Search Results: Authors starting with W from 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop

This American School painted ivory features a charming representation of the nation's first president and first lady. A note on the backing paper reads, "Miniature of ivory of Gen. Washington and Wife smiling very true Portraits (signed) "J. T." or "I. T."
Provenance: Beverly, Massachusetts, Historical Society.Signed "J. T." or "I. T." Watercolor and gouache on ivory, 3 ÂĽ x 4 in., in a period walnut veneer frame. In very good condition.

Mammoth plate albumen print (21 x 15 1�4 in.), mounted on linen. Retouched in the negative. Some wear and soiling, some fading, a few creases. A rare survival.
This magnificent mammoth plate panorama shows the National Mall and the Capitol as seen from the Smithsonian Castle.
Several elements indicate the approximate date of this photograph. The Bartholdi Fountain is present. Made for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, it was moved to the grounds of the Botanic Gardens on the Mall in 1877. Work on the marble terraces on the west side of the Capitol grounds began in 1882, but that construction is not evident here.
The photograph shows a National Mall unlike what we know today. The great lawns shown here were filled with trees in the following decades, many of them subsequently removed for construction and for restorations of the lawns. The Baltimore and Potomac railroad tracks, where Charles Guiteau would shoot James Garfield in 1881, run partway across the Mall at 6th Street. The… Read More

Mammoth plate albumen silver print. Approx. 16 x 20 in., original mount.Naef and Hult-Lewis, Carleton Watkins: The Complete Mammoth Photographs 105.
An iconic Yosemite photograph. This famous photograph shows Galen Clark standing at the foot of the colossal Grizzly Giant sequoia. Clark was the first European American to discover the Marisposa Grove of giant sequoias at Yosemite. Named Guardian of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove in 1866, Clark was instrumental in securing legislation to protect the trees. Camping beneath the Grizzly Giant in 1903 inspired Theodore Roosevelt to establish several other national parks, forests, and monuments, and in 1905 he created the U. S. Forest Service. Roosevelt said the Mariposa Grove was "a temple grander than any human architect could by any possibility build."
In the summer of 2022 the National Park Service and firefighters went to extraordinary lengths to protect the beloved tree during the Washburn fire. They delivered 15-20 gallons of water per minute… Read More

32 albumen prints (sizes vary; see list below) of Yosemite and selected other scenes in the American West, on light gray card mounts. All but four signed in the negative by Taber of San Francisco. Contemporary dark blue morocco (measuring approx. 18 x 12 in.), upper board stamped in gilt "AMERIKA," rebacked, brass fittings, lacking clasp. Silk patterned endpapers. Mounts foxed, slight staining, occasional foxing or fading to images. An outstanding album with beautiful, rich prints.Giants of American West photography. This beautiful album contains many splendid views of the scenic wonders of Yosemite including splendid Watkins and Taber views. Subjects include the many magnificent falls, the Mariposa Grove of sequoias, and the great geological formations. At least two, and likely many more, of the views in this collection were taken by Carleton Watkins. Those for which attribution to Watkins has been confirmed are singled out below, but this collection merits further investigation to identify Watkins… Read More

8 x 10 in. (image size 8 x 8 ÂĽ in.). Gelatin silver print. Fine
Signed by Watson and Crick in the white lower margin. The discovery of the structure of DNA was the cornerstone event in modern genetics and biology and one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.
When they published the discovery, Watson and Crick concluded with a classic understatement: "The structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest. . . . It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material."
This photograph was one of four similar poses made by amateur photographer Anthony Barrington Brown at the Cavendish Laboratory soon after the announcement.
No scientific discovery has ever had such far-reaching implications for the betterment of mankind. In 1962 Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for medicine.

