Rare books from Michael Pyron, Bookseller, ABAA

Oxford: Printed by Shakespeare Head Press for Basil Blackwell, 1932. Half Leather. Very Good+ binding. Quarto. Vol I: [8], 307 (signature "t" repeats pp. 137-144, as issued), [1 (blank)]; II: [8], 252; III: [8], 221, [3 (blank)]; IV: [8], 241, [7 (blank)]; V: [8], 262, [2 (blank)]; VI: [8], 416; VII: [8], 241, [3 (blank)]; [12], 280 pp., bifolium prospectus with 4 printed pages, one of which is a specimen page with hand-colored headpiece. Limited Edition, number 108 of 375 copies (350 for sale) on Batchelor's Shakespeare Head handmade paper; printed in black 16 pt. Caslon with initials in blue and headlines in blue and red. Backed in Hermitage calf with Cockerell marbled paper over boards and corners tipped in vellum. A beautiful set with only light shelf-rubbing to the covers; calf spines show slight variation as volume I-III are a bit sunned and volume III is a trifle soiled--leather remains supple on all volumes. Contents are very clean but for some foxing to the textblock edges; volumes IV-VIII… Read More

Petersburg, VA: printed for the author, by Dickson & Pescud [and] M. W. Dunnavant, 1816. Full Leather. Good binding. Octavo. Vol. I: ii, iv, 348; II: 335, [1 (blank)], lxii; III: 469; IV: viii, 538, xv, [1 (blank)], [1 (errata)], [1 (blank)] pp. Folding plate. First edition. In contemporary calf. Fairly solid copies with wear to the extremities, particularly the corners and the spine ends; the front boards of Volume II and III have been sensitively secured/reattached; spine label of Volume I is lacking. All volumes show the expected foxing and toning to the contents but are clean. Volumes I and II have the book plate of Virginia and West Virginia politician Charles James Faulkner; evidence of a bookplate removed from Volume III; Volume IV bears the contemporary owner name of John Parham. An important work of Virginia history. In an early catalog, Eberstadt summarizes, "The author dedicates his work to Thomas Jefferson, whose ardent disciple he was, and through whose influence he had access to… Read More

London: J. Jenkins, printed by L. Harrison and J. C. Leigh, 1835. Three Quarter Leather. Very Good binding. Large quarto. viii, iv (subscribers), [2 (contents)], [120] pp., engraved title, engraved dedication, 52 hand-colored plates, later issue. Later binding, three quarters morocco with corners and cloth over boards; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; recently rebacked in matching maroon morocco with leather spine labels and new cloth hinges; bottom corner of the front free endpaper is chipped; engraved title has a circular gold debossed sticker of Omega within a pyramid; few preliminary leaves have very short closed tear to the bottom of the leaf in the gutter; a few minor chipped leaves along the bottom edge have been discreetly mended; occasional foxing and smudging to a few leaves; small pencil numbering to each leaf--non-obtrusive and erasable. Largely, a clean copy of a desirable English plate book. Regularly reissued, this is a later issue of the plates with a watermark, when present,… Read More

Richmond: West & Johnston, 1862. Hard Cover. Good binding. Confederate imprint, first edition, thus. 37" x 25". As issued, folded in printed paper over boards case; fore-edge ties are lacking; staining and wear to the case. Paper is toned with some staining; several closed tears at the folds and intersections of folds, one of which is significant spanning nearly 12". This is the second iteration of the Bucholtz-Ludwig map of 1858. Of the origin of this map, William C. Wooldridge writes, "At least four maps of Virginia published between 1858 and ca. 1868 derive in whole or in part from the same lithographic stone--or were copied with such minute care as to make their common parts indistinguishable. The maps have different borders, different sizes, and different publisher's imprints. They look different.... The common denominator of these four maps is the lithographic stone prepared by Charles L. Ludwig in 1858 for Ludwig von Bucholtz's new map of Virginia" (p. 26). Wooldridge goes on, "This new… Read More

Salt Lake City: Scrub Oak Press [Zion: W. W. Phelps & Co.], 2010. Full Leather. Near Fine binding. 16mo. 160 pp. Limited edition, number 36 of 100 copies of the regular edition. There was also a deluxe edition of 29 copies. Fine letterpress printing from photopolymer plates on a period-appropriate paper hand-made for this edition and bound in salmon colored calf with a simple gilt rules on the spine. The binding and its decoration follow the binding of an extant copy lending this the 'feel' of an original copy. It is indeed an impressive edition of the most elusive of Mormon texts. The regular edition comprises this replica as well as, "A Note on the Book of Commandments" by Peter Crawley (16mo. 32pp., backed in calf with marbled paper over boards); both books are housed in an attractive full cloth clamshell with morocco title label. A beautiful copy in Fine or nearly Fine condition. The Book of Commandments was the first printed edition of the collected revelations received by Joseph Smith (later… Read More

Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1794. Full Leather. Good binding. Octavo. [4], 336 pp., folding table. Second American edition. Bound in contemporary calf with morocco title label on the spine; this copy is lacking the folding map of Virginia as is so often the case. Darkening from desiccation to the base of the spine and onto the rear board; joints are starting to separate, but boards are holding well; covers are splayed; institutional bookplate on the front pastedown otherwise contents are clean and binding sound. "A comprehensive and very valuable description of the natural history, economic resources, and social condition of Virginia, drawn up in the form of answers to queries presented by Barbe de Marbois. . . . The answer to the 18th query contains his famous denunciation of slavery; that to the 17th his defense of liberty of conscience" Larned 1374. An early edition of an important work. Evans 27162; Howes J-78; Sabin 35898.

Original Wrappers. Very Good binding. An uncommon collection of promotional material from Tuskegee Institute. Contents include: 1) Tuskegee Institute, 1881-1931 | Souvenir Program, Exercises in Celebration of Founder's Day and the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Establishment of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute by Booker T. Washington, April 12-14, 1931 (Robert Russa Moton, Principal). Tuskegee Institute Press, 1931. Quarto. [24] pp., illus. In printed, patterned wrappers. Light shelfwear, only. Many full page photographs of the campus. (OCLC 298254312) 2) Zuber, Osburn. [cover title] Negro Scientist Shows 'Way Out' for Southern Farmers: A Story of George Washington Carver of Tuskegee. np/nd. Octavo. 21, [3 (blank)] pp., Pagination includes wrappers. As issued, stapled into printed wrapper. Light wear including a clipped inner bottom corner; previous owner name (Emily Bush) on the top of the front cover; stapled rusted by holding. (OCLC 11745628) 3) Dillard, James Hardy. Booker T.… Read More

Philadelphia: North American Land Company, 1795. Very Good binding. 12.25" x 9.75". Printed broadside form on paper completed in ink and signed by the secretary of the North American Land Company James Marshall (brother of Chief Justice John Marshall) and president of the company, Robert Morris. Scalloped left edge as issued; vertical crease through the center from an early fold; light edgewear, only. A presentable copy. While Morris is most recognized as a financier of the American Revolution as well as a signer of the three founding documents of the United States--Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States--the North American Land Company was a less than successful endeavor. Late in the 18th century Morris had some early successes with land speculation that drove him. The culmination of that drive, The North American Land Company, was a venture started by Morris and John Nicholson and eventually including John Greenleaf. It was a land… Read More

London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1898. Hard Cover. Very Good binding. Octavo. xviii, 550, 32 (ads); [8], 641 pp., frontis, port, maps. First edition. In publisher's red cloth; all portraits and maps are present. Some conservation work has been performed, including mending all the inner hinges, discreetly lining the joints and backstrips from behind and mending all the inner hinges so that these volumes are quite strong despite the conservation work being very subtle; spines sunned; light soiling to the covers; contents are intermittently foxed. This copy belonged to Confederate General William H. Payne and has his name in ink on both half-title and his name stamp on both title pages. Additionally, under Payne's inked name on the half titles is a pencil name of Harry F. Payne, surely General Payne's son. This set is from the library maintained by the Hunton family and the pencil underlining, marginal bracketing, and marginalia is believed to be that of Eppa Hunton IV, Payne's grandson. Nevins notes… Read More

