full calf leather with much wear, part of original spine label remains. Tight copy, 311 pages, lacks front free endpaper and all pages prior to title page. Published by John Holbrook – an early Vermont printing / imprint. Book measures about 4 1/4 inches by 6 3/4 inches.
Offered as a lot as found in my late-bride’s wardrobe and fashion collection library are these seven items, including:
THE MAGIC OF SCARF FASHION WITH THE SCARF CLIP – KNAUGHTY LOOK Revised Edition by Lorraine Hammett. 124 pages, published in 1983. Spiral bound and (shown below) you can stand up the booklet to read while tying your scarf
SCARF ART: BOWS, KNOTS, WRAPS, FOLDS by Shirley Botsford, OVER 50 EASY WAYS TO LOOK AND FEEL FASIONALBLE FAST WITH SCARVES. 32 packed pages, measures about 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches
HOW TO TIE – GINNIE JOHNSEN DESIGNS, INC. 46 pages (slight dampstain to front cover). Pages measure about 4 1/4 by 7 1/2 inches.
TWO copies – SCARF TYING and THE ART OF THE SCARF by Spiegel – both pretty much the same
CREATIVE WAYS TO CLIP AND TIE YOUR SCARF – Macy’s – small booklet
HERE’S HOW TO TIE-ONE-ON WITH YOUR SCARF CLIP – small little think – the pink one in image below.
An uncommon early children’s activity, learning book (measuring about 10 inches by 8 3/4 inches) that can fit into many different collecting fields – movable, articulating, educational, etc. Fourteen printed pages on hard cardboard. The MANUAL OF PLAY by William Byron Forbush, published in 1914, describes this book — “When this book is opened, the left hand page reveals a picture of a school-master with a pointer which may be turned to any one of a number of questions in a circle. On the opposite page is a schoolboy, also with a pointer. When a question is asked the book is closed, the cover tapped lightly three times, and on opening the book, the schoolboy is found pointing to the correct answer. This novelty is a source of never ending fascination to young and old. Price, $1.00 – Bradley”
There is edge wear to the boards, but most importantly the arms of the student and teacher are still in this copy. I have not tested the magnet, and suspect it no longer functions as advertised originally, but it is a complete copy. Here is the spine of this unique item
Parker Bros, Salem, Mass. first published this title in 1909 bringing them into publishing. But it never took off, possibly because there was a plain printed cover – nothing to “catch the eye.” In the book THE GAME MAKERS – THE STORY OF PARKER BROTHERS, author Philip E. Orbanes states, “The Electric Book of Wonders” was aptly named, although not terribly successful. George (Parker) believed that he might successfully publish books, as long as each had an added feature, a Parker Brothers “twist”. A former Bell Telephone engineer invented it. It worked flawlessly but failed to capture the public’s imagination.” The inventor previously was an electrical associate of Thomas A. Edison.
Parker Brothers produced only one edition as it did not sell well (despite their claims of it being a “quick seller”. However, perhaps believing the quick seller spiel to be true, arch Rival Milton Bradley came out with their own version of The Electrical Wonder Book one year later, taking out a patent for it Feb. 8 1910 according to the cover. ( The Parker Brothers edition states “Patents Pending, Sphinx Novelty Co. Newark NJ, Gray Lith Co. NY.”) The Milton Bradley edition of the Electrical Wonder Book had an illustrated cover instead of the rather plain cover that this earlier Parker Brothers one has. .… On August 31, 1912 Harry B. Palmer filed a patent for a “game apparatus” in association with Milton Bradley. The description fits the mechanisms used in this book. Our best speculation is that after Parker Brothers dropped it due to sluggish sales, Palmer shopped it out Milton Bradley. (source for this paragraph – vintagepopupbooks.com – which further documents this Milton Bradley game in only three libraries, including Yale)
Now to show you the inside pages:
pages 12 and 13 were bound in upside down in this copy
and the last open pages
rear cover
and spine from the rear
Offered as a lot from the estate of the original owner are ten JEEP showroom catalogues detailing the features of these automobiles. They all appear unread, and “as new.” Measuring in sizes from 11 inches by 8 1/4 inches to 11 by 11 inches.
INCLUDED (and front covers pictured below) are:
1987 – Jeep Trucks
1991 – The Jeep Book – Fiftieth Anniversary Edition
1997 – The Jeep Book
1998 – The Jeep Book
2001 – Jeep Cherokee – (two copies)
2008 – Jeep Wrangler – Wrangler Unlimited
2009 – Jeep Wrangler
2009 – Jeep Liberty
2010 – Jeep Wrangler
Price for the Lot – $60 (order number eb1544)
Shipping – $6.50 (heavy) packed in cardboard for protection
Ordering Information
A fantastic 122 page catalog measuring about 10 inches by 13 1/2 inches. Softcover, the spine has wear and tears, as do the edges of the covers with some old tape repairs on the inside of the front cover. Internal wear from handling, but some amazing B&W and color illustrations. At the end is a list of items needed for new lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows – Odd Fellowship, which was founded in 1819. Remember, this has some wear, thus sold AS-IS and With all Faults – BUT this is an amazing item, and uncommon, to add to your Odd Fellow collection. The date I cite is from page 70 where a change in postal costs are mentioned.
