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March 2023

E-list 15

1. [Vinegar Valentine] Anonymous You Would Get Married$125.00
New York: US Engraving Works, n. d. (second half of the 19th century);
Broadside; 11 1/2 x 6 1/4; hand-colored illustration with a six-line poem
below; small part of the image colored at a later date; faint intersecting
crease lines with tiny nicks to edges of creases; small, period manuscript
notes to bottom of recto and top of verso; tiny square of paper excised fromlower left margin; overall in very good condition.
Comic valentines, later to become known as vinegar valentines or Penny
Dreadful, began to flourish in the US and Britain in the 1840s. Unlike thepretty, sentimental, conventional ones, the former were cheap, teasing, oreven downright mean and insulting, and they usually made fun of traits,
physical characteristics, or professions. Although produced in tremendous quantities, given their
popularity, not many of the early ones have survived, as people naturally got rid of the nasty notes.
The current one depicted a disheveled man, sitting and holding a baby and a small child, with anothertoddler sprawled in his feet, all three yowling and tear-stained. The text read: "Poor fool, allow me toextend / The sympathy of a pitying friend; / These things are always learned when it's too late, / Forbabies come as sure as fate; / There are plenty of fellows in your same condition, / Who findmatrimony a living perdition." To add insult to injury, whomever gifted the valentine had added two
extra-snippy manuscript notes - "This is what you will look like an year from now" and "Look Before
You Leap."
2. [Advertising] Maher & Grosh The Latest Out! New Whistle and Call, THE DEVELINE$30.00Toledo, Ohio: s. n., n. d. (1895). Leaflet; 6 3/4 x 3; single sheet, text to recto only;
thin, off-white stock, printed in black; illustrated with an engraving; light outline ofa pencil erasure to upper margin, else very minor wear; very good to near fine.
Published by a company in Ohio, known for producing cutlery, knives, firearms,
etc., presumably to advertise the newest product they would carry, the leaflet touted
the virtues of the Develine - a siren whistle for cyclists, patented in 1895 by the
Mossberg Wrench Company in Attleboro, Mass. It read, in part: "For an earpiercing, soul-harrowing, nerve-shattering noise, with which nothing that nature
produces can compare, we recommend this new whistle. If you wish your neighbors
to rush for their shotguns, dogs to start for the cellars, cats to die of envy, and allliving beings to start up in heart-broken protest, buy one of these and blow it..."3. [Map of England Collage of Pre-decimal Queen Elizabeth II Stamps] V. R. (Richards, Vera) ThereWill Always Be an England$350.00
S. l. (Tiverton): By the author, ca 1957 - 1963. Collage of die-cut
stamps on a white stock, affixed to a larger card stock sheet; map
approx. 8 1/2 x 4 1/2; sheets 10 x 7 and 10 3/4 x 8 1/4; subtitledand initialed in manuscript in black ink; two very minor spots anda slight ripple to bottom margin of paper; in very good to near finecondition.
A wonderful, somewhat quirky design - vintage, yet bearing a
distinctive modern aesthetic - it was created in the early years of
the reign of Queen Elizabeth II by one Vera Richards of Tiverton,
Devon (provenance - previous owner). Each of the stamps, somecancelled and others not, featured the face of the Queen and all ofthem were pre-decimal. Meticulously die-cut and overlapped, they
rendered a very-accurate outline of the map of England.

4. [Silk] Cheney Brothers Educational Silk Exhibit. For Textile Schools, Colleges, Universities andDepartment Store Personnel Work
$950.00
South Manchester, CT: Cheney Brothers, n. d. (ca 1906). First edition
presumed; 17 x 12 1/2; large, heavy, card stock portfolio (the twoboards separated), printed in black; eight wall charts on heavy card
stock, illustrated with photographs, drawings, and silk samples; seven ofthem with a string to upper margin for hanging; boards with scuffing toedges and some age-toning and spotting; charts with a bit of rubbing
and wear to edges and corners; two of the charts missing two swatchesof fabric each; overall in good to very good condition.
The Cheney brothers of Manchester - Ward, Frank, and Rush - began
their career by investing in cultivating the notoriously-difficult to growmulberry trees, the food source of the silkworm, in 1833. Quickly realizing that the project would be a
failure and that the money lay in processing, rather than in raw production, the brothers partnered with
their other brother Ralph and another investor and opened the Mt. Nebo Silk Mills in 1838, which
would be renamed the Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company in 1854. By the time the second
Industrial Revolution rolled in in the 1860s, the Cheney business was well on its way to becoming thelargest silk manufacturer in the United States and the only company to manage all phases of silk
production, but the actual raising of silkworms. Instead, they imported silk cocoons from Asia.

