We have been fortunate this past summer to see a number of wonderful titles come through the door. Do come in and see some of the more interesting ones.

By Track and Trail: A Journey Through Canada by Edward Roper

London: W.H. Allen, 1891. xiv, 455 p. 8vo. First edition. Folding map. Many illustrations by the author. Blue cloth, restored at head and heel of spine. Owner’s sig.

Records the author’s experiences travelling from Montreal up through Thunder Bay across Manitoba, Assiniboia, an through the Rocky Mountains to British Columbia (where he is very impressed with Vancouver Island, especially Victoria and its English customs.) Later he returns much the same way, visiting Calgary, Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, Muskoka and Peterborough.

Throughout he repeatedly complains about the “villainous management” in Canadian hotels, as well as offers much advice on era travel, including how to get your baggage checked properly on a C.P.R. train. There is much comparison of English and Canadian manners and customs, with notably remarks on Canadian settlers and First Nations inhabitants. Author also records a dreaded night outside of Port Hammond, devoting an entire chapter to the experience titled, “Mosquito Time.” There is also much fishing and hunting, including salmon and trout out West and shooting Big-Horn near Glacier House, British Columbia.

His depictions of Muskoka are excellent.

$650.00

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Duelling Stories of the Sixteenth Century From the French of Brantome by George H. Powell

London: A.H. Bullen, 1904. 244 p. 8vo. First edition. Illustrated throughout with black and white plates. Index. Blue cloth. A very good copy.

$300.00

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Bog-Trotting for Orchids by Grace Greylock Niles

New York and London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904. xiv, 310 p. 8vo. First edition. Illustrated throughout with black and white and full colour plates (incl. photos of the region). Of the fifteen genera of Orchidacecae in New England, all save Listera, Tipularia, and Aplectrum are represented. Extensive index. Brown cloth. Tear in page xi, not affecting text. A few minor stains.

Chronicles the author’s experiences exploring the Hoosac Valley in the Taconic Mountains, Bennington County, Vermont and Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Includes chapters on sweet pogonias, limordorums, the bogs of Etchowog, the Westville swamps, hail storms, Mount Carmel, moccasin-flowers, saucy jays, polypores, white oaks, alpine blossoms, natural bridges, and the Orange Mountains of New Jersey.

“All Winter I had been promising myself the pleasure of watching the flowers unfold in the Bogs of Etchowog.”

$300.00

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The Hohenzollerns in America and Other Impossibilities by Stephen Leacock

London: The Bodley Head, 1919. 254 p. 8vo. First edition. Light brown cloth. Rare jacket has a crease in the front and back panel but otherwise is very sharp.

$500.00

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Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation by Lacfadio Hearn

New York and London: The Macmillan Company, 1904. v, 541 p. 8vo. First edition. Brown cloth. A beautiful copy.

$250.00

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The History of Signboards, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day by Jacob Larwood and John Camden Hotten

London: John Camden Hotton, 1866. x, 536 p. 8vo. Colour frontispiece. 100 examples of signboards illustrated in black and white. Index. Maroon cloth with gilt decoration to front board and spine. Wear to outer corners and to head and heel of spine. Ex libris to front pastedown. Light foxing and soiling to outer page edges; foxing to pages towards boards.

“The field of history is a wide one, and when the beaten tracks have been well traversed, there will yet remain some of the lesser paths to explore. The following attempt at a “History of Signboards” may be deemed the result of an exploration of one of these by-ways.”

Includes chapters on historic and commemorative signs, heraldic and emblematic signs, signs of animals and monsters, birds and fowl, fishes and insects, flowers, trees, herbs, biblical and religious signs, saints and martyrs, trades and professions, house and table, dress (plain and ornamental), geography and typography, humorous signs, as well an appendix on Bonnel Thornhill’s Signboard Exhibition of 1762.

$250.00

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London After Midnight by Marie Coolidge-Rask

New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1928. vi, 261 p. 12mo. First edition. 8 b&w plates. Green cloth, rubbed at edges, soem wear to head and heel of spine. Hinges cracked.

Tie-in novelization of the famous lost horror film directed by Tod Browning and staring Lon Chaney.

