Rare books from Common Crow Books

New York: Norton, 1933. First printing. Hardcover. Near Fine. First printing, 1933. 8vo, bright raspberry cloth gilt, 176 pp. Printed at the Lakeside Press. Near fine, mainly unopened and uncut copy, no jacket. With two laid in letters addressed to Storer Lunt, an editor at Norton who was probably responsible for publishing this book, dated August 5th and September 7th 1934, from an Albert Bery. Both handwritten letters, from California, are very pleasant and mention Lunt's visiting him, and have to do with "my dear young friend, Julia Newberry, the memory of whom is and has been all these years most fragrant. I have tried to tell Miss Mygatt what the 'Diary' and 'Sketch Book' have done for me in recalling days of my Midhsipman life - among the highest of my sixty nine years of a wandering naval career..." The second letter says, after acknowledging receipt of two copies of The Diary, "... it recalls memories very dear to me. She was a remarkable young girl, far beyond her few short years, and had… Read More

Newcastle: Printed for Emerson Charnley by S. Hodgson, 1822. Hardcover. Near Fine/No Jacket. 5 volume set. 1822 edition of the Works of Bewick. No. 11 of 150 "Royal" copies with "thumbprint" leaf bound into the Fables of Aesop (dated Jan. 1, 1824, with handcolored seaweed and hawthorne leaf, and numbered and priced in ink. All volumes have the Charnley 1822 title page as well as a secondary title page for each volume, with the Quadrupeds title page dated 1824 and Aesop's dated 1823. The Quadrupeds features as its frontispiece the large woodcut of a lion commissioned especially for this edition and only seen in the Royal and Imperial editions. Tattersfield, in his bibliography of Bewick, states that only 150 of the Royal-sized editions were published, at least 80 of which were remaindered and sold to Bohn many years later and issued without the thumbprint leaf; thus, this is likely one of only 70 such sets. Royal 8vo, bound in full dark green leather gilt, all edges gilded, old bookplate in each… Read More

Pittsburgh: Cramer, Spear and Eichbaum, 1814. Hardcover. Very Good. 8th edition, revised and enlarged. 8vo, original half calf and marbled boads, 360 pp, 28 maps of parts of the rivers and The Falls of the Ohio and Pittsburgh. A very nice copy indeed, with early neat leather reinforcement of top and bottom of the spine, early ownership signature, two times, of Samuel Williams. Contents very clean and bright, with typical scattered foxing. Light rubbing to edges and some darkening to spine leather, but a remarkably nice, tight bright copy of this classic river guide and the essential Pittsburgh book. One of the editions that takes into account the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Amsterdam, 1696. Hardcover. Good. Seven volumes, published between 1645 and 1696 by various Dutch publishers. This is a nice, rare collection of 17th Century poetry, translations, etc. by Joost van den Vondel, the greatest Dutch poet of the 17th Century. Included is an emblem book which, in addition to the engraved titlepage, features 74 emblems. All volumes are bound in leather-backed boards with raised bands, gilt decorated compartments and leather spine-labels, clean unmarked text, Good copies, age-toning or discoloration to the pages, light creasing or wear to the tips of some pages, some wear to the covers including minor straining to the outer joints and a bit of rubbing or loss at the tips of the covers of the books, no dust jackets. All volumes housed in protective mylar.

Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co. and Hurst, Robinson and Co, 1821. Second edition. Hardcover. Ex-Library. Complete 18 volume set bound in half-mottled calf and beige cloth boards, second edition, 1821, octavos (5 1/4 x 8 3/16"), varying paginations, volume one has a frontispiece engraving and volume six has a fold out engraving, otherwise not illustrated. Books are ex-library with only markings being a few stamps and blind stamps to front endpapers, small stamp to rear endpapers, no outer markings or stamps in text; otherwise books show mild wear to spine ends and corners, handsome gilt decorations to spines, brown and beige leather title bands on spines, mild rubbing to spines and outer hinges, light wear to spine ends and corners, bindings tight, marbled endpapers, aside from library marks texts have some foxing and toning throughout, yellow dyed page edges with slight toning to top edge, in protective mylar wraps, volume six has two math equations written on rear endpaper, rear endpaper of… Read More

Boston, MA: Ticknor and Fields, 1860. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Complete in Two Volumes. First Edition, First State. Ads in rear of first volume dated February, 1860, no 'Conclusion' in second volume. Hardcover. Blind embossed brown cloth, gilt spine titles. 8vo. 283pp. + 16pp. publisher's list in rear / 284pp. Very Good. Lightly rubbed at spine-ends and corners, previous owner's bookplates inside front covers, occasional mild foxing to contents.

