Search Results: Authors starting with L from McBride Rare Books

[Los Angeles, Ca, 1933. Very good.. Thirty-five documents, five 8-x-10-inch photographs, one 6-x-8-inch photograph, and two newsletters. Varying levels of toning, some edge wear, but overall a well-preserved group. An informative collection of documents and photographs concerning the July 1933 labor strike of Camera Local Union 659 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). The Great Depression heralded in a tough time at all levels in Hollywood. In the Spring of 1933, significant industry-wide salary cuts were called for by producers, at the behest of Will Hayes. Total budgets for Hollywood films dropped to $50 million, down from $156 million just two years earlier. This new reality, with much less money to spread around, splintered organized labor among actors, writers, and crew people, resulting in realignment that would forever change Hollywood labor relations. As a result of the troubles of 1933, both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA)… Read More

New York: Labor Standard Publishing, 1877. Good.. 20pp. Disbound, lacking wrappers. Trimmed closely along fore-edge occasionally touching text, light occasional foxing. A scarce pamphlet on American labor practices in the late-1870s, and an early work by George E. McNeill, a millworker and noted labor leader. George E. McNeill (1836-1906) was born and raised then later died in Massachusetts after a long career as a staunch advocate for improving labor conditions. In Boston, he served as the president of the Great Eight Hour League, founded the Working Men's Institute, worked with labor newspapers in Massachusetts and New York, among his many activities in support of organized labor. The present work is one of McNeill's earliest publications, and devoted to the issue of a ten-hour work day for laborers in Massachusetts. McNeill provides a history of the effort for the ten-hour day, as well as detailed chapters with cogent arguments on the "reasons for a reduction of the hours of labor," its… Read More

1914. Very good.. [5]pp. typescript, signed in manuscript. Minor wear and soiling. Five copies of a letter addressed to "the Honorable Mayor and City Council of Miles City Mont.", each signed by a different labor union and embossed with its seal, encouraging the abolishment of the chain gang and a cessation of impressed labor. The letter reads: "Whereas, the police officials of the city of Miles City, Montana are now, and for some weeks past, have been arresting, and placing on the ‘Chain Gnag' [sic] men who are out of employment and are passing through or seeking employment in our city, and Whereas, a vast number of worthy men are out of employment in nearly every section of our country...some of whom are placed on the said ‘Chain Gang' for from 5 to 10 days, and Whereas the Constitution of the United States, grants a person the right to seek employment...Whereas there are a number of unemployed men residents of Miles City, who have families to support, and should be given this work at a fair… Read More

[Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Government Printing Office, March 10, 1932. Very good.. 2pp., printed on a single sheet. Light dust-soiling, minor creasing. A seemingly unrecorded broadsheet communicating a proclamation by President Herbert Hoover, calling for the formation of a three-person board to investigate and report to him on a dispute between a pair of railway companies and six labor unions, including the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Local Lodge No. 24 of the Colored Railway Trainmen. Hoover's proclamation reads, in part: "[A] dispute between the following carriers...and certain of their employees...now threatens substantially to interrupt interstate commerce within the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, to a degree such as to deprive that section of the country of essential transportation service. Now, therefore, I, Herbert Hoover...do hereby create a board to be composed of three persons not pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railway employees or any… Read More

[N.p., 1925. Very good plus.. Eight silver gelatin photographs, 5.25 x 2.75 inches, all with pencil annotations on verso. Mild edge wear. An intriguing collection of eight annotated vernacular photographs picturing construction and other work taking place at an unnamed western riverside fort. The manual labor for the project was performed by incarcerated men, who are sometimes pictured. The annotations on the verso of each image provide valuable information on the activities and settings in the pictures. The images themselves show the stockade adjacent to the river, the prisoners' dining hall, the front part of the bunkhouse and dining tent, an elevated view of the stockade showing sand and cement being hauled down a nearby road, three young men preparing dinner, "prisoners building a concrete wall," "prisoners working on the retaining walls," and "prisoners starting a wall in the side of a very bad slide." In the latter photograph, the compiler of the photographs reveals his own involvement in the… Read More

