Barry Cassidy Rare Books

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Transtromer, Tomas Baltics...Translated By Samuel Charters
Oyez. (Berkeley). (1975). True first American edition: No. 106 of 125 copies signed by author and translator. Cloth backed illustrated boards. Single poem, unpaginated, in six cantos. From the introduction by Charters: "A number of things went into the composition of the poem, one of them (Transtomer's) visit to Latvia and Estonia on the Baltic's eastern shore and his experience of the Baltic, as a frontier and at the same time a route of communication...The poem is in some ways almost like taking a summer walk with Tomas across (a Swedish Island with its) stretches of forest and overgrown fields....As he strides ahead of you he talks--about the island, about his family and their life on it--and it's these things he talks about that became the poem Baltics." Finely printed and designed by Graham Mackintosh. Condition: As New. Poetry in Translation. Fine Press. Fine Printing. (Book ID 7184) $75.00

Tuttle, Burl Doc Cures a Killer. (&) Gunman's Code
Hollywood. Two typewritten manuscripts, not dated, ca. 1940s, 30 pages total. He notes word totals of approximately 3,000 and 5,000. In "Doc Cures a Killer" set in Arizona in the 1920s/30s, a doctor saves his girl friend, who is a rodeo trick rider, from an outlaw. In "Gunman's Code" which takes place in the West when settlers and large cattle ranchers were fighting over land, two outlaw gunfighters patch up their differences to defend a girl, oppressed settlers, and themselves. Burl Tuttle wrote western stories for such magazines as The Masked Rider Western Magazine. He is credited as being the writer of "Neath Arizona Skies" (1934), an early John Wayne movie. In 1950 his "Six Gun Rhythm" was published by Grafton Books. These two stories may be unpublished. Literature. Manuscripts (Book ID 6453) $125.00

Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens) In Defense of Harriet Shelley and Other Essays. Illustrated.
Harper & Brothers Publishers. New York, New York. 1919. 405 pages; frontportrait, illustrations; bound in publishers red cloth, gilt MT with design wrapped around it on the cover. Author, title and publisher in black on the spine, some fading. The volume is composed of 19 collected essays including: The Defense of Harriet Shelly; Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses; Private History of the "Jumping Frog" Story; The German Chicago; Concerning the Jew; A Majestic Literary Fossil; Saint Joan of Arc; and others. "Issued in the Limp Leather series. Code letters B-S, signifying printed February, 1918, on the copyright page; a copy thus recieved for copyright May 4, 1918. Also issued in red V cloth with code letters D-T, signifying printed April, 1919, on copyright page." Jacob Blanck - BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE II: page 243. Fine clean copy inside and out. Condition: Fine. American Literature, Essays, Samuel L. Clemens. DK-21 (Book ID 10036) $25.00

Twain, Mark, Josh Billings, Burlington Hawkeye Man, Oil City Maverick Man, Brooklyn Eagle Man The Funniest Book of All. Sketches By the Popular Humorists of the Day: Mark Twain, Josh Billings, Detroit Free Press Man, Burlington Hawkeye Man, Oil City Derrick Man, Brooklyn Eagle Man, and Other Brilliant Wits.
Rhodes & McClure, Publishers. Chicago, Illinois. 1881. "Star Series, No. 5." 64 pages; paper wrapper with title on the cover, advertisement on the back. Water stain marks on the cover and back, professional repair along the spine and across (1 x 1/4 inch) the top of the back cover. Contains - 'Tom Potter's Shooting' by Max Adeler (4-6); 'Mark Twain's Remarkable Gold Mines' (6-7); 'Josh Billings' Advice to a New Choir-Singer' (7-8); 'Saving the Country' by Burlington Hawkeye (9-10); 'Tooth Pulling in Oil City' by Oil City Derrick (12-13); 'Mark Twain on the Ant' (14-16); 'Success With Small Fruits' by Burlington Hawkeye (17-18); 'Poet and Newspaper-Man' by Burlington Hawkeye (24-25); 'Mark Twain on Blue Jays' (26-27); 'Agricultural Comment on the Cars' by Burlington Hawkeye (34-35); 'Spoopendyke's Inconvenience' by Brooklyn Eagle (38-39); 'An Humble Printer' by Burlington Hawkeye (41-42); 'Spoopendyke's New Bathing Suit' by Brooklyn Eagle (43-46); 'Josh Billings' Philosophy' (46-47); 'Artemus Ward in Boston' (51-52); 'Josh Billings Insures His Life' (52); 'Bachelors and Flirts' by Josh Billings (52-53); 'The Census' by Artemus Ward (53-54); 'Ought to Have Been an Editor' by Oil City Derrick (54-55); 'Billings' Probabilities' (59-60); 'Faithless Sally Brown' by Thomas Hood (62-63). Not in the BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, either under Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) or Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). Not in WorldCat, Melvyl, Library of Congress or any other library database that we can find. Merle Johnson lists a similar title in his BILBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN - "1885. My copy lacks the title-page, so I cannot give much correct information about the book. It was published by Rhodes & McClure, Chicago, April 7, 1885. The Mark Twain items are 'Mr Beecher's Farm,' ppi-iii, and 'Mark Twain's Remarkable Gold Mines' page 6 ... The latter I have not found elsewhere." This copy has an earlier printing of the 'Gold Mines'. In all there are three Mark Twain items. Internally a very good clean copy. Condition: Very Good. Humor Writings, American Literature. Unrecorded Imprints. First Editions. DK-68 (Book ID 11324) $175.00

