Search Results: Titles starting with E from 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop

Large-format albumen print (10 ⅝ x 13 ⅜ in.), mounted. Dated in the negative. Minor scratches, some overall toning, some offset from an old wood backing. Framed.
This rare photograph shows the East entrance to the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol during construction. Sawhorses and construction debris are visible in the foreground, while a number of figures, perhaps builders and the architect, stand at the head of the main stairs beneath Thomas Crawford's pediment, The Progress of Civilization.
At this time the Capitol dome was being put in place. The enormous project, begun in 1856, would be completed in 1866. The massive dome visually overwhelmed the East Front, prompting calls to enlarge that side of the building. That work was first planned in 1904, but construction did not take place until 1958-64. The East Front was the site of all presidential inaugurations from Jackson to Carter. Beginning with Reagan's inauguration the event was moved for the western side, allowing crowds to… Read More

Albumen print (8 ½ x 6 ¼ in.), original mount signed in print "A. Gardner, Photographer / Washington." Closed horizontal tear across steps. Good tones.
This dramatic photograph by Alexander Gardner shows the Capitol as it was during Lincoln's presidency. Scaffolding, cranes, ladders, and other construction equipment are visible. The East Front of the Capitol was the site of Lincoln's inaugurations in 1861 and 1865.
A giant of American photography, Alexander Gardner is credited with introducing the large-format Imperial portrait to the United States while working as a staff photographer for Mathew Brady. Gardner left Brady's employ in early 1863, and his studio quickly rivaled Brady's for the quality and extent of its war and portrait photography.
Gardner first photographed Lincoln as president-elect while working for Brady, and he went on to take Lincoln's portrait more than any other photographer. Lincoln sat for Gardner on several occasions, usually visiting his studio on Sunday to… Read More

First edition of the greatest and most influential modern economics text-book. Inscribed by Samuelson for Eric Roll, who has also signed the volume. Roll, professor of economics and later chairman of S. G. Warburg & Co., wrote the classic History of Economic Thought(1938, 4th ed., 1973).
Paul Samuelson was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. Economic historian Randall E. Parker has called him the "father of modern economics."
"His Economics … has educated millions of students, teaching that economics, however dismal, need not be dull" (New Palgrave). The book has gone through nineteen editions, and sold four million copies in forty languages. Through this work Samuelson exerted a profound influence on American perspectives on economics and on national policy.
Provenance: Eric Roll, professor of economics, director of the Bank of England, and chairman of S. G. Warburg & Co. His works include the classic History of Economic Thought (1938, 4th ed., 1973).Original green cloth.… Read More

Two volumes. 6 engraved plates. Contemporary calf, lacking labels, joints restored. A very good copy.
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of Macquer's Elémens de chymie-theorique (1749) and Elémens de chymie-pratique
(1751), translated by Andrew Reid from the 1756 editions. The theoretical section lays out the principles of chemistry, and the practical section presents a course of chemistry including engravings of apparatus.
Macquer was one of the leading chemists of his day, and his works were fundamental texts in the field. He made notable contributions in the application of chemistry to industry.
"Macquer wrote his Elements for people with no previous chemical knowledge. He began with an account of the four elements, air, water, earth, and fire (of which phlogiston was a modification), briefly discussed affinity, and the considered compound substances in order of their increasing complexity, mineral, vegetable, and animal. He was careful not to mention any substance before acquainting the reader… Read More

4to. Two volumes. Contemporary half calf, spines gilt, marbled boards. A very fine, fresh copy. Half morocco cases.
FIRST EDITION. In Political Justice, his most famous work, Godwin responds to Burke's attacks on the French Revolution and Thomas Paine. He applies the principles of the Revolution to inquire into the philosophical basis of government. Believing that political and social institutions are tyrannical and corrupt, Godwin calls for reason to guide human affairs and advocates individual liberty.
The Enquiry Concerning Political Justice was "one of the earliest, the clearest, and most absolute theoretical expositions of socialist and anarchist doctrine. Godwin believed that the motives of all human action were subject to reason, that reason taught benevolence, and that therefore all rational creatures could live in harmony without laws and institutions. Believing in the perfectibility of man, he thought that 'our virtues and vices may be traced to the incidents which make the history of our… Read More

THE PERFECTIBILITY OF MAN. 8vo. Early half red morocco. Near fine. FIRST EDITION. A distinguished mathematician and friend of Voltaire, d'Alembert, and Turgot, Condorcet played a major role in promoting the Revolution's democratic principles. In the Esquisse (An Historical Outline of the Progress of the Human Mind), he traces the history of man through ten epochs, moving from savagery through the development of civilization and knowledge up to Descartes in the eighth epoch. The ninth epoch spans the Enlightenment from Descartes to the Revolution. For the tenth epoch, Condorcet predicts that equality of opportunity will prevail among all classes and nations and that man will improve intellectually, morally, and physically. "A belief in the ultimate perfectibility of man lies at the root of all progressive thinking about the human condition. The philosophes and Godwin had familiarized the reading public with this notion, but it was left to Condorcet to give it its finest and most durable expression. . .… Read More

