain, ""Only a very small minority can properly claim to be sane. Mark Twain,"" in answer to a question posed above in an unidentified hand: ""This book should live when the delusion is dead. Is there any danger that a majority of the race will become insane?""""A tour de force of penetrating wit and clean analysis, revealing both his skill in polemics and his disdain for obscure grandiosity and sham spirituality. The work's subject is a natural result of Twain's lifelong fascination with the supernatural"" (Le Master… Read More

1856. AUDUBON, John James. The Birds of America from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories. New York: V. G. Audubon, 1856-57. Seven volumes. Royal octavo, publisher's full brown morocco, elaborately decorated in blind, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $58,500.Second octavo edition, the first edition with fully colored backgrounds, containing 500 superb hand-colored plates.One of the most spectacular series of ornithological prints ever produced and a landmark attempt to document the birds of North America. Identical to the first octavo edition, printed in 1840-44, except that the prints have tinted lithographic-wash backgrounds. The royal octavo edition, which Audubon referred to as the ""petit edition,"" contained new species of birds and plants not included in the folio edition, with the birds grouped in an orderly scientific manner. ""His first objective was to observe birds in their native habitat, to see their behavior, their… Read More

1586. (BOURCHIER, John) AURELIUS, Marcus. The Golden Booke of Marcus Aurelius, Emperour, and eloquent Oratour. London: Thomas East, 1586. Small thick 12mo, early 20th-century full red morocco, raised bands. $6000.Later edition of Bourchier's translation of Antonio de Guevara's Libro aureo, his collection of incidents and letters from the life of Marcus Aurelius, one of the most widely read and translated books of the 16th century.Antonio de Guevara, a Spanish bishop, served as the royal chronicler Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. His 1528 Libro áureo, a history of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius that included letters and works by him, was one of the most popular works in the 16th century in Europe; it was almost immediately translated into many other languages, and was one of the main engines for the renewed focus on the Roman philosopher king. John Bourchier's translation was first published in 1534; it precedes Meric Causubon's esteemed translation of Marcus Aurelius'… Read More

1862. (WASHINGTON, George and Martha) MIDDLETON, E.C. Pair of framed chromolithographic portraits. Cincinnati: E.C. Middleton, 1861-62. Two portraits. Paper on canvas, oval image measures 13 by 16 inches; in original wood and plaster-gilt frame, each piece measures 19 by 22 inches. $6500.Mid 19th-century chromolithographic portraits of George and Martha Washington, both laid on canvas, in a original gilt frames.Cincinnati engraver Elijah C. Middleton used a unique method of lithography—printing on canvas-backed paper in oil-based inks—to produce color images of unusually high quality that were still affordable. Starting around 1861, his portraits—often of figures such as George and Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster or General Grant—were prized not just locally, but even drew the attention of East Coast markets and competitors. Minor expert restoration to portraits and to original frames. Extremely good condition.

1938. First Edition . SEUSS, Dr. The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. New York: Vanguard, (1938). Thin quarto, original half red cloth, pictorial boards and endpapers, original dust jacket; housed in a custom slipcase. $7800.First edition of Dr. Seuss’ second book, a comical and insightful fantasy with numerous black, white and red illustrations by the author.By the time Geisel wrote this book, he ""already had a substantial hat collection of his own. His sister, Marnie, reported, 'Ted has another peculiar hobby. That of collecting hats of every description. Why, he must have several hundred and he is using them as the foundation of his next book… I have seen him put on an impromptu show for guests, using the hats as costumes…' The 500 Hats touched a sore spot for children—trying to do the right thing and arousing an adult's anger through no fault of their own… [It is a book for children] created by someone who had not lost his memory of the fantasies… Read More

1899. First Edition . Signed. (ANTHONY, Susan B.) HARPER, Ida Husted. The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony. Indianapolis and Kansas City: Bowen-Merrill, 1899, 1898. Two volumes. Octavo, modern full brown morocco, gilt medallion portraits from original bindings retained on front covers, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $16,500.First edition of the first two volumes of this biography of America's pioneering reformer—the only volumes published during her lifetime, inscribed and signed by her in each volume. Inscribed in Volume I: ""Mrs. Olivia B. Hall, Ann Arbor—Michigan—From her affectionate friend & coworker Susan B. Anthony. Rochester, N.Y. Jan. 1, 1899,"" and in Volume II: ""Mrs. Olivia B. Hall, Ann Arbor—Michigan—May the New Year bring added causes for happiness to her and all the loved ones of her home circle & to all homes—is the wish of her affectionate friend and coworker, Susan B. Anthony. Rochester, N.Y. Jan.… Read More

1944. Signed. MILLER, Henry. Original watercolor. No place, 1944. One leaf, measuring 9 by 12 inches; handsomely matted and framed, entire piece measures 14-1/2 by 18-1/2 inches. $6200.Original watercolor of human figure standing in a town, featuring a presentation inscription: ""For Cecilia Draeger from Henry Miller 1944.""Miller began painting watercolors in the 1920s and continued throughout his life. After spending years in Europe, Miller moved to Big Sur in 1942, where he lived a modest existence. This watercolor, painted during the Big Sur years, depicts a person with a gentle facial expression and closed eyes with a town in the background and a blue sun overhead. Although Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn were published in Paris in the 1930s, it was not until the easing of censorship in the early 1960s that his work was published in the United States. Fine condition.