The Cheney brothers were not only businessmen, but also inventors (their patented Rixford Roller
would revolutionize the silk manufacturing process), investors (an employee of theirs and an ex-Colt
firearms employee, Christopher Spencer, would invent and patent his revolutionary Spencer Gun in
1860, with the Cheneys' backing, in their own factory), philanthropists (they would build numerous
community centers, schools, hospitals, a railroad, etc.), and generous employers (providing free, onsite, modern accommodations for the workers and their families). Unfortunately, the Great Depression
and later, during WWII, the ushering of synthetic fabrics, would spell the demise of the company,
which would ultimately be bought and dismantled by the J.P. Stevens and Co. of New York in 1955.
The current educational charts, lavish and well-executed, showed the cultivated stages of silk,
including actual cocoons and frisons, and provided numerous samples ( over 30 ) of silk ropes and rawsilk threads, and pile, gown, necktie, upholstery, and decorative silk fabrics.

5. [Auction Catalog] Messrs. Burr & Son Cobham Hall Estate, Annual Sale
$150.00
Rochester: Caddel and Son, 1849. Large brochure; 13 1/4 x 8 1/4;
pp. [4]; heavy, cream stock, printed in several fancy fonts; small
nick to tail of spine; two horizontal crease lines with a bit of dustdulling along creases; a few minor spots of foxing; in very goodcondition.
An elegant and elaborate auction sale announcement, it advertised
the sale of prime timber - hundreds of oak, chestnut, maple, elm,birch, etc. trees - belonging to the Earl of Darnley and "lying in theseveral woods in the parishes of Frindsbury, Cobham, Shorne, andCuxton." Each lot was described with its location, markings, cubic
ft, and so on. Cobham Hall, one of the largest and, arguably, mostimportant country houses in Kent, which traces its history back to
the 12th century, nowadays houses Cobham Hall School - a
private, boarding school for girls.

6. [Gypsies] Gibson, G. W. Charles Faa Blyth [sic], King of Yetholm Gipsies$45.00S. l. (Scotland): G. W. Gibson, n. d. (ca 1902). Real-photo postcard;
5 1/2 x 3 1/2; unused; a few minor spots to verso; in very good or
better condition.
Charles Faa Blythe, crowned on May 30, 1898, was the last Gypsy
King of Scotland. The elaborate ceremony in the Borders village of
Kirk Yetholm was witnessed by a crowd of 10 000 people, including
Lords and Ladies, and was said to have been one of the earliest
recorded examples of a "massive PR stunt" by the local inn- andhostel-keepers. The rituals included breaking a whiskey bottle overthe head of the king and tying a rabbit around his neck. The king's
reign lasted for just four years, until his sudden death in April of1902.

7. [Chicano Art Movement] Montoya, Malaquias
Liberacion$450.00
S. l. : By the artist, n. d. (ca 1977). Poster; 22 x 18; thickcard stock with a monochrome illustration and title; a bitof wear to corners and light age-toning along margins; invery good condition.
A stunning poster, depicting people struggling throughbarbed wire, it was created by one of the major figures of
the Chicano Art Movement of the 1960s and 1970s
Malaquias Montoya (1938 - ). Credited with being a cofounder of the social serigraphy movement in the San
Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1960s, he has been
known for his "art of protest, depicting the strength andresistance of humanity in the face of injustice." The poster, though undated, was most probably createdaround 1977, based on a very-similar one at UC Santa Barbara. The latter was titled: "Remember
Chile" and called for a "Rally for a Free Chile" at Glide Church, supporting the people's struggle
against Pinochet's dictatorship.

8. [WWI] Anonymous WWI Victory Button Proofs$100.00
S. l.: By the author, n. d. (1918). Artist proof; 3 1/4
x 5; glossy, off-white stock with six identical,
circular button designs in 2 rows by 3; minor wear
- near fine condition.
A wonderful design by an anonymous artist, thebutton depicted the intertwined flags of the war's
victors, with "VICTORY" printed below.

