American Historical Documents, Letters and Books, Property of Heritage Foundation, Deerfield, Massachusetts. New York Parke-Bernet Galleries: November 17, 1964. A truly remarkable auction of a private collection donated to the Heritage Foundation and sold to raise funds for its preservation programs. Included were the personal papers of Lord Grenville regarding the Stamp Act, the original manuscript report of the commissioners of the Annapolis Convention (precursor to the Constitutional Convention), and nice Washington items, including a long handwritten 1778 letter explaining his opposition to invading Canada, his copy of the first official printing of the Constitution with his handwritten correction, and his copies of the first Acts of Congress. Softcover. 7.5"x10", 57 pages, 157 lots, b/w illustrations, some wear prices realized list stapled to title page.

Inventory #: 8401 Price: $ 25.00

Detweiler, Susan G. George Washington's Chinaware. New York Harry Abrams: 1982. "Pray let them be neat and fashionable or send none" wrote the 26 year old George Washington in an order for china to an English merchant in 1758. Washington's personal concern for overseeing every detail of the furnishing of his home right down to the chinaware was consistent with his position as a member of the 18th century gentry. Fortunately a large amount of both the china and his correspondence concerning it have survived. This acclaimed study of George Washington's imported china and its history provides a fascinating sidelight into the and European Trades and the way porcelains reached America in the 18th century. Hardcover. 9.5"x11", 244 pages, 55 color and 106 b/w illustrations, dj a fine copy in a fine jacket.

Inventory #: 95007 Price: $ 45.00

Ellsworth, William Webster. George Washington As Seen by His Latest Biographers. Reprinted from The Litchfield Enquirer, September 1, 1932. An "Address delivered before the Litchfield Historical Society, Saturday, August 27th, 1932." 1932 was the Bicentennial of George Washington's birth, and the associated festivities gave the author impetus to put together this talk, which is much more than simply a discussion of recent books about George Washington. William W. Ellsworth's great-grandfather was Washington's Chief Justice, Oliver Ellsworth, and a grandfather married the daughter of Washington's friend Noah Webster, and from these associations his interest in Washington began early and ran deep, and he seems to have read anything he could get his hands on about the General. Much of the talk discusses various opinions of George Washington, both by his contemporaries and a slew of later writers, as well as a myriad of entertaining anecdotes and stories about Washington to illustrate various points. When he does get around to discussing recent books, he focuses on Rupert Hughes' multi-volume biography (which was not then completed), W.E. Woodward's "George Washington: The Image and the Man", Bernard Fay's "George Washington, Republican Aristocrat", and Louis M. Sears' "George Washington". The text also includes a separate section, "List of Washington Exhibits at the Tapping Reeve House, Saturday, August 27th, 1932". A most uncommon item. Softcover. 8.5"x11", 32 pages, each printed on one side only. Some soil, minor wear.

Inventory #: 35262 Price: $ 150.00

Fede, Helen Maggs. Washington Furniture at Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon Ladies Association: 1966. A well illustrated and detailed handbook illustrating and describing some of the most interesting furniture at Mount Vernon. Since Washington was a grind, er, meticulous note-taker, much of the text concerns which bills and invoices might go with which pieces. Softcover. 6"x9", 72 pages, many color and b/w illustrations. Light wear, minor soil.

Inventory #: 35713 Price: $ 25.00

[Frelinghuysen / Means / Thebaud Collections] Early American Furniture, Glass, Silver, Decorations, Staffordshire & Rockingham China, Property of George G. Frelinghuysen, Mrs. James Howard Means, Jules Thebaud, and others. New York Parke-Bernet Galleries: February 28-March 2nd, 1946. Sale 745. Some really nice furniture, including a superb mahogany Phyfe-style work table attributed to Michael Allison, and other odd and outstanding items, including the ca.1780 Nailsea etched glass marine goblet of Capt. William Locker, picturing the frigate H.M.S. Lowestoft a rare set of 12 Delft 18th century blue & white whaling plates a Philadelphia 1835 silver tray and tureen engraved with scenes of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and a unique 6-foot carved and painted wood group of Liberty by William Rush, showing a classically-robed figure of Liberty placing a garland of laurel on a bust of George Washington. Hardcover. 6.5"x9.5", 156 pages, 615 lots, b/w illustrations. Bound into hardcovers. Fine.

