Search Results: Titles starting with M from Michael Laird Rare Books LLC

[London and Paris], 1851. Very good. Together 2 vols., folio. Vol. I: 127 pp. manuscript written on rectos only, with insertions of the author's Port of Entry, various MS slips, maps, a folding letterpress plan of the British Museum, and a large folding depiction of the Museum of Practical Geology. Vol. II: printed documents bound into an album of blank leaves, some of which have extensive MS annotations and articles in the hand of the author. Bound in contemporary French quarter green basane, marbled endpapers, edges of the textblock untrimmed (headcap of vol. I chipped, some wear to other binding extremities). Overall in excellent condition. ENGAGING 19,000-WORD MANUSCRIPT ACCOUNT OF A FRENCH POLYMATH'S 17-DAY TOUR TO ENGLAND WHERE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM HE STUDIED EGYPTIAN AND BABYLONIAN ANTIQUITIES AND RARE BOOKS, AND TOURED THE 1851 "GREAT EXHIBITION" AT CRYSTAL PALACE. THERE ARE MANY INTERESTING NOTES CONCERNING ENGLISH CATHOLICISM IN GENERAL, AND AMBROSE PHILLIPPS DE LISLE IN PARTICULAR. The… Read More

1835. First Edition. Softcover. Very good. Small 4to. Manuscript on paper. [2], 53 pp. Complete. Stitched (plain paper wrappers torn and frayed along spine, with loss), edges untrimmed. Minor blemishes to the text but unsophisticated. Preserved in a protective cloth case. Highly curious and apparently unpublished German Romantic play concerning the "Death of Lottchus" (in Part 1) and his ghost (in Part 2), "The Happiness of Marriage." The action takes place in Rubeland (Saxony-Anhalt). Other performers include Flanko, Wolf, Fritzus and his wife Perdestalla, Liebling, and Maloss. Despite extensive searching, we have been unable to find any reference to a play such as this.

Madrid, 1728. Good. Manuscript on paper. Folio. 38 ff. (tears and wear along fore-edges, smaller tears along top and bottom of leaves, persistant waterstains, fol. 1 damaged with loss). Top portion of final leaf excised, but the text is continuous (see below). Recent sympathetic wrappers. With faults, and priced correctly. EXCELLENT SPANISH GOLDEN-AGE MANUSCRIPT WHICH DOCUMENTS AN ATTEMPT TO "CERTIFY" THE NOBILITY OF A NOBLEMAN IN PROVINCIAL SPAIN WHOSE FAMILY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FOUNDER OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. The purpose of the document is to demonstrate the nobility of Don Manuel Silbestre Joseph de Herrera y Tassis. There had been a reorganizing of the government of the town Bañares, in the province of Burgos (now Logroño), and Herrera believed that he should be the "acalde" (similar to the post of "mayor", though with greater authority than the modern mayor). However, to claim the position, it was necessary for some unstated reason for Herrera to prove that he was of noble birth. TEXT:… Read More

S.l. (Britain?), 1920. Very good. Slim 8vo. 43 unnumbered pages + one full-page drawing. Handmade notebook tied with string, covers of gilt sprinkled card-stock (some surface scratching and wear to extremities; some unobjectionable foxing and staining). Curious homemade manuscript of what appears to be an unpublished English translation of the beloved Momotaro ("Peach Boy") fairy tale. Whereas the story of the boy who is born from a giant peach, discovered floating down a river by an old washer woman, is well known, we continue to be enchanted by it. Our manuscript has some interesting textual variants and was likely "reinvented" in parts. For instance, in the first meeting between Momotaro and the dog: "...suddenly from the grassy moor a two coloured dog about the size of a calf appeared, facing Momotaro and showing his teeth he barked 'You rude fellow do you think to pass through MR. BUCHI'S place with out giving notice?' (emphasis ours). Elsewhere Momotaro "let BUCHI carry the flag and MASHIRA a… Read More

