England
Image from Dickinsons' comprehensive pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851
Tunis, No. 2.
America
Octagonal Room.
Frontispiece and title page of Observations relative to the mineralogical and chemical history of the fossils of Cornwall
Annotated pages in Sketch of a tour into Derbyshire and Yorkshire
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
This 1773 collection of poems was the only edition of Phillis Wheatley's work printed in her lifetime. Wheatley was first brought to the United States at age 7 or 8 to be sold into slavery. She was purchased by John Wheatley of Boston and taught to read and write. Having been tutored in the classics by Mrs. Wheatley, Wheatley began to write poetry herself and became well-known for it in Boston's domestic circles. A trip to England in 1773 brought her under the patronage of the Countess of Huntingdon who arranged for this 1773 English edition of her poetry to be published.
The "7th" in Camp
This is an incredibly rare booklet of 12 cartoons depicting the daily life of the 7th regiment as they reside at camp, likely during the American Civil War. Satirical and jovial in nature, these etchings trace one day’s activities, possibly of the New York 7th Infantry, from “Reveille” and “Company Drill” through “Guard Duty” and “Preparing for Dress Parade” to “Lights out.” Interestingly, these cartoons appear to blend American and British military dress, seemingly poking fun at the leisure of men who stay in camp.
The Curiosities of Ale & Beer
In the words of the author himself, this tome is responsible for "the bringing to light of many curious facts, so far as I am aware, never before noticed" about the role of ale and beer in the history of mankind. Starting in ancient Egypt, Bickerdyke traces the evolution of beer and brewing up through the late 1800s.
Teapots and Quails, and Other New Nonsenses
“There was an old person of Brussels, Who lived upon Brandy and Mussels. When he rushed through the town, He knocked most people down, Which distressed all the people of Brussels.”
Rock Gardening for Amateurs
This first edition, with its eye-poppingly colorful book cover and spine of rocks and flowering shrubs, was written by a leading British garden writer of the 20th century, Harry Higgott Thomas (1876-1956). Thomas trained at the famous Kew Gardens in London and worked at Veitch’s Nursery and Windsor as foreman of the Royal Gardens before embarking on a career as a horticultural writer. Rock Gardening for Amateurs is written for beginning rock gardeners and is one of over 30 books and articles he wrote on gardening during this lifetime.
The Pantropheon, or, History of Food, and Its Preparation
The son of a grocer, appropriately enough, Alexis Soyer (1810-1858) became a famous chef, indeed perhaps the first-ever “celebrity chef.” Apprenticed at a restaurant in Paris, he quickly rose in the profession to become the chef for several French and English aristocrats and subsequently cemented his reputation as the chef de cuisine at the Reform Club in London. Impressively – considering his clientele – he took an active interest in providing soup kitchens for the poor during the Irish famine of 1847 and worked with the British Army in the Crimea to improve the provisioning of army hosp
The natural history of British birds.
British Mineralogy
James Sowerby's British Mineralogy is the first comprehensive illustrated work on mineralogy. Though more than 200 years old, in many ways it has never been superceded. It was issued in parts over 15 years and ultimately contained 550 plates meticulously drawn from actual specimens, engraved and brilliantly colored by Sowerby himself and members of his naturalist/artist family accompanied by descriptive text. It is by common consensus "the supreme work of British topographical mineralogy, [and] the most ambitious colourplate work on minerals ever published" (Conklin).
