Search Results: Authors starting with W from Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC

quarto, three pages, some toning to paper, splits along folds, mainly second leaf, integral address leaf somewhat soiled, else in good legible condition.
"My dear Sir,
… the people of the Borough of Harrisburg are mostly dutch – their manners & customs are peculiar to themselves and somewhat singular. Some of the neighboring towns are mountainous but the valleys are rich beyond belief as a general thing the farms are in advance of N York with their left handed plows and I should suppose wealthy. The river rose here about six feet tis over a mile wide without rain. So we suppose you must have had some rain in N.Y. Flour is $ 5.50. The market for everything one wants I think is generally higher than the Falls but within reach except Apples they are about 6/- pr bushel and small. I shall write you at some future day the progress of pump business – our prospect – wishes & wants… "
The letter continues on pages 2 and 3 written by "Julia" the daughter of Mr. Wadsworth, who began the letter, and… Read More

"After reading the Statement of Mr. Ware and Mr. Leaming with care I do not find any thing to satisfy me in legal point of view, that Mr. Townsend Sharpless is not the party against whom Mr. Budd's action must be brought. The Mayor has furnished a copy of his Record upon which Mr. Sharpless's liability is clear. If he can explain that away on the trial, we may be compelled to proceed against all the parties for a Conspiracy. But the injury done to Mr. Budd must be vindicated in some way. The conduct of Mess Ware & Leaming appears to me exceedingly reprehensible and I shall take great pleasure in exposing to the world their tergiversations in this matter. I am sorry for Mr. Sharpless but the gross wrong done my client was certainly done in his name and under the sanctions of this affirmation. Indeed the explanation of the Mayor, seem to add insult to injury as he gives it as his opinion that there was cause to suspect the goods would be found in Budd's possession."
Established in 1843, the Legal… Read More

quarto, one page, formerly folded, hole punches along to edge of sheet, else very good.
1913 West Virginia Gubernatorial candidate accused of aiding Black saloon and brothel owner.
Letter by Wallace, the lawyer for J.H. Long, a Progressive Party newspaper editor, about the Republican Governor of West Virginia offering to his drop law suits against Democrat and Progressive opponents who had published an election campaign allegation (unstated in the letter) that he had bestowed political favors on Negro proprietor of a saloon and brothel.
Newly elected Republican Governor Henry Hatfield, a physician as well as a prominent member of the family involved in the violent Hatfield-McCoy feud, had won election in 1912 despite the national Democratic sweep of President Woodrow Wilson and the bitter Republican Party split with Theodore Roosevelt's Progressives. Focused on a tumultuous coal workers strike which he denounced as union "anarchy", Hatfield wanted to sweep under the carpet an election expose published… Read More

40 letters, 57 pages, octavo and quarto, some damp-staining and wear, letters written in both pencil and ink, generally in very good legible condition. The letters discuss legal matters, political affairs, especially the "nuts and bolts" of 19th century politics, partisanship, patronage, and influence. The letters are notable for their early articulation of the antagonistic relationship of Philadelphia and western Pennsylvania, and the resentment felt by the rest of the state towards its largest city: a conflict which resonates to this day.William Andrew Wallace was a lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Clearfield, Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania State Senate and was its speaker in 1871. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1875-1881. After his U.S. Senate service Wallace returned to the state senate. In later years he was interested in the development of local coal resources and headed the Beech Creek Railroad. Wallace died while he was in New York City on… Read More

folio, 3 pages plus stamp-less address leaf, in very good, clean and legible condition.
Walworth writes in part:
"… on the subject of the appointment of Judges for Clinton County. Knowing it is your wish that in all cases such persons should be recommended and appointed as are properly qualified to execute the duties to which they may be assigned. One of the greatest evils experienced in our Courts of Common Pleas is the appointment of Persons for Judges who from their circumscribed knowledge and want of energy and decision of Character and souls & minds of both suffer themselves to be imposed and crowded upon by members of the bar by which means the authority and dignity of Courts are lessened in Public estimation and the legitimate cause of Justice is frequently defeated. To obviate if possible this evil which this County has particularly felt, the Republican county Committee in March last recommended unanimously to the Council of Appointment Levi Platt for the office of Judge and… Read More

