American Revolution Rare Books and First Editions

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"OUR CAUSE IS JUST: OUR UNION IS PERFECT … BEING WITH ONE MIND RESOLVED TO DIE FREEMEN, RATHER THAN TO LIVE SLAVES"

(JEFFERSON, Thomas and DICKINSON, John). Declaration… [on] Taking Up Arms. [Newspaper printing]. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vol. VII. Numb. 365., July 21 – July 27, 1775.

An extraordinarily rare July 1775 Massachusetts newspaper printing (occupying the entire front page) of one of the greatest state papers of the American Revolution and the most important forerunner to the Declaration of Independence: the July 6, 1775 "Declaration… Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms," written by Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson for the Second Continental Congress. $28,000.

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“THE CLEAREST OF ALL EXPOSITIONS OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY” (PMM)

PAINE, Thomas. Rights of Man. BOUND WITH: Part the Second. London, 1791, 1792.

Extremely rare 1791-1792 editions of Paine’s revolutionary classic, containing the scarce second edition of Rights of Man (Part I), issued within days of the first edition, together in one volume with the rarely found first edition, first issue of Part the Second. Paine's Rights of Man, one of his most important, influential, and best-selling works, is "the clearest of all expositions on the basic principles of democracy" (PMM), and remains "one of the most ardent and clear defenses of human rights, liberty, and equality in any language" (Fruchtman). Paine hoped the work "would do for England what his Common Sense had done for America" (Gimbel), but it resulted in the prosecution of Paine, his publishers and booksellers, and forced Paine to flee to France. $25,000.

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“THEY FOUGHT FOR THEIR KING, THEIR LAWS AND CONSTITUTION”

REVOLUTION. Contemporary description of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Boston, 1775.

Scarce and important original 1775 broadside offering a Loyalist account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, printed a week after the fighting. $21,000.

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"SYMBOL OF THE FREE PRESS AS A BULWARK AGAINST TYRANNY"

(ZENGER, John Peter). Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger of New-York. London, 1738.

Second English edition (first published in New York in 1736) of the landmark trial of John Peter Zenger—“one of the famous decisions in legal history, establishing the epochal doctrine of the freedom of the press” (Howes)—“one of the most important events of colonial times” (Church), a splendid wide-margined copy handsomely bound. $16,000.

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"PURCHASE ALL THE GOOD RIFLES YOU CAN MEET WITH"

WAYNE, Anthony. Autograph letter signed. Philadelphia, February 24, 1776.

Exceptional February 1776 autograph signed letter from "Mad" Anthony Wayne to Captain John Lacey, ordering that Lacey—his longtime adversary—recruit men and round up enlistees in Bucks County; arrange for a commissioned officer to train those men at Darby; and purchase good rifles in preparation for marching toward New York in the build up for the Battle of Trois-Rivières. $15,500.

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GENERAL LAFAYETTE DECLINES TRANSPORT FROM JOHN QUINCY ADAMS—"YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE ASKED THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENT NOT TO DISPATCH THE NATIONAL VESSEL THAT CONGRESS HAD THE KINDNESS TO DECIDE TO DISPATCH"

LAFAYETTE, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de. Autograph Letter Signed. Paris, June 20, 1824.

A fascinating Lafayette letter, penned entirely by him, in which he discusses his transportation options as he prepares for his Revolutionary War "Heroes Welcome" tour of the United States in 1824. A liberal French aristocrat, Lafayette played a critical role in convincing French leaders to aid Americans in their war for independence, and indeed led troops alongside George Washington, fighting in several crucial battles, including the Battle of Brandywine and the Siege of Yorktown. In his later years, he made a triumphant tour of the United States, where he was given lavish gifts for his services. $15,000.

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“IN MEMORY OF THE LANDING OF THE FATHERS AT PLYMOUTH”

ADAMS, John. Autograph letter. WITH: Oration Delivered at Plymouth. Boston, 1802.

Autograph letter by John Adams, penned by him shortly after his tenure as America’s second President and dated December 22, 1802, expressing regret at being unable to attend “the Anniversary dinner in memory of the landing of the Fathers and Plymouth” at which his son John Quincy was speaking, tipped into a first edition copy in original uncut wrappers of the Oration delivered by John Quincy at the event. $15,000.

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"THE OLDEST FUNCTIONING WRITTEN CONSTITUTION IN THE WORLD"

(ADAMS, John). Constitution or Frame of Government… Massachusetts-Bay. Boston, 1780.

First edition of the landmark 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, "one of the great, enduring documents of the American Revolution." Chiefly authored by Founding Father John Adams, this "ideal of a 'perfect constitution'" (Wood) notably contains the Massachusetts' constitutional convention's revision of his initial wording—that all men are "born equally free and independent"—to "All men are born free and equal," reflecting Jefferson's timeless phrase in the Declaration. Handsomely housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. $14,500.

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ENGLISH LIBERTIES “HAD MORE TO DO WITH PREPARING THE MINDS OF AMERICAN COLONISTS FOR THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THAN… COKE, SIDNEY AND LOCKE”

CARE, Henry. English Liberties. Providence, Rhode-Island, 1774.

