Rare books from William Reese Company

New York, [ca. 1862-1863].. Fifty engraved portraits, each 9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches. Each stored inside its own paper sleeve and housed together in two contemporary brown leather portfolios, stamped in gilt. Portfolios worn and rubbed. Images in excellent condition. A wonderful contemporary collection of Civil War-related engravings. Featured personalities are mostly Union generals, colonels, commodores, and other officers and figures of note, plus presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Also includes an engraving of William Gannaway Brownlow, the anti-secessionist Tennessee newspaper editor and later governor of Tennessee immediately after the end of the Civil War. At the time of the publication of this set, Brownlow was a celebrity in the North for his ardent anti-secessionist stance. Due to the portrait poses on which the engravings are based, as well as the stated ranks of the military leaders and the general selection of personalities chosen for the set, it must have been published in… Read More

Boston: Printed by William M'Alpine, 1768.. 33pp. Sewn into contemporary plain paper wrappers, manuscript paper label. Contemporary ink inscriptions on titlepage (the word "Catechism" beside title) and verso of terminal leaf (signatures of Eunice Barnard and Hepzibah Flagg). Wrappers worn. Titlepage creased and slightly chipped near gutter, affecting a few words of text. Fore- edge of second leaf frayed, with loss of several words on pp.3-4. Wear and mild foxing and soiling throughout. Good. In a half morocco and cloth box. A very rare Boston catechism, this issue not in Evans, Bristol, or Shipton & Mooney. The so-called "Shorter Catechism" was codified in 1647 by the Westminster Assembly and remains to this day part of the doctrinal standards of many Presbyterian churches. It was first printed in America at Cambridge in 1665 and frequently reprinted, though many of these are represented by a single surviving copy. The single other known copy is held by the American Antiquarian Society and has a… Read More

New York: Francis P. Harper, 1893.. Three text volumes plus atlas, totaling 1,364pp. Facsimiles, plates, and maps (some folding). Original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Inner hinges on each text volume cracked, cloth a bit worn at extremities. Internally clean and very good. One of 800 sets on "fine book paper" from an edition limited to 1,000 sets. The first "modern" edited scholarly edition of the Lewis and Clark account and manuscripts, reprinting the official text of 1814, but with extensive notes by Coues based on his examination of the surviving manuscripts and maps of the expedition. This was also the first of a series of landmark publications by Harper on western exploration, and the first editing project of the prolific Elliot Coues. "[Coues'] edition of 1893 ranks second in importance only to the original journals. His lengthy annotations, based on first-hand knowledge of the territory, are highly informative, and his bibliographical essay is a major contribution" - Wagner-Camp. A… Read More

London, 1797.. [2],xi,[1],415,[6]pp. plus ten colored aquatint plates. Quarto. Contemporary diced russia, rebacked in matching style, spine gilt. Very minor soiling, some offsetting from plates. Very good. The author spent over a year in Constantinople as chaplain to the British embassy for the Ottoman Empire, from March 1794 to October 1795. He was already of some note as a writer, and this work "was well regarded in its time, [and] helped to awaken interest in the ancient manuscripts to be found there, and contributed to the debate on the location of ancient Troy" (DNB). Besides descriptions of the city, Dallaway travelled with British ambassador Linton to find the site of ancient Troy. The handsome plates show views of Turkey, a Turkish woman, and various ruins including the Tomb of Apollo, and the Plain of Troy. ESTC T67772. ABBEY 392. BLACKMER 441. ATABEY 308.

Washington, July 15, 1897.. [1]p. plus docketing leaf. Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Old folds, negligible soiling, else fine. An order signed by President William McKinley, authorizing the Secretary of State "to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to the envelope containing my reply to the letter of the Queen of Great Britain announcing the birth of a Princess." Partially printed, the document is completed in typescript and signed by McKinley. It is likely that the announcement was for Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897- 1965), Queen Victoria's great-granddaughter and daughter of King George V.

Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by D. Hall and W. Sellers, 1767. [36]pp. including in-text woodcut illustrations. 12mo. Printed self-wrappers, stitched. Additional stab holes in blank gutter. Contemporary ink manuscript notes in margins of two pages of text. Dampstain in upper margin. Scattered foxing. Overall very good. The second Poor Richard's almanac issued after Benjamin Franklin's involvement with the publication ended. In addition to the calendar, the present volume includes an article on the selection and cultivation of fruit trees, numerous health remedies, and bits of wisdom from Peter the Great and Semiramis. Woodcuts illustrating the different signs of the zodiac accompany each month of the almanac. The illustration, "The Anatomy of Man's Body, as govern'd by the Twelve Constellations," appears on page [5]. DRAKE 9913. EVANS 10765. ESTC W36925

New York: Published by Strong and Burdick (Vol. I), and Green and Spencer (Vol. II, 1848. Two volumes. Vol. I: 137,[1],iv pp.; lithographic additional title, frontispiece, and fifty plates, printed in colors and finished by hand. Vol. II: 192pp.; lithographic additional title, frontispiece, and forty-six plates, printed in colors and finished by hand. Quarto. Original pictorial gilt cloth, spines richly gilt in vine pattern, a.e.g. Boards lightly rubbed, corners worn and bumped, worn at spine ends. Scattered foxing, confined largely to the text but with a few fox marks on some plates, but with the plates generally clean and brightly colored. A very good set. The first two volumes of this four-volume work. The last two volumes are quite rare. Asa Strong, a physician, was one of the most popular natural history writers of his day. The qualities of each plant are given and its medicinal uses explained. Several of the plates were drawn by the noted illustrator, Edwin Whitefield, and others are by D.W.… Read More

Boston, 1792. Three volumes. viii,362,[ciii]; 493,[1]; 480,[8]pp., plus folding map bound in as frontispiece in first volume. Early 20th-century sheep and marbled boards, spines gilt, leather labels. Extremities lightly worn. Later ownership inscription on front pastedowns. Some offsetting to titlepage of first volume from map; map lightly foxed and with starting tear at inner margin. Minor soiling and foxing. Very good. Second edition of the first volume, first edition of the second and third volumes, as is often the case in this work. The first extensive history of New Hampshire, and "one of the most important eighteenth-century American histories," according to Streeter. The first two volumes trace the history of New Hampshire, while the third discusses the geography, natural history, society, laws, government, etc. The author was a determined antiquarian and founder of the first American historical association, the Massachusetts Historical Society. Tocqueville praised Belknap's history, saying,… Read More

London, 1843-1877.. 136 leaves. Illus. A few leaves foxed. Overall very good. Laid into a cloth clamshell case, leather label, with an original cloth cover of the periodical pasted on the front cover. An interesting collection of individual leaves extracted from THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, all pertaining to Canada, Alaska, and Greenland. The collection begins with stories about Toronto and a proposal for Sir John Ross' North Pole expedition. Other highlights include stories or mentions of mining in Greenland, the Red River exploring expedition, the lumber trade in British North America, Vancouver's Island, the Alaska territory, British Columbia, the British Arctic Expedition of 1875 led by Sir George Strong Nares, and much more. Includes a typed list summarizing the content of each leaf, prepared by a previous owner. A valuable collection of contemporary news about Canada, Alaska, and Greenland in the mid to late 19th century, with excellent engravings.

London, 1837. vii,152pp. Contemporary pebbled cloth, printed label. Some dampstaining to boards. Contemporary ownership inscription on first text leaf. Scattered light foxing. Very good. First English edition of this entertaining version of Crockett's adventures. Howes attributes this work to Richard Penn Smith. "Ingenious pseudo-autobiography, purportedly printed from the manuscript found with the baggage of a Mexican general slain at San Jacinto" - Howes. HOWES S654. GRAFF 3864. RAINES, p.57. SABIN 17566, 83778. STREETER TEXAS 1192.

