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Michael Pyron, Bookseller ABAA/ILAB
Buying and selling fine, antiquarian, and used book
Membership(s): ABAA, ILAB, IOBA
[Manuscript Atlas] 17 Hand-Drawn and Hand-Colored Maps of the World
$1,500.00
[France?]: c. 1800. Hard Cover. Very Good binding. Item #7683
Oblong quarto. 265mm x 210mm. 17 maps, drawn and colored on the recto only; two are folding. Bound in later cloth-backed decorative paper boards. Front board with earlier oval pastedown label with printed border and printers name: “By de Weduwe de Moor en Zoon” (“by the Widow of Moor and Son,” a publishing house). All maps are hand-drawn in ink with neat labeling in French in black ink; all hand-colored. Light soiling and some ink remnants to paper label. Sporadic spotting, mostly along margins, generally not impacting maps.
The detailed and elegant maps include a map of the world, one of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America as it stood at the turn of the 19th century, South America, a very detailed map of France, the Low Countries, The British Isles, Spain and Portugal, Italy, German speaking Central Europe, Poland in 3 parts as it was after 1795 until 1807 when the Duchy of Warsaw was created, Scandinavia, European Russia, Switzerland and Hungary and Turkey which shows Greece before Independence in 1822.
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LETTER FROM A CONTROVERSIAL BLACK POWER ACTIVIST
Michael X born Michael de Freitas, aka Michael Abdul Malik and Abdul Malik (1933-1975) HOLOGRAPHIC LETTER FROM A BLACK POWER ACTIVIST
$850.00London: Undated(1969) Single sheet with a handwritten note by this Trinidian-born Black activist, written on one side only, addressed to “Sister” and signed with his usual “Peace and Love.” Undated but the address at the top is 101 Holloway Road, the site of the “Black House,” a commune of which he was the self-appointed leader and which was founded in 1969. That was also the year that the Cleavers arrived in Algeria. Michael X described the Black House as a place where “that ‘get a gun’ rhetoric is over. We’re talking of really building things in the community needed by people in the community. We’re keeping a sane approach” although it was later the site of an attempted extortion, for which Michael and four of his colleagues were arrested – and bailed out by John Lennon. This note, which comments that the bearer works for an Australian underground magazine called Oz, co-founded and edited by Richard Neville, reveals how related the various movements of the late 60s were – from the Black Panthers in exile, to Richard Neville’s controversial publishing venture, to John and Yoko Lennon contributing to a fund-raiser for the Black House. Seen in the light of his last years when Michael X returned to Trinidad, where he was tried and convicted and sentenced to death for his involvement in the murders of two members of the commune he founded there (a story told by Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul in ‘Killings in Trinidad”), closing with ‘Peace and Love’ seems ironic. Sheet measures approximately 12 1/2 in by 8 inches. Good condition – some wear and folds, but very legible.
Offered for Sale by: Bookfever.com -
Einstein ALS to NAACP’s Walter White, 1943
Einstein, Albert Autograph Letter Signed [ALS] Denouncing Racial Segregation
$85,000.00The Manhattan Rare Book Company
“I know how hard it is to awaken the conscience even of good-hearted and well-meaning people when deep rooted prejudices are in the way. It is a great work indeed which you are doing relentlessly for the betterment of the living conditions of our Colored fellow-citizens, for justice and for the accomplishment of national unity of the American people…” EINSTEIN OFFERS STRONG AND PRESCIENT WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE LEADER OF THE NAACP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL SEGREGATION AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Background: Einstein’s fight against racial discrimination in the United States: The imperative “to protect the rights of the individual… was Einstein’s most fundamental political tenet. Individualism and freedom were necessary for creative art and science to flourish. Personally, politically, and professionally, he was repulsed by any restraints. “That is why he remained outspoken about racial discrimination in America… As a Jew who had grown up in Germany, Einstein was acutely sensitive to such discrimination. ‘The more I feel an American, the more this situation pains me,’ he wrote in an essay called ‘The Negro Question’ for the January 1946 issue of Pageant magazine. ‘I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.’” (Isaacson, Albert Einstein, 505). Even more directly, in his 1946 commencement speech to Lincoln University, the first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the United States, Einstein strongly denounced segregation as “an American tradition which is uncritically handed down from one generation to the next” noting that “There is separation of colored people from white people in the United States… That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.” This remarkable letter – from 1943 – is one of the earliest examples of his interest in condemning racism in the United States. The letter: Dated 22 September 1943 and handwritten on his embossed Mercer Street, Princeton letterhead, Einstein writes in English to Walter F. White, the enormously influential African-American civil rights leader who led the NAACP from 1929–1955, praising him for his work and revealing his own awareness of and frustrations with racism and prejudice in America. The text reads in full: Dear Mr. White: I have been quite impressed by the address you delivered some years ago at a meeting of the Princeton Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I know how hard it is to awaken the conscience even of good-hearted and well-meaning people when deep rooted prejudices are in the way. It is a great work indeed which you are doing relentlessly for the betterment of the living conditions of our Colored fellow-citizens, for justice and for the accomplishment of national unity of the American people. With sincere respect and kind wishes, Yours,Albert Einstein ––––––––––––– On April 28, 1940, White was the keynote speaker at “an inter-racial meeting sponsored by the Princeton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People” where his topic was “What Happens to Democracy When It Encounters the Color Line.” (Princeton Herald, April 26, 1940). At the time, Princeton did not admit African Americans and the community was debating the question of whether or not to end segregation at the university. (Princeton, in fact, did not admit its first African-American student until the fall of 1947). Einstein – writing in 1943 – notes that he heard White speak “some years ago”. Something clearly must have deeply impressed Einstein about White’s speech for him to write this thoughtful letter to White over three years after the event. Note: In addition to its content, this apparently unpublished letter is also remarkable for being one of the very few letters Einstein hand-wrote in English during this period, as German was still very much his preferred tongue. Princeton: September 22, 1943. One page on Einstein’s embossed Mercer Street, Princeton letterhead (7.25×10 in visible), handsomely matted and framed with a photograph of Einstein. Fine condition.
