571. [Aiken, Henry David] Sheffer, Henry M.

Manuscript Letter signed from eminent american logician, Henry M. Sheffer, to Philosopher Henry David Aiken, congratulating Aiken of being accepted to Harvard: “…..the Harvard Board of Overseers may not have O.K.‘d your appointment yet. However, I consider it final and official. Letme congratulate both you and Harvard on your joining the Emerson Hall First Floor Department. It will be a great pleasure to see you here again next Fall….”. Sheffer then continues ominously: “Then we can talk about a number of things one does not wish to put on paper”.

Cambridge (Emerson Hall), April 17th, 1946. Octavo. 1 pages. Softcover. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear. Original Letters or anything published by Sheffer, is exceedingly rare !

572. [Aiken, Henry David] Knopf, Alfred A.

Scathing Typed Letter signed from eminent publisher Alfred A. Knopf to Philosopher Henry David Aiken, who promised him to deliver the book “Pragmatism Revisited” two years prior and who he had already reminded twice about deadlines which had been ignored by Aiken. Knopf, famous for his lengthy correspondence, asks for the advance to be returned and expresses his disappointment in no uncertain terms: “….this makes me feel that you have lost all interest in having this book published by Knopf…..you seemed to be so friendly and so interested in our house when I did meet you in Boston that I hesitate to take this action….”. [The letter, from the personal collection of Henry David Aiken, is accompanied by an original typescript of Aiken’s apologetic response to Knopf. Acccording to our sources, this book never saw the light of day].

New York / Cambridge [Mass.],) 1964. Octavo. 2 pages. Softcover. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear.

573. Aiken, Henry David / [Hans Jonas] / Quine, W.V.O.

Typed letter, signed by German-born, American Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas, loosely inserted in Henry David Aiken’s pamphlet “God and Evil: A Study of Some Relations Between Faith and Morals”. The Essay by Aiken is inscribed and signed by Aiken in a sarcastic manner: “To God, from one of his congregation – Shem”. In the letter, Jonas reflects on two pages on an evening with Henry David Aiken and his then wife Lillian Woodworth. In his letter to Aiken, Hans Jonas reports back to Aiken after reading his essay [″God and Evil”] and calls it “a beautiful piece of work – in style and content worthy of your “master” who wrote on natural theology….”. Jonas goes on encouraging Aiken: “you are also dead wrong n not publishing a collection of your essays in ethical theory. If your pal Quine can do it “from a logical point of you [sic]”, so can you “from a moral point of view”. Jonas also mentions “that it is worth writing about the ancient problem opf a theodicy in a contemporary context”. [The Essay is n Offprint from Ethics, An International Journal of Social, Political and Legal Philosophy, Volume LXVIII, No. 2].

New York / Washington, DC, 1958. 16,8 x 24 cm. 21 pages (pages 77-97 of the Journal) plus two page-letter (on one leaf), signed by Hans Jonas Original Offprint / Original TLS (Typed letter signed). Very good+ condition. Stapled. Only minimal signs of staining. The letter also discusses a Reference for one “Ed Sayles” and Jonas suggest that Aiken writes “casual but fairly strong” to Howard R. Bartlett, professor of history and head of the Department of Humanities at MIT.

574. Johnson, A.E. / Bull, Rene.

The Russian Ballet [Ballett]. By A.E.Johnson with Illustrations by Rene Bull.

First Edition. London, Constable & Co., 1913. Quarto (23 cm x 28.5 cm). 240 pages with numerous text-illustrations in black-and-white as well as 18 full-page colour-plates after watercolours of irish-british illustrator and photographer, René Bull. Original, decorative Hardcover with gilt lettering andornament on spine and front board. This fantastic Volume is no win protective collector’s – mylar. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear.

575. Yeats, William Butler / [George [Georgie] Yeats / Mrs. Eva Hempel / Eduard Hempel].

Pages from a Diary Written in Nineteen Hundred and Thirty. [Signed / Inscribed by George Yeats to Mrs. [Eva] Hempel, wife of german ambassador to Ireland during World War II].

