Search Results: Authors starting with B from Kurt A. Sanftleben, LLC

Pensacola, Florida, 1774. Disbound. Very good. This disbound 12-page section of a letter copy book from the 16th Regiment of Foot, stationed in Pensacola, West Florida, contains eight letters and one document on eight pages; four pages are blank. The letters begin on 12 August 1774 and end on 22 September 1774. In nice shape. The letters were sent between Major Alexander Dickson, "the Commander of the Troops in West Florida," i.e.the 16th Regiment of Foot, and James Barbut, the Commissary General of Stores and War Provisions in Pensacola. The single document is a list of the spoiled provision verified by the signatures of three officers assigned to the 16th Regiment. The spoiled food consisted of "128 Barrels flour / 2 Teirces Bread / 27 Teirces Rice / 12 Barrels Pork / [and] 1 Barrel Pease". In the initial letter written on 10 August, Dickson instructs Barbut, by order of Major General Haldemand, to sell at public auction "All the provisions condemned on the 10th Instant [10 August]" and… Read More

Glasgow, Missouri to Rodgersville, Kentucky, 1864. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This four-page letter from "Mollie" in Glasgow, Missouri, to Dick [Richard P.] Baston in Rodgersville, Kentucky is dated January 25th, franked with a 3-cent Washington stamp (Scott #65), and postmarked on the 27th. The letter is in nice shape with a rough upper edge, and the envelope was used to pencil some mathematical computations. A transcript will be included. Mollie's letter reads in part: "It has been sometime since I received your kind letter. . .. I was taken sick and do not sit up all day yet though I am improving very fast now. I have kept your letter in my pocket ever since I received it and read it I don't know how often. . .. I laughed . . . where you spoke of Lizzy the last time I seen her she was very friendly I asked here when she had hird from you she said not since you left. But was talking a great deal about you. Is it posible that you have not writen to your darling? What ails you. I suppose you… Read More

Amsterdam, New York, 1869. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This five-page undated letter was sent by Miss Emily Borchert, a teacher at the Amsterdam Academy in Amsterdam, New York to a friend in Bath, England. It is enclosed in its original mailing envelope along with a 2¼" square illustration of the school clipped from a business envelope. The envelope is franked with a blue-green 12-cent stamp (Scott #117, cat val $450) was used to pay the newly established transatlantic rate established by the US-North German Union Convention of 1867. Dates of its New York Foreign Mail postmark and its London receipt handstamp indicate that it was carried on the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaf (Hamburg-America Line or HAPAG) ship, Allemania to Plymouth. Opened for display in a postal history exhibit with a 1 ¼" closed tear but still in nice shape. Emily's letter reads In part: "I left dear old England and . . . you must think me either lost or too happy to think of old friends, but,… Read More

Greenpoint (Brooklyn), New York, 1861.
This 3-page letter and endorsement measure approximately 8" x 9". It was carried by courier between Rowland's Continental Iron Works and the Providence Tool and Armory Company, which employed both Borden and Andrews, as there are no postal markings. The letter has two horizontal folds and the cover is docketed, "W. Borden Order. - Oct. 22d/61." It is in nice shape with some small splits beginning at the folds.
The Brooklyn shipyard, especially Rowland's Continental Iron Works, was a bustling place when this order was placed. The U.S. Navy had recently learned that the Confederacy was soon to launch the CSS Virginia (better known as the Merrimac) and, as a result, contracted for the rapid construction of three ironclad prototypes with three different firms. Maxon, Fish and Company began what was to become the USS Galena, Merrick & Sons designed what would become the USS New Ironsides, and Battery Associates led the conglomerate that would build the USS Monitor.… Read More

Mainz, Germany: Peter Shoeffer, 1492. Disbound. Very good. In 1492, a year before the famous Nuremburg Chronicle, the rarest of the early European "world" histories was published, the Chronicles of Saxony. Its author was a goldsmith, Konrad Botho (Conrad Bote), and it was printed in Mainz, the last work of the famous Peter Shoeffer, who had learned the craft as an apprentice with Johannes Gutenberg. Although the Cronecken begins with the creation of the world and includes a section about Noah's Ark, the work focuses on the history of Saxony and is written in low middle German. It includes illustrations of important regional cities and portraits of ruling families along with their armorial bearings. The book's two unknown woodcut illustrators are referred to as Masters H and HR. The vibrant hand-colored illustration featured on this leaf (7½" x 10½") shows the union of the house of Brunswick-Göttingen with that of Jülich-Berg through the marriage of Duke Otto I and Margareta, the daughter… Read More

