Search Results: Authors starting with A from Walkabout Books

Boston: True and Greene, 1825. First Edition. 22 pp, complete with original wrappers, but with the stitching perished, so gatherings are loose. Pink staining to front wrapper, edgewear, otherwise very good. Scarce pamphlet criticizing monopolies in general and, more specifically, the factions who opposed a new (toll-free) bridge in Boston because it would be detrimental to the interests of those holding a charter (and collecting tolls) for the existing (Charles River) bridge. Moser's Daniel Webster bibliography attributes this eloquently written pamphlet to Massachusetts State Senator David Henshaw (1791-1852). We have not been able to confirm this, but it seems reasonable, given that he was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in Boston, belonged to a group of real estate investors who would benefit from population growth spurred by the proposed new bridge, and "represented the growing group of Bostonians who were shut out from the traditionally privileged class" (Haines and Sherwood, Supreme… Read More

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1863. Hardcover. Very good. Two volumes in the rarest binding state (without Burton's name or FRGS on the spines), but with a "second edition" slug on the title pages. This state was apparently unknown to Penzer and was probably the result of an attempt to boost sales by the publisher, as the text is unchanged. Plate of Julu house is the frontispiece to Volume I, and the map (now detached and laid in) is in Volume II. . Both volumes lightly bumped/rubbed, but clean and sound. Small bookplate of F.H. Spencer on each front pastedown. Much to his dismay, Burton's first consular posting landed him on a small, desolate island off the coast of West Africa. He took every opportunity to leave the place, exploring various parts of the mainland and making observations on cultural and traditions, health and sanitary conditions, and slavery, among other things. The account of his journeys into Sierra Leone and Nigeria to investigate stories of gold and gold mining is credited with… Read More

New York: Dick & Fitzgerald. Hardcover. Very good. Undated printing of this interesting work, first published in 1857 by Mabie & Co. and in 1858 by Dick & Fitzgerald. pp xvii, 146, [4] publisher's ads. In original green cloth binding with blind-stamped decoration, title in gilt on upper board. Corners rubbed, some soiling to rear board, occasional light foxing at margins. Binding has a little looseness to it, but remains sound. About very good. From the Introduction: "This work is the result of many years' experience of a practical distiller, manufacturer, and chemist in Bordeaux and New York. Its design is...to introduce an entirely new system of manufacturing and adulterating liquors, by which the use of poisons and poisonous compounds are avoided; and we wish it distinctly understood that we do not in any case use in our imitations any material not found by chemical analysis to exist in the original spirit we seek to imitate." And from a contemporary publisher's advertisement: "With this book in… Read More

Baltimore: Metropolitan Tract Society, 1844. Softcover. Very good. Sewn pamphlet, 7.5" x 4.5", 36 pp. Edges toned; very good. A scarce account of the nativist, anti-Catholic riots (often referred to as the "Philadelphia Prayer Riots," or the "Bible Riots") that broke out in Philadelphia in the spring of 1844, at a time when Irish Catholic immigration was increasing rapidly. Beginning as a Protestant protest of Catholic resistance to the reading of the Protestant King James Bible in public schools, unrest boiled into the streets on May 6, resulting in the destruction of two Catholic churches and several other buildings.  A second riot occurred in July, after a group of nativists learned that St. Philip Neri's Catholic Church in Southwark had armed itself for protection. "Fierce fighting broke out between the nativists and the soldiers sent to protect the church, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries....Civic leaders deplored the nativist attacks. Nationally, the riots helped fuel criticism of… Read More

Boston: Printed and Sold by James Loring, 1816. Hardcover. Good. Eighteenth American edition. 3.5? x 5.5?, 72 pp, in original paper-covered wooden boards with leather spine. Fair to good: about 1/3 of paper missing from front board, which is attached by one thread, old dampstaining, pages tanned. Although a very popular school text that was published in dozens of editions, this work is now fairly scarce in the marketplace.

Vienna, VA: Andreas Galleries, Inc. Softcover. Very Good. Exhibition catalogue. 8.5 x 8 inches, 90 pp, with many color illustrations. Undated, likely 1980s. Some handling wear, sticker with gallery contact information affixed to rear inside cover; else clean and sound. Includes work by A.V. Alfieri, Paul Caranicas, Carlo Coene, Primo Conti, Giuliano Crivelli, Salvatore Fiume, Lorenzo Fonda, Gigi Guadagnucci, Bruno Maskarel, and Vieri Vagnetti. "In the first dozen artists there is impressive talent - enduring talent. Complemented by the vision of the entrepreneurs who have founded George Andreas Galleries" (preface). Includes color illustrations with short biographies of each artist.

Mexico: Editiones Postalmex, 1964. Softcover. Very good. 43 pp, with bibliography, index. Pictorial stapled wrappers are lightly soiled, pages tanned. Text in Spanish.

Vienna: Joseph Noble de Kurzbek, 1788. Hardcover. Good. Folio, 37 cm (ca. 14.5 inches), pp. [14], 77 + 40 plates drawn by Kiblerand engraved by Kohl, Mark, Schülz, Ponheimer, Mansfeld, Adam, and Durmer. Contemporary leather boards, rebacked (probably in the nineteenth century). Spine panel now partially separated from rear board and missing a large chip at the head. Edges of boards heavily worn. Small brown stain at gutter of text pages only. Binding cracked between plates XII and XII. Plates with light scattered foxing but still attractive. A decent reference copy of a scarce work. Provenance: Bookplate of George Meare Tracy on the front free endpaper, bookplate of James Franck Bright and signature of Richard Bright on a front blank. James Bright (1832-1920) was a British historian and Master of University College, Oxford. Fellow and Dean of. Richard Bright (1789-1858), his father, was a noted physician who was appointed Physician Extraordinary to the Queen upon the accession of Queen Victoria.… Read More

Los Angeles: Glen Dawson, 1956. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Early California Travels Series XXXV. Printed by Saul & Lillian Marks at the Plantin Press, Los Angeles. 7.5" x 5", 33 pp, in cloth-backed patterened boards with mounted spine label. Mild wear to edges, binding sound, text clean. The text describes the California portion of Abel du Petit-Thouars' circumnavigation of the world, completed between 1836 and 1839 on behalf of the French Navy.