1774 American edition of Care's immensely influential English Liberties, preceded only by the 1721 Boston edition, issued not long after the Boston Tea Party and the same year as the First Continental Congress, with printings of the Magna Charta, the Habeas Corpus Act (1769)—"a second Magna Charta"—and foundational texts on jury trials, "principally designed for America," containing printing of the preface to the 1721 edition proclaiming "when liberty is once gone, even life itself grows insipid," with rear list of Subscriber's Names. $13,500.

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"GREAT GLORY NECESSARILY PROCEEDED FROM PROJECTS THAT WERE CONCEIVED WITH PROFOUND WISDOM"

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) TARLETON, Sir Banastre. History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781. London, 1787.

First edition of Tarleton's significant account of the southern campaigns in the American Revolution, illustrated with five detailed maps (three large folding) with hand-colored outlines of routes and positions, desirable in contemporary tree calf. $12,500.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.
Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
Endpapers Extra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block. The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.
Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text.
Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
Flyleaves Additional blank leaves following or preceding the endpapers.
Folio Book composed of sheets that are folded once and printed on both sides, making two leaves and four pages. Typically above 14 inches tall. Oblong folios are produced the same way but bound at the short edge, producing a book typically more than 14 inches deep.
Fore-Edge Edge of the book furthest from the spine. Occasionally the text of a book will be put into a specialized book press and painted, often with a scene from the book or a landscape, so that the painting is invisible when the book is closed but visible when somebody bends the text and fans the pages—known as a fore-edge painting.
Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.
Frontispiece An illustration facing the title page of a book.
Gathering Single sheet of paper that has been printed and folded to form the pages required by the book’s format. A single gathering of a quarto book, then, would be a sheet folded twice, containing four leaves, eight pages of text.. Gatherings are identified by a letter, symbol or number in the lower margin of the first page (the “signature”) to make it easy for the printer to stack them in proper order for sewing.
Gilt Edges The three exposed edges of a book have been smoothed and gilded.
Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.
Illuminated Decorated by hand. Typically early printed books and especially manuscripts.
Imprint Satement of place, publisher and date of publication on a book’s title page.
Incunable From the cradle of printing, i.e., any book printed before 1501.
Issue A group of books issued by the publisher as a discrete unit. At times, issue refers to timing, such as the “first issue” being offered to the public at an earlier date than the “second issue.” At other times, it refers to specially planned different batches, such as the “trade issue” (widely available) in opposition to a “signed limited issue” (limited to a small amount of copies differing somehow from the trade issue and not widely available).
Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
Mispaginated Printer’s error in pagination, typically skipping, transposing or repeating page numbers. Not uncommon in older, larger books, it is not considered a defect, so long as all integral leaves are present.
Modern Recently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well.
Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).
Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page.
Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.
Plate Full-page illustration printed separately from but bound with the text.
Point Variation in text, illustration, design or format that allows a bibliographer to distinguish between different editions and different printings of the same edition, or between different states or issues of the same printing.
Presentation Copy Book given as a gift by its author, illustrator or publisher. Sometimes refers to a volume given by a notable donor.
Provenance History of a particular copy of a book.
Raised Bands Horizontal protruding strips found on the spine of a book.
Reback To supply a worn binding with a new spine, usually made of the same material as the rest of the binding and decorated to match. When feasible the binder may preserve the original spine and affix it to the new material, described as “rebacked with the original spine laid down.”
Recase To reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers.
Recto The front side of a leaf. The back side is known as the “verso.”
Trade Edition Printing or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription).
Uncut When the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well.
Unopened When the folds of the sheets of paper making up the text block have not been trimmed away or opened with a paper-knife. While this makes it impossible to read all of the pages, it also indicates a probability that the text block has not been altered since leaving the printer.
Vellum Binding material made from specially treated calfskin—durable, with a distinctive ivory color and smooth appearance. Can be tooled in gilt or blind. So-called Japan vellum (or Japon) is a type of thick paper that has been polished smooth and given a glossy finish to resemble vellum.
Verso The back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”)
Woodcut Illustration or textual decoration made by cutting away from the surface of a block of wood until the reverse of the image is left in relief; this is then inked and pressed to the paper to leave the image. The woodblock, or multiple blocks, can be fit into the page along with the type, allowing text and illustrations to be printed in the same print run and share the same page (not possible with engravings, which require thicker, damp paper and much more force; nor with lithographs, which require a different printing process altogether). Woodcuts preceded moveable type and are the earliest known printing technology.
Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
Wrappers Paper coverings—plain, marbled or printed—attached by stitches, staples or glue to a text block to identify it and afford it some protection (though much more fragile than a binding in plain, cloth or leather-covered boards). More typical of slim and/or inexpensive volumes such as pamphlets. “Self wrappers” are leaves, blank or printed, that are integral to the text block, conjugate with other leaves and from the same stock. “Original wrappers,” those attached at the time of issue, are scarce and extremely desirable to most collectors.

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