Search Results: Authors starting with D from William Reese Company

Lisbon: A.J.C. Da Cruz, 1837. viii,12pp. Small quarto. Dbd. Internally clean and fresh. A fine copy, untrimmed. A brief manual regarding the cultivation of the nopal plant for the purpose of cochineal cultivation. The cochineal is a small bug which lives on nopal plants and yields a superb dye which was much prized until the advent of modern dyestuffs. The author's work was originally intended for developing nopal plantations in the Canary Islands. In this pamphlet, Da Cruz e Gonçalves's instructions are published specifically for the development of the cochineal trade in Madeira. Not in OCLC

New-London: Printed and Sold by T. Green, [1786].. [24]pp. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, stitched. Foredge of first two leaves frayed with small tears into the border, some touching text. Some margins trimmed very close, without loss of text. Faint dampstain to gutter, somewhat stronger towards the end. Overall good. The 1787 edition of Connecticut mathematician and textbook author Nathan Daboll's series of Freebetter almanacs. While the verses of the first six months are fairly typical seasonal quatrains, July through December feature an ongoing poem against the excesses of contemporary fashion titled "Modern Dress. To the Ladies." The poem begins: "Since God, as we in holy writings find,/ has stamp'd his sacred image on mankind,/ Why do we strive to make that blessing less,/ By all the foolish frippery of dress?" Aside from the calendar verses, this almanac contains several short bits of moral or humorous verse and prose, a table showing the conversion rate of Spanish dollars over several… Read More

New-London: Printed and sold by Samuel Green, 1811.. 240pp. including tables and diagrams. 12mo. Contemporary speckled calf. Boards rubbed and worn, front hinge starting. Tanned, scattered staining, occasional edge chipping or marginal flaws mostly without loss of text. Lower right corner of p.55 torn away, with missing piece present and affixed with a pin, rear endpaper chewed and torn. Contemporary ownership inscriptions on titlepage, rear endpaper, and rear pastedown. A fair copy, but complete. First revised edition. Nathan Daboll's SCHOOLMASTER'S ASSISTANT, first appearing in 1800, was one of the first and most successful American arithmetics, quickly displacing its predecessors. Daboll, also known as the man behind the Connecticut and New England "Edmund Freebetter" almanacs, was a teacher of mathematics and astronomy as well as navigation. His mathematics textbook found success with extensive examples and the early introduction of money and currency calculations, and the 1800 edition was… Read More

New London: Printed and sold by T. Green, 1779. [24]pp., including an in-text illustration. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, stitched. Lower and outer margins of second through sixth leaves trimmed, touching manuscript marginalia but not text. Good. The Freebetter series of Connecticut and New- England almanacs began in 1772, and have been variously attributed to either Clark Elliott or Nathan Daboll. According to A.C. Bates, "a tradition...ascribes the authorship of the early numbers of Freebetter's almanac to Clark Elliott," and later ones, at least from 1776 on, to Daboll (THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, vol. 24, p.127). This almanac, in addition to the typical notices and calendars, contains a brief timeline of the history and governors of Connecticut and New Haven. There is also a two page article titled "On Keeping of Secrets" which extols the virtues of knowing when to do so using a story from ancient Rome, followed by brief descriptions of how the months of the year… Read More

New London: Printed and sold by T. Green, 1778. [24]pp., including an in-text illustration. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, stitched. Pages washed, without significant fading to text or manuscript notes. Trimmed very close to top, with minor loss to border and titles on some pages. Small hole to leaf B4, with minor loss of text on verso. Some foxing and soiling, but overall a clean copy. Good plus. One of the Freebetter series of Connecticut and New-England almanacs, generally attributed to mathematician and textbook author Nathan Daboll. In addition to the typical calendars and notices, this revolutionary-era almanac contains a page on sundials (identical to the one present in some Nehemiah Strong almanacs), the small Zodiac Man woodcut often used in Freebetter almanacs, a table for calculating interest at six percent, a series of humorous songs, poems, and anecdotes, and a surprisingly accurate estimate of "the whole Race of Mankind now on the Surface of the Globe", broken down geographically… Read More

New-London: Printed and sold by T. Green, [1784].. [24]pp. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, stitched. Slightly foxed, heavier to first few leaves. Foredge of second leaf heavily chipped, touching the border and edges of numbers on the calendar. Otherwise a very neat and clean copy. Very good. A scarce Confederation-period Freebetter almanac for Connecticut, generally attributed to mathematician and textbook author Nathan Daboll. Unlike most almanacs, this year Daboll elected to weave the verses preceding each calendar into a single cohesive, humorous story of an argumentative farmer and his contradictory wife. Their sorry tale concludes on the page following December: "Thus every year (true man and wife)/ Ensues the same domestic strife." Among the articles are also a cure to the common cold (linseed, licorice, raisins, brown sugar, vinegar, and rum), a recipe for artificial yeast, and instructions on how to poison rats. EVANS 18433. DRAKE 373. ESTC W10408.