1754. (AMERICAN REVOLUTION) (GORDON, Thomas) (TRENCHARD, John). Cato's Letters: Or Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and other important Subjects. No place: no publisher, 1754. Four volumes. Small octavo, contemporary full brown speckled calf rebacked, red morocco spine label, marbled endpapers. $6200.1754 edition of Trenchard and Gordon's famed essays, a major influence on the American Revolution—""ranked with the treatises of Locke as the most authoritative statement on the nature of political liberty and above Locke as an exposition of the social sources of the threats it faced"" (Bailyn). A direct and important influence on many of the founding fathers and major writings of the American Revolution, including writers such as Franklin, Dickinson, Livingstone, John Adams and Zenger, and such seminal works as the Federalist, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.""Trenchard and Gordon were the most… Read More

1960. First Edition . Signed. LEE, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Harper & Row, (circa 1960). Octavo, original half taupe cloth, brown paper boards, original dust jacket. $5500.Later printing of Harper Lee’s masterpiece, inscribed by the author, “To The Russells, with best wishes, Harper Lee.”Harper Lee's portrayal of life in a small Alabama town captured the essence of the South at one of its most trying times. To Kill a Mockingbird became an immediate bestseller and won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It is ""an authentic and nostalgic story which in rare fashion at once puts together the tenderness and the tragedy of the South. They are the inseparable ingredients of a region much reported but seldom so well understood"" (Jonathan Daniels). First issued in 1960. This copy is forty-ninth printing. Book fine, bright dust jacket with only lightest wear to spine ends and a half-inch closed tear at rear flap fold. An about-fine inscribed copy.

1943. First Edition . Signed. DAHL, Roald. The Gremlins. A Royal Air Force Story by Flight Lieutenant Roald Dahl. New York: Random House, (1943). Slim quarto, original half red cloth, pictorial boards, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Housed in custom pictorial clamshell box. $13,500.Presentation first edition of Dahl's rare first book, with 14 vibrant full-page illustrations by Walt Disney Productions, twice inscribed by him: on the half title, ""To Joe and Steve with love from Roald Dahl 10/5/47,"" and opposite the half title, ""One by one a cow came by/ Howling around for the moon/ They asked me where the hell it was/ I said it's gone you dopes—you're much too soon. R."" An exceptionally elusive and desirable Dahl first edition in any condition, particularly in the original dust jacket and inscribed by him.Dahl was sent to Washington in 1942 as an assistant air attaché for the British Embassy. After having a story published… Read More

1876. First Edition . TWAIN, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876. Square octavo, publisher's three-quarter brown morocco, peach endpapers. Housed in a custom chemise and half morocco clamshell box. $69,000.First American edition, first state of one of the great masterpieces of American literature and a true touchstone of American childhood, in the exceptionally rare publisher's morocco binding. An essential addition to any Mark Twain collection. Only 200 copies were issued in the publisher's three-quarter morocco binding.""The first novel Mark Twain wrote without a co-author, Tom Sawyer is also his most clearly autobiographical novel… Enlivened by extraordinary and melodramatic events, it is otherwise a realistic depiction of the experiences, people and places that Mark Twain knew as a child"" (Rasmussen, 459). Originally published in England (without illustrations), Tom Sawyer arrived at a momentous point in American… Read More

1968. First Edition . Signed. (WYETH, Andrew) MERYMAN, Richard. Andrew Wyeth. Boston: Gambit, Incorporated, 1969. Oblong folio (13-1/2 by 17 inches), original half light blue reverse calf, all edges gilt, original clamshell box. $5800.Deluxe signed limited first edition, number 124 of only 300 copies, with 165 full-page color and black-and-white reproductions of Wyeth’s paintings of Pennsylvania and Maine.In the tradition of his father, N.C. Wyeth, and the Brandywine artists, Andrew Wyeth achieved acclaim for his naturalistic portrayals of the Pennsylvania countryside and the seacoast of Maine. His watercolors and tempera paintings capture the essence of the two regions, while conveying a sense of loneliness and nostalgia. ""I can do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about the past and future—the timelessness of these rocks and hills—about all the people who have existed here."" After the prints were completed and approved by Wyeth for this volume, the original… Read More

1881. First Edition . DAVIS, Jefferson. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. New York: D. Appleton, 1881. Two volumes. Thick octavo, original three-quarter brown morocco, raised bands, marbled endpapers and edges. $3000.First edition of Jefferson Davis' seminal history of the Confederacy, one of the most important works on the Civil War written by one of the conflict's primary figures, and one of the major arguments for the Constitutional basis of the war, with 18 maps (14 folding) and 19 plates, including stipple-engraved portraits of Davis, members of the presidential staff, General Lee and others, a handsome copy in publisher's original three-quarter morocco.""As president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis directed the new nation's mighty struggle for independence… Born on the Kentucky frontier in the first decade of the 19th century, he witnessed and participated in the epochal transformation of the United States from fledgling… Read More