[Rarebooks] FS: "Miniature" relic from 1660

[Powers Rare Books]

I can offer...

      [BOSTON RELIC].  A miniature book-form souvenir of the Great Elm 
on Boston Common.  Boston, 1876.  Carved from a small piece of 
elm-wood; measures 2 3/4 inches tall by 2 1/4 inches wide, "tooled" on 
the spine and lettered on the cover: "Old Elm Boston Common 1876," with 
gilt on the edges of the "text."  The foot of the spine is chipped and 
the corners are a little worn, otherwise very good.
      An interesting relic of Boston.  This is one of several souvenirs 
that were fashioned from the wood of the venerable Old Elm Tree on 
Boston Common, which predated the settlement of the town--one of the 
limbs torn off in 1860 showed 200 rings, setting its "birthday" back to 
1660, and on more than one occasion during the city's early history it 
was used as a gallows.  It was depicted on the Bonner map of Boston in 
1722; thankfully General Gage, when the British were camped on the 
Common in colonial times, forebore to use its resources to warm his 
troops during the severe winter; it was battered by storms in the 
mid-nineteenth century, suffered decay, and was finally felled by 
another storm in 1876, an event that became a temporal civic landmark.  
This is the first example of this relic I have encountered--a perfect 
item for the Bostonophile, arborealist, or collector of miniature 
books.
      Also included is a copy of J. C. Warren's "The Great Tree of 
Boston Common" (Boston, 1855; 20pp.), which includes a copy of the 
Bonner map and a woodcut depiction of the tree.

Images:
http://home.comcast.net/~powersrarebooks/BostonElmMiniature3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~powersrarebooks/BostonElmMiniatureSpine.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~powersrarebooks/BostonElmMiniatureEdges.jpg

$400 plus shipping.  Reciprocal consideration to the trade.

Cheers,
Greg Powers
Powers Rare Books
344 Orange Street
Manchester NH  03104
603-624-9707
powersrarebooks at comcast.net
http://www.powersbks.com
Member: ABAA, ILAB, NHABA