Villon, Francois The Jargon of Master Francois Villon, Clerk of Paris A. D. MCCCCLII & Being Seven Ballads from the Thieves' Argot of the XVth Century
(Houghton Mifflin Company).. (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Boards. (1918). No. 214 of 385 copies printed. Spine label. Foreword opening pages illustrated. Uncut page edges. Light scattered foxing. From the Foreword: "The seven Ballads in the Jargon or the Thieves' Argot of that period, which are herewith set forth, appear to be advice and warning -- Sermons, they have been called -- to his companions, the Brothers of 'La Coquille', and they are supposed to have been written about the year 1461". French Literature. Literary Works. Poems. Poetry. Verse. (Book ID 480) $60.00

Villon, Francois The Lyrics of Francois Villon; Done into English Verse by Algernon Charles Swinburne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Ernest Henley, John Payne and Leonie Adams
Printed for the Limited Editions Club By The Spiral Press. Croton Falls, New York. 1933.. Cloth in Slip Case. Illustrated by Simon, Howard. No. 1018 of 1500 copies. Slip case has spine label. Signed by the artist. Illustrations are wood-blocks cut by Howard Simon. Gilt page tops. Uncut page sides and bottoms. Ink notation front and rear end papers. Introduction by Leonie Adams. Book measures 7 3/4 x 11 1/2. Contents include: Ballad of Dead Ladies; Ballad of the Lords of Old Time; Ballad and Creed of the Fair Armouress to the Daughters of Joy; Ballad Against the Enemies of France; Ballad of Villon and Muckle Meg; Ballad Craving Pardon; etc. French Literature. Literary Works. Ballads. Poems. Poetry. Rhymes. (Book ID 478) $100.00

Voisenon, Claude-Henri De Fusee De (Translated By H. B. V.) All The Better For Her! And Other Stories
Chapman & Hall Ltd.. London. 1927. Cloth Backed Decorative Boards. No. 44 of 1,000 copies. Decorative dust wrapper with front cover label, small tear top edge of front cover. Gilt page tops, page sides and bottoms uncut. Translated from the French. From the Introduction: "At the age of ten Claude-Henri de Fusee, of the Chateau de Voisenon, which is near Melun, was writing an epistle in verse to Voltaire, who was sufficiently interested and impressed by its merits to invite the child to become forthwith his pupil; an invitation not to be refused. Forty-four years later he was elected to the French Academy, and at the time of his death he was one of the most popular figures in France". He was born in 1708. Ralph Straus also states in the Introduction: "All the Better For Her! and Zulmis and Zelmaide may be daring, but who could find it in his heart to condemn light-hearted daring of this kind? They are delicious, enchanting, filigree things, whimsical and Puckish; only for 'Grown-ups', of course, but who else reads fairy tales these days?" French Literature. Literary Works. Fiction. Satire. Whimsical Stories. (Book ID 4434) $50.00

Wagner, Charles L. Typewritten Letter (draft) Not Signed
1944. Typewritten letter (draft), notsigned, to Merle Armitage, ca.1944. [4 1/2 pages, legal size pages, doublespaced] Charles L. Wagner (b.1868) was an American impresario who managed such talents as John McCormack and Amelita Galli-Lurci, and wrote his experiences in SEEING STARS (1940). Merle Armitage (1893-1975) also was also a manager of musical talent and was a protege of Wagner along with being the author of several books, including ACCENT ON AMERICA (1944). In the letter Wagner is very critical of Armitage's book, saying that Armitage has succumbed to egotism to produce a book that is 'misleading and untrue', 'worse than fiction' and 'useless' for reference. Wagner gives many examples of where Armitage is off target and in doing so throws much light on the lives of many musical stars, including McCormack and Galli-Curci. 19 years later Armitage authored a pamphlet entitled CHARLES L. WAGNER AND A SENSE OF DIRECTION (1963). Condition: Fine. Stage, Actors, Agents, Charles L. Wagner, Merle Armitage. DK-18 (Book ID 9913) $40.00

