Lorne Bair Rare Books Catalog 25
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M LORNE BAIR RARE BOOKS CATALOG 25 1 LORNE BAIR RARE BOOKS :: CATALOG TWENTY-FIVE M This 25th catalog represents a The publication of this catalog sort of departure for us at Lorne also marks, nearly to the week, Bair Rare Books. For this mile- my twentieth year in the busi- stone, my staff and I have cho- ness of rare books and manu- sen to showcase fifty (plus one) scripts. I would be remiss not to of what we consider our most thank the many dealers, collec- interesting items from re- tors, librarians, bibliogra- cently acquired inventory, phers and well-wishers who nearly all completely new have made it possible for to the market, nearly all me stick around this long. either unique or practi- You’re too many to thank cally so. Our emphasis as by name, but you know always remains on mate- who you are and so do I. rial reflecting the history A special thanks goes to my of American social move- fellow workers: Francesca ments, as expressed in the Blom, Lee Ann Dransfield, political, literary, and artistic Helene Golay, and Amir Naghib productions of this country and – an incredible team of brilliant, others. We’ve had a great deal talented people, without whom of fun gathering the material so many aspirations would still for this catalog, and we hope it be hanging in mid-air. will be as much fun for you, our readers and customers. Thanks guys. ALL ITEMS are offered subject to prior sale. Unless prior arrangements have been made, payment is expected with order and may be made by check, money order, credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express), or direct trans- fer of funds (wire transfer or Paypal). Institutions may be billed. Returns will be accepted for any reason within ten days of receipt. ALL ITEMS are guaranteed to be as described. Any restorations, sophistications, or al- terations have been noted. Autograph and manuscript material is guaran- teed without conditions or restrictions, and may be returned at any time if shown not to be authentic. DOMESTIC SHIPPING is by USPS Priority Mail at the rate of $9.50 for the first item and $3 for each additional item. Overseas shipping will vary depending upon desti- nation and weight; quotations can be supplied. Alternative carriers may be arranged. WE ARE MEMBERS of the ABAA (Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America) and ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers) and we strive to adhere to those organizations’ standards of professionalism and ethics. 2 The FIRST SERIOUS STUDY of AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSIC, a COPY with SIGNIFICANT PROVENANCE M write: “This song was a favorite in the colored schools of 1. [ALLEN, William Francis, et al] Charleston in 1865; it has since that time spread to the Slave Songs of the United States Sea Islands” (p. 55)). Songs are divided into four sections, divided by geographical region: Southeastern, Northern New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867. First Edition. Oc- Seaboard, Inland, and Gulf States. The last of these fea- tavo (23cm); original blind-ruled pebble-grained green tures seven Creole songs from Louisana. The text proper cloth, upper cover lettered in gilt, unadorned spine, is comprised chiefly of music, though most of the pieces brown glazed endpapers; [4],xliv,[6],115pp; music to include substantial explanatory notes on history and re- 136 songs. Spine ends and corners a bit rubbed, mild gional variations. scattered foxing within, with con- temporary and early 20th-century This is the copy of John H. ownership inscriptions to half title, Wheeler, North Carolina including that of John H. Wheeler, plantation-owner, biblio- dated Feb. 1872. phile and politician. He served as the North Caroli- The first published work on the na State Treasurer (1843-5) music of the slave states and the and U.S. Minister to Nica- first full-length study of the music ragua (1855-6). More nota- of African-Americans. bly, Wheeler was the owner The authors begin this pioneering of two escaped slaves, one book by observing: “...the musical of whom, Hannah Bond, capacity of the negro race has been was the author of the cel- recognized for so many years that it ebrated The Bondwoman’s is hard to explain why no system- Narrative, the manuscript atic effort has hitherto been made of which went undiscov- to collect and preserve their melo- ered until 2001 when it was dies” (p. i). The work that follows published under the editor- is remarkable, not ship of Henry only for its sympa- Louis Gates, thetic assessment of Jr. Wheeler the “creative pow- was renowned er” underlying Afri- for his exten- can-American folk sive collection idioms, but also for of works on its methodology, slavery and which anticipates the the abolition- work of so-called “scientific” folk- ist movement, which Gates lorists some forty years later: “...the