$400.00

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Some wonderful illustrated children’s books and books on Natural History are available at the shop this month. I’ve acquired a few especially wonderful titles recently, a few of which are listed below.

Cinderella as told by Githa Sowerby and illustrated by Millicent Sowerby

London: Humphrey Milford/Oxford University Press, No date. c. 1920. N. pag. 4to. 12 colour plates. Decorative page borders. Superb endpapers with gold illustrations. Beige and white pictorial boards. Minor wear to back cover.

Sisters Githa and Millicent often collaborated together on children’s books. This one is especially lovely.

$200.00

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Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

London: Macmillan and Co., 1878. 224 p. 12vo. 50 illustrations incl. frontispiece by John Tenniel. An early edition. Small spot on front cover, some darkening and minor rubbing to edges, spine a bit faded. Endpapers foxed, with owner’s signature and inscription.

$250.00

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The Brown Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1904. xiii, 350 p. 12mo. 8 colour plates. 22 b&w plates. 20 in-text drawings. First edition. Pictorial brown cloth. Illustrated endpapers. A little wear, mainly to spine ends. Small hope in top of spine. Owner’s inscription on front endpaper.

$250.00

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The Forester’s Manual or The Forest Trees of Eastern North America by Ernest Thompson Seton

Toronto: The Musson Book Company, No date. c. 1912. x, 141 p. 8vo. Each example includes a map and illustration. No. 2 of the Scout Manual Series. First edition. Green decorative cloth.

Born in Scotland and raised in Toronto, Seton was a noted author, wildlife artist, and a founding pioneer of the Boy Scouts of America. He heavily influenced Lord Baden-Powell. Other books by Seton related to Scouting include “The Birch Bark Roll” and “The Boy Scout Handbook”.

$100.00

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The Sea and Its Living Wonders: A Popular Account of the Marvels of the Deep and of the Progress of Maritime Discovery from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Dr. G. Hartwig

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1882. 524 p. 8vo. 8 plates. 1 map missing. 298 woodcuts. Sixth edition. School award binding – full leather with gold crest on front and decorative spine. Marbled endpapers and fore-edge. Light bumping at corners, a little wear to top and bottom of spine as well as edges. Mild foxing.

The author wrote several texts concerning the latest science of the day including The Tropical World, The Harmonies of Nature, The Polar World and The Subterranean World. This book includes extensive chapters on the physical geography of the sea, tides, aquatic organisms, and maritime discovery.

$125.00

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Ornithology: From Aristotle to the Present by Erwin Stresemann

Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1975. xii, 432 p. 8vo. First English Edition. Frontis port. Hans J. and Cathleen Epstein, translators. Edited by G. William Cottrell. Foreword and epilogue by Ernst Mayr. References. Index. Minor wear to edge of jacket. Spine sl. sunned. Bookplate.

$150.00

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Popular Greenhouse Botany; Containing a Familiar and Technical Description of a Selection of the Exotic Plants Introduced into the Greenhouse by Agnes Catlow

London: Lovell Reeve, 1857. xii, 311 p. 16mo. 20 beautiful colour plates. First edition. Index. Blue cloth. Decorative spine and cover. Minor wear. Bookplate.

$150.00

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The Bird by Jules Michelet

London, Edinburgh amd New York: Thomas Nelson and Son, 1883. 250 p. 8vo. 210 b&w illustrations. New edition, revised. Translated by W.H. Davenport Adams. Full blue leather. Decorative spine with floral devices. Signed binding – Relfe Brothers, London. Boards professionally reattached. Endpapers foxed. An attractive volume.

$150.00

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The award winning books will be on hand to view and enjoy.

The lecture begins at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free.

The hours are Friday, 7 pm – 9 pm / Saturday 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday, 11 am – 4 pm. The cost is $10.00 on opening night, $6.00 Saturday and Sunday.

I hope to see you there!

Books on travel and natural history have come into the shop this past month, as well as an important book of Toronto transportation history. Here’s a list of some of the more interesting titles.