FIRST EDITION of The Double Helix, preceding the publication in book form in late February 1968. Signed by James Watson on the front cover of each issue.
"The 1968 publication of James Watson's two-part thriller, The Double Helix, in The Atlantic Monthly left both the scientific and literary worlds atwitter" (Fausto-Sterling, 'Gender and Science in the DNA Story,' Science November 8, 2002).
The Double Helix is one of the most famous science books of the 20th century. The Modern Library placed it at number 7 in its list of the best nonfiction books of the century, the New York Public Library included it in its 1996 Books of the Century exhibition, and the Library of Congress named The Double Helix one of the eighty-eight Books That Shaped America.Two issues. Original wrappers. Very good. Cloth case

Mammoth plate albumen print, mounted. Approx. 16 x 20 in. Framed. Fine condition.
This spectacular view shows Sentinel Rock towering above a rider on horseback in a well-lit clearing.
Charles Leander Weed is generally considered the first photographer to work in Yosemite. His 1859 trip there yielded approximately twenty 10 x 14 inch views and forty stereo images. For his 1864 photographic expedition to the Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees of Calaveras, Weed used a larger camera to produce these splendid mammoth-plate prints (more than twice the size of the 1859 views), as well as a new series of stereo views.
Weed exhibited his mammoth prints at the 1867 Paris International Exposition. Lawrence & Houseworth's 1870 Catalogue offered them for sale and observed, "This series of views, together with the stereoscopic collection, were awarded the bronze medal at the Paris Exposition, for their superior excellence."
Relatively little is known about Weed, who "remains a shadowy presence" (Palmquist). In… Read More

Mammoth albumen print. This beautiful photograph was formerly affixed back-to-back with another mounted photograph, giving a very faint linen-like texture on the surface. Thin strip of linen tape on mount. A splendid print with rich tonal range, worthy of the finest collections.
CALIFORNIA PHOTOGRAPHY PIONEER. Charles Leander Weed is generally considered the first photographer to work in Yosemite. His 1859 trip there yielded approximately twenty 10 x 14 inch views and forty stereo images. For his 1864 photographic expedition to the Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees of Calaveras, Weed used a larger camera to produce this splendid mammoth-plate print (more than twice the size of the 1859 views), as well as a new series of stereo views.
Weed exhibited his mammoth prints at the 1867 Paris International Exposition. Lawrence & Houseworth's 1870 Catalogue offered them for sale and observed, "This series of views, together with the stereoscopic collection, were awarded the bronze medal at the… Read More

Albumen print (5 Âľ x 4 in.). Cabinet card mount. Light foxing, minor wear to extremities of mount. A handsome photograph.

Boldly signed and dated 1879 by Whitman. Whitman observed of this delightful portrait, "It is one of my good-humored pictures. … This is strong enough to be right and gentle enough to be right, too: I like to be both: I wouldn't like people to say 'he is a giant' and then forget I know how to love."

The flamboyant Napoleon Sarony was one of New York's leading portrait photographers. In July 1878 he invited the poet to sit for a group of portraits. Eight photographs resulted. Whitman recalled of sitting at "the great photographic establishment" that he "had a real pleasant time."

A rare portrait with a Leaves of Grass quotation in Whitman's hand. The photogenic and self-promoting poet sat for (and gave away) many photographs, but very rarely did he inscribe them with his verse. Here he writes lines from his poem "Salut au Monde!"—his "calling card to the world, as well as one of his most successful compositions."
Whitman writes beneath this portrait the very lines that Folsom and Allen call a "prophetic exclamation" of Whitman's desire for an international audience (Walt Whitman & the World, p. 1):
My spirit has passed in compassion and determination around the whole earth,
I have look'd for equals & lovers, and found them ready for me in all lands;
I think some divine rapport has equalized me with them.
"'Salut au Monde!' is Whitman's calling card to the world, as well as one of his most successful compositions. With its closeups and panoramic visions of the earth, the poem extends and internationalizes the outward progression of the first person seer in 'Song of Myself.'… Read More

