Search Results: History, Culture & Ideas from The Manhattan Rare Book Company

No Binding. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Reverend J. T. Freeman. Davis writes to Reverend Freeman thanking him for a proposed endowment to support the former President of the Confederacy. The letter provides a poignant glimpse of the former leader's post-war plight. He tells of his personal loss and hardship, but at the same time expresses his pride and gratitude for the enduring love and confidence of the Southern people. JEFFERSON DAVIS AFTER THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR: "At dawn on May 10, 1865, Davis was captured near Irwinville, Ga. He was imprisoned in a damp casemate at Fort Monroe, Va., and was put in leg-irons. Though outraged Northern public opinion brought about his removal to healthier quarters, Davis remained a prisoner under guard for two more years. Finally, in May 1867, he was released on bail and went to Canada to regain his shattered health. Several notable Northern lawyers offered their free services to defend him in a treason trial, which Davis longed for. The government,… Read More

Leydon: Peter Leffen & Francis Moyard, 1662. First edition. contemporary vellum. Very Good. FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST TEXTBOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. "René Descartes's Treatise of man (De homine, 1662; Traité de l'homme, 1664) was never intended to stand as a work on its own. It was one part of a much larger work, Le monde (The world). Although this was finished around 1633, Descartes did not publish it himself because he was alarmed by the Italian Inquisition's condemnation of Galileo Galilei that year. Some time after Descartes's death in 1650, his French manuscript, copies of which had circulated among his friends and correspondents, was edited and published.  The first version was a Latin translation (De homine) by Florentius Schuyl in 1662, the second the now better known 'original' French version (Traité de l'homme) edited by Descartes's self-appointed literary executor Claude Clerselier in 1664. In the seventeenth century the… Read More

London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson. 1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. FIRST EDITION of one of the most important political tracts of the 18th century. "The Enquiry was, and remained, the work by which [Godwin] was best known. It was one of the earliest, the clearest, and most absolute theoretical expositions of socialist and anarchist doctrine. Godwin believed that the motives of all human action were subject to reason, that reason taught benevolence, and that therefore all rational creatures could live in harmony without laws and institutions. Believing in the perfectibility of man, he thought that our virtues and vices may be traced to the incidents which make the history of our lives, and if these incidents could be divested of every improper tendency, vice would be extirpated from the world" (Printing and the Mind of Man, 234). London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1793. Quarto, early three-quarters vellum over marbled boards. Two volumes. Without half-titles. Internally clean, boards with… Read More

Paris: np. 1st Edition. No Binding. Fine. Striking vellum leaf with large, colorful miniature of the classic scene of Job on the dunghill. On recto: Two-part miniature featuring Job. In the center of the top image is Job, wearing only a loincloth, on a dunghill, with three men dressed in lavish robes on his left. In the background is a castle surrounded by greenery; in the distance, there are buildings on a hill, painted in shades of blue. The bottom image features the Devil pursuing Job. Golden ornate pillars border the two scenes. Top image measures 95 x 60 mm (approx. 3.7 x 2.4 inches); bottom image measures 20 x 60 mm (approx. 0.8 x 2.4 inches). Miniature (including border) measures 135 x 95 mm (approx. 5.3 x 2.4 inches) in its entirety. One illuminated three-line foliate initial (the letter "D") in burnished gold, blue, and green. The text is from Psalm 114. On verso: 22 lines of text written in Latin gothic script with brown ink on vellum. 9 single-line illuminated initials… Read More

London: Kegan Paul. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL CLOTH of Burton's second expedition through Midian (northwest Arabia). Although Burton failed to unearth the vast amounts of gold he believed were in the region, the expedition, sponsored by the Egyptian Khedive Ismail I, was a major geographical and archaeological success. Complete with folding map, 6 colored plates, 10 uncolored plates, numerous illustrations in the text, and 32-page catalogue at end of vol. 2. Map and plates in pristine condition. Provenance: the prestigious Signet Library, with handsome "Society of Writers to her Majesty's Signet" bookplate with coat-of-arms on front pastedown of each volume and "Signet Library" written in ink on front free endpaper of each volume. London: Kegan Paul, 1879. Octavo, original ochre cloth. Two volumes. Very mild darkening to spines and slight rubbing to spine ends. A beautiful copy, rare in this condition.