Gainesville, Fl: Daily Advocate Job Print, 1890. Very good.. [4]pp., on a single folded sheet. Mild soiling, minor toning, old folds. A seemingly unrecorded real estate promotional leaflet issued by Louis A. Barnes and Watson Porter, local land attorneys working in and around Gainesville, Florida. The pair is seeking prospective purchasers for "much valuable" homestead lands now available for settlement again after being abandoned "under the homestead or pre-emption laws." They also offer services for claims on "Spanish Grants," land warrants, soldiers' homestead rights, and more. Interestingly, one of the two lawyers here, Watson Porter previously served as a surgeon in the Third U.S. Colored Troops. In Florida, Porter and his wife Olivia established O.A. Porter's Addition to Gainesville, selling lots exclusively to African-American people who did not have ready access to land or financing; the neighborhood survives today in Gainesville as Porters Quarters. Porter also served as the Principal of… Read More

Decorah, Ia, 1855. Very good.. Handbill, 9.75 x 7.75 inches, printed on ruled paper. Old folds, minor edge wear, a few creases. A seemingly-unrecorded promotional handbill, handsomely printed on the northeastern Iowa frontier, touting real estate services to emigrants following the removal of the Ho-Chunk peoples to Minnesota. The company would later become the First National Bank of Decorah. A sampling of the text is as follows: "The immense emigration, the rapid rise of Real Estate, and the intimate acquaintance with the Country, of one of the Partners of our firm, enable us to make investments that are both safe and profitable, either in Government Lands or second hand Real Estate, in the vicinity of new towns, which are constantly springing up and cannot fail to pay largely on the investment.

McAlester, Ok: McAlester Real Estate Exchange, 1910. Very good plus.. Three folded maps, one measuring approximately 11 x 14 inches and two measuring 13.75 x 8.5 inches, plus one 3.5 x 5.5 photograph. Light toning; a bit of minor edge wear. A trio of ephemeral promotional maps from the McAlester Real Estate Exchange, offering two plots of 156 acres each for sale in central Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. The first map delineates the plat of the entire southeastern Oklahoma county, with towns, rivers, and railroads added, and is annotated to point out the location of the two properties. The additional two maps each delineate a close-up of the specific township section, with the land in question shaded in yellow and pink, and bear captions recommending the best use for the land. The first map depicts a plot located eight miles southeast of the town of Standley, with, "Good grazing and timber land covered with blue stem grass and good commercial pine and oak timber; good orchard, vineyard, and berry land,… Read More

Orange, Tx: Rein Litho, 1901. About very good.. 49pp., plus frontispiece map. Original printed wrappers, stitched. Light wear and chipping at wrapper edges, with two tape repairs along top edge. Even toning and light dust soiling. Scattered, contemporary ink stamps; contemporary manuscript annotation on frontispiece map. Rare printed abstract of title for Houston's Empire Addition, bounded roughly by San Jacinto, Alabama, Cleburne, and Crawford Streets, southwest of Downtown in what is now the Midtown area of the megalopolis. The text prints all legal documents relating to ownership of the land and its sale or transfer from 1893 to 1901, and the work also contains a survey map of the area, which measures approximately sixteen square blocks. There is an ink notation on the map, "Partly in Smith & Holman Svys," and the stamps of the contemporary Harris County Abstract Co. to front and rear wrappers as well as on the back of the map. A valuable work on the growth of Houston in the early 20th century as… Read More

Dallas, 1885. Very good.. Broadside, 18.5 x 8.25 inches. Printed header and map with typed text. Previously folded, with a few short separations and minor losses along old folds. Light tanning. Scarce broadside promotional for property in Presidio County, Texas, offered by land agent J.S. Daugherty in Dallas. Daugherty came to Texas from Kentucky in 1872 and opened his real estate office in 1873. He was also involved in several other ventures -- he laid out the town of Eastland, Texas; her supplied grain to Texas military posts; promoted the excavation of a deep water harbor in Galveston; and more. In addition to information on Daugherty's offices and services, the broadside prints a map showing several blocks and forty-one smaller sections of land available in the West Texas county organized in 1875, which at the time comprised nearly all of the Big Bend. The area in question actually now lies in Brewster County, which was separated from Presidio in 1887. Below the map, a lengthy typed text… Read More