9. [Education] Various Penmanship Copybooks$850.00
Various places: Various publishers, 1857 - 1873. Eightnotebooks; various sizes, various pagination; colorful,engraved and decorated wraps in yellow, green, gray,beige, and red; filled in manuscript in different hands;
overall in very good condition, with occasional spotting
and small nicks to edges; two of them with period, handstitched repairs to spine; one with loss of paper to lower
corner of back wrap and a small, archival-paper repair toupper corner of front wrap.
In the 18th century, handwriting had been a highly-valued skill, but the history of American
penmanship, arguably, did not start until the publication of John Jenkins' "Art of Writing" in 1791.
Prior to that, the only reference material used had been European copybooks. In the first half of the
19th century, various penmanship systems would be developed and different copybooks would be
published, including Spencer's, Dunton's, Potter's, and others - some focusing on speed, others on
specific "muscular movement," and yet others - on complicated, ornamental styles. Most commercially
produced copybooks had beautiful cover art, with fancy fonts, woodcuts, steel engravings, and many
had the multiplication table printed on the back wrap. Usually, instructions were enclosed on the front
wrap verso. A number of them contained handwriting examples, to be copied repeatedly, while others
just had blank, lined paper. Sometimes, examples seen here, the students used the notebooks to practicewriting by keeping a diary, or even by recording financial transactions.
- "Payson, Dunton and Scribners's Combined System of Rapid Penmanship for Vermont Schools.
Boston: Crosby, Nichols and Company, 1857."- "Payson, Dunton and Scribners's National System of Penmanship in 12 Numbers. Revised andImproved. Book 7. New York: Potter, Ainsworth and Company, 1873."- "Spencerian System of Penmanship, Books 1 and 2. New York and Chicago: Ivison, Blakeman,
Taylor and Co., 1873."- "Specimens of Penmanship. S. l.: s. n., n. d. (1870s)."- "Potter and Hammond's Synthetical, Analytical, and Progressive System of Penmanship in Twelve
Numbers, Book 4. Philadelphia and New York: Schermerhorn, Bancroft and Co., 1861."- "Anonymous (The Property of...). S. l.: s. n., n. d. (1860s)."- "Writing Primer. Introductory to the Duntonian Copy Books. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1873."

10. [Advertisement] Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company There'll Come a Day (-and That
Day is Tomorrow)$50.00Minneapolis: Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co., 1947. First edition; 5 1/4 x 4 1/4; pp. [20]; brickred, pictorial wraps; yellow paper stock, illustrated with green, monochrome caricatures; minor wear toedges and tips of spine; slight offset to first page's margins from the wrap; very good or better.
A rambling, hilarious, rhyming advertisement for the Minneapolis-Honeywell Company, it highlighted
their efforts to secure metals for their production amidst severe shortages of steel, aluminum, etc. in theaftermath of WWII and ultimately assured their customers that "The point to remember (did we hear agroan?) / Is we still build controls and, by golly, we've grown. / If we don't have equipment to sell you
don't sorrow- / There'll come a day - and that day is tomorrow."
The company's beginnings dated back to 1885, when inventor Albert Butz founded the Butz ThermoElectric Regulator Co. and patented the so called "damper flapper" - the precursor to present-day
thermostat. The business would eventually create various industrial regulators, chemical dyes, and evenbecome the largest producer of high-quality jeweled clocks. It would also go through severaltransformations and mergers, acquiring the name Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company in 1927.
The company would play a critical role in the Apolo 11 mission, supplying 16 000 different parts to thevarious control systems.

11. [WWII] Anonymous See the First Division Circus at Montabaur, Germany. Two Whole Days
July 11-12, 1919
$450.00
Coblenz: Gorres-Druckerei, 1919. Poster; 14 1/2 x 9 1/4; thin, beige stock, printed and illustrated in red
and black; small creases to corners; intersecting crease lines with small splits to edges and a tinypuncture at intersection; overall in about very good condition.
An unrecorded poster, advertising the First Division Circus performances at Montabaur, it depicted asinister-looking clown with a smiling pig by his side. If history is to be believed, there has been apeculiar symbiosis between armed forces and circuses consistently through the ages. During WWI,
with soldiers facing danger and/or monotony on a daily basis, some apparently held hidden circus
talent and would entertain their comrades with full-blown mini-circuses. The culmination of it all
would be the American First Division Circus performances during the Occupation of 1919. For twodays, the entire town of Montabaur, outside of Coblenz, would be transformed into a circus
extravaganza with a street parade with elephants, horses, and floats, three-ring acts, and side-shows. It
would also be remembered for a remarkable performance by the First Engineers, who managed toconstruct a military pontoon bridge across the Rhine in the record time of forty-one minutes and eight
seconds.