Ossining: np. 1st Edition. No Binding. Fine. Typescript Signed, an essay titled Music as an Aspect of the Human Spirit, written by the composer for Columbia University's bicentennial celebration. Signed on the last page. 11 1/4 pages, twelve 4to sheets. [Ossining?], circa 1954. An annotated typed draft of the same work is located in the Copland Papers at the Library of Congress.

np: np. 1st Edition. No Binding. Very Good. LARGE (8 x 10 in ) PHOTOGRAPH OF RAND, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED in ink in the bottom margin: "To Carl Davis - / -Cordially - Ayn Rand / 8-25-78". A fine portrait of Rand in her later years. A little ink variation on the inscription, due to the glossy paper, otherwise fine. Signed Rand photographs are extremely rare on the market.

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1965. 1st Edition. Soft cover. Fine. SCARCE PRESS RELEASE for the State Funeral of Winston Churchill, WITH FINE COPIES of "The Order of Service" and the "Ceremonial to be Observed". Churchill died on 24 January, 1965. "The funeral was six days later, the coffin having lain in state in Westminster Hall for the preceding three days. It was the first time since Gladstone in 1898 that any non-royal personage had been so treated" (Roy Jenkins). It has been said with only slight exaggeration that the whole word paid tribute to Churchill on January 30, 1965, for representatives from over 100 countries came to pay their respects, forming the largest gathering of dignitaries ever in Britain. Only the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 surpassed Churchill's funeral in the number of statesmen attending.

 The press release, with the strict note that it was "not for publication before 0001 hours… Read More

No Binding. Very Good. Typed letter, in Hebrew, signed "D. Ben-Gurion" as Minister of Defense on State of Israel letterhead, one page, 6" x 8", August 26, 1955. Translation of the Hebrew text: "I have no doubt that the problem of security disturbs your rest. True, the problem of security, at this time, is the principal problem of the State. Any person - just like an entire nation - can feel the danger waiting at his door. We are a small nation, and any boasting we do will only make a laughingstock out of us. But we are not powerless, not in the military sense, and certainly not in the moral and political sense. I, however, am calm and certain that, when it comes to the test, the Israel Defense Forces will be able to defend our peace and our sovereignty - the Israel Defense Forces is the army of the people, and of all its circles and factions..." File holes along right margin, otherwise fine condition. A dramatic letter with excellent content from the first Prime… Read More

Rome: Roma: G.Giacomo de Rossi, 1660. 5th edition or later. no binding. Fine. Beautiful 1660 engraving of the Baths of Caracalla, by Marco Sadeler. Exquisite original engraving from 1660 of Rome showing parts of the Baths of Caracalla.  Engraved by Marco Sadeler, part of the most famous European print-making family of the 17th Century. Plate #19 from: Vestigii dussa parte di dentro delle terme d'Antonino caracala. Roma: G.Giacomo de Rossi, 1660. A few stray spots, otherwise fine with exceptionally large margins. Engraving: 14.5 x 10.25 in.; image alone: 10.25 x 6 in.

Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company/Riverside Press. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Autograph edition, number 43 of 750 copies signed by Burroughs. Beautifully bound in publisher's morocco. Complete 23-volume set, profusely illustrated with engraved or photogravure frontispieces and other illustrations throughout on Japan paper. Note: A manuscript leaf is tipped in at the beginning of Volume I, but appears to be from Lady Rose's Daughter by Mrs. Humphrey Ward and not from John Burroughs' writings. Provenance: The George M. Pflaumer (Christie's 1997). Octavo, publisher's three-quarter morocco, gilt decorated spines with floral patterns, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt; text partially unopened. A few volumes with light rubbing to leather. An exquisite set.