[Austin]: [Texas Heritage Foundation], 1955. Hardcover. Very good. December 1955 edition of Under Texas Skies. 72 pp with index and illustrations, bound in stiff cardstock wrappers with cloth tape spine. Signed by Crockett on the title page. Light insect niblling to front cover, all else sound and clean. Includes accounts of the fall of the Alamo and biographies of various participants.

London: Blackie & Son. Hardcover. Very good. Undated, ca. 1900. 11 1/8 x 8 5/8 inches, [24] pp, including 12 full-page color illustrations, in original cloth-backed pictorial boards with mounted cover illustration, illustrated endpapers. Edgewear and light soiling to boards, binding sound, text and illustrations clean and bright. One of Adams's earlier works, this book helped establish his career as an illustrator.

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919. Softcover. Very Good. 21 pp, in original wrappers with stapled binding. Some general handling wear including one short tear to front cover at spine; previous owner's book plate affixed to verso of cover and small name stamp on back cover.Contents clean.

London: Henry Greenwood & Co, 1918. Softcover. good. Third edition. 5" x7.25", pp 26, [7] ads, in original cardstock wrappers, wth later cloth tape on spine. Ownership stamps on cover and title page, a few penciled brackets in the margins. Instruction on a popular style of portrait photography that "removes from the picture the look of the ordinary photograph and gives it the appearance of work done by a draughtsman." Discussess background and lighting, doctoring negatives, selecting paper, developing, modifying prints, and finishing.This edition not found in OCLC.

Very good. 15 x 9 inches, printed on thin white cardboard. Large halftone photo of the Globe's carrier at head, with text in three columns underneath. Some light creasing, one spot of damage about an inch from the bottom, but very good overall. The left and right columns list the locations of fire alarm call boxes, while the center is taken up by a poem by local author Isabel S. Mason. The poem praises Hagerstown's peace and prosperity and lacks the typical friendly plea to customers on behalf of the carriers. The carriers in the photograph are, however, identified by name at the lower left. Although carriers' addresses were published as late as the 1950s, twentieth century examples are relatively scarce, as are examples with photographic illustrations. Not recorded in OCLC.

Capetown: Grand Lodge of Western South Africa, 1890. Softcover. Good. 4-3/4 x 7-1/4" sewn printed peach-colored wraps, pp. 38 plus an errata slip tipped in, the recto of the rear wrap with the membership form filled out in ink (see below). Covers moderately worn, with chips out at the sewing points on the spine, a few small chunks out of the rear wrap (no loss to text), and a horizontal tear across the rear wrap. As per the membership form, this was the property of Norman Hill Nesbitt, inducted into the "Forbearance" Lodge on June 8, 1892, as witnessed by the Lodge's Acting Secretary, one K.H.M(?) Stuart.

[Minneapolis]: Thompson Yards, Inc, 1916. Broadside, 20.75 x 9.75 inches. Old folding creases, a few short, closed tears at margins; very good. Minneapolis-based company Thompson Yards tells farmers that diversification in agriculture is the road to wealth -- urging them to buy silos on credit on the grounds that they can't go wrong if they raise cattle while growing alfalfa and a variety of grain crops. In the 1880s and 1890s, the Dakotas had been widely promoted by land agents as ideal for growing wheat, and many had settled there convinced their fortunes would be made by the crop. But Dakota farmers had suffered greatly when their wheat crops were devastated by disease ("black rust") or excessive heat. While this broadside may read as an advertiser's hype (which it is), it was not entirely wrong - in the first decades of the twentieth centuries Dakota farmers had success growing oats, corn, barley, rye, flax, sugar beets, sunflowers, potatoes, and other crops. With demand high… Read More

Salem, MA: Newcomb and Gauss, Printers, 1900. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 251 pp, with frontispiece and many sketches by the author (which are rather amateurish, but charming). Mild marginal dampstain to the first few pages, boards a bit scuffed, rubbed at corners and spine ends. The author joined the Lynn Mining Company and departed from Massachusetts in November 1897, traveling via the Schooner "Abbie M. Deering" to Bahia, Brazil and on to San Francisco. From there the party secured passage to Seattle and then St. Michael, eventually traveling up the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers to the Arctic Circle. Includes detailed and colorful description of the outfitting process and the vicissitudes of travel and prospecting. Wickersham 80; Tourville 4919; Graff 4712; Howes W556; Smith 11106, Arctic Bibliography 19606.

New York: The Grolier Club, 2006. Hardcover. New. Hardcover in slipcase. New copy, still in publisher's shrinkwrap. Extensively illustrated with color photographs of the 250 books included in the exhibition.

London: Printed for the Bibliographical Society by Blades, East & Blades, 1910. Softcover. Very Good. xxiii, 346 pp, in original wrappers. Handling wear with a few chips and tears, toning to spine and edges, tender hinges with a tape repair at tail of spine; text clean, some pages unopened.

Paris: Henri Gautier. Softcover. Good. Undatred, ca. 1897. 32 pp, in original illustrated wrappers.Chipping, tape repair to corners inside cover and first leaf, split at lower spine; contents clean. Text in French.