Ward, Mrs. Humphrey (Mary A. Ward) The Writings of Mrs. Humphrey Ward, with Introdutions By the Author. Autograph Edition.
Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston, Mass. 1909. Autograph edition. Number 99 of 750 copies signed by the author using her name as Mary A. Ward and with four pages of manuscript by the author tipped in to four volumes. 16 volumes, complete. (Complete sets are uncommon, due to the last two volumes being published three years after the first fourteen. All illustrations are photogravures with facing tissues. [1909-1912]. 3/4 leather binding with gilt tooling and title on the spine with raised bands. The binding was green leather originally, but the spines are sun bleached to an attractive light brown. A very handsome set, with the gilt and leather bright and sharp. Gilt edging on the top of the pages. Volume I: xlii, 530 pages; 12 illustrations; contains 'Robert Elsmere', first part. Volume II: 601 pages; 4 illustrations; appendix; contains 'Robert Elsmere', second part.. Volume III: xxiii, 483 pages; 9 illustrations; contains 'The History of David Grieve', first part. Volume IV: 589 pages; 4 illustrations; contains 'The History of David Grieve', second part. Volume V: xix, 517 pages; 7 illustrations; contains 'Marcella', first part. Volume VI: 425 pages; 5 illustrations; contains 'Marcella', second part. Volume VII: xvi, 429 pages; 3 illustrations, inserted mss. page; contains 'Sir George Tressady', first part. Volume VIII: 430 pages; 6 illustrations; contains 'Sir George Tressady', second part and 'Miss Bretherton'. Volume IX: xix, 537 pages; 9 illustrations; contains 'Helbeck of Bannisdale'. Volume X: xix, 572 pages; 6 illustrations, inserted mss. page; contains 'Eleanor'. Volume XI: xii, 506 pages; 4 illustrations, inserted mss. page; contains 'Lady Roses Daughter'. Volume XII: xix, 574 pages; 5 illustrations, insert mss. page; contains 'The Marriage of William Ashe'. Volume XIII: xvi, 466 pages; 8 illustrations; contains 'Fenwick's Career and The Story of Bessie Costrell'. Volume XIV: 584 pages; 8 illustrations; contains 'The Testing of Diana Mallory'. Volume XV: xvii, 552 pages; 5 illustrations; contains 'Daphne (Marriage a la Mode) Canadian born (Lady Merton, Colonist)'. Volume XVI: xiii, 586 pages; 4 illustrations; contains 'The Case of Richard Meynell'. Mary Augusta Ward (1851-1920) was a English novelist and social worker better known as Mrs. Humphry Ward. Born in Tasmania and brought to England as a child, married T.H.Ward in 1872, in 1890 founded a settlement in London which developed into Passmore Edwards Settlement. She was an anti-suffragist, becoming the first president of the British Women's Anti-Suffrage League (and her reputation as a writer has suffered for it). She is, nonetheless, a writer of true literary merit, Tolstoy calling her in 1900 the greatest living English author. Condition: Very Good. Victorian Literature, English Writers. DK-36 (Book ID 10606) $2,500.00

Waters, W.G. The Italian Novelists. Now First Translated Into English.
Society of Bilbiophiles. London, England. Illustrated by Jules Garnier, E.R. Hughes.. Set of seven volumes bound in 3/4 blue leather over cloth boards with tooled designs and title on the spine in gilt. Unopened set with gilt top. Illustrations faced with tissue paper. I: 'The Facetious Nights of Straporola' (Volume I). xii, 402 pages. II: 'The Facetious Nights of Straporola' (Volume II). 376 pages. III: 'The Facetious Nights of Straparola' (Volume III). 404 pages. IV: 'The Facetious Nights of Straparola' (Volume IV). 318 pages. V: 'The Pecorone of Ser Giovanni' (Volume I). xi, 278 pages. VI: 'The Pecorone of Ser Giovanni' (Volume II). 323 pages. VII: 'The Pecorone of Ser Giovanni' (Volume III). 329 pages. The Ser Giovanni (14th century) work is a collection of 50 comic, tragic and licentious novelle. Contains elements later found in Shakespeare including the bond with a Jew for a pound of flesh and the wooing of a lady at Belmont. Straparola (c.1480-1557) was an Italian prose writer and was well known for his introduction of fairy stories which are translated here. Condition: Fine. Literature, Italian, Giovanni F. Straparola, Ser Giovanni. DK-11 (Book ID 9581) $250.00