1817 Leading Philadelphia bookseller-publisher and cartographer lauds "Western Emigration"
quarto, one page, plus stamp-less address leaf, in very good, legible condition.
Happily responding to Guilford's offer of honorary membership in the Society:
"… Being convinced that a very imperfect knowledge is generally possessed by persons on the Seaboard Section of our country, in relation to their trans-mountain brethren and of their country, I rejoiced to find an association, instituted for the purpose of defusing information of the fairest portion of our favored land, and I cannot hesitate to believe but that great facilities will be derived by the enterprising emigrant to our shores who is seeking a peaceful asylum for himself and a secure and happy establishment for his posterity … it will give me pleasure to add any feeble assistance I can give in promoting the objects of its institution…"
Warner was a young Quaker bookseller and publisher of Philadelphia – he also had… Read More

Quarto, 4 pages, posted from "Washington Square" New York, "March 29," no year given, likely 1850's. The letter writer signs their name "Enquirer" and inquires about Bennett's opinion on the presumed upcoming American delegation to Paris, France, perhaps concerning some political matter.
James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872)
James Gordon Bennett was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers.
Bennett was born to a prosperous Roman Catholic family in Newmill, Banffshire, Scotland, Great Britain. At age 15, Bennett entered the Roman Catholic seminary in Aberdeen, where he remained for four years. After leaving the seminary, he read voraciously on his own and traveled throughout Scotland.
In 1819, he joined a friend who was sailing to North America. After four weeks they landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Bennett briefly worked as a schoolmaster till he had enough money to sail south to Portland, Maine, where he again taught school in… Read More

New York: J. L. Webster, 1834, folding folio broadside within decorative border, with letter press text giving the steamboat routes, roads, distances, statistics, etc., copyrighted by Webster in 1834, with folding colored map, entitled: Phelps & Squires' Travellers' Guide, and Map of the United States Containing the Roads, Distances, Steam Boat and Canal Routes. New York: Published by Phelps & Squire, 1837. The map was engraved by J. Wells of Brooklyn. Map measures 42.5 x 57.5 cm. Map repaired on verso along folds with archival tissue, separations at fold joints, with some minor loss, paper somewhat browned, folds into the original 12mo printed paper board case, lettering on covers somewhat faded, else in good condition.

The map extends west from the Atlantic coast to portions of Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. Roads, rivers, towns, villages and cities, and locations of Indian tribes. Inset maps of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, District of Columbia, New Orleans, Mobile,… Read More

1848 Connecticut clergyman's distaste for populist slogans, symbols, and hoop-la in presidential elections
"…I have been reading in the observer some results of the election. It seems that General Taylor has a majority just equal to the electoral vote of New York: the majority of the popular vote in the Union is thought to be one hundred and forty thousand, of which 100,000 are in this state. It seems then that neither party could have succeeded without the vote of New York, and that in this instance N.Y. is more properly the key stone state. So far as military fame has an influence in our elections, I think it is to be deprecated, but in the present case…this consideration has had but partial weight, and much care has been used to ascertain principles and to find out what measures the President elect would pursue. I hope therefore, no more will be heard about hickory poles, or ash poles, or hard cider, connected with the dignified business of electing a president for twenty millions of people…… Read More

Group of 31 letters, totaling 113 manuscript, (18 retained mailing envelopes), dated 17 June 1862 to 16 July 1890, plus 1 postcard and 1 circular.
Description of Correspondence:
7 letters, 21 manuscript pp., written by George L. Westgate to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Abner L. Westgate, Fall River, Massachusetts, written by George from Middletown, Connecticut (1) and Williamsburg, Long Island., dated 17 June 1862 to 15 December 1865. These letters were written by George to his parents while he was living in Middletown while attending Wesleyan University. The letters contain information about college life, news of his first sermon, discusses the Civil War, etc. There are also a couple of letters from his student days at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.
7 letters, 42 manuscript pp., dated 28 July 1882 to 16 July 1890 (all but one is from 1882-1884); 4 of the letters are written by George L. Westgate from Cascadeville, Essex Co., New York (1), Boston, (2), and Washington, D.C. (1)… Read More

