Rare books from Kaaterskill Books, ABAA/ILAB

New York: B. W. Huebsch., 1908. First edition. Cloth. Soiled at the hinge with a split to cloth, otherwise a very good crisp copy.. 73 pp. + Adv [2]. 12mo. The Art of Life Series. Based on his article in the Boston Congregationalist December 7, 1907. Contents: The things that are worth while. The conundrum of human life. How to elevate the average man. Unconscious successes. "Wise through time." "Heaven's best treasure, peace and health." Truth is truth. Conclusion.

Milano: Dalla tipografia dell'autore, 1824. First edition. Modern quarter leather over marbled paper covered boards. Leather attached a bit awkwardly at spine ends, marbled boards rubbed and worn, edges of front board discolored from old tape removal, but binding solid, edges nicked on a few leaves, scattered foxing mainly affecting the margins, plates sharp, colors bright, a quite useful copy.. [x], [3]-224 pp., + 31 (ie 32) col. plates. Illus. with 32 plates incl. 1 engraved plan, 31 aquatints of which 7 are nicely hand-colored + handcolored engraved title page. Folio (41 cm). Plate 4* and 4 unnumbered pages inserted after p. 40. To illustrate this volume with aquatints, Ferrario chose many fine Milanese artists and engravers including V. Rainieri, Bramati, G. Alluisetti, D.K. Bonatti, Giuseppe Castellini, and A. Biasoli. Aside from the later two, the most prominent was the highly regarded theatrical set designer Alessandro Sanquirico (1774-1849) who produced 3 plates, one of the nave of the… Read More

Amsterdam: Widow of Visscher, 1710. Single sheet copper engraved map, hand-colored. Margins trimmed but still quite ample, some small marginal stains, a handsome copy.. 515 x 595 mm. Strong image of the southern half of South America. Two insets: Carte particuliere de Detroit de Magellan and Circulus Antarcticus. Includes routes of the 18th c. explorers. Rodrigues 2556. Medina: Mapoteca Chilena, p.31, 10a (1740 ed).

Guatemala: Tip. de El Progreso / La Union, 1887. First editions. Vol. 1, quarter red morocco; vols. 2-7 original blank paper wrappers as issued. Volumes 2-7 unopened (uncut) and untrimmed as sold hence some edges worn and soiled, scattered foxing, blank wrappers quite worn, torn, and soiled, some toning to half titles or titles, otherwise trimmed size is internally near fine; volume 1 extremities worn, small chip at head of spine and joint split at top. Booksellers stamp to title page of one volume.. Illus. 8vo. This is the most famous 19th c. work on Central America and a very important regional history by an anti-clerical and liberal historian, Lorenzo Montufar y Rivera Maestre (1823-1898), who, as foreign minister of Costa Rica, helped organize the Central American defense against William Walker (to whom the final volume is devoted; and is perhaps the best treatment of the filibusters) and was frequently exiled for his opposition to the dictator Rafael Carrera. Bancroft and many other historians… Read More

Montevideo: Imprenta Elzeviriana, 1889. First edition. Cloth. Very good+, boards slightly rubbed, scattered foxing to preliminaries and endpapers. A handsome copy.. xviii, 314 pp. 12mo. An important work on Rioplatense Spanish, a dialect spoken in the River Plate region between Argentina and Uruguay. Provenance: Bookplate of Hereberto Gibson on half-title, ie. Sir Herbert Gibson (1863-1934), a leading member of the British Community in Argentina. Tiny blind-stamp of Antonio Santamarina on title page and small label A. Santamarina (from the Biblioteca de d. Antonio Santamarina) on front pastedown. The last at auction in 1978. Palau 107301. Spain & Spanish America I, 306 (2nd ed).

