Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2024 Issue

William L. Parkinson is offering the Mello Collection at auction on October 12th

William L. Parkinson, Books, long time dealer and occasional auctioneer, is offering The Robert A. Mello Collection at auction on October 12th.  Highlights fall into three categories: Americana, Vermontiana, and Maps that are presented as 475 lots.  The sale will start at 10:30 am on October 12th at Memorial Lounge, Waterman Building, University of Vermont Campus, Burlington, Vermont. For old timers, when they scan these lots, they will feel like they have stepped back into the 1980’s.  This is a very pure sale, very deep.

 

For collectors and collecting institutions this is a chance to buy nice copies for fair prices.

 

Links and contacts are provided at the end of the descriptive text

 

While no estimates are being provided, they have listed highlights.

 

Americana – (Ethan Allen), Russell’s American Almanack . . . 1780; Allen, Reason the Only Oracle of Man (1784); Anburey, Travels (1789); Boller, Among the Indians (1868);  Burgoyne, A State of the Expedition from Canada (1780); (Burr), Frankfort, Kentucky, broadside about the Burr Conspiracy trial (1806); Canfield, Northern Pacific Railroad (1870); Carver, Three Years Travels Through the Interior Parts of North-America (1789); Chastellux, Travels in North-America (1787); (Crockett), The Crockett Almanac 1840; Farmer, The Emigrant’s Guide . . . Surveyed Part of Michigan (1830); Garland, The Book of the American Indian (1923); Gass, A Journal of the Voyages and Discoveries of a Corps of Discovery (1807); Greenleaf, A New Universal Atlas (1842); Hamilton, Report of the Secretary of the Treasury . . . Support of Public Credit (1795); Irving, Astoria (1836); Humphreys, Life of the Hon. Major General Israel Putnam (1788); Indian Speeches Delivered by Several Chiefs (1810); Laurent, New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues (1884); Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal (1802); (Madison, WI), [Draper], Madison: The Capital of Wisconsin (1855); Mather, Ecclesiastes . . . Jonathan Mitchel (1697); Mitchell, Mitchell’s Traveller’s Guide (1838); (Sayer & Bennett), The American Military Pocket Atlas (1776); Scharf, History of Delaware (1888); (Scott), Report of the Decision . . . Case of Dred Scott versus John F. A. Sandford (1857); Scott, The United States Gazetteer (1795); Smith, The True Travels, Adventures and Observations (1819); Smith, The History of the Province of New-York (1757, 1792 and 1829); Stedman, History . . . the American War (1794); (Symmes), broadside announcement for journey to the center of the earth (1818); early U.S. House and Senate journals (1790s); (War of 1812), Troy, New York, broadside criticizing Jefferson’s Embargo and the possibility of “a war of conquest” (1812);  Seth Warner signed military document (1780).

 

 

 

Vermontiana --  Ira Allen, Olive Branch titles (1804-06); Allen, History of the State of Vermont (1798); Beers county atlases, full set; Benedict, Army Life in Virginia (1895); Benedict, Vermont at Gettysburg (1870), inscribed to Ulysses S. Grant; Benedict, Vermont in the Civil War (1886-88), limited large-paper edition; Benjamin, The St. Albans Raid (1865); Burgett, Atlas of the State of Vermont (1876); Carpenter, History of the Eighth Regiment Vermont Volunteers (1886);   Child, county gazetteers, full set; Mason & Co. county histories, full set; N. Chipman, Sketches of the Principles of Government (1793); Thomas Chittenden signed militia appointment (1786); The Trial of Cyrus B. Dean, for the Murder of Jonathan Ormsby and Asa Marsh (1808); Eldredge, The Torrent (1831); Fletcher, A Narrative of the Captivity & Sufferings of Ebenezer Fletcher (1813 and 1866); Gallup, Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont (1815); Gilman, The Bibliography of Vermont (1897); Graham, A Descriptive Sketch of the Present State of Vermont (1797); B. Hall, History of Eastern Vermont (1858); H. Hall, The History of Vermont (1868); Haswell, Memoirs and Adventures of Captain Matthew Phelps (1802); Haynes, History of the Tenth Regiment, Vermont Volunteers (1870 and 1894); Hemenway, Vermont Historical Gazetteer (1868-91), all five volumes and Index; Hitchcock, Report on the Geology of Vermont (1861); Palmer, The Second Brigade (1864); Perry, Recollections of an Old Soldier (1822); Ripley, Vermont Riflemen in the War for the Union (1883); Ross, The Steamboats of Lake Champlain (1930); Russell, A History of the Vermont State Prison (1812); Safford, Youth’s Almanac, for the Year 1846 (1845); Sanders, A History of the Indian Wars (1812); Spargo, Anthony Haswell (1925);  Steele, The Indian Captive (1818); Sturtevant, Pictorial History Thirteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers (1910); Thompson, The Green Mountain Boys (1839); Thompson, History of Vermont (1842); early Vermont legislative journals and laws (17779-1800); (Vermont statehood), broadside “An Act Giving Effect to the Laws of the United Sates Within the State of Vermont” (1791); Walker, The Vermont Brigade in the Shenandoah Valley (1869); Wilbur, Early History of Vermont (1899-1903); Williams, Life in Camp (1864); Williams, History of Vermont (1794 and 1809). 

 

 

Maps – (Addison County, VT), Walling, “Map of Addison County” (1857); (Burlington), Johnson, “Map of Burlington in Vermont” (1836);  (Burlington), “Grasse Mount Property” (1855); (Canada), Matthaeus Seutter, “Partie Orientale de la Nouvelle France ou du Canada” (ca. 1756); (Connecticut River Valley), Pierce, “An Improved Reference Map of the Valley of the Connecticut” (1828); (Eastern Canada), Bonne, “L’Isle De Terre-Neuve, L’Acadie . . . et La Partie Orientale du Canada” (1780);  (Granville, NY), Hatheway, “Official Map of the Incorporated Village of Granville” (1894); (Hudson River), Sauthier, A Topographical Map of Hudson’s River” (1777); (Lake Champlain), Brassier, “A Survey of Lake Champlain” (1776); (New York), Montresor, “A Map of the Province of New York” (1775);  (Ohio, Indiana and Illinois), Mitchell, “Map of the States of Ohio, Indiana & Illinois and Part of Michigan Territory” (1831); (Orleans, Lamoille & Essex Counties, VT), Walling, “Map of the Counties of Orleans, Lamoille, and Essex, Vermont” (1859); Presdee & Edwards wall-maps of Burlington, Ludlow and Montpelier, Vermont (1853); (Quebec), Jeffreys, “A Plan of Quebec” (1759); (Railroads), Kennedy, “Map & Profile of the Vt. Central and Vt. and Canada Railroads” (1848); Townsend, “Townsend’s Patent Folding Globe” (1869); (Vermont), James Whitelaw, wall-map of state (1796, 1821 and 1838); (Vermont) White, “Map of Vermont” (ca. 1850); Wilson, “A New American Celestial Globe” (1826); (Windsor County, VT), Doten, “Map of Windsor County” (1855); (Wisconsin), Chapman, “Chapman’s Sectional Map of Wisconsin” (1856).

 

A full electronic catalogue with photographs available at Parkinsonbooks.com

 


WILLIAM L. PARKINSON, BOOKS

P.O. Box 40

Hinesburg, VT   05641

Ph. (802) 482-3113

Cell (802) 238-8001

For questions, email  william@parkinsonbooks.com

www.parkinsonbooks.com

 

AUCTIONEERS: WILLIAM PARKINSON, J. KEVIN GRAFFAGNINO

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
    25 June – July 7
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
  • Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.

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