[Rarebooks] fa: A MEMOIR OF ZERAH COLBURN Written by Himself - Springfield: 1833

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, November 13. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

http://tinyurl.com/hgtr79z

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Zerah Colburn: A Memoir of Zerah Colburn; Written by Himself. Containing an account of the first discovery of his remarkable powers; his travels in America and residence in Europe…; his return to this country and the causes which led him to his present profession; with his peculiar methods of calculation. Springfield: G. and C. Merriam, 1833. FIRST EDITION; 8vo (2o cm) in original publisher's glazed purple cloth, printed spine label; 204 pp.; with the frontispiece.

Autobiography by this child prodigy and "mental calculator" who for a brief period was a sensation on two continents. Treated by his father as something of a performing monkey, he was paraded across America and Europe before adulthood brought a diminution of his powers. He ended up a professor of languages at Dartmouth College. Chipping to the cloth at the joints and the foot of the spine, bumping to the corners; front hinge cracked but holding; toning to the untrimmed edges of the leaves, a very few small spots, else quite clean.