Various places and dates, as below. 1. From Jacob Dearbin, Parsonfield, (Maine) September 1, 1849. Approx. 8" x 7". Dearbin writes to Russell in 1849 that he will come with his team to pick up his shipment of boards as soon as his health is better and the roads are..... More
Boston: October 2, 1816. Folio, 1 page of manuscript on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium; previous folds; very good. This unfortunate loss of cargo occurred after the brig, with Captain Babson at the helm, left in March of 1816 for Cadiz, Spain, and was in August..... More
Burton, Carroll County: 1817-41. Four paper-covered notebooks, ranging in size from 6¼" x 4¼" to 8" x 6½", totaling approximately 182 pages; no cover on first notebook, pages tattered at many edges, especially the first and last leaves of the first two notebooks, paper toned, some water staining resulting in..... More
V.p. 1802-1833. A dozen or so items, over half of which seem inconsequental. Ezbon or Esbon Sanford (1765-1846) was born in Newport, worked in Washington County. He was a storekeeper, innkeeper, and cabinetmaker and is cited in various articles about Rhode Island furniture making. One receipt is from the "estate..... More
N.p. November 8, 1812 [copied after March 11, 1814]. Folio, previous folds, near fine. With integral address leaf attached. This copy of Seelye’s letter was found among the papers of U.S. Senator Elijah Boardman of Connecticut who served in the Senate 1821-1823. Boardman may have been handling a claim from..... More
Tiverton: March 25, 1772. Approx. 7½" x 8", previous folds, some browning; all else very good and legible. Benjamin Sheldon of Tiverton sent this petition to the town meeting asking that his land rights be extended. "Whereas yor petit. having, together with his son, purchased a Dwelling house standing on..... More
Providence: January 25, 1812. Bifolium (approx. 13½" x 7½"), in ink and legible; paper toned, expert paper repair to two sections where the paper separated at folds with no loss of text. Approx. 1000 words. An apparently unpublished essay on the "belles lettres," probably intended for inclusion the Providence Gazette..... More
North Providence: April 21, 1805. Bifolium (approx. 12½" x 7½"), in ink, addressed on the verso of the integral leaf to "John Carter, Esq. for Paul Allen, Esq., Providence." Very good. William Sheldon writes "in haste" a letter offering criticism of Paul Allen's writings on the arts and various Greek..... More
[Providence: ca. 1805-10]. Folio, 18 pages in ink (approx. 13" x 8"), docketed "Adelphiad" for the Providence Gazette on the verso of the last leaf; browned, edge curling, but legible. A lengthy essay by William Sheldon of North Providence who was a contributing writer to the Providence Gazette. In this..... More
Providence: August 23, 1791. Folio (approx. 12" x 7½"); wax seal intact, signed by Sheldon, Leverett Green, Wheeler Martin (Justice of the Peace), and William Thurber, as witnesses; previous folds, very good. William Sheldon, mariner, signed this legal document in 1791, turning over his rights to his Revolutionary War depreciation..... More
1872. Two letters (5" x 8"); light browning and foxing; otherwise very good. Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814-1890) was an American journalist and humorist. He was the original editor of The Carpet-Bag, a Boston humor magazine that attracted submissions from many prominent authors writing under pseudonyms. Shillaber was most well-known for..... More
Jeffersonville, IN: 1863. Manuscript ledger, 10.5" x 6", pp. [205]; removed from binding, spine perished, flyleaf loose and one ledger leaf loose, assorted contract drafts laid and tipped in. The first handful of pages are simply names and values, but entries quickly become more detailed, recording the nature of each..... More
Towcester, Northamptonshire, June 2: 1950? Small 8vo, 12 lines, approx. 80 words, to the wife of the writer, Roy Campbell: "I got back here from Rome last night to find your letter & Roy's book of poems. Will you tell him that his inscription has touched me more than I...... More
Reading: 1713. On recto and verso of a slip of paper approx. 4" x 6¼"; previous folds, very good. Constable Upton is directed by Town Clerk Francis Smith, on behalf of the Town Selectmen, to "warn" Nicholas Deuring and his wife out of town. "In His Majesties Name you are..... More
Oswego: May 26, 1837. Oblong pro-forma folio broadside (approx. 13½" x 17") accomplished in ink, outlining the sale of "those certain pieces or parcels of land described as blocks numbers seventy-two (72) and seventy-three (73) in the village of East Oswego ... and also block number thirty-six (36) ... reference..... More
[Boston?]: Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, n.d., [ca. 1920]. Proforma folio bifoliate document filled out presumably by Arthur Irving Fiske, born in Lexington, 1874. Here, he fills in the names of his Lexington and Watertown forebears, and details in 24 lines on the document and another..... More
Havana, New York, & Newport: 1821-25. All 4to (approx. 10" x 8", all bifoliate, docketed, and with previous folds; condition overall is very good to fine, but the last with a torn piece from the top of the letter barely nicking a few letters in the docket. Four commercial letters..... More
Kenilworth, Illinois and Westport Point, Mass. ca. 1916. Single12mo sheet with the letterhead of "The Autograph Collection of Howes Norris, Jr.," near fine. 4-line poem signed by the American poet, artist, and gardener. Produced for the avid autograph collector Norris, "Grandaddy of all the autograph fiends," who had this special..... More
Ca. 1896. Single sheet (approx. 21 x 14 cm.); text on recto only; fine. A clean manuscript copy of the author's 14-line poem "Captive," beginning "When in the dark of some despairing dream..." One of Spofford's more mature poetical works, first collected in "In Titian's Garden and Other Poems" (Boston..... More
Various places and dates, as below. Together, 5 autograph letters, all to an unnamed correspondent (or correspondents), totaling 10 pages, in ink, generally fine. Stanton (1805-1887) was married to the woman's rights advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton (a cousin of Gerrit Smith) who is referenced in the December 5, 1853 and..... More
New York: H. P. Kraus, 1975. First edition, review copy with a letter from the publisher slip laid; slim 8vo, pp. 71, [10]; 101 illustrations; near fine in original light gray cloth lettered in gilt on spine. Issued as Volume 5 in the publisher's Rare Books Monograph Series. More
Tokyo: 1951-1957. 19 typewritten and manuscript letters on onionskin, 60 pages total, of letters written by Sadako Sumitomo, the wife of Tsutomu Sumitomo, to Mrs. Clyde R. Joslyn, the mother of Captain C. A. Joslyn. Tsutomu Sumitomo was a firstborn son of the Sumitomo mega-conglomerate, and served in the management..... More
Philadelphia: Wm. Alexander & Co., printers, 1870. Pro-forma invoice approx. 9¾" x 7½", to the Hartford & New Haven Rail Road Co. for the shipment of "twenty four kegs ... wt. 2444 lbs" on board the steamboat Frank, for $1, signed on behalf of the company by "Burton." The bill..... More
1880s. Oblong sketchbook, 5.5" x 7.5", 18 watercolor landscapes (one double-page) and three pencil sketches of scenes around Inverary Castle, Kirkmichael, and a couple of images from Nova Scotia, Canada, with locations written on versos; contemporary half black morocco over green cloth, edges rubbed, very good with the original pencil..... More
December 9th, 1813. Bifolium, folio; some tears from previous folds affecting text, minor soiling. Document drawn in the hand of John Cleves Symmes, signed by or for Enos Potter, whereby Potter assigns a mortgage given to him by Symmes in 1801 for lands in the Northwest Territory to William Henry..... More