The Ward-Stilson Company was founded in 1888 and became a major purveyor of uniforms, specializing in those for the Freemasons and other fraternal orders, and later military uniforms and other lines. The company folded in 1955.
there is wear at the top and bottom of the cloth spine with some material loss – more at top than the bottom.
Signed – Initialed note by Charters – Signed note by Moses Asch on dedication to him
From the Blues Foundation website – The publication of The Country Blues by Sam Charters in 1959 was a major landmark in the development of blues appreciation, as the first book to piece together a chronological, cultural, and stylistic history of the music, complete with biographies of many key performers.
A first edition of Charters’ THE COUNTRY BLUES is hard to find, as is the early Da Capo Press reprints. THIS COPY IS THE COPY USED TO PRODUCE the original Da Capo reprint. You can plainly see the guillotine paper cutter marks on the title page when the book block was held down to cut the pages apart for reproduction. Once completed, this copy was reassembled in the original case, and you can plainly see the book block is shorter in width than original.
Throughout are red marks for edits and pagination of the reprint, Pages 250 and 251 are crossed out in red, and a page inserted with a revised page 250 with two new sections rubber cemented to a new leaf inserted. Those originally cemented portions are now loose. The text does not flow, thus I expect a sheet had been affixed to the verso of the new leaf, but has long been gone. This could be an original revision.
Inscribed on front free fly is “This copy disassembled & then put back together for the Da Capo reprint – S” — Knowing the provenance of this copy, I expect with certainty the S is for Sam – author Samuel B. Charters – provenance to be provided to buyer.
Charters dedicated this book to Moses Asch. Asch (1905-86) was the founder and driving force of Folkways Records, producing over 2,100 recordings. He had Sam Charters help develop recording series and compilations. Ashe wrote a note above the dedication to him. As you can see below that inscription is circled in red to not be reproduced.
above on the copyright page (left) you can see Rinehart mark signifying a first edition.
throughout there are occasional red marks to indicate how the reprint will be put together.
here is the inserted leaf with the revisions at pages 250 – 251.
Below you can easily see the shorter depth of the book block having been cut apart for reproduction.
Published by J. Hermann Herz, Berlin, 1913 as a Souvenir for Passengers touring on one of the ships of the Hamburg-Akerika Linie (sic) — an early pre-World War I tour book, including: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, The United Kingdom, Sweden, &c. 903 pages (light weight paper for the tourist to tote) and packed with ads, useful information, photographs of the ships, great ads of hotels, etc., and some wonderful color advertising items that firms would pay to have their offerings stand out – some are illustrated below. The book measures about 5 inches by 7 inches and 1 1/2 inches thick. A nice item for your Grand Tour collection.
Offered as a lot are two Native American items perfect for Cub or Boy Scouting, or for your craft projects or home schooling studies. Included are:
AMERICAN INDIAN CRAFTS: INCLUDING SUGGESTIVE OUTLINES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INDIAN LORE – PLUME TRADING & SALES CO., New York, 1935, 51 page softcover booklet measuring about 5 3/8 inches by 8 3/8 inches. Black and white illustrations for the many projects that are detailed.
TOTEM POLES: A HAPPY HOBBY FOR BOYS – by Robert W. De Groat, published by Boy Scouts of America 1930 (1934 printing). Also, 51 page softcover booklet measuring about 5 3/8 inches by 8 inches. Black and white illustrations. Faint old dampness weave along foreedge of papers – not a problem, just want you to know.
and, inside TOTEM POLES
the rear covers
In the 1970s I began collecting titles by Horatio Alger, but it was reading his, THE YOUNG BOOK AGENT, that propelled me to become (and remain) “a young book agent.” Recently I decided to share my collection with others. Alger’s books were published by many publishers, and in various formats with differing covers. I have always enjoyed these five volumes with the same uniform bindings.
Henry T. Coates & Co., in Philadelphia published these reprints. The Ragged Dick Series included six titles, and I have these five that I am offering as a set – lacking is MARK THE MATCH BOY.
Included are:
RAGGED DICK; OR, STREET LIFE IN NEW YORK WITH THE BOOT-BLACKS, 296 pages, ads
FAME AND FORTUNE; OR, THE PROGRESS OF RICHARD HUNTER, 279 pages, ads
ROUGH AND READY; OR, LIFE AMONG THE NEW YORK NEWSBOYS, 300 pages, ads
BEN , THE LUGGAGE BOY; OR, AMOUNG THE WHARVES, 290 pages, ads
RUFUS AND ROSE; OR, THE FORTUNES OF ROUGH AND READY, 292 pages, ads
all are good to very good with some like occasional wear – black and white illustrations. Here are a selection of images of this offering.
endpapers
Price for the 5 books – $135
Shipping – $9.50 (for 5 books) packed in cardboard and with tracking
Ordering Information
It is a snowy day, and along with not being bothered by staying inside by myself for almost a year with a pandemic, I am pecking away at things that have been “on the list,” many for decades. And, finally moving to the top of one list is a new “museum page” on rayboasbookseller.com
I encourage you to enjoy – and click on the link below
BETWEEN the PAGES — BOOKMARKERS
Stay safe and stay well, yours, RAY
My favorite bookmark, handmade by Michele.
Please contact me when disposing of your books – thank you, RAY rayboas@comcast.net
Ray Boas, Bookseller 