London, 1845. Very good.. Small broadside, 8 x 10.5 inches. Minor discoloration and wear at edges. Scarce stock certificate that conferred title to land in the small Gulf Coast town of Trespalacios, Texas, offered for sale to Londoners at the very end of Texas' period as an independent republic. The certificate granted the holder a small lot, 2500 square feet (25 x 100 feet), from a block of thirty-two and enjoined him or her to improve the block within five years of its purchase. The land seems to have been offered directly by the town itself through a land office maintained on Leadenhall Street in the City of London, with its interests registered with and approved by the "General Texan Consulate," that is, the Texas Legation that was located above a liquor store in St. James's. The dates on this broadside are interesting, as it seems to place its printing between the annexation of Texas by the United States in December 1845 and the official transfer of power in February 1846. The town, also known… Read More

[San Antonio: Martin & Co, 1890. Very good.. Small broadsheet, approximately 8.5 x 6 inches. Printed on pink paper. Two small, marginal perforation. Light dust soiling. A busy broadsheet flyer with numerous offers of Texas lands from San Antonio agents Martin & Co. Among the advertised deals are over 500,000 acres of farming and ranch land around Waco, nearly 200,000 acres in far West Texas mining country, a 10,000 acre dairy farm in Karnes City, a 3,000,000 acre ranch on the Fort Worth & Denver Railway line (the XIT?), and 5000 lots in San Antonio itself. "Southern lands. Safer than stocks and more profitable than bonds. Cheapest property in America and certain to rise in value. Get Rich. Gain Health. Come South.

Electra, Tx: R.S. Allen, 1908. Good plus.. Letter sheet, 11 x 8.5 inches. Previously folded, with one short separation along old fold from edge. Small portion of one corner with minor loss, repaired with tissue and not affecting text. Contemporary manuscript pencil notes. Light toning and dust soiling. Scarce promotional and pictorial letter sheet that promotes land in the Waggoner Colony, a large section of the Waggoner Ranch between the town of Electra and the Red River that was sold off during the early 1900s. "The Waggoner (Three D) Ranch had its beginnings in the early 1850s when Daniel Waggoner and a fifteen-year-old black slave trailed 242 longhorn cattle and six horses into Wise County.... Between 1889 and 1903 the ranch came to cover a block running thirty miles east and west and twenty-five miles north and south, including more than a million acres. It extended into Foard, Knox, Baylor, and Archer counties but centered chiefly in Wilbarger and Wichita counties.... In 1903 the China Creek… Read More

[Lubbock, Tx., 1920. About very good.. Blue line map, 10.75 x 16.75 inches. Previously folded; light wear at edges and along old folds. Some contemporary pencil annotations to map and scattered scratch arithmetic on blank verso. A fascinating line map reproduced from manuscript, showing the subdivision of a portion of the Lazy S Ranch as it was being broken up for sale. The Lazy S was established by Dallas banking magnate Christopher Columbus Slaughter in 1898 in what would become Cochran County, west of Lubbock on the border with New Mexico, and at its zenith comprised nearly 250,000 acres. After his death in 1921, the farm was divided between his five sons and four daughters and began to be sold off or leased for oil rights by its inheritors. This map shows the large section, almost 28,000 acres, inherited by the second daughter, Dela Slaughter Wright, in the southeastern quadrant of the county. The land is divided into equal square sections, with larger portions shaded in several different… Read More

[California, 1947. Overall, very good.. 21pp. typescript, together with maquette illustrated with eighteen photographs. Folio. Typescript stapled, minor soiling and toning. Maquette is large folio, original pictorial printed boards. Photographs pasted in, some loose. Light chipping and wear. A large maquette with original typescript designed as a book proposal for Will Lane's work on the activities of the Seventh Air Force during World War II. The work sought "to narrate the complete circle of events that started with the Pearl Harbor attack...and ended only with the unconditional surrender of the Japanese." Formed in October 1940 as the Hawaiian Air Force, the Seventh was stationed at Fort Shafter and charged with protecting the Hawaiian Islands. On February 5, 1942, the Hawaiian Air Force was re-equipped and officially became the Seventh Air Force in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The unit was active for four years of operations across the Pacific, including the Battle of Midway and the… Read More