No.8 / 200 copies, of the original limited edition. Dublin, The Cuala Press, 1944 [September 1944]. Octavo. 58 pages. Original Hardcover. Inscribed by George Yeats on the front free endpaper: “Mrs. Hempel from George Yeats, April 1944”. This has to be of course “April 1945”. The impossibility of signing/inscribing a book in April 1944 if it was only published in September 1944 is easily explained with the classic everyday-mistake of still writing the previous year in the first few months of the following year. A stunning association. The signature and inscription is a solid match to George Yeats’ autographs in her later hand and William Butler Yeats and George Yeats were frequent visitors to the Hempel’s in Dublin. In addition, the low number of the edition (8/200) suggests this being one of the reference copies given to George Yeats, who contributed heavily to the volume and even added an explanatory note (in print) verso the titlepage. This copy is near fine, bound in the publisher’s quarter buckram over yellow, paper-covered boards. The books pages remained unopened. Eva Hempel’s husband Eduard Hempel is one of the most controversial figures in modern Irish history, excoriated by some as ‘Hitler’s man’, defended by others such as the country’s first President, Eamon De Valera. Certainly, Hempel presented William Butler Yeats in 1938 with a copy of ‘Germany Speaks’ whose inscription described an ‘unforgettable afternoon’ spent together by Yeats and Hempel. Eduard Hempel and his wife were accepted socialites in the Dublin world of World War II, famously receiving a condolence call by de Valera upon the death of Hitler. Eduard Hempel and his wife Eva were granted asylum in Ireland after world war II and stayed way beyond the end of World War II.

576. Wright, Thomas / Warren, H.

The History of Ireland: From the Earliest Period of the Irish Annals to the Present Time. Illustrated with 43 [fortythree] Beautiful Steel Engravings from Original Drawings, executed expressly for this Work by H. Warren.

First Edition. 3 Volumes [complete set]. London / New York, The London Printing and Publishing Company, no year [c.1850]. Quarto (20.5 cm x 28 cm). Pagination: Volume I: Frontispiece and engraved titlepage, XIV, 728 pages / Volume II: Portrait-Fronticpiece of James Butler (Second Duke of Ormond), IV, [2], 663 pages / Volume III: Portrait-Frontispiece of a young Queen Victoria plus engraved titlepage showing the visit of George IV to Ireland in 1821, [4], 592 pages. Original Hardcover / Contemporary half-leather with gilt lttering and ornament to spine. Volume I professionally rebacked and all three Volumes now firm and strong. Very good condition of this important mid-19th-century-publication, documenting the very essence of intertwining politics and History of Ireland and Victorian Britain. The work is difficult top find in excellent condition. Interior excellent besides a few very minor dogears to some pages. From the library of B.Burrowes, Belfast, with the armorial bookplate / Exlibris including the Motto: “Audaces Fortuna Juvat”.

577. Wilde, Oscar.

Collection of Four Rare Presentation Review Copies of Publisher Methuen & Co., with publisher’s Ephemera (presentation-slip regarding the wish for Review and publication-date, as well as a booklet “The Library of Devotion”) / The collection includes: 1. Intentions (4th Edition, 1909) / 2. Lady Windermere’s Fan – A Play about a Good Woman (3rd Edition, 1909) / 3. An Ideal Husband (3rd Edition, 1909) / 4. The Importance of Being Earnest – A Trivial Comedy for Serious People (3rd Edition, 1909).

4 Volumes. London, Methuen & Co., 1909. Small Octavo. Pagination: “Intentions”: 263 pages / “Lady Windermere’s Fan”: 157 pages / “An Ideal Husband”: 246 pages / “The Importance of Being Earnest”: 181 pages. Original Hardcover / Original, very decorative publisher’s cloth with bevelled edges and gilt lettering and ornament to spine and cover. Excellent condition with some minor signs of wear and mild staining to bindings only.

578. Warburton, Rev. Mr. [William].

The Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion Occasionally Opened and Explained in a Course of Sermons. [Including an “Appendix containing Three Sermons preached and Published on the Occasion of the Late Rebellion in MDCCXLV” [Meaning the “Jacobite Rising of 1745” also known as the “Forty-five Rebellion” (this Appendix has its own titlepage”] and “A Discourse on the Nature if the Marriage-Union”]. Preached before Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. In Two Volumes.

