Search Results: Authors starting with W from McBride Rare Books

Matanzas, 1967. Very good.. 120 separate original documents, totaling [145]pp., mostly typed but with the earlier documents in manuscript, sewn together along left margin, remnants of wrappers along threads. Minor occasional foxing, varying levels of toning, a few documents chipped or worn along edges. Rare compilation of original documents relating to the formation of an interesting Chinese Society in Cuba, the Casino Chung Wah, comprised of over a hundred manuscript documents, typed documents, letters, partially-printed forms completed in manuscript and so forth, totaling almost 150 pages of documentation of the society's operations over the course of about seventy years. Many of the documents were executed on Chung Wah letterhead. The Chung Wah Casino was not only a Chinese Society dedicated to mutual aid but also to recreation through the operation of a gambling casino, with different games. The casino was meant to be exclusive for the Chinese and to allow them special privileges. In 1925 the… Read More

[N.p., probably Portland, 1916. Near fine.. 36pp., plus two multi-panel folding panoramic photographic plates. Original tan wrappers printed in brown, accompanied by original printed mailing envelope reading, "A Souvenir of The Third Oregon Infantry on the Mexican Border." Very light wear. A scarce work featuring the officers, staff, and soldiers of the Third Oregon Infantry while stationed on the Mexican border near San Diego during the conflict with Mexico just before World War I. The work includes field and staff lists, rosters organized by company, and a list of "men who have enlisted at Clackamas since the Regiment left" in the summer of 1916. The work is profusely illustrated with photographs of each company within the text, usually on the recto facing the roster lists. Each inside cover includes a folding panoramic photographic plate - the first titled, "First Battalion at San Diego Exposition, July 9, 1916," and the second featuring the "Third Battalion on the Border - Mexico in the… Read More

Natchez & New Orleans, 1865. Very good.. Eighty-seven & sixty-three orders for each year, respectively. Lacking five for 1864 (1, 2, 70, 72, 90) and three for 1865 (27, 41, 44). Contemporarily stitched with ribbon. Minor soiling and wear to outer leaves. A few orders with manuscript signatures. Extensive run of General Orders for the Military Division of West Mississippi, encompassing two full years of its existence. The Division was organized in October 1863 and dissolved in August 1866, making this run the heart of the time that the Division was operational. It was overseen by General Grant and then by General Sherman, and encompassed the Departments of Ohio, Tennessee, the Cumberland, Missouri, and Arkansas; in 1866 it also absorbed the Department of the Platte. The orders here run from May 23, 1864 through June 1, 1865, a crucial period for the end of the Civil War. Content concerns staff appointments; courts martial; rations; dealing with enemy insurgents and prisoners of war; rates for… Read More

Huatusco: May 31, 1847. Very good.. Broadside decree, 17.5 x 11 inches. Printed on lined paper. Previously folded, with a couple of very small losses at central fold. Minor wear at edges. Light dust soiling and toning. A rare broadside decree that establishes guidelines for the collection of funds and donations for guerillas and their families continuing the fight against the American invasion around Veracruz in 1847. The important port city had fallen two months prior, and Santa Anna was routed at Cerro Gerro taken by Winfield Scott a month earlier. All that was left for Mexican forces in the region was sustained guerilla harassment of the American army. In this decree, a separate account from regular government monies is established for funds raised, and various government departments of the state of Veracruz are ordered to encourage donations and to publicize contributions, and children are even encouraged to contribute food to the soldiers. A desperate plea for a desperate situation; dated May… Read More

Brazos Santiago: February 18, 1847. Very good.. [2]pp. plus integral blank, second leaf addressed on verso. Old folds. Small hole in address leaf from removed wax seal. An original wartime correspondence from Lieutenant Arthur Lansing, a quartermaster officer recently arrived at the principal Mexican-American War Gulf Coast supply depot and transportation hub at Brazos Santiago, Texas, illustrated with a hand-drawn map showing the sand bar that impeded offloading of transports and slowed the movement of supplies and personnel up the Rio Grande. The first page contains Lansing's letter, the second his hand-drawn map. The text of the letter reads in part: "I have been ordered to report to...the QM Dept at this place - the most humid place in Christendom (worse, by far that Fort Brown.) I have been sick since here the water is bad - my old complaint the Diarrhea. I am living on board a steamboat fitted up & called the 'Greenwood Hotel' - $10.00 a week - Astor house prices in all things.... Gen Jesup,… Read More