Inventory #: 33663 Price: $ 40.00

Keyes, Homer Eaton (ed.). Furniture Changelings. [contained in] The Magazine Antiques, January & February, 1928. A two-part series illustrating and explaining several pieces of "odd" antique furniture that are too good to be true -or too odd to be true. These issues also include articles on "A Kneeland and Adams Mirror" (a Hartford maker) by William S,. Walcott, Jr "Early Cotton Printing in America" by Frances Little "The American Rocking Chair" by Esther Stevens Brazer "Washington's Traveling Boot Box" by Lucy Stabler and "Old Wallpaper of France" by Marie-Louis LeVerrier. 2 issues. Softcover some soil, a little wear, etc.

Inventory #: 7415 Price: $ 40.00

MacKaye, Percy. Wakefield. A Folk-Masque of the Birth of Washington. Washington United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission: 1932. "Being a midwinter night's dream of the birth of Washington". Illustrated by Arvia MacKaye, with "three monographs on the masque by the author and John Tasker Howard, adapter and composer of the music". MacKaye was a poet and playwright who specialized in "masques" which invited audience participation. A website biography notes- "Intensely concerned with the Spirit of America, Percy MacKaye was highly acclaimed before the age of film and electronic media as the inspired leader of the civic drama, which gave new meaning to life in America's larger cities around the turn of the last century. His mythic masques unveiled this spirit before the eyes of his audiences and involved their complete participation, so that at times thousands filled his stages. Such community-participation masques uplifted drama to new levels, and became uniquely American cultural events." Softcover. 6"x9.25", 173 pages, plus 21 b/w illustrations light wear and a little soil, but overall a very nice copy.

Inventory #: 5558 Price: $ 30.00

Orcutt, William Dana, et al. The Dawn of Liberty. Boston, The Americana Society: 1918. Edition limited to 250 numbered copies. William Dana Orcutt contributes a stirring if slightly over-awed introduction to this collection of Prime Americana- the texts of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's First and Second Inaugural Addresses, and Washington's Farewell Address. Hardcover. 6.5"x9.5", xii + 74 pages, plus 4 b/w tipped-in plates with tissue guards. Original grey and white cloth, covers moderately worn and soiled. Paper a bit brittle, and split from the gutter for the top inch or so of the first three pages. Handled with care, the pages will not secede from the binding for many years to come. Presentation inscription from its publisher, Boston bookseller and onetime owner of the Harcourt Bindery, Thomas W. Best, to historian and author Joseph D. Sawyer.

Inventory #: 32061 Price: $ 250.00

[Tranter Collection] American Furniture, Quilts, Coverlets & Decorations, Property of the Estate of the Late Edith B. Tranter (and others). New York Parke-Bernet Galleries: January 17-19th, 1952. Sale 1305. A nice selection of furniture, silver, etc. Includes a rare Sheraton gilded pier mirror with a Washington Commemorative panel, formerly owned by Charles Woolsey Lyon. Softcover. 6.5"x9.5", 128 pages, 619 lots, b/w illustrations several institutional stamps, light wear.

Inventory #: 7465 Price: $ 20.00

Walter, James. Memorials of Washington and of Mary, His Mother, and Martha, His Wife, from Letters and Papers of Robert Cary and James Sharples. New York Charles Scribner's Sons: 1887.

John Lovari, writing in Karpel, notes- "Apparently an interesting and valuable account of Sharples's connection with the Washington family, with comments on Robert Fulton and his friendship with Sharples and on the two men as artists and scientists. Although this is a seemingly plausible and valid description of the book after a first reading of it, the work, an abridged version of which had appeared in 1886 under the title 'History and Descriptive Details of Middleton's Portraits of Mary, the Mother of Washington', ranks with Clifford Irving's recent 'biography' of Howard Hughes as one of the major hoaxes of the publishing world. Walter was attacked on twelve points of plagiarism, forgery, and fabrication of evidence by the members of the Massachusetts Historical Society". Well, now. Karpel H721.

Hardcover. 6.5"x10", xii + 362 pages, plus 12 b/w plates erratum slip publisher's green cloth with black decorations and Washington's coat of arms stamped in gilt slight wear, but overall a very nice, crisp, clean copy.