England, 1876. Very good. 4to. Notebook ruled in plummet, containing 79 pp. of very neat written text (the remaining pages blank). Laid in are 4 additional leaves with 7 epitaphs written by other hands (see below). Bound and/or sold by by Abraham Johnson, Stationer, Hull: original flexible black roan, comb-marbled endpapers, marbled edges (extremities worn, internally excellent). PURE ENGLISH ANTIQUARIANISM: A VICTORIAN MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION OF MORE THAN 100 EPITAPHS FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND. Included are transcriptions of obscure epitaphs from tiny village cemeteries and remote areas, many of which do not appear in published sources. The epitaphs are highly eclectic; whereas only small percentage are assigned to named persons, all are localized with the names of specific parishes, villages, towns or cities from where they were collected. Some epitaphs are dated, the earliest being 1598 (Spencer's tomb in Westminster), the latest 1875-1876 (Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire). Indeed,… Read More

France, 1781. Very good. Manuscript on paper. 8vo. [16] pp. (including 2 blank pages), with handwriting almost entirely filling 13 pages. Stitched (recent?), evidence of two old folds, minor toning and soiling but overall in very good antiquarian condition. DIMINUTIVE AND CURIOUS MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY CATALOGUE OF VOYAGES AND HISTORY, NO DOUBT WRITTEN BY A FRENCH ANTIQUARIAN (note the compiler's almost unwavering spelling of "Voiages" (sic). The entries are classified as belonging to just two types of books: Voyages and "Histoire," the latter being very broad in scope -- as commonly among early French library catalogues. For instance, classified as "Histoire" is Hirzel's "Le Socrate rustique"; unusually, the complete imprint is recorded here (Zurich, Heideggeur, 1764), as is the size (12mo); most entries are more brief. Listed also are works by Sessa, "celebre mathematicien indien" who "invented Chess," and Ardschir, who "invented Tric-Trac." Below this is written More's Utopia translated by… Read More

Rio de Janeiro / Baltimore, 1849. Good. Manuscript on paper. Folio (310 x 195 mm). Stitched in contemporary marbled stiff wrappers (worn and partially defective, shaken). 63 pp. numbered in MS. TOGETHER WITH: working collapsible brass spyglass (likely contemporary), three draws, lens cap no longer present, clearly damaged but FULLY FUNCTIONAL. Dimensions: 440 mm (open), 190 mm (closed), 46 mm (diameter). FASCINATING MANUSCRIPT SHIP'S LOG, RECORDING THE 60-DAY VOYAGE OF THE BRIG HELEN FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE PORT OF BALTIMORE, CHESAPEAKE BAY. The log records the ship's daily course, wind directions and conditions, longitude, latitude, "Remarks on board," ailments of various crew members, and seafaring sightings. The voyage commenced on Feb. 3rd and ended on April 4, 1849. Named are Maceió (Brazil), Cabo de Santo Agostinho (Brazil), Barbados, Cape Hatteras (Virginia Beach), Cape Henry (Virginia Beach), and Baltimore. From an anonymous nautical scholar source we have received an article that… Read More

Washington DC, 1850. First Edition. Good. Text: 8vo (224 x 140 mm). 14, [2] pp. (including final blank leaf), some foxing. COMPLETE WITH LARGE FOLDING LITHOGRAPH MAP OF MEXICO, with U.S. Army routes in red (659 x 500 mm). Folds and short repairs where attached to text, light browning. Recent sympathetic drab wrappers, front cover lettered in manuscript. First edition of this excellent map illustrative of both the Mexican-American War and the cartography of Mexico, prepared by members of the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers. Our map is accompanied by the essential text which is not always present. Herein "cartographer M.L. Smith (Lieutenant of the Topographical Engineers) writes to J.J. Abert (Colonel Corps Topographical Engineers) paying homage to the accuracy of Baron Humboldt's map of the Valley of Mexico and stating that it was the only one in which they placed confidence for moving troops in to capture the city. He remarks, however, that he believes that the present map is the first survey of… Read More

