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  • "No one quality by itself makes a good man or woman; many are essential; but three especially - courage, straightforward honesty, and common sense": Rare autograph quotation book lengthily inscribed by Theodore Roosevelt as President in addition to many others including William Howard Taft, John Muir, John Burroughs, and Bernard Baruch

    ROOSEVELT, THEODORE; WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT; JOHN MUIR; JOHN BURROUGHS; BERNARD BARUCH ET AL. [OLGA ROOSEVELT].

    Theodore Roosevelt Signed and Inscribed Autograph Quotation Book.

    : c. 1903.

    Olga Roosevelt’s autograph book, lengthily inscribed and signed by Theodore Roosevelt as President of the United States, William Howard Taft as Vice President of the United States and several other famous figures of the era, including naturalists John Muir and John Burroughs and financier Bernard Baruch. Octavo, bound in full vellum with hand painted decorations to the spine and panels, patterned endpapers. Inscribed and signed by Theodore Roosevelt with a lengthy quotation, “No one quality by itself makes a good man or woman; many are essential; but three especially – courage, straightforward honesty, and common sense. Theodore Roosevelt July 23rd 1903.” Inscribed by William Howard Taft “For Miss Olga Roosevelt with best wishes of William H. Taft May 23 1910.” Inscribed by American naturalist John Burroughs, “The most precious things of life are without money & without price John Burroughs Sept 8, 1903.” Inscribed by the President of Cornell University and United States Ambassador to Germany Jacob Gould Schurman, “Beauty, graceful manners, good temper, common sense, and a kind heart: these are the qualities that make a woman to be beloved and powerful. J.G. Schurman East Hampton September 14th 1903.” Additionally inscribed by Alfred W.S. Garden, American diplomat Robert Underwood Johnson, American screenwriter Daniel Carson Goodman, and American naval officer Leigh Carlyle Palmer. Signed by John Muir and signed and dated by Bernard Baruch “B. Baruch Jan 20th 1920.” From the collection of Theodore Roosevelt’s niece, Olga Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the heiress to a fortune of several million dollars left her by her mother. She made her debut in Washington in 1908 and married Dr. Breckenridge Bayne in 1911. In very good condition. An exceptional collection of signatures with noted provenance.

    Price: $15,000.00     Item Number: 116342

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  • "The version that should've been made": Rare original Bill Phillips Screenplay of Firestarter; inscribed by him

    PHILLIPS BILL; STEPHEN KING,.

    Firestarter Screenplay.

    : Universal Studios August 23, 1982.

    Original bound screenplay written by Bill Phillips for the Universal Studios film production of Firestarter, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Quarto, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by Bill Phillips on the title page, “To Gary Word, with warm regards, Bill Phillips *the version that should’ve been made.” Additionally laid in is a note on Phillips’ letterhead which reads in full, “Gary, I’ll be glad to sign the limited edition! Enclosed is my script of FIRESTARTER. I would’ve sent it sooner, but I lost your address! Best, Bill.” During the filming of The Thing, Universal offered John Carpenter the chance to direct Firestarter, who in turn hired Bill Lancaster to adapt the novel into a screenplay, which Stephen King approved of. Months later, Carpenter hired Bill Phillips to write another version with Richard Dreyfuss as Andy, but when The Thing underperformed financially, Universal replaced Carpenter with Mark L. Lester, who brought Stanley Mann to write a screenplay that stayed closer to the novel than the abandoned screenplays that Carpenter had commissioned. In very good condition.

    Price: $750.00     Item Number: 139549

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  • Thomas Dawson's translation of The Works of Flavius Josephus

    JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS.

    The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus, The Jewish Historian, Containing Twenty Books of the Jewish Antiquities, Seven Books of the Jewish War, and the Life of Josephus, Written by Himself.

    London: Published by John Pearmain n.d.

    Uncommon second edition of Thomas Dawson’s translation of the works of the famed Jewish historian. Quarto, two volumes bound in full nineteenth century polished calf, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt tooling and embossing to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling and stamping to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins, illustrated with numerous engravings. In good condition. Rare.

    Price: $950.00     Item Number: 139427

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  • RARE NINETEENTH CENTURY PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

    GARDNER, ALEXANDER. [ABRAHAM LINCOLN].