San Luis Potosi: September 18, 1847. About very good.. Broadside, approximately 12 x 8.5 inches. Three small staples at left margin. Light wear and toning. Unrecorded bando printing of this emergency decree, originally issued September 14, 1847, stating that under the circumstances of the war with the United States, Santa Anna and the Mexican government can establish the capital wherever it so pleases them: "Durante las actuales circunstacias de la guerra con los Estados-Unidos de America, puede el Supremo Gobierno general de la Republica fijar su residencia en qualquiera lugar de ella.--- Por tanto, mando se imprima, publique, circule, y se le de el debido cumplimiento --- Guadalupe de Hidalgo, Setiembre 14 de 1847...." The decree was originally issued on the same day that Winfield Scott and American forces entered Mexico City. Santa Anna and the Mexican government had fled north to Guadalupe Hidalgo, where the treaty ending the war was eventually negotiated and signed, and issued this… Read More

Toluca: February 11, 1847. Very good.. Broadside, 16.75 x 12 inches. Previously folded. Faint dampstaining at left corners. Two small wormholes, affecting one letter of text. Otherwise, minor edge wear and light dust soiling. Unrecorded printings of two decrees by the legislature of the State of Mexico at Toluca that sought to raise emergency funds to defend the country against American invasion during the Mexican-American War. Passed on February 8 & February 11, 1847, these acts authorized the state legislature to borrow 300,000 pesos, with one third of this money allocated to the army and the remainder to equip the national guard. This expenditure would be covered by a salary tax on government employees and additional taxes on alcohol, including pulque and aguardiente, sugar, and lumber. The second decree provides guidance and stipulations for the collection of these taxes. At this point in time, Santa Anna's army was rushing north to meet Zachary Taylor's forces at Buena Vista. Not in OCLC.

Mexico City: November 17, 1847. About very good.. Broadside, approximately 12 x 8.5 inches. Previously folded, two small tape repairs on blank verso. Small chip at upper left corner. Contemporary manuscript rubrics. Light toning and dust soiling. This scarce order was issued by the Archbishop of Mexico two months after the capture of Mexico City by the United States Army. It contains six articles that detail instructions for administering the last rites and orders for several other difficult matters in the occupied city. The extreme unction is to be performed secretly only in the mornings and at night, unless the physician believes it is not possible to wait, and further instructions are given on how to proceed secretly but properly with the ritual. The fifth article states that that if the American troops insult the residents, the clergy should try to restore calm, to obtain assistance from the local guards, and to inform the American garrison commanders. The final article states that parish… Read More

Puebla, 1847. Very good.. Broadside, 12.75 x 8.5 inches. Minor soiling and wear. A rare broadside that prints the thanks and admonitions of the Governor of Puebla, Domingo Ibarra, following an attempted insurrection there in late February and March 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The uprising was a part of the so-called Revolt of the Polkos that followed popular outrage at a January law that allowed the federal government to seize church property in order to pay for the war effort. In Puebla, the revolt involved elements of the city's military garrison, but was successfully put down by the rest of the guard. In this address, Ibarra seeks to inspire unity amongst the citizenry and to warn them of the imminent danger of the American army having just landed at Veracruz. The broadside begins: "Conciudadanos: el génio del mal está soplando nosotros su aliento venenoso para perdernos y perder á la república. El enemigo acaba de desembarcar en nuestras costas con un tren considerable de guerra… Read More

[Washington DC, 1945. Very good.. Thirteen items, plus three duplicates. Light toning; minor wear and dust soiling. Interesting group of just over a dozen leaflets, pamphlets and circulars created and disseminated by the National Council for the Prevention of War (NCPW) before and during World War II. The organization was founded in 1921 by Congregational and Quaker minister Frederick J. Libby after he worked for the American Red Cross in France following World War I. The NCPW pushed for disarmament and neutrality during the interwar years and for peace after America's entrance into World War II. The present group contains several items from each period, as well as some fascinating transitional material, such as a mimeograph circular titled, "What Peace Organization, National and Local, Can Do in Wartime," dated eleven days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A good encapsulation of the council's work during this period.