London: Nichols and Son, and Bentley, et al., 1817. Hardcover. Very Good. 45 volumes, published 1817, small 8vo, contemporary full calf, gilt spines, deep red spine labels, boards with hand-done pattern of daub marks, very good, light rubbing, a few spine labels chipped or missing, all hinges and joints sturdy and sound, contents very good and clean, bookplates of Edward Jago, probably a 19th century solicitor from Plymouth UK. Reprints The Mirror, The Spectator, The Connoisseur, The Idler, The Observer, The Looker-On, The World, The Rambler, The Guardian, The Tatler, The Adventurer, The Lounger and more! Postage will be calculated at cost.

Philadelphia: George Barrie & Son, 1888. Hardcover. Good. No date, ca. 1888. SIXTH volume only of the 10 volume set limited to 100 copies, this one no. 40 printed for Mr. Mark P. Robinson. Large folio (19.5 inches tall; 49.5 cm) in rich full red leather gilt, with handsome patterned silk endpapers, illustrated with in-text illustrations and smaller gravures on india paper; with mounted and matted plates by some of the great Western artists of the day--each volume contains 12 such prints, photogravures and etchings; this volume includes J. Harrison Mills 'Headwaters of the Grand (Colorado)' (signed photogravure), George H. Gay's 'Seven Falls, Cheyenne Canyon' (signed photogravure), Thomas Moran, 'Royal Gorge' (signed photogravure), Moran's 'Sultan Mountains from Bakers Park' (signed photogravure), Frank A. Tabor's 'Upper Twin Lakes' (signed photogravure), Remington's 'Navajo Sheep-Herder' (signed photogravure), Alexander Schilling's 'Indian Pueblo of Taos' (signed photogravure), Thomas Moessner's… Read More

Philadelphia: George Barrie & Son, 1888. Hardcover. Good. No date, ca. 1888. SEVENTH volume only of the 10 volume set limited to 100 copies, this one no. 40 printed for Mr. Mark P. Robinson. Large folio (19.5 inches tall; 49.5 cm) in rich full red leather gilt, with handsome patterned silk endpapers, illustrated with in-text illustrations and smaller gravures on india paper; with mounted and matted plates by some of the great Western artists of the day--each volume contains 12 such prints, photogravures and etchings; this volume includes Frederick S. Cozzens' 'Golden Gate from San Francisco Bay' (signed photogravure), Victor Perard's 'Protestant Orphan Asylum' (signed photogravure), C. D. Robinson's 'Beach and Seal Rock at Cliff House' (signed photogravure), E. J. Meeker's 'State Capitol at Sacramento' (signed photo-etching), H. D. Nichols' 'Mount Diablo' (signed photogravure), Julian Rix, 'Source of the Sacramento' (signed original etching), Rix's 'Cascades of the Columbia' (signed photogravure),… Read More

Philadelphia: George Barrie & Son, 1888. Hardcover. Good. No date, ca. 1888. First volume only of the 10 volume set limited to 100 copies, this one no. 40 printed for Mr. Mark P. Robinson. Large folio (19.5 inches tall; 49.5 cm) in rich full red leather gilt, with handsome patterned silk endpapers, illustrated with in-text pictures and gravures on india paper; with mounted and matted plates by some of the great Western artists of the day--each volume contains 12 such prints, with the frontispiece of each an original etching, the rest photogravures; this volume includes Moran's original etching 'Half Dome -- View from Moran Point,' 'Mount Emerson and the High Sierras' - blue tinted photogravure signed by Keith in pen below the image, Keith's 'Mount Humphrey' (also signed), Julian Rix, 'Deer Pass' (unsigned), Thomas Hill, 'The Indian Canyon' (signed in pencil), George Spiel's 'Fall in North Wall of Bloody Canon' (signed in pencil), Remington's 'Mule Train Crossing the Sierras' (signed in pencil) and… Read More