    Abraham Lincoln Portrait.

    : c. 1860.

    Rare original painting of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. After a photograph by Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner. Scottish photographer Alexander Gardner immigrated to the United States in 1856 where he became best known for his photographs of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, and the execution of the conspirators to Lincoln’s assassination. In near fine condition. In a period frame. The entire piece measures 20.75 by 16.75 inches. Rare and desirable.

    Price: $3,500.00     Item Number: 95830

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  • Rare First Edition of Herodotus' Historiae, in Greek

    HERODOTUS; EDITED BY ALDUS MANUTIUS,.

    Historiae, In Greek.

    Venice: Aldus Manutius September, 1502.

    Rare first edition of Herodotus‘ history of the Persian Wars, one of the most important texts edited by the great scholar-printer-publisher. Folio, bound in contemporary vellum, woodcut title in Greek and Roman letter, verso with dedication in Latin, text in Greek letter throughout with spaces for capital letters, woodcut device on title and last page. Aldus claims in the dedication that he corrected the text from multiple exemplars, one of the few instances where such a claim by him is justified and can be verified. He was the first to have access to the ‘Florentine’ codices, where Valla had used the so-called Roman family of manuscripts for his translation. The printer’s copy was discovered in Nuremberg by Brigitte Mondrain in 1993 (Scriptorium 49 [1995], pp. 263-273). The History was designed to match the Aldine Thucydides of four months earlier: they share a paper stock, all types and the number of lines per page. Ahmanson-Murphy 50; Isaac 12782; Laurenziana 64; Renouard, Alde 35:8; Sansoviniana 67. In excellent condition with light rubbing and wear, bookplates to the pastedown, some light toning to the text, occasional Greek and Latin annotations in a c.17th-century hand, small repairs to the final four leaves. An exceptional example of this landmark work, rare and desirable in contemporary vellum.

    Price: $32,000.00     Item Number: 96588

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  • Rare Letter signed by George Washington regarding his various land holdings in Virginia

    WASHINGTON, GEORGE.

    George Washington Letter Signed.

    Mount Vernon: July 28, 1785.

    Rare letter signed by George Washington to his land agent in Virginia, Battaile Muse.

    Quarto, three pages on a single folded leaf, the letter is addressed to Mr. Battaile Muse.

    The body of the letter, in a secretarial hand, reads in full: “Mount Vernon, July 28, 1785 Sir: A few days ago by a Mr. Hickman, who either is, or wants to be a tenant of mine in Frederick County. I sent you a Dozen Blank leases. The Tract on which he says he is fixed, is part of two lots which I purchased at the sale of Colo. George Mercer’s Estate, in the year 1774: a plot of which I send you, that the whole may be arranged into four tenements, as conveniently disposed as water &c. will admit. In Sept. last, whilst I was at my Brother’s in Berkely [sic], many Persons applied for this Land. But from causes which then existed I came to no positive agreement with any; referring them to Mr. Snickers, who was so kind as to promise that he would fix matters for me (as I was in a hurry and could not go upon the Land myself) on the terms which, if I recollect right, I gave him in a letter. Some time after two men of the names of Winzer and Beaver, with the letter enclosed from Mr. Snickers, came here, and were told that I would comply with whatever agreement was made with them by him: among other things they said Mr. Snickers had promised them Leases for fourteen years: this I observed could not, I conceived to be the case, because I had expressly named ten years (the term for which Mr. Burwell let his Lands adjoining), but, notwithstanding, if the case was so, and Mr. Snickers would declare it, the Leases should be filled up accordingly: this I repeat, and as far as the matter respects Winzer, for it seems Beaver has changed his mind, the other conditions endorsed on the back of Mr. Snicker’s letter to me, are to be granted him: he paying all the taxes which may be on the Land he holds, However as filling up one Lease may be a guide with respect to the others, I enclose one in the name of Winzer, with the blanks, as completely filled as I can do under my uncertainty with respect to the term of years for which he is to have it, and which is to be determined by Mr. Snickers: and for want of the quantity of acres in, and description of the Lot, which he is to have. There are already three Tenants on this tract, to whom you may fill up Leases on the same terms and I have done for Winzer, and whenever they will bring evidences to prove them, I will sign them. As Beaver has declined taking the Lot which he agreed first with Mr. Snickers and afterwards with me for, you may let it to any good tenant who offers, upon the terms the others are held. The three now engaged will have rents to pay thereon the first of next Jan. It will be necessary to take an Assignment of Mr. Whiting’s Lease, before one can be made to Mr. Airess; or some instrument of writing by which it will be can be cancelled, in order to render the new one valid; and I hope payment of the money due on the Replevy Bonds of the former will not be delayed longer than the time mentioned in your last letter, viz, Sept. Having got a Gentleman to assist me in my business, I hope shortly to have my Accts. so arranged as to send you a rental of what is due to me in London, Fauquier and Berkely [sic] Counties. I have a Lot in the town and common of Winchester, which when you have occasion to go thither, I beg the state and condition of them may be enquired into, and information given what can be made of them. The one in the Town, I believe a Doctr. McKay has something to do with. I would be obliged to you for enquiring of Mr. Wormley’s manager, if he has any good red clover seed for sale; what quantity, and the price thereof, and let me know the result by the first conveyance to Alexandria.”