Madrid: En la Oficina de Antonio Fernandez, 1778. First edition. Later vellum, spine lettered in manuscript. A very good copy, front board slightly bowed, small split to vellum on rear board at lower joint, minor soiling, else a bright, sharp copy.. 196 pp. 8vo. Written just a year before Spain joined the fight against England, an interesting history, and the longest Spanish work to that date, describing the English colonies in America. Quite thorough with seventeen chapters covering the origin and establishment of the English Colonies in America; detailed accounts of Virginia, Maryland, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Carolina, Georgia; Colonies acquired from other European countries by Treaty; Canada, Florida; Observations concerning the colonies; Customs and Religion of the Indians; particular plants in English America, as well as information on the industry, commerce and navigation. Despite the date of its publication, and the preface in which Alvarez notes that all eyes are on… Read More

Barcelona: Imprenta de Ivan Pablo Marti, por Francisco Barnola Impressor, 1701. First edition. Contemporary vellum, title lettered in manuscript. Boards soiled, hinges and small tears neatly repaired, owner's bookplate on front pastedown, corner chip to front endpaper, later inscription on verso of half-title, occasional browning, overall a very good copy.. 14 lvs, [1]-10, 9-38, 1 lv., [2] pp., 39-268, 257-476 pp. Sm. 8vo. Numerous errors in pagination. A heroic poem on the discovery of America by Columbus and the Spanish conquests - influenced most likely by Bacon's view of conquest as philosophical, rather than just military- written in Spanish by the Portuguese born writer Francisco Botello de Moraes (1670-1747) who lived most of his life in Spain and Italy. Composed in his youth and never completed, with gaps left blank at a number of stanzas (libro i, stanza 78-107; ii. 60-80 ; iii. 103-143; vi. 88-228; vii. 54-73, 87-128, 157-176; viii. 17-77, 102-301, 311-363; ix, 1-200, 222-262, 281-381,… Read More

[Buenos Ayres]: Imprenta de Los Expòsitos, 1818. First edition. A near fine copy, light edgewear, faint toning.. Broadside. 4to. Dated and signed in print: Quartel general en Santiago, abril 8 de 1818 -Exmo. Sr. José de San Martin. San Martin's second and conclusive report on the success of the Battle of Maipu on the 5th of April which won the Chilean stuggle for independence. San Martin and his rebels completely destroyed the Spanish forces led by General Mariano Osorio. The Spaniards were so completely overrun, with nearly 3000 prisoners taken, and 2000 dead, that San Martin soon swept through and liberated Peru. "Despues de mis repetidos avisos del resultado de la batalla del 5 en el llano de Maypú, tengo el honor para mayor esclarecimiento de V.E. de incluir los partes originales que he recibido, añadiendo que à la fecha pasan de mas de 2500 prisioneros con 170 oficiales. Los enemigos habian dexado en Talca sus grandes despositos, parque, equipages, y caja militar: yo estoy seguro que todo… Read More

Paris: Chez LePetit jeune, libraire, 1802. First edition. Contemporary speckled calf, gilt title and decoration on spine, marbled endpapers. A very good copy, rebacked with original backstrip laid down, edge wear, some leaves browned, occasional minor dampstain.. Engraved portrait frontis, xxiv, [25]-315 pp. (with half title). Sm. 8vo. Includes six items covering: Louisiana (and Canada), p. [25]-181; India (l'Indostan), p. [183]-228; Haiti (Saint-Domingue), p. [229]-239; Corsica (Corse), p. [241]-251; Guiana (Guyane), p. [253]-272; and "Lettre de M. le chevalier Turgot, a M. le duc de Choiseul. Paris, le 10 octobre 1765", p. [273]-300, with each section having separate half titles except for the last. Vergennes was a French diplomat serving as Foreign Minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, who helped to conclude a treaty with the American Colonies. The first section on Louisiana and Canada was probably written about 1777, published only after France had reclaimed Louisiana but shortly… Read More

Philadelphia: Published by Authority of the Legislature of California (Caxton Press of Sherman and Co.), 1865. First edition. Later full sprinkled tan calf, five raised bands, red morocco lettering pieces, gilt title and rules, marble endpapers. A very good or better copy, front board scuffed at bottom edge, faint scattered foxing, bookplate on front pastedown.. xxvii, 498 pp. Illus. with 9 plates and 81 further wood engravings in text. Sm. 4to. The second of the survey's reports. "It contains the first extensive description of the High Sierra to be published, and establishes the definition, 'that portion of this great chain which lies above the metalliferous belt just described, forming the crest of the range, and the water-shed between the streams flowing west to the Pacific Ocean and those which find their way eastward into the Great Basin, or some subordinate one, where they are lost by evaporation'. The woodcuts were derived from sketches made by Whitney and Hoffmann and by photographs from… Read More