New York: Julius Bien & Co. (for the U.S. War Dept.), 1890. First Edition. Good. Original lithograph: folio map (image size: 29" x 18") unframed. Edges with some chipping or loss in the margins (SEE IMAGES), tear along fold at top edge extending ca. 4.5"). An informative map of the Coast of Texas which itself contains ten maps, the largest of which covers the coast of Texas from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Orange, the easternmost city in the state. In the largest maps there is an inset in the upper right corner, showing minor details for 14 individual forts (these are numbered on the main chart). This is Plate LXV extracted from "Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies 1861-1865" (Washington: GPO, 1890) lithographed by Julius Bien. Metadata from David Rumsey: "Coast of Texas and its defenses, Capt. Tipton Walker, Chief of Topographical Bureau of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, drawn by P. Helferich, Asst. Engr. 1864. (with) Engineer Office, 10th Army Corps,… Read More

San Francisco: Institute of Historical Cartography, 1963. First Edition. Near Fine. Together five vols. in six. Large folios (355 x 260 mm). Original publisher's dark green buckram over gray linen, spines gilt-stamped; standard offsetting inside boards from publisher's brown dust-wrappers, now no longer present. Unread copy. ONE OF THE GREAT WORKS OF CARTOGRAPHIC HISTORY -- easily the most important work on Western American maps from 1540 to the Civil War. "Wheat" (as it is known) is the ne-plus-ultra of its genre, and takes pride of place as the preeminent work on this subject, surely never to be surpassed. Comprising more than 1,600 pages and featuring more than 300 high-quality reproductions of rare maps and plans (some double-page), plus a "Bibliocartography" describing 1,302 maps, "Wheat" is nothing short of epic. Howell ("California 50" no. 1655) assigns justifiable praise: "A truly monumental work on the cartography of the West, from the Spanish Entrada to the Geological Survey of 1877. It… Read More

Bath: S. Hazard for T. Mills, 1775. 8vo. xvii, [3], 445, [1] pp. Modern full calf, red morocco spine label. Displeasing glue residue in gutter margin of first blank and title-page, both of which are a little browned, age-toning throughout (not objectionable); top edge of textblock with stain near the head-cap which did not permeate through the text itself. Provenance: Mary Knowles (contemporary signature on title - see below). A good copy, with faults, and priced accordingly. Was the "Mary Knowles" who first owned this 18th-century English translation of Boehme's first work the same as the well known English Quaker, mystic, poet, feminist, and abolitionist, namely Mary (Morris) Knowles (1733-1807). While we have been unable to procure an autograph of Mary Morris Knowles with which to compare the two signatures, if she did not own this particular copy of Boehme, it is almost certain that she had in her library at least one of Boehme's texts. This edition was published by Thomas Mills (ca. 1735-1820),… Read More

Venice: Ex Officina Gryphii sumptibus vero Francisci Camotii e sociorum (Giovanni Griffio for Giovanni Francesco Camocio and Partners), 1552. First Edition. Small 4to. [8], 191, [1 blank], 31, [1 blank] pp. Collation: *4 A-Z4 AA4 a-d4. COMPLETE. Woodcut device on title-page, 7- and 5- line historiated initials. Attractive late 18th- or early 19th-century Italian quarter vellum over decorated floral-patterened paper boards (some wear at corners, pastedowns with biopredations just touching endpapers, title-page with three unimportant holes, otherwise the textblock is untouched). Appealing contemporary MS inscription of the author's name and title of the work in MS along top edge of textblock. A crisp copy, with early ownership inscription on title-page: "Francisci Justinio." Accompanied by an export license from the Ministero per i beni e le attivita culturali. First edition of the FIRST DESCRIPTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR CIRCULATION. Meletius' "On the Construction of Man," recently rediscovered and… Read More

New York: Fordham University Press, 1965. Hardcover. Fair. Octavo, 284 pages, original cloth, no dust jacket. Water damage to case, text unaffected. ¶ An important bibliography of printed and manuscript catalogues of pre-1600 Latin manuscripts in European libraries -- from A-Z (i.e from Aachen, Germany to Zwolle, Holland). Still essential.