    Washington closes his letter and signs the letter in his own hand: “I am Sir Yr Very Hble Serv G Washington.”

    In very good condition with an archival reinforcement to the inner fold, remnants of earlier mounts. Housed in a large custom slipcase.

    The recipient, Battaile Muse was the son of Colonel George Muse, who served with Washington in the Virginia Regiment during the Fort Necessity Campaign. Washington hired Battaile in November 1784 as his agent for land in Berkeley, Frederick, Fauquier, and Loudoun counties, a position he would hold until 1791. Prior to his presidency, Washington was, by occupation, a planter and he imported luxuries and other goods from England, paying for them by exporting tobacco. In 1765, because of erosion and other soil problems, he changed Mount Vernon’s primary cash crop from tobacco to wheat and expanded operations to include corn flour milling and fishing. His success in these new endeavors led him to soon be counted among the political and social elite in Virginia. From 1768 to 1775, he invited some 2,000 guests to his Mount Vernon estate, mostly those whom he considered people of rank. Following the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Washington returned to Mount Vernon where he oversaw the completion of the remodeling work at Mount Vernon, which transformed his residence into the mansion that survives to this day, although his financial situation was not strong. Creditors paid him in depreciated wartime currency, and he owed significant amounts in taxes and wages. Mount Vernon had made no profit during his absence, and he saw persistently poor crop yields due to pestilence and poor weather. Again, Washington diversified by undertaking a new landscaping plan and succeeded in cultivating a range of fast-growing trees and shrubs that were native to North America.

    Price: $40,000.00     Item Number: 139571

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  • "Reader if thou wilt do the fame, thy profit will be as great as mine": Exceptionally rare printing of Benjamin Franklin's An Old Man's Experience, or Poor Richard's Maxims Improved

    SAUNDERS, RICHARD [BENJAMIN FRANKLIN].

    An Old Man’s Experience, or Poor Richard’s Maxims Improved.

    : .

    Rare printing of Benjamin Franklin’s An Old Man’s Experience, or Poor Richard’s Maxims Improved, published under the pseudonym Richard Saunders in full, “An Old Man’s Experience, or, Poor Richard’s Maxims Improved. Reader, if you buy this Book, and seriously consider its contents, though it cost thee but a Trifle, it may save thee Many Pounds.” Small octavo, original wrappers as issued. No publisher or date listed. In very good condition with tape repair to the spine and rear panel. Exceptionally rare, no other copies matching this title and pagination have come to auction.

    Price: $7,500.00     Item Number: 96182

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  • Rare Fourth American edition of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man

    PAINE, THOMAS.

    Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution.

    Albany: Re-Printed by Charles R. & George Webster n.d.

    Fourth American edition of Paine’s classic work. Octavo, disbound. In near fine condition. A rare and desirable American separate printing.

    Price: $1,600.00     Item Number: 134509

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  • "We need only Israeli lists. Too many small political groups can only affect our stability": Rare Autograph Letter Signed by David Ben-Gurion to Eliahu Eliachar

    BEN-GURION, DAVID.