greater part of the has characterized as a means of studying “the mind of the music here presented has been taken down by the edi- enemy, perhaps better to master and control his slaves, tors from the lips of the colored people themselves...the and to prevent them from escaping” (seee his essay, “Bor- difficulty experienced in attaining absolute correctness is rowing Privileges,” New York Times, June 2, 2002). greater than might be supposed by those who have never Reissued in 1871 and reprinted several times in the 20th tried the experiment...” The result is the first authoritative century; however the 1867 first printing is by no means collection of African-American folk songs, both religious a common work, especially in such nice condition. SA- and secular, including many now-ubiquitous tunes as BIN 82067. WORK p.435. “Roll, Jordan, Roll” and “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had,” often providing valuable etymologies of the songs $2,000. and their singers (of the latter, for instance, the authors 1 FULL RUN of a SEMINAL SURREALIST PERIODICAL M Surréalisme au Service began publication shortly after the 2. BRETON, André, ed. demise of La Révolution Surréaliste, when the movement Le Surréalisme au Service de la Révo- had begun moving in a more political direction. Breton lution. Nos. 1-6 [All Published] penned his second Surrealist Manifesto in 1930, following Marcel Duchamp’s break from the movement. In the Sec- [Paris: Librairie José Corti, 1930-1933]. First Edition. ond Manifesto, Breton took Surrealism in a conscioualy Six volumes; quarto (28cm); uniformly bound in cream political direction, openly embracing Communism, and wrappers, yapp edges; No. 1 printed in green, the rest banning from publication any members of the movement printed in green and yellow; photographic plates and oth- who failed to embrace “collective action.” It was in this er illus. throughout. Some minor shelf-wear, spines a hint spirit that Breton began editing Le Surréalisme au Service toned, No. 6 textblock somewhat foxed, else a Near Fine de la Revolution, so named in an effort “to reassure the collection in original wrappers. Nos. 5 and 6 with pub- Communists, as was the first issue’s opening declaration lisher’s cancel replacing “José Corti” with “Éditions des of loyalty to the Third International” (Clifford Browder, Cahiers Libres.” André Breton, Arbiter of Surrealism (1967), p. 29). This Seminal periodical of surrealist-political discourse, suc- political alignment may partly explain the short lifespan cessor to La Révolution Surréaliste (1924-1929), which of the periodical, as it alienated the upper class readership had also been edited by the movement’s founder and to whom the poetry and artwork most appealed. After the enthusiastic contributor André Breton. Among the au- dissolution of Surrealisme au Service, the Swiss publisher thors, film-makers, and photographers represented in this Albert Skira founded Minotaure (1933-1939), a less po- collection are Tristan Tzara, Salvador Dali, Luis Buñuel, litical successor for which Breton once again assumed the Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, and role of editor. Sigmund Freud. $2,500. 2 INSCRIBED to “MAMA.” NO, REALLY. M American Childhood. By sixteen she was a weekly contrib- 3. [BROOKS, Gwendolyn] BROWN, Patricia, utor to Chicago’s principal African-American newspaper, Don L. Lee, and Francis Ward (editors) the Defencder (seventy-five of her poems were published To Gwen With Love: An Anthology there before she had graduated high school). By twenty her work had already begun appearing in anthologies (see Dedicated to Gwendolyn Brooks Brooks, Report from Part One, pp 46ff.). Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., 1971. First Brooks would go on to a tremendously successful career, Edition. First Printing, cloth issue. Octavo (23.5cm); winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 (the first Af- purple cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and rican-American woman to be so honored) and becoming front cover; dustjacket; [12], 149, [1]pp. Inscribed by one of the most-anthologized poets of her generation. It is Brooks on the half-title page: “For Mama, Love, Gwen- safe to say that no individual bore a stronger influence on dolyn.” Base of spine gently nudged, else Fine. Dustjacket this success than Keziah Brooks, and we can imagine few is unclipped (priced $7.95), lightly edgeworn, with a few more meaningful associations than this one. short tears and attendant creases; Very Good+. Anthology of poetry and prose dedicated to the first Af- $1,250. rican-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. The volume emerged as a result of an event intiated by the Kuumba Workshop on December 28, 1969 (held at Chi- cago’s Affro-Arts Theater), which brought together writ- ers, artists, poets, and musicians to pay tribute to Brooks’s influence on their respective crafts.