One page. Mounted. Browning, edge wear. The final two lines are on a separate leaf affixed at the bottom in Whitman's characteristic way. Numerous manuscript revisions by the author.
Whitman reflects rapturously on his time alone by a remote pond. Dipping his pen in the brook, he looks around and marvels, "nothing could be more primitive, secluded, naturally free, cool, luxuriant than the scene I am in the midst of."
Whitman reflects rapturously on his time alone by a remote pond. Dipping his pen in the brook, he looks around and marvels, "nothing could be more primitive, secluded, naturally free, cool, luxuriant than the scene I am in the midst of."
Whitman observes, "After my semi-daily bath, I sit here for a bit, the brook musically gurgling brawling, to the chromatic tones of a fretful cat-bird somewhere off in the bushes." The contrast with city life is striking for the poet: "On my walk hither two hours since, through fields and the old lane, I stopt to view now the sky, now the mile-off woods… Read More

Broadside (25 x 19 ½ in.). Trimmed with loss of border, closed tear extending from bottom edge, browning, mounted. A spectacular display piece.
Whitman designed this rare broadside to promote his works in bookstores. The broadside advertises four of the author's most recent publications, together with a biography of Whitman by his friend John Burroughs. Leaves of Grass was in its fifth edition by this date. Although the broadside was designed for bookstore displays, Whitman referred to it as a "show bill" in a note to W. D. O'Connor.
"Throughout his literary life, Walt Whitman (1819–1892) never forgot his roots in the printing trade and the years he spent as an apprentice with newspaper printers in Long Island and New York city. This broadside, which uses eight different type faces, was apparently designed by Whitman himself to help booksellers promote the five titles listed." (Grolier Club, Lasting Impressions, 2004).
A spectacular Whitman display piece.
Provenance: Walt Whitman Collection of Dr… Read More

FIRST EDITION. One of 225 numbered copies signed by Bucke. This work prints an extensive collection of manuscript fragments discovered among Whitman's papers on his death.
Sections include "First Drafts and Rejected Lines and Passages, Mostly verse fragmentary, From 'Leaves of Grass, ' Largely Antecedent to the 1855 Edition," "Notes on The meaning and Intention of 'Leaves of Grass,'" and "Memoranda From Books and From His Own Reflections, Indicating the Poet's Reading and Thought Preparatory to Writing 'Leaves of Grass.'"
This is a very handsome copy of this book which, when found, is usually battered.
Provenance: Syracuse Public Library, with small stamp on title, with deaccession letter.
Myerson A17.4to. Original dark green-blue cloth. Minimal wear. Fine.

Original mustard cloth. Second state of title-page with "-82" not "-2" in date. Original mustard cloth. Light fraying to spine ends. Very good.First printing of the 7th edition of Leaves of Grass
James Osgood was successor to Ticknor and Reed, the great Boston publisher that had published Emerson, Hawthorne, Longfellow, and the other leading New England authors of the mid-19th century. When Osgood approached Whitman to bring out a new edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman must have welcomed the mainstream approbation. Still, he reminded Osgood that "the old pieces, the sexuality ones, about which the original row was started & kept up so long, are all remained, & must go in the same as ever." Osgood proceeded with publication, but on 1 May 1882, the Massachusetts District Attorney labeled Leaves of Grass "obscene" and asked for its "withdrawal … from circulation" (Myerson).
Osgood asked Whitman to make the necessary changes, and the poet agreed to change phrases but refused to delete two entire poems,… Read More

Ruled paper. Some creasing. Framed with a portrait of Whitman. Whitman has written a note to a newspaper publisher at the top, "If convenient, put in small ¶ at rear of editorial column."
In this fascinating manuscript Whitman provides a newspaper with an article defending himself against attacks that he did not respect the great American poets of the day.
In this fascinating manuscript Whitman provides a newspaper with an article defending himself against attacks that he did not respect the great American poets of the day. He writes:
"Walt Whitman on the Poets. The marked part of Mr. Whitman's Boston notes on another page is his opinion of the leading New England poets – about which opinion the late Scribner article and other criticisms, have evidently sailed far out of their reckoning."
Whitman had been accused of scorning the great New England poets, and here he rushes to defend himself. He notes that this view had started with E. C. Stedman's well-known essay "Walt Whitman" (Scribner's,… Read More