Leningrad: Academia, 1927. FIRST EDITION. Softcover. Very good. Small 8vo (150 x 110 mm). [2], 218, [6] pp. With a portrait of the author. Original Constructivist styled wrapper designed by Valentina Khodasevich (small tears of the overlapped wrappers, Soviet bookshops' stamps on the recto of the back cover, a few spots on the back cover and extremities of the pages, few pages slightly loose, shadow on the first and last pages). Overall a very good copy, preserved in a fine fitted protective case. TOGETHER WITH: "Zaslužennaja artistka Imperatorskoj russkoj dramatičeskoj Gruppy M.G. Savina: 9 aprělja 1874-9 aprělja 1909" (i.e. Meritorious Artist of the Imperial Russian Drama Group M.G. Savina, April 9, 1874 - April 9, 1909), n.d. (ca. 1910). Oblong folio (160 x 250 mm). Unpaginated. With title-page portrait vignette and 47 plates reproducing more than 100 photographs of Maria Savina, interleaved with original tissue guards (some creased). Original wrappers. TOGETHER THESE TWO VOLUMES FORM THE… Read More

1921. Good. Quarto (10 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches). 46 leaves, including 4-page "Circular Letter" to friends (detached) and 1-page text "What Drought Means in India" (detached, text incomplete). With a few handwritten corrections and additions. WITH: Autograph letter signed: Deaville Walker to his son, written from Ceylon, dated Sept. 20, 1920. Contemporary thick paper wrappers, two brass fasteners (wrappers worn along spine and extremities, typescripts with some toning or creasing). A British Methodist missionary's travels to India. The letters were composed (and typed?) either on the Indian continent, or at sea aboard the S.S. Kitano Maru or S.S. Atsuta Maru. This typescript records a well-known Methodist missionary's epistolary diary from a trip to India between August 1920 and January 1921, with a visit to Marseilles, before proceeding through the Suez to Ceylon, Madras, Conjeeveram, Bangalore, Tumkur, Hassan, Mysore, Gwalior, Landour, Bulandshahr, Haidarabad, Secunderabad, and more. It includes… Read More

Good. Broadsheet (297 x 200 mm). Printed in red on inferior paper (creased, frayed at margins). Preserved in a mylar sleeve. RARE MEXICAN SOCIALIST ANTI-FASCIST / ANTI-FALANGE BROADSIDE, PRINTED ON THE CHEAPEST PAPER POSSIBLE, INEXPLICABLY PRESERVED FOR AT LEAST 80 YEARS. The dating of the broadside can be determined by the reference to "Presidente Cardenas," i.e. Lazaro Cardenes, who served as the President of Mexico from 1934 until his death in 1940. We have been unable to locate another copy of this broadside. The socialist group UGT warns their Mexican compatriots that Franco, with the help of Hitler and Mussolini, is dominating the Spanish people, and that President Cardenas -- with the help of all conscious Mexicans -- is saving the country from foreign domination. The Spanish monopolies, grocers, bartenders, landowners and exploiters of Mexicans are organizing themselves in the "Spanish Falange" and trying to attack the Mexican Government -- and liberties of the Mexican people -- to serve… Read More