New-London: Printed and Sold by T. Green & Son, 1790. [24]pp, including in-text illustration. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, stitched. Large horizontal tear in the center of first, third, and fifth leaves, the latter two of which are torn from edge to gutter, though not touching illustration and with little impact on legibility. Contemporary ownership inscription on final page. Overall good. The Freebetter series of Connecticut and New- England almanacs began in 1772, and are generally attributed to mathematician and textbook author Nathan Daboll. This almanac features several "humorous" pieces on the subject of women, including "A Receipt for making a bad Husband a good one" (cheerfulness, modesty, personal decency, and compliance are key, although the author notes he has "exhausted the resources of chymistry to discover a preparation that would make a bad wife a good one" without success), and a poem "To the Ladies" discouraging them from "dressing like boys." This year's almanac also includes… Read More

New-London: Printed and sold by T. Green, [1783].. [24]pp., including in-text illustration. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, later stitching with remnants of prior thread. Lightly foxed, faint dampstain to lower outside corner of gathering B. Overall very good. An early Confederation-period Connecticut almanac from mathematician and textbook author Nathan Daboll's "Freebetter" series. In addition to the typical calendars and notices (including a small woodcut of a projected eclipse), this almanac contains a series of stories and verses about various virtues, a brief paragraph about how to kill lice in cattle by soaking a bit of wool in oil, a census of the State of Connecticut (separating the numbers of male, female, white, and non-white inhabitants), and a dissection of the Old and New Testaments including word counts and other textual curiosities. What version of the Bible is being analyzed is not made explicit, though the author encourages anyone who disagrees with his calculations to "examine… Read More

New-London: Printed and Sold by T. Green, 1787. [24]pp. Small octavo. Gathered signatures, stitched. First and last pages lightly soiled, otherwise bright and almost entirely unmarked. Very good plus. A remarkably clean copy of a Confederation period almanac from mathematician and textbook author Nathan Daboll's Freebetter series. Contains a series of "Maxims and Observations," among other snippets of verse and prose, and an extended table of distances. EVANS 20313. DRAKE 421. ESTC W22675.

Norwich: Printed and Sold by John Trumbull, [1784].. [24]pp. 12mo. Gathered signatures, stitched. Edges worn with tears into text on the final two leaves. Unobtrusive stab hole through lower inside corner of all pages, widens towards the end and touches some text. Contemporary ownership signature on two leaves. Overall a quite clean copy. Very good. This Bickerstaff almanac is attributed to Benjamin West of Providence by Evans, but is more likely the work of Connecticut textbook author and mathematician Nathan Daboll, whose 1785 Freebetter almanac features identical calculations to this one. The usual astronomical notes and calendars are followed by a series of "Merry Jests," including a two- page story about a cobbler's wife and chimney sweep's devilish scheme to improve her husband's behavior. The last page also contains a brief advertisement for stationery and other titles to be sold by John Trumbull of Norwich. The contemporary manuscript signature of one Enoch Peirce, originally from… Read More

New London, [ 1843-1891].. Forty-nine complete individual issues, from 32pp. to 80pp. each. Mostly original printed self-wrappers, with a handful of issues bound in separately-printed wrappers, all stitched. Partial loss to one leaf in 1847 issue and penultimate leaf in 1879 issue, small area of loss to last leaf of 1891 issue. Various levels of rubbing, edge wear, staining, foxing, and toning. Overall, very good condition. A substantial, unbroken run spanning six decades of the Daboll family's THE NEW ENGLAND ALMANAC, AND FARMERS FRIEND. This collection of almanacs provides an important historical record of the agricultural and economic conditions in Connecticut in the latter half of the 19th century, with important information on astronomical and atmospheric conditions and a wealth of articles intended to help the farmer. Within these almanacs there is also a vast amount of information on the economic life of New London, evidenced by the numerous advertisements present throughout. This almanac… Read More

