[Rarebooks] FS: Americana- Recent Acquisitions

[Clare Murphy]

1.  THE CHARTER GRANTED BY THEIR MAJESTIES KING WILLIAM AND QUEEN 
MARY, TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS-BAY IN 
NEW ENGLAND. [BOUND WITH:] ACTS AND LAWS, OF HIS MAJESTY'S PROVINCE 
OF THE MASSACHUSETTS-BAY IN NEW-ENGLAND. Boston: B. Green, 1726.

Period calf binding. The head and tail of the spine were long ago 
replaced with later calf and with red leather labels printed in gilt. 
The original leather over the boards has been repaired with later 
calf at the same time. The whole is professional and pleasing in 
appearance. Retains original end papers and all pages are clean and 
crisp, with the exception of one section of  the laws with minor damp 
stains. Three pages have small closed tears. Signed by Joseph Lemmon, 
of Charlestown, a wealthy merchant and member of the Governor's 
Council to whom this Charter and Laws were addressed by the British 
Monarchies. With his detailed additions to the Table (of contents) in 
a fine hand. Folio. [Blank; 12 (Charter); 2 (Explanation by King 
George); 12 (Table); 525 (Laws); blank pgs] Near fine. Two volumes in 
one. Each with its own title page, dated 1726.

Association copy. This copy includes the separately printed Charter 
(bound first), the full 1726 laws, and all of the session laws 
printed through July 6, 1734. Evans 2762; Cushing Mass. Laws 343. 2 
copies sold at auction since 1949, including one severely damaged 
copy. OCLC lists holdings at: Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., 
Massachusetts State Library, Boston, Mass., Boston Public Library, 
Boston, Mass.Boston Anthenaeum, Boston, Mass., Harvard College 
Library, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Law School Library, Cambridge, 
Mass., Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Mass., New York 
Historical Society, New York City,  New York Public Library, New York 
City, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., Library 
Company of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, John Carter Brown Library, 
Providence, R. I. Library.  $8500.00

2.  FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN.  RULES FOR REDUCING A GREAT EMPIRE TO A SMALL 
ONE DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ALEXANDER, LORD LOUGHBOROUGH. 
TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY THE 
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN GENERAL CONGRESS 
ASSEMBLED. London: Ridgway, 1793. First edition. Published in essay 
form, this copy was later bound in 3/4 morocco by Sangorski and 
Sutcliffe. 12mo. [16 pgs] Near fine. Top margin of pages shaved close.

"Here was the boldest tone Franklin had ever taken in public and all 
the bolder because his hard arguments were edged with insulting 
irony. He talked back to the ministers from whom he had borne too 
much." Carl Van Doren. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

The following quotation is from Goodspeed's 1942 catalogue, 
advertising this very copy, which was purchased by a prominent 
collector, from whose estate I bought it.

"No American auction record. The Union Catalogue locates copies only 
at the Library of Congress and the John Carter Brown Library but we 
understand that there are copies also at the Huntington and the 
Boston Public Libraries.

Ford's note is in part as follows: 'Probably the cleverest political 
satire written by Franklin. It is a scathing review of the Ministry's 
methods for governing America, and is chiefly aimed at Lord 
Hillsborough, with whom Franklin more than squares the account which 
the latter had opened in the 'Walpole Grant' affair.' Originally 
printed in October, 1773, in the Public Advertiser. . . ."

Since 1942, there has been one sale of this essay at Swann's 3/3/2007 
Sale. Ford 314; Sabin 25580.  $7500.00

3.  MOTTELAY, PAUL F. AND CAMPBELL-COPELAND, T. (EDITORS).  THE 
SOLDIER IN OUR CIVIL WAR. New York: Dillingham, 1886-7. 2 volumes. 
Original brown pictorial cloth. Folio (17 x 12"). Very good. 
Profusely illustrated on every page by eye-witness artists working in 
the field, such as Forbes, Waud and Taylor. Weak at inner front and 
rear hinges on volume one. Very bright and attractive set.  $750.00

4.  PARKMAN, FRANCIS.  WORKS. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1898. 12 
volumes. 3/4 tan morocco with marbled boards and end papers, gilt 
decorated spines, red and black labels and top-edge gilt. 5 x 8. Near 
fine. Complete. Comprising: The Oregon Trail; The Conspiracy of 
Pontiac (2); The Jesuits in North America; Pioneers of France in the 
New World; La Salle and the Great War; The Old Regime in Canada; 
Count Frontenac and New France; A Half Century of Conflict (2); 
Montcalm and Wolfe (2).
Top edge gilt, marbled boards and endpapers. Very attractive 12 
volume set of Parkman's Works.  $1200.00

5.  WASHINGTON, GEORGE.  WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE 
OF THE UNITED STATES. New Brunswick: Lewis Deare, 1813. First 
edition. 1/2 Leather. 3.25 x 5.75. [48 pgs] Near fine. With very rare 
portrait. Original binding.  $650.00

Discounts to the trade.
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Clare Murphy
Payson Hall Books
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Watertown, MA 02472
USA

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