folio, two pages of a four page bi-folium, some splits along folds, remains of sealing wax on integral address leaf, docketed "Jo Whipples Letter." Tear along horizontal fold at bottom edge, else in very good, clean and legible condition. Joseph Whipple, collector of customs at Portsmouth, (brother of General William Whipple 1730 - 1785 revolutionary War General and Signer from New Hampshire) writes to John Langdon (1741 - 1819) Senator and first President pro-tem of the Senate, thanking Langdon for his help and influence in obtaining a post in the new government and comments upon the recent establishment of the Federal court and judicial system. Langdon, a Portsmouth native, was the right person to ask as he was also a friend of the President, George Washington. "Dear Sir I have the Honour this moment to receive your favour of the 5th & am much obliged by your kind assurances of attention to my business and also for having seasonably lodged my name with the President - I… Read More

255 letters, 930 manuscript pp., dated 1844-1896, the bulk of the letters dated 1844-1863. About twenty to twenty-five percent of these letters have water damage and/or ruffling or chipping at edges, causing some loss of text. Most letters were excised from a scrap book, or album, with paper and paste along the left side margins. Of these 255 letters, 49 letters are not dated and another 23 are incomplete. The incomplete and undated letters date from the years of 1844-1863. There are also included approximately 75 pages of handwritten verse and essays (mainly verse); plus 19 pieces of miscellaneous paper ephemera, either printed, or otherwise (calling cards, newspaper clippings, etc.).
The correspondence is made up mostly of correspondence of Susan Jarvis White and Charles Henry Waterbury, writing to each other during their courtship, and after their marriage in 1850 as Charles was often away from home on business. The correspondence includes following individuals and letters:
57 letters, 218… Read More

five letters, 18 pages, in very good, clean, legible condition.
Group of letters pertaining to Edward Wigglesworth (1840-1896), a dermatologist who founded the Boston Dispensary for Skin Diseases, headed the Department of Diseases of the Skin at Boston City Hospital, and taught at Harvard Medical School. He was the son of Edward Wigglesworth (1804-1876) who graduated from Harvard in 1822 and studied law at Judge Prescott's office. He helped Dr. Lieber in the publication of the Encyclopaedia Americana, 1829, and served as trustee and president of Massachusetts General Hospital, among other organizations. In 1835, he married Henrietta May Goddard, daughter of Nathaniel Goddard. Dr. Wigglesworth was a direct descendant of the Rev. Michael Wigglesworth (1631-1705), Puritan Divine and the author of A Day of Doom
and Meat Out of the Earth.
Dr. Wigglesworth graduated Harvard 1861, M.D., 1865, studied dermatology in Europe, 1865-1870, m. Sarah (Willard) Frothingham, Apr. 4, 1882, the couple had three… Read More

Quarto, approximately 694 pages, bound in half black leather, and cloth covered boards, spine badly chipped, portions of back-strip missing, corners and tips worn, covers rubbed and scuffed, letters dated 4 February 1878 to 5 March 1884.The volume is a letter copy book, the copies are on thin tissue like paper, and according to the index contains copies of at least 213 letters, and written to at least 112 individuals, businesses, or local and state government officials. The letters deal primarily with the lumber business and the real estate investments of Wilcox.
The earliest lumbering in Michigan was done by the French in order to build forts, fur-trading, posts and missions. The British, and later the Americans, used Michigan's hardwoods to build merchant and war ships. Beginning about 1855, white pine became the most desired tree species by the lumber industry of the Great Lakes states. Navigable rivers and extensive pine forests formed the basis of a flourishing pine lumber industry… Read More

