Description:
Wingate, Geo. W. (George Wood Wingate), Manual of Rifle Practice: Including a Complete Guide to Instruction in the Use and Care of the
Modern Breech-loader; 1872; W.C. & F.P. Church; New York; 1st Edition
1 volume, 12mo (3-1/2” x 5-7/8”) 7-186, 1-23 p.illustrated with 12 plates & 8 illustrations in the text. No dust-jacket, probably not issued with DJ.
The front free end paper is missing, minor chipping to the back-strip, else the book is complete and has all the original pages and tables.
Housed in a custom clam-shell box.
$5,000
SIGNIFICANCE: George Wingate entered the Civil War as a private in the New York State Guard. He soon discovered that the militia had
very poor shooting skills, and devoted himself to correcting that failing. By the end of the war he had been promoted to Captain,
and was recognized as a leading expert on marksmanship training. William Conant Church was the editor of the Army and Navy Journal.
After the war he recognized Wingate's expertise and asked him to write a series of articles on marksmanship and rifle training which he published in the Journal.
These articles were immediately widely and highly acclaimed. Church and Wingate decided an organization was needed to facilitate the
spread of this knowledge, and together founded The National Rifle Association. The articles from the Army and Navy Journal were collected,
and along with additional material were published in 1872 as "Manual for Rifle Practice".
Wingate makes reference following the Preface that this is the Second Edition, however, his reference is to the articles published in the Journal.
This volume is the 1st Edition 1st printing of this book. It was soon adapted by state guard units across the country, and by the United States military.
It's publication was a seminal event in American history. Wingate was the first Secretary of the NRA, and later served as its President for 25 years.
There are currently no other copies of this book listed on any online site. This was published as a working training manual, and it is rare to locate
a copy in the excellent condition of this book.
Description:
Blackwell, Leander E. Wyoming and Colorado Brands : Hand written WY/CO brand book, 19th/20th centuries.
Circa late 19th and early 20th century. 6 x 3-3/4 inches (15.3 x 9.6 cm), [34]pp. Small notebook, housed in a custom clam-shell box, foil on natural calf label. Original stiff printed wrappers, spine backed with adhesive cloth.
Light wear, an occasional small patch of dampstaining. Contemporary ownership inscription on front wrap. Final leaf, with later manuscript annotations, detached. Highly legible. Very good. Extensive manuscript brand book that contains over 630 marks for cattle and their owners on the ranges of Wyoming and Colorado near the turn of the 20th century. The book was composed and used by Leander E. Blackwell, a cattleman who operated out of Glenrock, Wyoming, for much of the 1890s and early 1900s; following their marriage, he and his wife Lillian settled in Glenrock in 1891, and remained there until moving to the town of Shoshoni, near the Wind River Reservation, in 1905. The final three leaves delineate just over sixty brands for Colorado cattle; the book thus depicts approximately 570 brands for stock that moved through the Wyoming cattle trade in the years during and directly following the range war in Northern Wyoming, including marks for many famous names from the ranching history of the state, such as the Swan Land and Cattle Company and the individual Swan brothers, Alexander, Thomas, and William. The notebook itself in which the list was composed was intended for use as a grocery store account book. A fascinating and unique document of the Wyoming cattle business at the end of the 19th century. Booklet may be of interest to Wyoming and Colorado families genealogy research.
L.E. Blackwell was born 1854, which made him 18 years of age when the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) was formed in 1872. I've not been able to establish, absolutely, whether he was a member of the WSGA, but he almost certainly was. I also don't have any information as to his involvement, if any, in the Johnson County War. Blackwell's own brand does not appear in the booklet.
L.E. Blackwell died 1937 and is buried in a family plot in the Mountain View Cemetery in Riverton Wyoming.
$5000.00
Description:
Dunning, John. Deadline. Huntington Beach, CA: James Cahill, 1995.
First Edition. An early mystery by Dunning published originally in paperback and here issued in hardcover for the first time in
America in an edition of 200 numbered and signed copies as well as a trade edition. This, however, is one of only two ORIGINAL BLUES COPIES
consisting of eight loose prebound gathers, sometimes called a "check copy before publication." It is sent from the printer to the publisher
before a book is printed so the publisher has the opportunity to see the layout of the book before it is bound and published.
If the publisher is happy with the layout, the printer will print from one of the two blues copy. This is THE PUBLISHER'S COPY
from which the book was printed, the other copy belonging to the author. This copy is also SIGNED by the author on the title page.
Obviously an extremely scarce state of this book. Fine in a specially made cloth slipcase.
$2,000