U.S. Army Rhodes General Convalescent Hospital at Utica, New York, 1945.
This large 12" x 14" album contains 38 pages filled with text and photographs. Ten pages contain Bourgeois's densely filled, pencil-written memoir-journal describing in detail his combat and prisoner experience Europe during World War Two. Three pages contain military-related sketches, one a tipped-in drawing of a comrade lying dead on the ground. The remaining pages contain mostly pre and post-war photographs. Two of the photographs show the same image, Bourgeois lying nearly naked in a hospital bed probably taken soon after his liberation. There is also a newspaper clipping, probably saved by his parents, reporting that he was missing in action. The album is soiled and edge-worn. The leaves are brittle and beginning to crumble at the margins. The text is faint but legible. Most of the photographs are in nice shape; one of the hospital photographs, which is glued inside the front cover is badly worn.
This is a compelling World… Read More

This one-page stampless folded letter measures approximately 16" x 9.75". It was sent by John Moorhead in New York City, to Captain Brewerson, an engineer stationed at West Point. The letter bears a manuscript annotation "Post Paid," a red "Paid" handstamp, and an indistinct circular "5 cts" circular New York postmark also in red. There is a small circular hole, not affecting any text, created by the wax seal when the letter was opened. In nice shape. In this letter, John Moorhead attempts to gather information for his son about attending West Point: "My son a Volunteer in Colonel Burnett's Regiment [the Second Regiment of New York Volunteers} who was in all the battles from Vera Cruz to Cera Gordo [Cerro Gordo], where he was slightly wounded, is anxious to get into the West Point Academy. Would you have the kindness to send me . . . the Rules and Regulations of that Institution. . .. Pardon a little Vanity, Colonel Burnett and Count de Bongar (Gustave de Bongar) informed me that my son was "brave"… Read More

Retsoff, New York to Springboro, Pennsylvania, 1888. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This grouping contains a March 10th, 1888, bill of lading from the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad Company and a shipping notice from Foster & Brown, agents of the "Retsof Mining Co., Miners and Shippers of Salt," dated March 14, 1888 along with the two-cent green stamped envelope used for mailing. All in nice shape. Until the late 1800s, the need for salt in New York was met primarily by using brine springs near Syracuse. However, in 1882, an amateur geologist named Carroll Cocher predicted that there were vast underground deposits of salt in Livingston County. He obtained funding from several New York City investors and dug test wells that discovered a massive vein of salt 1,000 feet below the surface. The principal investor, William Foster, became president of the mining company which he named Retsof, i.e. Foster spelled backwards. Foster and the Retsof Mining Company built a company village, Retsof, near… Read More

Washington, DC, 1886. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This one-page letter to G. S. Faucher Esq. of West Winstead, Connecticut is written on letterhead that reads "United States National Museum / Under Direction Of / The Smithsonian Institution." It is dated October 28, 1886 and signed by G. Brown Goode as the Smithsonian's Assistant Director. The letter is enclosed in an official United State National Museum - Smithsonian Institution penalty envelope and has been canceled with a duplex Washington, DC postmark dated November 1, 1886. The envelope also bears a double-circle Smithsonian postmark-like handstamp also dated November 1. In nice shape with a little minor toning to the envelope. Goode's letter reads in part: "I have cancelled the duplicate order for the report of the Smithsonian Institution of 1884. I also learn that in addition to the copy of the report for 1884, sent to you by Prof Baird, copies of the reports for 1875, 1881 and 1882 have now been forwarded to you. Trusting that you… Read More

Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1802. Unbound. Very good. This partially printed shipping document dated "June 8th, 1802" measures 8" x 6¼". It is illustrated with a large capital 'S' that depicts an oceangoing ship in the background. In it, Moses Brown of Newburyport, commits to transporting rum and sugar to Amsterdam via the Brig Respect, captained by John March. In nice shape with some toning and storage folds. Of note, the document is franked with a colorless, embossed, two-part 20-cent revenue stamp (Scott # RM261a) from the Second Federal Revenue Issue, which was in use from 1 March 1801 until 30 June 1802. The first part of the stamp shows an eagle and shield and is denominated 10 cents. The second part, known as a counter stamp, shows a wreath with 13 stars; it is labeled "COM. REV. C.S." (Commissioner of Revenue Counter Stamp) and bears the denomination "X CENTS". Both parts appear along the left margin, under the S/Ship illustration. The document reads in part: "Shipped, in good order,… Read More

Various locations, 1941.
This archive consists of 17 loose album pages with about 75 mounted photographs, 35 loose photographs, a Marines' Hymn postcard, Captain Bryant's ticket for a Lahainaluna School luau, and a booklet, North China Pictorial U.S.M.C., that chronicles the III Amphibious Corps' occupation duty.
The loose photographs were removed from a soiled envelope marked "Capt W. Bryant". The photos range in size from 2" x 3" to 11" x 4.25". About half of the loose photos have "It is absolutely forbidden to reprint, reproduce or publish this photograph without the express permission of the Public Relations Dept. U.S. Marine Corps" on the reverse.
About a dozen of the loose photographs are scenes of Bryant's unit while in Hawaii, and the remainder show Marines in a jungle combat zone, presumably the Marshall Islands.
One identifies Lieutenant Damrow who online records show as being wounded while assigned to Company A, 10th Amphtrac (Amphibious Tractor) Battalion, 4th Marine Division during the… Read More

New York: Books Inc, 1934. 1st Printing. Faux leather. Very good. Approximately 4.25" x 6.25". Complete with 93 pages including the index. Original red faux leather cover. Sound binding, clean pages, almost no wear. Doesn't appear to have ever been read. Over 250 drink recipes including 14 classics that Burke identifies as the "World's Most Famous Cocktails". Includes a three-page essay on "The Etiquette of Drinking" (a surprisingly cautionary warning about alcohol); two pages devoted to wines, liqueurs, pairings, and temperatures; and an eight-page selection on "Food Bits for the Cocktail Hour" that include recipes for assorted canapes, lobster dishes, rarebits, and sandwiches. Seldom found in condition this nice, especially first printings.

New York: Limited Editions Club, 1952. Hard Cover. Near Fine. Szyk, Arthur. 4to. Four-volume set (two volumes of text/illustrations plus two volumes of notes), Limited edition, #309 of 1500. 60 multi-color illustrations. Black linen covers with gilt decoration. Housed in two black slipcases. Includes the original advertisement and newsletter. Sound bindings with intact hinges. Slight foxing to edges of the text blocks on two volumes. Almost no wear to the covers; the gold decorations are bright, fresh, and unrubbed which is quite the exception for this set. The slip cases have some minor wear at their corners. Burton's definitive translation of 65 of the 1001 stories told by Scheherazade the Sultaness to divert Shahryar the Sultan from executing her as he had previously done to hundreds of his other wives. Coupled with the marvelous illustrations of Arthur Szyk.

"Wish you would send me $5 or $10 . . . as my old 30-30 is Broke and I want to get it fixed . . . as there is a cooger hanging around. . .."
Elkhorn, Oregon (now a dead post office), 1920.
This lot of consists multiple items:
One canceled check from the Silver King Mining Company,
One application and contract to purchase Silber King Mining Company stock,
Two Silver King Mining Company employment agreements accepting shares of capital stock in lieu of wages,
Two letters on Silver King Mining Company letterhead regarding "grub" needed at the mine,
One note on plain paper enclosed in a Silver King Mining Company envelope, and
One file copy of a letter regarding the transfer of a stock certificate. The items are in nice shape.
Two of the covers are postmarked with Doane Type 2, No. 1, "railroad track" cancels. Doane Cancels were the Post Office Department's first attempt to improve postmark legibility by issuing rubber handstamps. The name honors Edith R. Doane a Postal Historian who became interested in… Read More