Albumen print (5 Âľ x 4 in.). Cabinet card mount. Light foxing, minor wear to extremities of mount. A handsome photograph.
Boldly signed and dated 1879 by Whitman. Whitman observed of this delightful portrait, "It is one of my good-humored pictures. … This is strong enough to be right and gentle enough to be right, too: I like to be both: I wouldn't like people to say 'he is a giant' and then forget I know how to love."
The flamboyant Napoleon Sarony was one of New York's leading portrait photographers. In July 1878 he invited the poet to sit for a group of portraits. Eight photographs resulted. Whitman recalled of sitting at "the great photographic establishment" that he "had a real pleasant time."

In this wonderful letter to the artist Charles Hine, the poet discusses the famous portrait Hine had painted of Whitman ten years earlier. That oil painting was the basis for the engraving of Whitman published as the frontispiece in the third edition of Leaves of Grass (1860).
A decade later Hine, dying from tuberculosis, wrote to Whitman and arranged to give him the portrait. In this chatty letter to his "dear, dear friend," Whitman reports on the reception of the painting at home:
"I have procured the portrait & frame without any trouble, & they are now hanging up in my mother's front room—& are the delight & ever-increasing gratification of my folks & friends, young & old—some of whom sit by the half hour & just look at it steadily in silence—It is indeed a noble piece of work-manship—age has already improved it, & will still more—both painting and frame were unharmed—Mr. Blondell, 806 Broadway, had the painting & has others of yours."
Whitman tells Hine that he wants to pay his friend… Read More

FIRST EDITION, first British issue, comprising the American sheets (1883) plus a new section (pp. 237-255), Dowden's work on the English critics of Whitman.
"An unconventional book, as much anthology of documents about the poet as a biography. It was also a collaboration; Whitman advised throughout, revised Bucke's text, and wrote significant portions of the book himself" (LeMaster, Walt Whitman, An Encylopedia). Bucke was one of Whitman's three literary executors.
Photo intaglio frontispiece portrait of Whitman by Gilchrist. Original olive-brown cloth. Short separation to cloth at bottom of rear joint. Very good.

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION of Whitman's poems.
"William Michael Rossetti's Poems by Walt Whitman was published in 1868 by John Camden Hotten, a controversial publisher who specialized in Americana, erotica, and avant-garde poetry. Hotten wanted to publish the first British edition of Whitman's poetry, but the close scrutiny he was under due to recent anti-pornography laws made a complete Leaves of Grass seem almost impossible. Whitman, confronted with a willing but cautious publisher, was forced to compromise if he wanted his poems to have a wider distribution in England. It was here that William Michael Rossetti, Pre-Raphaelite and member of the prominent family of poets Dante Gabriel and Christina whose name recognition alone would secure Whitman several high-profile readers, was a key player in turning Leaves of Grass into Poems by Walt Whitman. The belief was that a Rossetti edition would be the best means of paving the way for later publication of a complete Leaves of Grass. … [T]he… Read More

FIRST EDITION, second printing, first issue. Thomas Harned's copy, with his bookplate. Whitman's friend Harned was one of the poet's literary executors, alog with Horace Traubel and Richard B. Bucke.
David McKay at Rees Welsh, Whitman's new publisher following the Boston Leaves of Grass controversy agreed to publish this autobiographical work, which Whitman called "the most wayward, spontaneous, fragmentary book ever printed." McKay took over the firm in 1882 and used his own name in the imprint for the second and subsequent printings.
The book includes "not only Specimen Days but also many of Whitman's other prose writings, including Democratic Vistas, his essay on the "Death of Abraham Lincoln," his various prefaces, and the prose stream from Two Rivulets. Surprisingly, Whitman also decided to include some of his early and long-forgotten fiction and pre-Leaves poetry. The book was another Whitman compendium, bringing between one set of covers a diverse group of writings, but this time… Read More