    David Ben-Gurion Autograph Letter Signed.

    : [1954].

    Autograph letter signed by and entirely in the hand of the founder of modern day Israel and first prime minister David Ben-Gurion. One page, text in Hebrew, addressed to Eliahu Eliachar, a notable Sephardic Zionist and Member of the Knesset, the letter reads in full, “Greetings, We don’t need separate political lists – not those of independent Yemenite or Sephardic political parties. Those lists can only distort/falsify the democratic process in our country and the process of integration as well. We need only Israeli lists. Too many small political groups can only affect our stability. The only way to resolve it is to change our voting system from relative voting to local voting. With great respect D. Ben-Gurion.” One of Ben-Gurion’s most ambitious goals in the first years of statehood was the unrestricted absorption of entire communities of newly-arrived Middle Eastern and North African Jews into the Ashkenazi-dominated Israeli society. Hundreds of thousands of new immigrants fled the inhospitable environment rising in the Islamic countries between 1948 and 1954 in the wake of the burgeoning Arab-Israeli conflict, settling in the economically-ravaged war-torn state. Other European Jewish communities from Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland were also transplanted to the Jewish State where they were forced to reside in transit villages and immigrants camps and became involved in domestic political in-fighting and became vulnerable to enticements from anti-establishment political groupings. Ben-Gurion feared that the plethora of small political parties could potentially destabilize Israel’s precarious democracy and advocated for a radical change in Israels electoral system with a two-party governing system, as opposed to the European proportional representational system. Above all, Ben-Gurion advocated for the swift unification of the numerous ethnic groups and the creation of an integrated singular Israeli identity. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable, offering a unique glimpse into the great leader’s political thought.

    Price: $5,000.00     Item Number: 104802

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  • Rare Bound Collection of over 200 orders of the War Department issued in 1863 including Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and from the library of General Alexander S. Webb

    [WEBB, ALEXANDER S.].

    General Orders of the War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, January 2, 1863 to July 27, 1863. No. 1-235. [The Emancipation Proclamation].

    Washington: Adjutant General's Office [Government Printing Office] January - July 1863.

    First printings of over 200 orders of the War Department issued during the Civil War to Union Army commanders in the field, including an early appearance in print of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (General order No. 1 of January 2, 1863). This copy prepared for General Alexander S. Webb, Brigadier General, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor and the focus of Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg. Octavo, bound in full cloth. Association copy, specially prepared for Gen. Alexander Webb with an inscription to the third free endpaper, “Alexander S. Webb Brig. Gen. Vol. U.S.A. Fort Trumbull Ct. June 26th 1864.” United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War Alexander Stewart Webb received the Medal of Honor on September 28, 1891 for “distinguished personal gallantry in leading his men forward at a critical period in the contest” at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. As the Confederates launched a massive artillery barrage to prepare for their infantry assault in the Battle of Gettysburg, Webb made himself conspicuous to his men, many of whom were unfamiliar with their new commander. He stood in front of the line and leaned on his sword, puffing leisurely on a cigar while cannonballs whistled by and shells exploded all around. Although his men shouted at him to take shelter, he refused and impressed many with his personal bravery. Webb was ultimately wounded in his thigh and groin by a bullet, but kept going. With the help of two of Col. Norman J. Hall’s New York regiments, and Brig. Gen. William Harrow’s men, who ran over in a mass to get in their shots, Webb and his men brought the Confederate assault to a standstill, inflicting heavy casualties. Significantly, the first General Order in this volume is Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious areas “are and henceforward shall be free.” (Fifth edition, Eberstadt 12). Other important Orders include No. 100, April 24, Francis Leiber’s Code, the rules of conduct for Union soldiers, considered the first modern codification of the laws of war; No. 105, April 23, the establishment of the Invalid Corps; No. 143, May 22, the establishment of the United States Colored Troops; No. 194, June 27, the appointment of Major General George Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac, who would defeat General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg only days later. Many of the other General Orders concern prisoners of war, court martials, enlistments, soldiers absent without leave, acts of Congress, and other matters relating to the management of the Union Army. Sabin 26894. See Rosenbach 36:190. In very good condition.

    Price: $12,000.00     Item Number: 142567

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