Search Results: Authors starting with V from William Reese Company

Pari, 1840. 246pp. plus four color plates including frontispiece, and folding colored map. Original printed wrappers bound into later half cloth and marbled boards, gilt leather label. Corners worn, paper library labels on spine and front cover. Front wrapper torn at top corner, reinforced with later paper. Contemporary ownership inscription on fly leaf. Library ink stamp on titlepage and several leaves in margin, not affecting text. Titlepage and plates and facing pages lightly foxed. Good. Describes the Indians of North America, highlighted by four handsome color portraits of Indians, reduced versions of McKenney and Hall portraits. The folding color map illustrates the location of tribes throughout the continent, including the Eskimo, Algonquin, Iroquois, Cherokee, Choctaw, Blackfeet, Sioux, and Pawnee. HOWES V7. SABIN 98293. FIELD 1592.

Mexico, 1936. 315pp. Printed wrappers. Faint foxing to prelims and terminals blanks, else fine. A detailed biographical account of Santa Anna's career, focusing largely on the conflict between Texas and Mexico.

Santiago de Chil, 1885. vi,289pp. Original blue cloth, stamped in blind. Some dampstaining to binding, slightly affecting first few leaves. Ownership signature on titlepage. Else quite good. Collection of essays on Chilean culture, manners and customs. Not in Sabin.

Paris: Chez Musier, Fils, & Fournier, 1768.. 8,316,[3]pp. Half title. 12mo. Modern calf, tooled in gilt, spine gilt, gilt leather label. Light foxing. Very good. A rare account by the commander of the 1720 French scientific expedition to Louisiana, the French West Indies, and the Gulf of Mexico. Vallette Laudun led the first detailed survey made of Louisiana by the French government, three years after the founding of New Orleans and at the height of enthusiasm over John Law's Mississippi Company. "Vallette was the commander of the TOULOUSE, which sailed from Toulon in March, 1720, and reached Dauphin Island, on Mobile Bay, early in July" - Clark. The text consists of 132 letters to an unnamed French lady, which collectively provide a vivid picture of Vallette Laudun's voyage, the French dominions in Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley, and the things Vallette Laudun saw there. The same voyage is described in Laval's sumptuous work of 1728. Not in Servies but should be, as the author led the survey… Read More

Mexico, 1935. xxxi,244,[5]pp. plus facsimiles. Folio. Original stiff printed wrappers. Some minor chipping to edges. Else very good. One of 200 copies on white cameo plate paper. Important reference for 16th-century Mexican imprints

Boston & New Yor: Houghton, Mifflin and Compan, 1893. vi,[3],274pp. including seven wood engravings, plus seven plates. Original decorative cloth, stamped in black and terra cotta. Spine darkened. Dampstain in upper inner margin throughout, affecting a few characters of text in front leaves, else very good. Only edition of Van Brunt's only book - a work of importance, as he was the leading architectural critic writing in late 19th- century America. Henry Hope Reed has stated that Van Brunt was "way and ahead our greatest writer on architecture" (Preservation News, January 1968). With six halftone plates from photographs of the Château of Blois and the doorway of St. Tropheme at Arles. HITCHCOCK 1288.

Battle Creek, Mi, 1859. 320pp. Original cloth. Cloth a bit darkened, spine ends a bit frayed. Foxing. Good. A scarce account of antebellum Mississippi plantation life by a Michigan schoolteacher who spent a year living among wealthy planters in the Mississippi Delta region. Van Buren taught school for a while, but most of his book is devoted to describing society life in the South. On numerous occasions he was introduced to local dignitaries, and certainly during his stay in the South he enjoyed the lifestyle of a wealthy aristocrat planter. Van Buren stops short of being a social critic, however, and in regard to slavery he writes: "we have certainly written with perfect disregard to political prejudice, as if Slavery did not exist in our Southern Border." To him the South was noble and simple, a place populated by beautiful ladies and gentlemen of the highest order. HOWES V15. CLARK III:503.

Washington, July 6, 1837.. [1]p., with eight lines of text. Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Old folds, with some separation. Very good. Printed document, completed in manuscript, signed by President Martin Van Buren, issuing a presidential pardon to William Beall.