Wecter, Dixon Literary Lodestone; One Hundred Years of California Writing
Stanford University Press. No City. Wrappers. Circa 1950. Ward Ritchie's copy, with his book plate. As mentioned in the Introductory Note, Dixon Wecter delivered this speech on June 24, 1950, at the annual meeting of the California Library Association and the California Centennial Commission in Sacramento. "Its giving was the last act of his brief and brilliant life, a life which, ended at forty-four, was already crowded with accomplishment". He distinguished himself "as a writer, as a teacher, in research". In this speech he relates how the discovery of gold in California, and the annexation of this land, led in a very short time to the desire of the citizens for culture in their lives. He describes the works of numerous early writers such as Bret Harte, Sam Clemens, Joaquin Miller, Ambrose Bierce, Ina Coolbrith, etc. American Literature. Writers. Literary Works. Authors. Poets. Publications. (Book ID 3796) $12.50

Wells, H. G. The Outline of History Question Test: 1079 Questions Covering All Periods and Phases of the World's History from the Beginning
(The Review of Reviews Corporation). (New York.) (1924.). Cloth Backed Boards. Answers are found in the new four-volume edition of The Outline of History by H. G. Wells, published by the Review of Reviews. Ink notation front end paper. Two small damp stains back cover at spine top. From the Foreword: "Mr. Wells, in his Introduction to the new four-volume edition says: 'This Outline of History, is an attempt to tell, truly and clearly, in one continuous narrative, the whole story of life and mankind so far as it is known to-day'." English Literature. Literary Works. World History. (Book ID 490) $17.50

West, Nathanael A Cool Million: The Dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin.
Covici Friede Publishers. New York, New York. 1934. First Edition. 229 pages; expertly bound in full leather with raised bands and gilt lettering on the spine. Interior is very good with no marks. The story is a satire on the Horatio Alger "myth" of success. The main charactre, Lemuel Pitkan is a 'schlemel' in life, despite losing everthing, health and life, he remains optimistic and gullible to the very end. Published in an edition of 3,000 copies it recieved mixed reviews and poor sales and was not reprinted during the author's lifetime. West also wrote a screenplay by the same name which he sold to Columbia Pictures. It was never produced. A very good copy of this scarce novel. Condition: Very Good. American Literature, Postmodernism. DK-96 (Book ID 12021) $200.00

Westcott, Edward Noyes David Harum; A Story of American Life
D. Appleton & Company. (1900). New York. First Illustrated Edition. Full Vellum. Illustrated by Clinedinst, B. West. No. 343 of 750 copies. Frontispiece of the author. With a few text drawings by C. D. Farrand. Full vellum with gilt decorations and lettering front cover and spine. Gilt page tops. Full- and partial-page illustrations. Uncut page sides and bottoms. Ink notation front end paper. Offsetting to pages vi-vii, xiv-xv, 124-125. 410 pages. From the Introduction: "The book is a novel, and throughout it runs a love story which is characterized by sympathetic treatment and a constantly increasing interest; but the title role is taken by the old country banker, David Harum: dry, quaint, somewhat illiterate, no doubt, but possessing an amazing amount of knowledge not found in printed books..." "This horse-trading country banker and reputed Shylock, but real philanthropist, is an accurate portrayal of a type that still exists in the rural districts of central New York". Handsome copy with a gift inscription. American Literature. Literary Works. Novel. Fiction. Story. Novelist. Author. (Book ID 493) $75.00

Wheeler, W. Reginald, Editor A Book of Verse of the Great War...with a Foreword By Charlton M. Lewis
Yale University Press. New Haven. 1917. First Edition. Publisher's dark blue cloth with gilt lettering and impressed design on front and back cover. Poems by William Rose Benet, Laurence Binyon, Rupert Brooke, Witter Bynner, Paul Fort, Gilbert Frankau, John Galsworthy, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, Hermann Hagedorn, Thomas Hardy, Maurice Hewlett, Amy Lowell, Percy Mackaye, Edgar Lee Masters, Alice Meynell, Christopher Morley, Alfred Noyes, Eden Phillipotts, Cecil Roberts, Edmond Rostand, Alan Seeger, Robert W. Service, Rabindranath Tagore, Katharine Tynan, Louis Untermeyer, Margaret Widdemer, etc. Top back corner slighly bumped, otherwise a nice clean copy. 184 pages. Condition: Very Good. World War 1. (Book ID 8376) $25.00

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