Manila, 1900. Very good.. Typed letter signed, [1]p. Typed on thin paper. Folded. A true copy of a typed letter by Gen. J.F. Bell that recommends Sgt. Maj. George J. Oden of the 36th Volunteer Infantry for a Certificate of Merit for gallantry during an engagement with Insurgents (native Filipinos who rebelled against American rule after Spain ceded the islands to the United States) in the mountains near Mangaterem on November 28, 1899, during the Spanish-American War. According to the text of the letter, "When the attack was finally made he tore down the mountain side at the head of a half dozen men into the midst of a large number of Insurgents, shooting right and left, and displaying great fearlessness and gallantry. He was foremost of all, and seemingly tireless, flew down the rough trail, finally winding up at the bottom, chasing all he could see alone. His enthusiasm and unconscious fearlessness was something pleasant to see." Certified as a true copy of the letter by a Buffalo Soldier, a First… Read More

Chattanooga: Times Print, 1898. Very good.. [29]pp. Narrow 12mo. Original red cloth, cover gilt. Spine heavily chipped, corners worn. Contemporary ownership inscription on front pastedown, contemporary notations to several leaves. Regimental roster for the Second Nebraska Volunteers, mustered into service for the Spanish American War at Lincoln, in May 1898. The regiment consisted of forty-six officers and 975 enlisted men, each detailed herein by company. The regiment never saw active duty, spending time training at Chickamauga before being transferred to Omaha and then mustered out in October of the same year. This copy with the ownership inscription of Irene G. Courtnay, dated September 2, 1898. Irene has made notations about several of the men -- presumably friends or acquaintances -- in the Remarks section of some pages. On the page for Company B she has written, "Ernest G. Briggs drowned in Chickamauga Creek. 1st death in 2nd Neb. Regiment." Rare, and likely produced in limited numbers for… Read More

[Various locations in Texas, 1918. Very good.. Fifteen leaves, illustrated with fifty-five mounted photographs, and a few ephemeral clippings identifying locations. Oblong octavo. Contemporary black cloth, string-tied. Light soiling to covers. Minor wear to some photographs, but overall a handsome selection. A unique collection of vernacular photographs collected by a soldier in the 8th U.S. Cavalry identified simply as D. Watson, serving in southwest Texas during the Mexican Border War. The first two pictures emanate from Quartermaster Training Camp in Jacksonville, Florida. This is followed by one photo from Barron Field in Everman, Texas. The remaining photographs document Watson's time in Ruidosa, Texas, an unincorporated Texas-Mexico border town in Presidio County, about a hundred miles from Terlingua. Here, Watson includes photographs of himself and other soldiers and their horses posed in front of old stone structures, in orange groves, amongst canyons, in front of an automobile, and more,… Read More

[Indianapolis, 1938. Good.. [1],132,iii,[1]pp. plus two leaves of plates. Two volumes in one, paginated continuously. Folio. Original blue card covers printed in gilt, linen spine; stapled. Binding detached from text block. Lightly tanned, minor wear and soiling. Mimeographed work enumerating Indiana women who served in World War I. Entries are alphabetical, listing each woman's name, birth date, enlistment date, and service record. The two leaves of plates at the end (printed on both sides) contain portraits of 128 servicewomen, many of whom were nurses. Though there are twenty copies listed in OCLC, all but two are in Indiana libraries (Temple Public Library in Texas and the Library of Congress).

Topeka, 1900. About very good.. 112pp. plus two leaves of ads and folding map. 12mo. Original blue wrappers printed in silver, stapled. Light wear and soiling, upper corner of front cover torn away. Small closed tear at gutter margin of map. Light wear and soiling to text. A handbook produced for use at Washburn College in Topeka, "Containing many facts about Washburn and Topeka, which are of interest to students." The foreword notes, "We, the members of the Gamma Sigma Literary Society, feeling the need of a Washburn College Handbook for the use of the friends, faculty and students of Washburn, offer the following pages in the hope that they will fill this need." The little volume is filled with handy information about the sports activities, clubs and organizations, local churches and museums, a list of faculty, space for taking notes, and numerous advertisements for local businesses. There are also several views around campus, as well as a map of Topeka. Obviously ephemeral, providing a snapshot… Read More