London: W. Botham, for James Knapton, 1707.. [24],300 [i.e. 302],[18]pp. plus ten engraved plates and five folding engraved maps and charts. Contemporary paneled calf, rebacked with original gilt leather label preserved. Minor edge wear, corners worn. Two bookplates on front endpapers. Single small wormhole running through text, plates and maps, most noticeable as a small track in the index. Minor toning. Very good. First edition of this important contemporary account of an early circumnavigation of the globe. "It was Funnell, not Dampier, who really circumnavigated the globe on this voyage, as Dampier proceeded only as far as the South Seas. The purpose of the expedition was to harass the Spaniards and take plunder from vessels and towns in South America. Its failure was due to the differences that arose between them. Funnell arrived in England before Dampier and seized the opportunity to compose a relation of his voyage; a task for which he was poorly qualified. His narrative contained much that… Read More

[N.p., likely New York, Early 1939].. Panoramic photograph, 19¾ x 204 inches. Some chipping, creasing, minor staining, and occasional closed tears, with repaired tears to each vertical edge, and minor loss to right edge. Still, a good image, considering its size. An extraordinary and obscure seventeen-foot panoramic photograph highlighting the modernist architecture of the international zone of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The photograph presents a 360° view around the Lagoon of Nations, starting at the Belgian Pavilion at left, scanning across the statuary-filled fountains in Constitution Mall (with the Heinz 57 exhibit and the Trylon and Perisphere at the Theme Centre in the background), past the French Pavilion, the first Foreign Pavilion, across the Court of Peace (with the U.S. Government building in the deep background), the second Foreign Pavilion (with mounted lettering for Romania and a banner for Japan hanging on the front), and ending at the Czechoslovakian pavilion at far right. The… Read More

London: Engrav'd by Willm. Henry Toms, 1733 [but ca. 1735].. Engraved map by William Henry Toms on fifteen double-page and five single-page sheets, mounted on guards throughout, with the double- page key map by Toms, and the contents leaf tipped in as a fold-out from the rear free endpaper. Folio. Original half calf and marbled paper boards, raised bands. Boards with moderate wear and rubbing, loss to marbled paper in a few places, joints starting to separate but still strong, spine ends chipped. Bookplate and pencil notes on front pastedown (see below), light rumpling to endpapers. Minor worming at lower margin near gutter on the first few leaves (no text affected), one instance of slight staining, but overall very clean internally. Near fine. The Thomas W. Streeter copy of the first large-scale map of North America, and the first printed map to show the thirteen colonies, in original boards, complete with the separate key map and the contents leaf. Henry Popple produced this map under the… Read More

New-York: William Bradford, 1726.. [10],124[i.e. 128],121-252,261-319,[1, blank],20,[6]pp. (mispaginated, as issued). Woodcut arms of King George I on the titlepage. Folio. Contemporary calf, boards ruled and tooled in blind, raised bands. Wear and soiling to boards, a few spots of loss where leather was stamped, corners bumped, joints cracked (but binding is still strong), small wormhole to spine. Occasional foxing and tanning throughout. Bookplates of Henry F. DePuy and William Smith on front pastedowns (see below), typed note laid in, pencil inscriptions on front free endpaper and titlepage, occasional marginal annotations in a contemporary hand throughout. Very good. In a blue cloth chemise with blue half morocco and cloth slipcase, spine gilt with red morocco gilt label. The Henry F. DePuy copy of Bradford's important early printing of the New York Acts of Assembly, collecting all legislation passed between 1691 and 1725. Included are acts "for quieting and settling the Disorders that have… Read More

London: Printed: New-York: Reprinted for Berry, Rogers, and Berry; Thomas Greenleaf, 1792-1793.. 76; 87,[1]; [2],38pp. Contemporary calf, rebacked with spine gilt, portion of original leather label preserved. Boards scuffed, outside edges dented. Text tanned and moderately foxed. Contemporary ownership signature on front pastedown and p.5, occasional pencil annotations throughout. Good overall. A sammelband of three early American editions of works by Thomas Paine, which includes the two parts of RIGHTS OF MAN, with LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE ADDRESSERS..., which is considered the third part of RIGHTS OF MAN. The first part of RIGHTS OF MAN was first printed in the United States in 1791, and several editions followed in that year and in 1792; the second part first appeared in America in 1792, with a number of editions in that and the following year. This New York edition of Paine's LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE ADDRESSERS is of only two American editions of 1793, the other printed in Philadelphia. After… Read More