Washington DC: Howard University, 1932. Very Good. 11 volumes, with some gaps, but including Vol. 1 no. 1 of the Howard University Bulletin, June 1921. 8vo, wraps in various shades of blue, generally very good with light wear. The 1919-1920 Catalogue has some light restoration to the fore-edge of the front cover. Each bulletin averages 300 pp. The 1919 volume has a folding frontispiece of the proposed plan for the campus development; the same folding plan appears in the 1921 bulletin and in each succeeding annual up to 1924. Each annual has a general description followed by extensive reportage of the curriculum and requirements for each department, with a list of faculty and of registered students. Founded in 1865, the expansion that occurred during the time of these bulletins was huge, and in 1926 the first African-American head of Howard was installed: Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, who would guide the university until 1960. By the 1920s Howard University had become the greatest of the HBCU's, a… Read More

London: Macmillan, 1896. Hardcover. Very Good. Quarto volume handsomely bound in half leather and marbled boards, with Röntgen. "On a New Kind of Rays." Widely cited as the earliest article in on X-Rays in English. Translated from the original German by Arthur Stanton, appearing on pages 274-276, with early published illustrations of x-rayed hands (of Rontgen's wife) and a compass. On pages 276-277 is an article by A. A. C. Swinton about Röntgen's discovery and there is at least one other article on x-rays. Garrison-Morton 2683. The German original paper is PMM 380.

London: Charles Bathurst, C. Davis, C. Hitch, R. Dodsley, 1749. Hardcover. 12 volumes, a mix of fourth and fifth editions, and perhaps some first printings. 8vo, warm light brown calf with red spine labels, good set, some rubbing and wear, six of the outer joints show neat strengthening, contents all very good and clean. A Tale of the Tub (1747) is an Eleventh Edition. With full bookplate of the Scott family featuring crescent moon and stars and with the Scott family motto, "Reparabit Cornua Phoebe" (the moon's horns will be full again) and each title page with the signature W. Scott. This was the motto of Sir Walter Scott's family and the bookplate has the chief elements of their crest, especially the crescent moon, stars, with Phoebe atop the shield, plus motto. The signature looks to us very much like examples online, but buyers are urged to do research on the bookplate and the signature to feel confident in this attribution. The moon and stars image is apparently a nod to Scottish Borderers who… Read More

Lexington: Stamperia del Santuccio; Anvil Press; Victor and Carolyn Hammer, 1978. First Printing. Hardcover. Very good. One of 50 copies. Small quarto, 11 x 7.5 inches, cloth backed marbled boards with printed paper spine label, very good. With short inscription on small slip of folded hand-made paper loosely inserted: "for Loraine / to remember our journey. Carolyn." 18 pages. As Carolyn Hammer explains in a prefatory note, Merton gave them the text in 1961 and Victor & Carolyn handset and printed it in an edition of 50 copies on Magnani paper to be issued with a frontispiece wood engraving of "Hagia Sophia and the Young Christ" based on Victor Hammer's triptych painting of 1953-56. But Victor never completed the woodcut and the book was never bound up; a decision was made to reset the type and print a variant edition on Whatman paper without the woodcut. This was issued in an edition of 69 copies and is hardly ever seen in the trade or at auction. A decade after Victor Hammer's death, and after… Read More

London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1936. First Printing. Hardcover. Very good. 12mo, 6 x 4.25 inches, original cloth backed boards, near very good, light wear and soil to covers, slight motting to cloth, stamp of Edgar Dale, Curriculum Division, Ohio State University in Columbus, and his small white numbers on spine with a dab of varnish over it. Contents very good, with folding chart frontispiece and with illustrations and plates throughout, some printed in black and red, occasional pencil marks in the margin, likely by Dale; "Dale" written in pencil on flyleaf, too. Nice association copy: Dale was a pioneering educator who invented the "Cone of Experience" also known as the "Learning Pyramid" in his 1946 book on Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching. The second edition (1954) of this book acknowledges Neurath in his description of statistical bar-graphs. "Otto Neurath, their inventor, was primarily concerned with developing a means of dependable communication among all peoples of the earth.… Read More