[N.p., but possibly New York Cit, 1733. [1]p. plus integral address leaf. Folio, on a folded sheet. Light soiling and wear. Very good. Rip Van Dam, New York merchant and briefly colonial governor, complains of his ill health and details financial transactions in this letter to Col. Richard Floyd. Floyd (1661-1737) was the son of the founder of Setauket, New York, and this letter is addressed to him there. He served as sheriff of Suffolk County in 1708-09 and was the grandfather of William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Rip van Dam (ca. 1660-1749) was a Manhattan merchant and politician, serving as the acting governor of the Province of New York from 1731 to 1732. He quarreled with the incoming governor, William Cosby, and published several articles against the governor, leading to his implication in the Zenger trial. The top third of the sheet contains a brief accounting of the financial business between the two men, while the remainder of the sheet is comprised of Van Dam's… Read More

Montpelier: Wright and Sibley, 1812.. 96pp. 16mo. Contemporary half calf and boards. Moderate to heavy wear to extremities, slight edge wear. Faint worming in end matter. One leaf with lower outer corner torn away, affecting text. Contemporary ownership signature on front and rear free endpapers. Overall very good. In a half morocco box. First Vermont printing of this entertaining, albeit apocryphal, story of Indian captivity and travel in the Northwest, after its first appearance in Boston in 1788. Though the structure of the narrative changed throughout its many editions, the tale remained the same. The author, a Dutchman, departed Amsterdam for China in 1783 and proceeded from there aboard a trading vessel to the northwest coast of America to participate in the fur trade. After a surprise attack by local Indians, Van Delure and his companion were hauled six hundred miles overland to a large city built on an island. Rescued from certain death by the local sachem, Van Delure married the Indian… Read More

Leyden: Pieter Vander Aa, 1707. 127 parts in twenty-eight volumes (with volume 13 in two), with 107 engraved folding maps and 505 folding plates. Later calf, spines gilt, gilt morocco labels. Some hinges cracked, spines chipping lightly, boards rubbed in places. Some toning and light foxing internally. Still a very good, handsome set. A complete first octavo edition of Pieter Van der Aa's comprehensive collection of memorable voyages translated into Dutch, which includes over 500 engraved views, as well as 107 engraved maps. Van der Aa's spectacular production gathers travel accounts of voyages from 1246-1696 from reputable sources such as De Bry, Hakluyt, Herrera, de Barros, Thevenot, and includes all of the earliest voyages to the Americas such as Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Cortes, Drake, as well as all other major and minor European voyages. A folio edition was also planned and begun simultaneously, but then abandoned and eventually completed in 1727. Pieter Van der Aa was an accomplished Leiden… Read More

[N.p., but likely Philadelphia]: Printed for the Author, 1804.. [4],116pp. 19th-century three-quarter morocco and marbled boards, gilt ruled and lettered. Hinges cracked and repaired, edges and corners somewhat worn. Contemporary manuscript annotation on titlepage. Light tanning and foxing. Good plus. "A New Edition, Revised and Corrected, with Additions" of William Van Ness' pseudonymous reply to James Cheetham's published attack on Burr for his activities in state politics and in the 1801 presidential election. "Burr was so ably defended that newspapers rang with the unknown author's story of confused truth and fiction" - DAB. Van Ness served as second to Burr in the duel with Hamilton later that year, and was indicted as an accessory in Hamilton's murder. DAB XIX, pp.202-3. HOWES V37. SABIN 98530 (note). SHAW & SHOEMAKER 7648.

New York: Ward & Gould, 1803.. 118,[1]pp. Half title. Bound to style in antique half calf and marbled boards. Minor soiling. Very good. Unopened. Van Ness' pseudonymous work is a reply to James Cheetham's published attack on Aaron Burr for his activities in state politics and in the presidential election of 1800. Van Ness fires his volleys far and wide, taking aim at political figures of both parties, and on the national and New York state level in order to clear Burr's character "from the malignant aspersions of his undeserved and wicked enemies." "Burr was so ably defended that newspapers rang with the unknown author's story of confused truth and fiction" (DAB). William Van Ness not only defended Burr in print, but on the dueling ground as well - he served as second to Burr in the duel with Hamilton in 1804, and was indicted as an accessory in Hamilton's murder. HOWES V37. HARDISON 179. DAB XIX, pp.202-03. SABIN 98530. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 5491. TOMPKINS 103.