[Olympia: Washington Railroad Commission], 1910. Very good plus.. Large folding map, 34 x 47.5 inches, folded to 8 x 5 inches. Original printed card covers. Covers with slight loss, minor wear. Minor wear to map, minor separation at a few corners. Large and detailed map of Washington state, delineating thirty different railroads across the state, including electric and projected lines, as well as logging railroads. The Washington Railroad Commission was first formed in 1905. Comprised of three persons, the Commission was tasked with inspection, safety, and some regulation of rates, as well as investigation into complaints of misconduct. It produced three maps, in 1908, 1910, and 1911, reflecting the swiftly-evolving landscape of transportation in the state. The following year, the Commission was redesignated as the Washington Public Service Commission, and its jurisdictional role expanded to encompass electric, gas, telephone, and more. Among the railways listed here are the Northern Pacific; the… Read More

[Numerous locations, most notably North Yakima, Wa.; Ann Arbor, Mi.; Burlington, Ia., and Chicago, Il, 1912. Very good.. Approximately 300 manuscript letters and printed documents, plus a half-tone studio photograph of Carson Long, various newspaper clippings and ephemeral items, and assorted business papers. Some chipping to various documents on higher-acid-content paper, but generally a nice collection. Archive of over fifty letters and other documents related to Theodore K. Long, a Chicago lawyer and alderman who bought his alma mater Bloomfield Academy in Pennsylvania and renamed Carson Long Military Academy in memory of his dead son. The present archive is largely concerned with that very event -- the disappearance, search, discovery, and aftermath of the death of Long's son, William Carson Long who went missing in Yakima, Washington in 1912.  Long hired the Pinkertons and made a nationwide search for his son who had moved out to Yakima to work in the lumber business.  The collection contains… Read More

Alexandria, Va: November 1, 1787. Very good.. 8.75 x 6.75 inches, framed to 25 x 17 inches. Old fold lines, very light spotting, signatures slightly faded. A fascinating and rare signed manuscript document that links George Washington to the use of slave labor in the construction projects of the Potomac Company and the retrieval of enslaved people attempting to escape captivity. In the present manuscript document, dated October 1787, Washington adds his signature as president of the Potomac Company to a list of expenses for the return of Hugh Taylor, a fugitive slave, from Alexandria upriver to Great Falls. After the Revolutionary War, George Washington and various Virginia and Maryland-based politicians believed that making the Potomac River navigable would facilitate trade between the East and West and strengthen the Union. With this aim in mind, Washington and others founded the Potomac Company in 1785, and Washington was named president of the Company. The Company's progress was slow, as it… Read More

Seattle, 1899. About very good.. 117pp. Original tan printed wrappers. Spine moderately chipped. Minor wear and soiling. This volume provides detailed specifications for contractors wishing to bid on this massive water supply project. Contracts were awarded on April 19, 1899, and work began soon afterward, with the Pacific Bridge Company building headworks and intake on the Cedar River and a pipeline from the intake to the city. Smith, Wakefield, and David constructed two reservoirs and a standpipe in the city, with pipes and pumps connecting them. We locate four copies in OCLC, all in Washington institutions.

Tokyo, 1933. Very good.. [4],28,546,[1]pp. Original half blue cloth and tan cloth boards, decoratively stamped in black and gilt. In publisher's illustrated cardstock slipcase. Noticeable surface abrasions to boards, minor edge wear. Foxing and toning to terminal leaves, but overall a clean text block. Some chipping to fore-edge of slipcase. Second printing (first published on August 25, 1933, and reprinted on October 4) of this prescient look at the prospect of war between the United States and Japan, published eight years before Pearl Harbor. The author, a fifteen-year veteran of the Japanese army, lays out remarkably accurate predictions of what a war between the U.S. and Japan would look like. He begins with the conclusion that "war between Japan and the US is now a reality in the immediate future" and that "the future of war will be fought in the air." He suggests an attack on Hawaii ("picking up Hawaii will be a piece of cake") and gives scenarios for Japanese attacks on the Philippines,… Read More