A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO AMERICAN NINETEENTH CENTURY COLOR PLATE BOOKS.
- New York: Bennett Book Studios, 1949.
- 8vo.
- red cloth.
- xxi (1), 132, (2) pages.
Price: $40.00 other currencies
Order Nr. 564
An important listing of American color plate books with well annotated descriptions. Extremities bumped and rubbed, light crease to top corner of front board, spine a bit loose from backing. Hinges cracked but still fairly sturdy. Evidence of readership. Red Stamp on title-page, minor wrinkling to top corner of leaves.
"Apart from a certain restless human curiosity which makes book-hunting a form of exploration rather than a mere sport, the motive behind the compilation of this Practical Guide to American 19th Century Color Plate Books, has not been primarily either aesthetic or scholarly. The ruling passion behind the persistence required has been the hope of inducing more Americans and American Institutions to purchase more varieties and larger quantities of rare American books in the exclusion, or partial exclusion, of the tomes of European semi-rarities which English and European dealers foist upon us annually."
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, sans indicia. Pencil notes throughout the bibliographic section. Most of the notes are the previous owner's initials ("AAH") in the margins next to the books he (presumably) owned. From the reference library of Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts with their bookplate included.