The North-West Passage by Land by Viscount Milton and W.B. Cheadle

London, Paris & New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., 1875. Title continued: Being the Narrative of an Expedition from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Undertaken With the View of Exploring a Route across the Continent to British Columbia through British Territory, by one of the Northern Passes in the Rocky Mountains. xviii, 396 p. Fold-out map. 4 b&w engravings. Attractive 1/4 burgundy leather with marbled boards. Spine a tad faded. Ink signature on front endpaper and title-page.

TPL 4341. First published in 1865, a lively narrative of a sporting trip from England across Canada and return from British Columbia by sea, June, 1862-March, 1864. This work achieved considerable popularity and drew attention to the agricultural and mining possibilities of the Canadian West. Peel 249. Though published as a joint work, it appears to have been written by W.B. Cheadle.

$250.00

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A Naturalist in Indian Seas or Four Years with the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship “Investigator” by A. Alcock

London: John Murray, 1902. xxiv, 328 p. 8vo. 98 b&w photos on 58 plates. One pull-out map. First edition. Bibliography. Index. Olive green cloth. Professionally respined. Blind-stamp on title-page. Stamp and ink note across from dedication.

An interesting narrative of a voyage in the Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Also provides a history of the ship “Investigator” and its use in collecting information on natural history of over a decade. The final section concerns marine biology on the Indian Seas. Alcock (1859-1933) was a surgeon/naturalist who joined the ship in 1888.

$300.00

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British America by John McGregor

Edinburgh/London: William Blackwood/T. Cadell, 1832. 2 vols. xxvi, 484; xiv, 605 p. 8vo. Folding chart of British possession in North America. 8 maps (2 fold-out) and a plan of Louisburg Harbour. First edition. Green half leather with marbled fore-edges. Owner’s sig. on front endpapers. A little thumbing to first half of vol. 1, with a few dampstained edges. Spot in vol. 2, p. 328 affects map opposite.

Canada as it was in a reign of William IV. Includes a history of BNA up to the time of publication, with a discussion of geographical boundaries, natural history, as well as individual sections on Newfoundland, P.E.I., Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada (Ontario and Quebec). TPL 1721.

$500.00

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A Practical Treatise on Street or Horse-Power Railways by Alexander Easton

Philadelphia: Crissy & Markley, 1859. Title continued: Their Location, Construction and Management; with General Plans and Rules for their Organization and Operation; Together with Examinations as to their Comparative Advantages over the Omnibus System; and Inquiries as to their Value for Investment; Inducing Copies of Municipal Ordinances Relating Thereto. vi, 149 p. 24 plates. 9 pages of ads. Purple cloth. Spine sunned, chipped at top and bottom. Corners bumped. Endpapers foxed, moderate foxing throughout. Water-stained at bottom corner of most pages in second half of book.

Alexander Easton took his system to Toronto and established Canada’s first streetcars. European systems also used his suggestions. A ground-breaking work by a street-railway pioneer.

$400.00

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The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testement and The Apocrypha

Edinburgh: The Ballantyne Press, 1911. 3 vols. 1472, 1230, 1373 p. 8vo. B&w frontis in all 3 volumes. 112 colour plates. First edition thus. Foreword by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of London. Striking red full leather Cedric Chivers binding. Some rubbing to edges, a few thin marks to covers, spine a bit discoloured. Inscription on front endpaper of first and last volume.

$300.00

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Canadian Methodism: Its Epochs and Characteristics by Rev. Egerton Ryerson

Toronto: William Briggs, 1882. viii, 440 p. Frontis port of the author. Green cloth. Some wear, bumped corners, rubbed spine ends. Some stains to interior, especially on endpapers and frontis tissue guard.

Minister, educator, politician and public education pioneer in early Ontario, Egerton Ryerson was one of Methodism’s most vocal advocates. Here he discusses Methodism’s origins in Canada, its character, divisions, as well as the clergy reserve controversy. The essays were reprinted, with much additional matter, from the Canadian Methodism magazine.

$100.00

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Here is a list of the more interesting books to come into the shop this past month. Please do not hesitate to email us if any look interesting.

The Georgian Bay: An Account of its Position, Inhabitants, Mineral Interests, Fish, Timber and Other Resources by James Hamilton

Toronto: The Carswell Company, 1893. 170 p. Fold-out map is loose and tape-repaired, but intact. Frontispiece. 4 b&w plates. Head and tail-piece. Decorations in text. Collects papers read before The Canadian Institute. Appendices – incl. the Algonquin language. Red cloth. A bit of rubbing to edges of cloth. Owner’s sticker.