Richmond: Press of the Dietz Printing Company, 1929. Quarter Leather. Very Good binding. Quarto. [2], xii, 439 pp., frontis, facsims, plates, illus, Limited edition, number 16 of 75 copies, signed and inscribed by Dietz with an additional manuscript note in Deitz's hand so stating the limitation. As issued, in full gray leather titled and decorated in gold on both boards and spine; top edge gilt; profusely illustrated with in-text photographic reproductions and facsimiles as well as a few color plates. Light rubbing to the spine ends and a bit of soiling on the covers; contents clean. A nice copy of what Nevins describes as, "[a] detailed study of one Confederate department; buttressed with official documents, letters and illustrations" CWB II, 172. Harwell calls it "[u]nrivalled in its area" In Tall Cotton 43. This copy from the library of noted collector Charles R. Sanders, Jr. with his book label on the rear pastedown.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935. Hard Cover. Near Fine binding. Octavo. xviii, [2], 647; xii, [2], 621; xi, [3], 559; viii, [2], 594 pp., frontis, plates, ports, maps, facsims. First edition, first printing, signed and inscribed by Freeman on the front free endpaper of Volume I. Publisher's scarlet cloth with title in gold on the spine and front cover with two scarce publisher's slipcase; all plates are present as called for. Spines have only the hint of sunning. The publisher's slipcases are a bit rubbed with some early discreet and effective repairs to one rear joint of each; generally Good or better; these are uncommon in this condition. "A classic example of the biographical form; exhaustively researched, vividly written, balanced, judicious and definitive in its portrayal of the Confederacy's greatest soldier" CWB II, 57. Harwell calls it a "materpiece of biograpy and of military history" In Tall Cotton 62. A much nicer copy than often seen of the signed, first printing set of… Read More

Montgomery, AL: White, Pfister & Co. | printed by Wood, Hanleiter, Rice & Co, Atlanta, 1861. Half Leather. Very Good+ binding. Octavo. v, [3], xii (index) [9]-464 pp. First edition. In contemporary half sheep with marbled paper over boards. Binding is solid with limited wear; contents are foxed throughout. A remarkably nice copy. Smith in his preface writes, "Of the Conventions of the People that have recently been held in the seceding States on the great question of dissolving the Union, there does not seem to have been any serious effort made, in any except Alabama, to preserve the Debates. It is, therefore, my agreeable fortune, not only to be able to set an example of diligence to the sister States but to combine, in an authentic record for future ages, both the acts of the Patriots of Alabama, and the fervent words by which they were mutually animated in the discharge of their great duties" (p. iii). Indeed, Howes calls this the "[p]rincipal authority on the momentous secession convention"… Read More

Belton, TX, 1910. Three Quarter Leather. Very Good+ binding. 16mo. 40 pp. First edition in book form. Issued in self-wrappers, this copy has been bound in three-quarter morocco with corners and cloth over boards by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Binding bright; contents clean throughout. From the library of noted Confederate collector, Charles R. Sanders, Jr. with his bookplate on the rear pastedown. Born in Georgia, Robert Little (1837-1926) served in Company I, Alabama 44th Infantry. In this narrative he recounts being captured in Racoon Valley, TN and then being moved from "inn" to "inn" starting with the Chattanooga penitentiary, then to Nashville, and Louisville, KY where he spent a night or two until he and his comrades finally arrived at Camp Morton in Indianapolis where he was held from October 1863 to March of 1865. He catalogs numerous, gratuitous cruelties and abuses endured at the hands of guards as well as deprivations of food and means of warmth during two bitter Midwest winters. The stories… Read More

1791. 9" x 7.5." Writing on recto and verso. Near fine. A very nice example of an ALS by General Anthony Wayne. Wayne was an instrumental part of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, entering the fray as a colonel and at the conclusion of war, a major general. It is difficult to overstate Wayne's contribution to the American cause. After the war he served two years in Pennsylvania General Assembly and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. In 1791 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia, serving in that role until his death in 1796. Interestingly, this letter addressing a financial matter was written the day he took his seat in Congress. One might imagine he was using his new position to put some additional authority behind his request. This letter appears to be addressed to Congressman Joseph Clay. Oxford American National Biography. Transcribed in full: "Savannah 4th March 1791 / Dear Sir / I was favored with yours of the 2nd inst. inclosing an… Read More

New Orleans: Loujon Press, 1963. Hard Cover. Very Good+ binding. Octavo. [4], 98, [4] pp. Signed, first edition, limited to 777 copies. In original flexible boards with complicated series of jackets and wrap-arounds. Light rubbing to the extremities, contents clean. Generally, a very good+ copy, signed and dated by Bukowski in silver ink, "5/25/1963." This is the first in the Gypsy Lou series #1. True to the Loujon Press, this present work is a complicated and interesting piece of printing and binding. In flexible boards with pictorial jacket around which is an additional outer yellow, pictorial jacket with wrap-around—patterned Japanese paper separates the inner and outer jackets at the front panel. Mounted to the front of this is printed, orange cork to the front and rear panel and wrap-around flap are printed in black and purple. The preliminaries are of a graduating length, each leaf printed on differently colored paper. This copy comports with what Dorbin identifies as state 1 of the… Read More