With the small printed book ticket of the noted American book collector Grenville Kane, the bulk of whose Americana and Incunabula collections are now at Princeton. In addition to being an important book collector, Kane was also a founding member of the Tuxedo Club, a group of wealthy New Yorkers who summered together at Tuxedo Park in upstate New York the group was responsible for introducing to American Society the new-fangled semi-formal dinner jacket worn at a dinner by the Prince of Wales, and naming it the... yes, that's right.

Inventory #: 8601 Price: $ 250.00

Weintraub, Stanley. General Washington's Christmas Farewell. A Mount Vernon Homecoming -1783. New York Free Press: 2003. In late November, 1783, George Washington finally received the new he had been waiting for. The final Peace Treaty with England had been signed, and it was time for him to accept the transfer of power from the British troops still headquartered in New York, resign his commission, bid his troops farewell, and return home to his beloved Mount Vernon, hopefully in time for Christmas. This is the story not only of Washington's wrapping up of military affairs and returning home for almost the first time since the beginning of the Revolution, but also of a great and humble man who at that moment had the opportunity to take control of the new country as a virtual king, and turned it away without a thought. "It was that decision, coupled with his later decision to step down from the Presidency after two terms, that rendered him the 'greatest character of the age', according to none other than King George III...One of America's greatest Christmas stories and also one of its very first, was a creation of none other than George Washington." Hardcover. 6"x8.5", 204 pages, b/w illustrations, dj. New. Published at $25.00

Inventory #: 95032 Price: $ 12.50

Willard, Joseph & David Tappan. An Address in Latin, by Joseph Willard, S.T.D., L.L.D. President and a Discourse in English, by David Tappan, S.T.D., Hollis Professor of Divinity delivered before the University in Cambridge, Feb 21, 1800, in solemn commemoration of General George Washington. Charlestown Samuel Etheridge: 1800. These two addresses were part of the ceremonies at Harvard, which also included an address by Washington Allston (which was not allowed to be printed). Although a search of OCLC locates various Washington orations held around the Commonwealth that were printed by Etheridge, this title does not turn up. Disbound. 5"x8.5", 44 pages, front cover detached but present, rear cover detached and not present some soil and spots and a few very minor chips.

Inventory #: 9753 Price: $ 125.00

Winthrop, Robert C. Washington, Bowdoin, and Franklin, as portrayed in Occasional Addresses. Boston Little, Brown and Company: 1876. A series of addresses given by Winthrop, chief amongst them the dedication speech he gave as the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument in 1848. He notes in the Preface to this volume that the Monument still is not completed, and includes a nice lithograph showing the work that has been done (174 feet), and the work still to be done (they were going to 485 feet). This is followed by four other short works on Washington. There is also the speech he gave about James Bowdoin at Bowdoin College, and then a few speeches on Benjamin Franklin, the Boston Tea Party, and the Centennial Commemorations at Lexington and Bunker Hill in 1875. Winthrop (1809-1894) was a very accomplished man, serving in the House of Representatives and eventually becoming Speaker before being appointed to Daniel Webster's Senate seat when Webster resigned. Although he had studied law in Webster's office early in his career, Winthrop had some difficulty filling the famous Union man's shoes in the Senate, and was evidently not quite enough of an antislavery firebrand for his Massachusetts' constituents, being defeated when he sought the seat on his own. He retired from public office to become President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a post he held for several decades. Hardcover. 6"x9.5", 186 pages, lithographed frontispiece of the uncompleted Washington Monument several folding facsimile plates original green cloth with gilt spine titles ex-lodge library with bookplate and varnished spine with label front endpaper with several short tears, but otherwise a very clean, tight copy.

Inventory #: 5093 Price: $ 100.00

Woodhouse, Dr. Samuel W., Jr. More About Benjamin Randolph. [contained in] The Magazine Antiques. January, 1930. A scholarly follow-up to an article Woodhouse had published 5 years earlier. Semowich 527. This issue also contains articles including- "Joseph Wright and His Portraits of Washington" by Fiske Kimball "The Evolution of the Trencher" by Howard Herschel Cotterell "An Exhibition of English Chippendale" "Bright-cut spoons" by Walter C. Hunter, etc. Softcover. Light wear, a little soil.

Inventory #: 7428 Price: $ 20.00