A very interesting history, with sections on geography, industry (with much on mining, as well as forestry and fishing), exploration, the Jesuit Missions (including Saint Marie), First Nations, pioneer vessels, wild animals, flora, author excursions, towns and places (incl. Tobermory, Wiarton, Parry Sound, Manitoulin Island, Collingwood, Sudbury, Thornbury, Meaford, and Penetanguishene), hunting, transportation, geology, as well as a section on Champlain’s astrolabe.

$300.00

Cottage Residences; or, A Series of Designs for Rural Cottages and Cottage Villas, and Their Gardens and Grounds Adapted to North America by A.J. Downing

New York: John Wiley, 1852. xii, 215 p. Fourth edition, revised and improved. Frontispiece. Brown cloth, spine sunned. Back cover discoloured. Owner’s sig. on title-page. Medium staining to edges of first and last pages.

15 designs in all – cottages in the Tudor, Italian, and Gothic Styles. Also includes cottage design for a Country Clergyman, a carriage-house and stable, as well as a toll gate house. Colour plate of 5 colour cottage exterior samples. Each design is accompanied by an exterior illustration, floor-plan, as well as illustrations of architectural details, gardens etc.

$250.00

Nights with Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris

London: George Routledge and Sons, 1884. 300 p. Frontispiece. Title-page vignette. 18 b&w plates. 2 plates missing. 1st UK edition. A very attractive copy, expertly rebound with original covers and spine applied. Chip in bottom corner of p. 259.

The Uncle Remus stories are most famous for introducing the world to the adventures of Brer Rabbit. Despite their many dated qualities, they remain essential texts of American folklore.

$300.00

The Favourite Game by Leonard Cohen

London: Secker & Warburg, 1963. 222 p. 8″/20 cm. 1st edition. Hardcover. Green cloth. Dust jacket, a bit darkened, with small chips to edges.

Leonard’s first novel.

$150.00

A History of Simcoe County by Andrew F. Hunter

Barrie, Ont.: The County Council, 1909. 2 vols. viii, 335, vi, 323 p. Many b&w illustrations – portraits, maps, buildings. Pictorial burgundy cloth. Owner’s sig. Otherwise, a very good copy of a scarce item.

Chapters on 1st Nations, fur trading, land grants, lake navigation, stage lines, postal service, railway, canals, military, politics, schools, the press, churches, communities, and industry.

Lists pioneer families and settlers before 1837.

$250.00

Manual of the American Railway Engineering Association

Chicago: s.n., 1911. 477 p. 9″/23 cm. Fold-out diagrams, b&w plates, tables, track maps and charts – masonry, labour records, engine discharge, valves, wood knots, steel wires, barbed wire fencing, nail sizes. Hardcover. Hinges cracked, corners bumped. Small chips to top and bottom of spine. Owner’s sig. on back of front free endpaper. Title-page creased, some smudging throughout.

Includes chapters on ballast, buildings, wooden bridges and trestles, signs, fences, crossings, signals, water service, yards, terminals and economics.

$150.00

The Profitable Planter. A Treatise on the Cultivation of Larch and Scotch Fur Timber by W. Pontey

Huddersfield: Sikes and Smart, 1800? 96 p. 9″/23 cm. Frontispiece – The holding Mattock and The Planter. Bound in half brown leather with marbled paper over boards. Stain on top fore-edge.

$400.00

Specimen Book of 100 Architectural Designs Showing Plans, Elevations and Views of Suburban Houses, Villas, Sea-side and Camp-ground Cottages, Homesteads, Churches and Public Buildings by A.J. Bicknell & Co.

New York: A.J. Bicknell & Co., 1878. 80 p. 9″/23 cm. Colour ad for Minton’s Tiles for Floors. Blue cloth. Silver emblem on front cover. Minor wear to edges. Bookseller sticker. Owner’s sig.

Filled with detailed illustrations of interior and exterior views of homes, commercial buildings, churches, a library, cottages, architectural details, mantels and bookcases. Also includes floor plans.

$500.00