[Yankton, S.D., 1914. [4],400pp. plus plates. Frontis. Red pebbled leather spine and pictorial cloth. Chipped at head of spine, front hinge starting. A few neat pencil notes, else a very good copy. Presentation inscription from the author. Scarce account of the northwestern frontier, with much on the great exploratory expeditions, native Indians, and the fur trade. Not listed in any of the standard bibliographies, although the NUC lists a number of locations.

Philadelphia, 1885. 40pp. Original wrappers, ex-lib., else very good. Promotional pamphlet for Cresson, "the famous summer resort" on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Columbus, 1858. vi,[7]-640pp. including numerous full-page illustrations and plates. Frontis. Thick octavo. Original blind-stamped cloth, spine gilt, rebacked, with original spine laid down. Minor edge wear and rubbing. Contemporary ownership signature on front flyleaf, light scattered foxing. Very good. The scarce first edition of this useful western compendium. Contains much information concerning the settling of the Midwest and West, with chapters on hunting, scenery, the Mormons, Indians, etc. Wagner- Camp states "a book made up with scissors" due to the number of articles present by Brewerton, Fremont, Spalding, Schoolcraft and Wells. HOWES V43, "aa." WAGNER-CAMP 312:2. GRAFF 4462. RADER 3523

Cincinnati, 1851. 80pp. Illustrations and map. Original pictorial wrappers. Large chip from front wrap, rear wrapper lacking. A couple of internal closed tears, some foxing, couple of illustrations with light amateur coloring. A fair copy. A rhyming guide to world geography, remarkable for its coverage of California. Page 4 has two views of San Francisco, and pages 73 to 74 are devoted to California as well. On page 74 is a woodcut map of the gold regions entitled "Valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. Engraved for the Poetical Geography. Wightman Buffalo N.Y." The map shows the area from San Francisco Bay east to the Sierra and from San Jose to the Feather River, with the subsidiary streams well delineated. While not the most detailed of maps, it is considerably more so than many listed in Wheat. Not in any of the relevant bibliographies.

Washington: H. Polkinhor, 1861. 7pp. Dbd. Lightly tanned. Very good. Vance was a Congressman from North Carolina when the Civil War broke out; during the war he would serve as governor of the state, later serving a second, non-consecutive term. In this letter to his constituents, he appeals to their sense of loyalty to the Union, writing: "Upon your vote a nation lives or dies. Certainly then you should examine it closely on both sides, and dismiss every prejudice, every thought of party, and all the smaller passions of men. If disunion is best, if it would afford you more liberty, prosperity, and happiness, then go for disunion and let no fond remembrance of past glories prevent you from sundering all the ties that bind you to Washington's handiwork."

London: Printed for G.G. & J. Robinson and J. Edwards, 1798.. Four volumes including atlas volume of plates and maps. Quarto text volumes: [8],xxix,[8],432; [10],504; [10],505,[3]pp., plus eighteen plates. Folio atlas: Ten folding engraved charts, six engraved plates of coastal profiles. Text volumes: Contemporary mottled calf, gilt, expertly rebacked to style with richly gilt spines, leather labels. Internally very clean. Atlas: Bound in matching style in quarter calf and marbled boards, spine richly gilt, leather labels. Maps and coastal profiles mounted on guards, some slight soiling on a few margins. Very good. A cornerstone work on the exploration of the Pacific and the northwest coast of America. "This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge" - Hill. Vancouver was put in command of the expedition on the recommendation of his former commanding officer, Alan Gardner. He had served earlier with Admiral Rodney and on James Cook's second and… Read More

Paris: De l'Imprimerie de la Republique, [ 1800].. Three text volumes plus atlas. Text volumes: [2],xi,[1],491pp. plus seven plates; [6],516pp. plus five plates (including one map); [6],562pp. plus six plates. Atlas: [4]pp. plus sixteen charts (many double-sheet). Folio text volumes: Handsome contemporary half speckled calf and boards, raised bands, leather label. Small old private library stamps on titlepages and bottom edges, else beautiful and crisp. Very good. Folio atlas: Bound to style in matching speckled calf and boards. Neat marginal tissue repairs to a few maps, small old private library stamp on titlepage and following leaf of contents. A very nice set. Vancouver, who served as a midshipman on the voyages of Cook, was placed in command of an expedition to the Northwest Coast to determine England's rights under the Nootka Sound convention of 1790. The ships of the expedition reached the Northwest Coast in 1792 and spent two years surveying the coastline, resulting in the most precise maps… Read More