17 letters, 19 pp., 1 envelope, dated 17 Nov 1894 to 12 Feb 1935; plus 1 postcard, written to Louis Wiley, dated 1933; of the 17 letters, 14 are written to Louis Wiley, with 2 of them related and mentioning Wiley, and 1 letter unclear if related to Wiley, or not.
Correspondents Include:
Benjamin Folsom, cousin of the wife of President Grover Cleveland, was consul to England; his letter appears to pertain to the sale of a magazine, possibly Wiley's "The Tidings" magazine.
James Goold Cutler (1848-1927), prominent Rochester, NY architect and businessman, mayor of Rochester (1904-1907); inquiring about work for someone.
John Sharp Williams (1854-1932), a U.S. Congressman (1893-1909) and a U.S. Senator (1910-1923) from Mississippi; thanking Wiley for his kind words;
Edward Anthony Bradford, worked for fifty years for the New York Times, various positions, for many years an editorial writer; writes about their mutual medical problems.
Wenona Marlin, Washington, DC, war clerk; thanking Wiley & the NYT,… Read More

folio, 2 ½ pages, of a bi-folium, formerly folded, some light damp-staining, small hole, in last leaf, due to careless opening, affecting a few words of text, else in very good, legible condition. Williams a recent emigrant to Michigan from New York writes concerning land and the land boom in Michigan: "Mr. Erastus Williams, president of the coldwater society, Esperance, Sir, . I must inform you that Mr. Anderson has not succeeded in entering our land as yet. The Kalamazoo office did not open until the 10th inst I got information that it was to open on the 8th Mr. Anderson had been absent to Grand River several weeks and I knew not what the prospect was . The office was to open at 10 o'clock a.m. and at 4 a.m. the people began to collect at the land office and by day light it was judged there were 300 people at the office - they kept collecting at the appointed hour when it was judged there were over 500 people there - at 10 three windows were opened - "and such a… Read More

12mo, pocket diary, 134 manuscript pages bound in cloth, two days entries per page, text block separated from binding; wear to extremities, otherwise good, entries written in ink, in a legible hand; diary is not signed, but a note tucked in states the diary was written by Ehret Williams. And internal evidence and research on ancestry.com, all lead to Leonard Ehret Williams being our diary writer.
The diary recounts our shipwright's everyday activities at work, the ships he works on, the types of jobs he does, getting hurt on the job, the hard work, interactions with other men at work, fight with a Jewish coworker ( the "Jew" [sic] was dismissed), he also recounts his social life, his friends and their activities like going to shows, concerts, visiting Fairmount Park, walking around downtown Philadelphia, etc. He also gives an account of the amount of his paychecks, when he gets raises, and what he spends his money on such as everyday expenses like carfare, every day necessities, or purchasing bonds,… Read More

quarto, 2 pages, plus stamp-less address leaf, in very good, clean and legible condition.
Congressman Thomas Williams, having received Cist's letter, needed some time to "examine my files of letters and see whether I could with propriety send you any from persons whom you designated. I find very few indeed, none of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution of the US except those of Col. Williams who was a very old man when he wrote me and whose letters are so connected with domestic subjects as to render it improper in my opinion for me to place them in a public position. I have however found a few letters from Gentlemen who have occupied high stations and whose characters are doubtless known to you Mess. Goodrich, Daggett, Sumner Goddard & Gould, the first of whom have been Lt. Gov. and sat together with the two next Senator in the US Senate and all the others have been Judges of our Supreme Court. Mr. Goddard and Timothy Pitkin have also been members of the House of Reps.… Read More

New York: John F. Trow, publisher, 1853. Hardcover. Fair. octavo, folding map, 764, 2, 104 pp., re-bound in later cloth, red leather spine label, ex-library, handstamps, call number on spine, front hinge broken, spine torn, text block cracked, else good.

No Binding. Very Good. 92 letters, 278 manuscript pages, 58 envelopes, dated 1900-1972, with the bulk of the letters from the 1910s-1940s were written to Marie R. Wing and her family. There is also some minor ephemeral material. Marie Remington Wing (1885-1982) & Family Francis Joseph Wing (1850-1918) was a United States federal judge. Born in North Bloomfield, Ohio, Wing was educated at Phillips Academy, and Harvard University. He read law with Caleb Blodgett at Boston, Judge Buckingham of Newark, and Edward O. Fitch of Ashtabula, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1874 and was in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio from 1874 to 1899. He became an assistant United States Attorney of the Northern District of Ohio from 1880 to 1881. He was a judge on the Court of Common Pleas from 1899 to 1901. On January 21, 1901, Wing was nominated by President William McKinley to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He was confirmed by the United… Read More