12. [Games] Anonymous Puzzle Blocks Set$320.00
S. l.: s. n., n. d. (ca 1860). A complete set; wooden box andembossed black and gray paper; sliding wooden lid with laidon, hand-colored, lithographed illustration; 6 cubes withhand-colored,
lithographedsides;
5
hand-colored,
lithographed, subtitled, loose sheets + the lid coverillustrating the 6 puzzles; box - 5 3/4 x 4 x 2, cubes - 1 3/4 x 1
3/4 x 1 3/4, sheets - 5 x 3 1/2; paper on box with somerubbing to edges and small chips; lid illustration with ripples
and small loss of paper to edges; 2 of the sheets trimmed
unevenly, most probably while originally manufactured, inorder to fit the sheets in the box - resulting in obscured
subtitles; in good condition.
A beautiful, mid-19th-century, puzzle game, it illustrated Bible scenes, including the Conquest of
Jerusalem by Nebucadnezar [sic], the Farewell Taken by David from Jonathan, and James' Blessing of
His Sons.

13. [Trade Catalog] Winsor and Newton List of Colours and Materials for Drawing and Watercolour Painting, Manufactured and Sold by Winsor and Newton, No. 38, Rathbone Place,
London$350.00
London: By the authors, n. d. (ca 1855). Trade catalog; 7 1/4 x 4 3/4; pp. [2], 3-32; rebound in marbled
wraps, with the original back wrap preserved; illustrated with numerous woodcuts; a few minor
smudges to margins; text block a bit wobbly; rear endpaper with loss of paper to bottom margin; ingood to very good condition.
A beautiful trade catalog of art supplies, it was issued in the mid-19th century by Winsor and Newton manufacturers of a wide range of high-quality, fine-art products. Founded in 1832 by chemist William
Winsor and artist Henry Newton, the company would develop the first moist watercolors, utilizing the
moisture-retaining properties of glycerin. Gaining rapid and well-deserved popularity would lead totheir appointment as "Artists' Colourmen to Queen Victoria" in 1841. The company would
subsequently pioneer and patent several other art supplies, including glass syringes to replace bladders
as oil color containers and the first screw cap mechanism for a collapsible metal tube. Two engravingsat the beginnng of the catalog represented the medal they would win at the Great Exhibition at the
Crystal Palace in 1851 - the only prize to be awarded for artists' colors. The company would also makeand retail brushes, drawing papers, sketching portfolios, etc. Many of these products, including paints
in collapsible tubes, watercolors in lavish mahogany boxes, fine sable brushes, and so on, were pictured
and described with properties and prices in the current catalog.

14. [Criminals] Anonymous Real-photo Postcard of Louis W. Chobar - Prisoner, Saxophonist,
Librarian (Signed)$55.00S. l.: s. n., n. d. (ca 1930). Real-photo postcard; card - 5 1/2 x 3 1/4, oval image - approx. 3 3/4 x 2 1/4;
minor wear to corners; a few very light spots to margins; ink on signature slightly smudged; very goodcondition.
Louis W. Chobar, aka Lee Vaugh (1896 - ?), was sentenced to life in prison and became inmate #7280
at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, after murdering a farmer for raping his wife in 1917, although there
might have been rumors the latter had had a consensual affair with the man. He would eventually
become a prison librarian, mail room manager, soloist in the prison band with a saxophone he hadbought with his saved, full-year prison wages and had taught himself to play, and theater director - all
the accomplishments with the constant encouragement of Warden William T. Fenton (1872 - 1939) prison reformer and proponent of improvements to the inmates' quality of life. Fenton established agreenhouse, sports teams, the above-mentioned band, etc. and under his leadership, it was said theprison was one of the best-managed penitentiaries in the entire United States. Chobar's life sentence
was eventually commuted to 25 years and he was released in 1935.