[Japan], 1941. Loose in a black clamshell box. Very good copies with slight curl; some with small edge or corner tears; 23 have the name of the film or featured actors/actresses rubber-stamped on the back, in Japanese.. 47 b/w photos. Approximately 6 x 4 inches. One duplicate. Most are group scenes from dramas, a few portraits, a few without characters; subject matter ranges from early historical dramas, to contemporary scenes, to the war and its effects. The dates have been verified on a few, and all fall during the years of the Pacific War, including Tadashi Imai's Tanjiko-mura (1940), "Hanagoyomi hasshojin" (1940) based on the 19th century novel, "Josei hongan" (1940) made in the same year as the novel by Kan Kikuchi, Yasuki Chiba's "Kuso buraku" (1939). The balance of the stills appear to date within approximately the same period.

Boston: Printed by Adams and Nourse, 1787. First editions. Quarter cloth over paper covered boards. Generally fine copies, except for last item, which is removed from a larger volume and not bound with the other three, old stitching marks at inner margin, first item with foxing on three leaves, and small faded contemporary marginal notation; first leaf of second item with two creases to lower half and one leaf with paper loss at corner just affecting marginal title, final item with a few marginal pin holes and one tiny stain, otherwise very sharp and clear impressions in a fine binding; and one loose.. [487]-545, [1] pp.; [546]-627, [1] pp.; [87]-168] pp. and [169]-257, [1] pp. Folio. The key documents that reported on the revolt that fundamentally altered U.S. history. Beginning in 1786, only three years after the American Revolution had ended, an armed rebellion began in Western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, a war veteran, and composed not only of farmers but many others from diverse… Read More

Charleston, SC, 1848. Very good, tiny tears and light browning, particularly around folds, minor ink bleed through, contents clean.. [4] pp. Bifolium. 8 x 10.5 inches. A wonderful letter filled with descriptions and anecdotes of prominent military and political figures including Andrew Jackson. Dated Feb. 28th, 1848, just as the Mexican American War was concluding (the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo occurred less than four weeks before this letter was written, and Polk's message to Congress concerning the Treaty a scant six days prior). Burns tells his cousin Anson of his visit to Washington, D.C., to attend the celebrations, hosted by Mr. & Mrs. Clifford (Nathan Clifford was Attorney General). Burns was introduced to President Polk, and presented the respects of his uncle, Dr. Burns, to which Polk replied, "'Are you a relative of Dr. Burns? I am glad to see you' and 'How is the doctor? I have a great regard for him. I always know where to find him. We fought shoulder to shoulder through… Read More

New York, 1835. Broadsheet. Very good, folded vellum, edge worn, lightly soiled.. 1 sheet. 30 x 18 inches. The original document on the recto is a land indenture from George Ludlow to Gabriel W. Ludlow and his wife, Cornelia for the sum of $2,000, and is dated July 23, 1766 and signed by merchant, George Ludlow, and witnesses, Hugh Gaine and Benjamin Kissam. On verso, manuscript statement, dated January 31, 1835, providing evidence for allowing the Land Indenture to be recorded. Signed by the Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in New York City, Michael Ulshoffer. Hugh Gaine (1726-1807) was an American printer, bookseller, and newspaper publisher who moved his operations from New York City to Newark, New Jersey at the beginning of the American Revolution when the British occupied New York. He switch sides, turned loyalist, and published pro-British articles after deciding the British would win. George Ludlow (1734-1808) from an old line New York family, was a judge who remained loyal to… Read More

Racine, [WI], 1852. Very good, one tear along fold, barely affecting text, occasional soiling, otherwise clean.. 1 sheet. 7.5 x 9.5. inches. Dated and signed August 14th, 1852 by Ellis M. Russell (1807-1866), a recent transplant to Racine Wisconsin from Vermont where he is traveling to settle up his affairs, writes about the coming election and express his confidence in Winfield Scott as the Whig Presidential candidate. "Men west are beginning seriously to feel the effects of this kind of free trade... We want a Tariff that is good for something. We want appropriations for Internal improvements. A.C. & will have it. Scott is the man for us. You know and feel it. He will carry Wisconsin without do[u]bt. Party lines are all being broken. Men will look to their interest anyhow."