Contemporary armorial calf, spine gilt, red morocco label. A few small spots. Fine. First edition of the book that is, "more emphatically than any other single work, the cradle of political economy" (Jevons). Published posthumously, Cantillon's Essay on the Nature of Trade in General was cited by Adam Smith, Condillac, Quesnay, Harris, Postlethwayt, and many others. It is "the most systematic treatment on economic principles before the Wealth of Nations" (Roll), and Cantillon is the "founding father of modern economics" (Rothbard). Born in Ireland, Cantillon was active in banking in Paris for years. A man among boys in business, he made a fortune from John Law's scheme. "Bankers fell like autumn leaves in Paris between 1717 and 1720, and as Higgs remarks, 'Their losses were probably very heavy in 1720 and much of them went into Cantillon's pocket'" (New Palgrave). He successfully defended himself in numerous lawsuits brought by victims of the Mississippi Bubble, but he eventually deemed it prudent to… Read More

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE (with the integral Eliz. Holt title-page). An excellent, fresh copy of this classic of philosophy, the first modern attempt to analyze knowledge. "Few books in the literature of philosophy have so widely represented the spirit of the age and country in which they have appeared, or have so influenced opinion afterwards" (Fraser).
"The Essay has long been recognized as one of the great works of English literature of the 17th century, and one of the epoch-making works in the history of philosophy. It has been one of the most repeatedly reprinted, widely disseminated and read, and profoundly influential books of the past three centuries" (Nidditch).
"Locke is often classified as the first of the great English empiricists (ignoring the claims of Bacon and Hobbes). This reputation rests on Locke's greatest work, the monumental An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Locke sold the copyright to the publisher Thomas Basset for… Read More

4pp. ads at front dated 1 October 1847. Original boards, printed paper spine label. Joints cracked but secure, foot of spine chipped. An excellent copy, especially rare in original condition. Half morocco case.
First edition, first state. This is an excellent copy of the rare first issue of Longfellow's romance of the expulsion of the Acadians by the British during the French and Indian War. The idea for the poem came from Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had heard a story about tragic Acadian lovers. Longfellow did meticulous research on the historical setting of the poem, which paid off, literally—it earned him record royalty payments.
The earliest printed copies have Long on p. 61, line 1; "examination indicates that during the run of the first printing the reading became Lo…, due to an unknown, accidental, cause" (BAL). This is a particularly rare issue of an already rare book in original condition.
"It was not only Longfellow's first long poem, but the first long poem by an American to live beyond… Read More

4to. 24, [8], 23, [9] p. Recent marbled paper wrappers, printed label on upper wrapper. Title stained, lightly worn. Browning.
FIRST EDITION. This pamphlet was published in conjunction with "Reed's Plan of First Purchasers," a large and now rare landownership map, documenting the "First Purchasers" of Pennsylvania. The text includes copies of the original abstracts of communications from William Penn to the "first adventurers and purchasers in Pennsylvania," abstracts of the charter of the city, reasons why the plan of the city was altered by Benjamin Eastburn, an alphabetical list of the first purchasers, and the courses, distances and dates of surveys of all the lots in the city of Philadelphia. Reed prepared this valuable document to bolster his family's claims to land in the Philadelphia area.
Provenance: a succession of owners have signed the books, in this presumed order: "Andrew Cape His Book 1780 Market Street 10." — "Andrew Cape" and "Andrew Cape his book" likely a different… Read More

Broadside (18 x 12 in.). Old folds. Very good.
The Panic of 1873 was set off by the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., the leading American banker of its day. Because of financial crises in Europe , the Credit Mobilier scandal, and related problems, the firm declared bankruptcy on September 18, 1873. The bank's failure set of a chain of events including the failure of many insurance companies and banks and the ten-day closure of the New York Stock Exchange starting on September 20. Within two months 55 railroads had failed. The downturn, which lasted for the rest of the decade, was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s depression took that name.
This broadside, headed "Senseless Panic," attempts to reassure the public that the banks are not ruined and, apart from "undue expansion in the railroad interest," all is well. It begins, "It is high time the public recovered their reason. The panic has infinitely exceeded any real occasion in the situation of affairs. … There has not been one banking or… Read More

545 volumes, neatly bound in 51 volumes in red and blue buckram, preserving original wrappers. Very good condition.
Founded in 1898, Goodspeed's published its first catalogue in 1899. For decades to come the firm would be a dominant force in American bookselling. These catalogues are a witness to that golden age.
"Goodspeed's was unquestionably the dominant firm on the scene. Its prominence, both locally and internationally, coupled with the fact that the shop, in good Yankee tradition, kept its secrets to itself, made Goodspeed's the subject of frequent rumors and speculations in the local trade, many of them unfounded and not all of them kind. Indeed, the shop, had a kind of mystique which lured me strongly, as it had countless others" (David Holmes, preface to Goodspeed, The Bookseller's Apprentice).
The following passage from Goodspeed's memoir gives a taste of the treasures to be found in these volumes:
"But I think that the prize offering of the period by Goodspeed's was in Catalogue… Read More

Pioneering photographs of Central Park. One of the earliest photographers to work in New York, Victor Prevost (1820-1881) studied photography in France under Paul Delaroche and with Gustave Le Gray. In 1850 Prevost came to New York and established a studio at Broadway and Bleecker. He achieved limited commercial success, giving up photography as a career in 1857. Prevost continued to take photographs of major construction projects in New York City, the most important of which are his images of the new Central Park. These images are among the earliest extant photographs of the construction of Central Park. The Olmsted-Vaux plan was accepted in 1858, and work began at once, but it was not until the 1870s that the immense project was completed. As a result, these very early photographs present an unfamiliar view of the park, with immature plantings, temporary structures, worker housing, all without the towering buildings that figure prominently in later images. Three of the photographs are signed in the… Read More