First Irish [Dublin] Edition. Two Volumes bound in One [complete]. Dublin, Printed for G. and A. Ewing at the “Angel and Bible” in Dame-Street, 1755. Octavo. VIII, 231, [1], [2], 236 pages [including an advertising “A Catalogue of Books printed for George and Elexander Ewing at the Angel and Bible in Dame-Street, Dublin, 1753”]. Hardcover / Original 18th century full leather with original spine-label and gilt lettering. In protective Mylar. Leather with some parts damaged. Volume itself in firm condition with the endpapers and pastedown’s intact. From the library of Richard Meade (Ballymartle), with his Exlibris / Bookplate to pastedown.

579. Walde, Johann Gottlieb.

Thomas Waldauf’s, des Dresdener Schornsteinfegers Lebensereignisse zu Wasser und zu Lande in drei Welttheilen. Von ihm selbst erzählt und als ein wahrhaftes Familienbuch für Jung und Alt in allen Ständen des Volkes herausgegeben von J.G.Walde. [A german Chimney-sweepers Travels and Adventures on the Ocean and in America (California)].

Löbau, J.G.Walde’s Buchhandlung, ohne Jahr [1858]. Klein-Oktav. 304, 236, 220, VI, (1) Seiten. Mit 23 (von 24) wunderbaren, handkolorierten Tafeln von Ferdinand Franke in Dresden, welche Waldaufs Reise zeigen (u.a. im Schaufelrad-Dampfer etc.). Hardcover / Moderner, sehr dekorativer Halblederband mit neuem Vorsatz. Nach der sehr guten Restauration durch einen professionellen Buchbinder, ist dieser Band wieder ein Sammler-Exemplar. Leicht schiefgelesen. Das Papier vereinzelt stärker stockfleckig. Nahezu alle Abbildungen wunderbar und tadellos und vor allem in kräftigem Kolorit erhalten. Zahlreiche Abbildungen auf unserer Webseite. Sehr seltene, interessante Publikation die auch politische Ansichten ueber den amerikanischen Unrechts-Staat des 19.Jahrhunderts, im Bezug auf Rassismus und Rechte der afroamerikanischen Bevoelkerung, anspricht.

580. von Gräfe [Graefe], Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht / [Provenance: Dr. Otto Simon (1873 – 1953 ?)– Exiled Jewish Ophthalmologist from Magdeburg to Cambridge]

Sammelband of rare publications on Ophthalmology / Ophthalmologie and Calabar Bean as a Remedy / The Sammelband includes: 1. [Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Graefe] – “Ueber Calabar Bean” – Auszug aus einem Vortrag gehalten in der Berliner medicinischen Gesellschaft am 24.Juni, 1863. 3 pages / 2. [Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Graefe] – Vorträge aus der Gräfe’schen Klinik, zusammengestellt und mitgetheilt von Dr.Engelhardt – I. Ueber Amblyopie und Amaurose (p.129 – p.144 aus dem Monatsblatt fuer Augenheilkunde, 1865) / 3. Vorträge aus der Gräfe’schen Klinik – Fortsetzung: Heilbare Form congestiver Amblyopie mit normalem Gesichtsfeld – (p.193 – p.275 aus dem Monatsblatt fuer Augenheilkunde, 1865) / 4.[Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Graefe] – Ueber v. Hasner’s Kritik der Linearextraction. – Separat-Abdruck aus den Klinischen Monatsblaettern fuer Augenheilkunde (Januar-Heft). Rostock, Carl Boldt, 1868. 20 Seiten / 5. [Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Graefe] – Noch ein Wort an den Verfasser der “Neuesten Phase”. (p.259 – 269)//.

Rostock u.a., Carl Boldt u.a., c. 1863 – 1868. Octavo. Private Hardcover with original offprints and pamphlet bound in. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear. Extremely scarce and early publications by the pioneer of German ophthalmology.