[Paris, 1809. Very good.. [12]pp. Small folio; loose sheets. Light foxing and toning. Accomplished in multiple, mostly legible hands. A very interesting French legal manuscript, bearing details of an 1809 dispute over the estate of Joseph John Miller, an American businessman from Philadelphia living in Paris until his death in 1806. The extent of Miller's business in Paris is opaque, but it seems at least to have involved the production and shipment of salt peter, which is mentioned here. His business must also have been extensive, since the amount being sought by his creditors came to "Cent vingt-cinq mille neuf cent cinquante quatre francs soicante-six centimes, égale à celle de vingt-trois mille six cent seize piastres et demie, à raison de cinq francs trente trois centimes [un tier?] par piastre, suivant le court établie par la convention pour la cession de la Lousiane." The issue was significant enough that it required the involvement of John Armstrong, the American Minister to France… Read More

Mexico City: Imprenta del Aguila, 1840. Very good plus.. [12]pp. Small quarto. Modern red cloth, front board gilt lettered. Faint dampstaining at lower corners, otherwise quite clean and fresh internally. A scarce decree that reorganized the infantry and cavalry of the Mexican Army following the vicissitudes of the late 1830s. During this period Mexico lost Texas, rebuffed the French occupation of Veracruz, faced independence movements from the southern states of Yucatan and Chiapas, and put down two military rebellions against Santa Anna after his return from exile. The present decree follows an 1839 order that called for the formation of nine new regiments of infantry and six of cavalry. Only three infantry units and four cavalry units could be raised, and this order positioned them in states across central Mexico, makes provisions for their organization and command structure, and also includes redeployments of existing units to address the threats of ongoing unrest. OCLC locates four copies is… Read More

Mexico City, 1825. Still very good.. Two volumes in one. [2],xxvi,221,xi,[2]; [2],xviii,190,xviii,iii pp. Contemporary quarter calf and paper boards, spine gilt. Light rubbing and a pair of small perforations to spine leather. Edges worn; corners bumped. Light tanning, scattered foxing. A handsome copy of an early Mexican imprint that Lathrop Harper described succinctly as the "First edition of the first decrees of the first independent Mexican Congress." This collection of decrees, issued for the first and second sessions of the Mexican Congress established after the promulgation of independence in 1821, contains a wealth of information relevant to the founding of the country. These include the act relating to the "coronation of D. Agustín de Iturbide, the hereditary successor to the throne," formalizing that "the acts of his government are declared invalid...." Of particular interest are two decrees directly relating to Anglo-American settlement in Texas. The first of these, dated April 11,… Read More

Mexico City: Imprenta de la Testamentaria de Ontiveros, 1828. Very good plus.. 4pp. Folio. Untrimmed. Scattered, very faint foxing and light dust soiling. Scarce printing of an early independent Mexican judicial opinion that the rights of inheritance and succession do not apply to aliens and foreign residents, particularly those of an enemy country. The judgment was principally intended to drive out Spanish citizens who still held monetary claims and land grants in Mexico, but also would have been threatening to many Texas colonists. While those who purchased land through the official colonization schemes automatically became Mexican citizens, the claims of the numerous immigrants who did not were put at greater risk by this finding. We locate only three copies, at Baylor, SMU, and the National Library of Spain.

[Allende, Mx, 1831. About very good.. [40]pp. Mixed folio and quarto sheets, haphazardly stitched. Light wear and dampstaining at edges; even tanning and light foxing throughout. Accomplished in several legible secretarial hands. A fascinating manuscript log of municipal bureaucracy during the early 1830s in the small Mexican village of Allende, southwest of the Rio Grande between present-day Muzquiz and the border city of Piedras Negras. The entries here comprise drafts or transcriptions of acknowledgements and responses to orders from the state government of Coahuila y Tejas from 1830 to mid-1831. In all, the log records the reception of nearly seventy decrees, orders, and circulars on a wide variety of subjects as arrived at the administrative center for this isolated municipality in the northern reaches of the state (Piedras Negras, now the largest city in the area, was not founded until 1850). A good number of the orders are related to local economics, taxes, and trade, but many also deal with… Read More