New London: Printed and sold at the Printing-Office [by Timothy Green], 1772. [24]pp., including woodcut illustration of an eclipse of the moon on titlepage. 12mo. Dbd. Titlepage and last page heavily soiled. Browned and soiled internally. A fair copy. A scarce late colonial Connecticut almanac attributed to Nathan Daboll. Almanacs attributed on the titlepage to Freebetter were published in New London between 1772 and 1792, but NAIP records only the 1772 almanac as compiled by Edmund Freebetter. In addition to the calendar year (with each month accompanied by a short poem) and predictions for the year's eclipses, this NEW-ENGLAND ALMANACK includes verses on "the journey of life" and "the ingredients of contentment," a list of distances of the principal towns on the continent from New London ("with the most noted houses of entertainment on the roads"), and short prose pieces concerning health, advice to youth, and the mental and personal qualifications of a husband. EVANS 12371. TRUMBULL 219. JOHNSON,… Read More

Paris: Susse Frères, 1839.. [4],79pp. plus six lithographed plates. Half title. Contemporary black and grey paper- covered boards, green label lettered in manuscript. Extremities a bit worn. Occasional mild foxing, with the contemporary ownership signature of Ed Hagenbach, presumably the noted Swiss physician and chemist. Very good. The rare first edition, first issue, second imprint (the first Susse Frères issue) of this landmark work in the invention of photography. The first issue is known in only three copies, so this is practically the earliest obtainable edition of the first account of the invention of Daguerre's process. The first issue of this work and the production of the first commercially- available apparatus had been entrusted to Giroux, Mdme. Daguerre's kinsman and Daguerre's partner. The text was clouded in secrecy and publication was dated August 18 to coincide with the unveiling of the first commercially-produced daguerreotype cameras. The entire supply sold out in the first few… Read More

Bismarck, N.D.: Daily Tribune, Printers and Binder, 1891. viii,201pp. Blue publisher's cloth, gilt and blind tooled, edges painted red. Corners bumped, text lightly tanned. Very good. Directory of representatives and committees for, and a printing of the rules of the second legislative Assembly of North Dakota after it it became a state in 1889. Also contains copies of important government documents such as the federal Enabling Act, which split the Dakota Territory into two potential states, and the State Constitution, as well as a record of the first votes for state and federal government offices. Rare, and not in OCLC.

[Deadwood, S.D, 1904. Broadside, 18 x 12 1/2 inches. Tanned and brittle. Moderate edge wear. Fair only, due to the friable paper. A broadside exposé which asserts that the election of E. MacDonald as mayor of Deadwood is a sham, and that the office is being controlled by one Nathan Franklin. Franklin, the scion of one of two influential Deadwood families, also operated the Franklin Hotel, one of the city's best-known landmarks. A scarce imprint from this Wild West town. Not on OCLC.

Watertown, S.D, 1901. Oblong octavo. Three-quarter leatherette and cloth, cover printed in gilt. Spine perished, replaced by cloth tape. Corners worn. Internally clean. Good. A photographic guide to two evidently flourishing South Dakota counties, depicting all manner of businesses and institutions, including hotels, banks, barber shops, clothing stores, doctors' offices, churches and farms, as well as residences of prominent citizens. A charming South Dakota historical record.

Pierre: Carter Publishing Co, 1893. 65pp. Modern half calf and marbled boards, gilt leather label. Light soiling to titlepage, embossed library stamp. Text lightly toned. Very good. An early South Dakota printing of the state constitution, and probably the first issued at the new state capitol. The constitution was first printed in 1889, the year it was adopted. Also contains a printing of the Enabling Act of 1889 which approved the division of Dakota into two states. Scarce.

[Chicago], 1911.. Folding color map, 24 x 34¾ inches. 12mo. original gilt-stamped cloth. Map detached, with minor separations at crossfolds. Very good. A large, handsome four-color map of South Dakota, showing counties, U.S. land offices, Indian reservations, and national forests. Rare.

[Washingto, 1886. 90pp. Modern buckram, spine gilt. Very good. Contains the debate in the U.S. House of Representatives over the admission of South Dakota into the Union, containing the arguments made for and against statehood. This report includes much in the way of statistics on South Dakota, its history, resources, government, etc. The territory gained statehood in 1889.

Aberdeen, S.D.: State Historical Society, 1902. 489pp. plus numerous illustrations and maps. Portrait frontis. Original blue cloth, gilt stamped spine. Stamp on front pastedown. Slightly rubbed. A good copy. With biographies of several South Dakota governors, a treatment of the Organic Act, and the official correspondence of the Leavenworth Expedition. Also, with an important article on military posts on the upper Missouri River