Croton Falls, NY: The Spiral Press, 1932. First Edition. Very Good. 72 pp. Folio. Bound in original navy blue buckram, title gilt on front cover and spine, trifle wear along board edges, covers slightly scuffed, patterned blue and red endpapers. As is true in all copies, the textblock has a faint yellow/brown tint on account of the paper stock. Signed by the author on the front flyleaf. Edition limited to 300 copies. An important resource on Mexican architecture and pottery. Author's presentation copy: "For Elizabeth Fleming / who liked Casa Manana / with a Viva Mexico! from / Elizabeth Morrow / May 1933." Containing numerous reproduced drawings by William Spratling, as well as 14 photoplates of Mexican artifacts. The book describes pieces from the Morrow's collection of handmade ceramic pots, lacquerware trays, and striking textiles which they stored at their Spanish-colonial style retreat in Cuernavaca. "Casa Manana" is divided into three sections: "Our Street in Cuernavaca," "Plans and Details… Read More

Mexico City: Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, 1913. Very good. Broadside (403 x 303 mm) printed on thin rose paper. Preserved in mylar L-sleeve backed with lig-free board. IN UNCOMMONLY GOOD CONDITION. NEAR-FINE POSADA GAME PRINTS SELDOM APPEAR ON THE MARKET AS THE PAPER WAS (AND IS) INCREDIBLY THIN, AND THE GAMES WERE HEAVILY USED AND REUSED TO PIECES BY GAMERS OF ALL AGES. The present print is Posada's VARIATION on the "Juego de la oca" (Game of the Goose), here featuring Mexican smugglers on horseback (hence the game's name: "Los Charros Contrabandistas"); these cowboy crooks lasso all 64 circular spaces, and the players most move past some of Posada's most enduring icons: beginning at the Scorpion at the top left, the player must move past the skull-and-crossbones smuggler at the bottom right; along the way Posado introduces different characters, good, bad, and ugly. Be careful not to land on the final space, "la Calavera" because if you do: you lose. José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was quite… Read More

Mexico City, 1941. Fair. Altogether 33 items (plus 14 duplicate pieces of religious ephemera). Includes 5 monographs dating from 1759-1941, various bindings, various conditions (see below). INTRIGUING "COLECCION RELIGIOSA MEXICANA" totalling 33 items (of which 5 are monographs dating from 1759, 1833, 1857, 1933, and 1941), with a goodly quantity of "unfindable" Mexican pilgrims flyers, prayer cards, etc. CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION: ¶ 1-28 (ephemera): Archive of Mexican religious broadsheets, pilgrims flyers, and prayer cards, various imprints, various dates (20th century). Condition: fair (generally printed on cheap paper). Added: 14 duplicate broadsheets and prayer cards. ¶ 29 (monograph). Martinez de la Parra, Juan. Luz de verdades Catholicas y explicacion de la doctrina christiana. Madrid, Ibarra, 1759. Folio, contemporary calf (rebacked, corners repaired). Lacking gathering a6 (includes title-page), fol. Ss2, and fols. Ss6-8. Final leaves poorly mended. POOR condition. One of the most… Read More

Mexico City and Havana, 1932. Fair to Good. Various sizes (8vo to large 4to), together five items. All original wrappers, various wear. ¶ 1-4. Programs from "The Little Theatre" of Mexico City (1931-1932). NONE ARE LISTED IN OCLC / FIRSTSEARCH. THIS THEATER SEEMS TO HAVE FADED INTO OBLIVION. But judging by the number of plays recorded in our programs, it was a vibrant collective. A sampling of the plays that were produced: Mrs. Musset Sees It Through by Paul de Witt Page, Jr., re-written by Margaret West Goodrich; PanAmericanism by Robert Babb (original play) Jewel of Mexico by David Kirkland (original play) The Brat by Maud Fulton (original play) The Intruder by Maurice Maeterlinck The Bear by Chekov. Eleven plays are described in the four programs. Very good condition. ¶ 5. Manana de Sol. Paso de Comedia. Por Serafin y Joaquin Alvarez Quintero. Representado en el Teatro Lara la noche del beneficio de Dona Balbina Valverde. Habana (Havana, Cuba), 1905. Playscript. 14 pp., stapled, front wrapper… Read More