Offered for Sale by: The Manhattan Rare Book Company -
Four Magritte letters with an original drawing
Magritte, René Four Signed Letters [ALS/TLS] with Original Pencil Drawing, 1920–21
$20,000.00The Manhattan Rare Book Company
“I do hope that your letter will announce your submission to material forces and the victory of your brain over your emotions—you will no doubt think that this is not the case with me, but regardless I very much believe that you can do it too and I do not doubt you for a moment…” EARLY CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MAGRITTE AND HIS GOOD FRIEND, PAINTER AND POET PIERRE-LOUIS FLOUQUET, WITH PERSONAL COMMENTS ON LIFE AND ART. WITH ORIGINAL PENCIL DRAWING BY MAGRITTE. Having met at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, René Magritte (1898–1967) and Pierre-Louis Flouquet (1900–1967) shared a studio on the Rue de Alexiens and later exhibited together at the short-lived Centre d’Art founded in December 1919. In 1920, Flouquet undertook his military service in France, and Magritte would write regularly to keep up his friend’s morale. In 1927— having worked so closely as to render many of their works form this period indistinguishable—the two men grew somewhat apart, with Magritte turning sharply towards Surrealism while Flouquet moved towards figurative art. The present letters thus fill a gap in the important period of correspondence before his rift with Flouquet and his pivotal development of a Surrealist aesthetic. Included with the four letters is a pencil sketch by Magritte depicting two girls with their backs to the viewer, both wearing hats. It seems probably that this pencil study is the only remaining trace of a larger work Magritte had envisaged but did not complete (Whitfield, p. 605). On 30 September 1921, he writes to Flouquet: “je vais commencer tantot un grand tableau auquel je pense depuis longtemps orgue de barbarie dans la rue avec femmes mouchoirs vermillion, vent qui la font aller, enfants qui dansent, dautres qui regardent, badauds, arbres, maisons, soleil!” [Soon I will start a large picture that I have been thinking of for a long time: a barrel organ in the street with women in vermillion head scarves, a blustering wind, dancing children, others looking on, bystanders, trees, houses, sun!] (Sylvester, pp. 28–29). The two girls could likely have been the spectators. Not only are both faces obscured, but the delineation of their covered heads is noticeably scarce—representing an early gesture towards what would later form major motifs in Magritte’s iconic style, as manifested in such masterpieces asNot to Be Reproduced (1937), The Son of Man (1946) and Décalcomanie (1966): simplicity, permanence and identity. Provenance: Pierre-Louis Flouquet; Estate of Pierre-Louis Flouquet, sold to private collection; public sale Antoine Jacobs, Brussels, 23 March 2013, Lots Nos. 151–53, from a private collection; Ronny Van de Velde, Antwerp. References: Sylvester, David (ed.), René Magritte: catalogue raisonné, 6 vols. (Antwerp: Mercatofonds, 1992–2012), I: Oil Paintings, 1916–1930, ed. David Sylvester and Sarah Whitfield (1992) Whitfield, Sarah, “Unpublished Letters from René Magritte to Pierre Flouquet: 1920–21”, Burlington Magazine 155 (2013), 602–05 MAGRITTE, RENÉ. Four Signed Letters [ALS/TLS] with Original Pencil Drawing, comprising: 1. Typed Letter Signed [TLS] to “Mon Vieux” and signed in ink “René”, 22 March 1920. One page on one leaf (280 x 224 mm). Enumeration of 12 more or less comical recommendations and remarks, including: “7º Faire une toile épatante” [Make a stunning canvas], “8º Ma literature commence à me faire défaut” [My books are beginning to fail me”] and the final, twelfth item “18º Ecris moi de tes nouvelles le plus souvent possible” [Write to me with your news as soon as possible]. Usually folds, stain on extreme right edge not affecting text. 2. Typed Letter Signed [TLS] to “Cher Ami” and signed in ink “René”, 23 March 1920. One page on half a leaf (140 x 214 mm). With date (“Mardi à 6h½” [Tuesday at 6:30]) and post-script in ink from Magritte. An instance of Magritte attempting to lift Flouquet’s spirits regarding his military service with words of encouragement, “je reçois ta deuxieme lettre qui me fait baeucoup de plaisir, mais vois-tu il faut être fort, accepter l’inévitable et cultiver ta volonté.” [I received your second letter which pleases me very much, but do you see it is necessary to be strong, accept the inevitable and marshal your willpower], and “je crois bien y arriver aussi et je ne doute pas un instant de toi” [I very much believe that you can do it too and I do not doubt you for a moment]. Centre fold, small tear at bottom margin not affecting text. 3. Typed Letter Signed [TLS] to “Cher Pierre” and signed in pencil “René”, 19 April 1920. One page on one leaf (217 x 137 mm), on Magritte’s letterhead: “René Magritte | Artiste Peintre | Bruxelles, 37, R. de Potter.” Report from Magritte following his tonsillectomy, “L’operation est tres douloureuse mais les jours qui la suivent le sont encore plus” [The operation was very painful but the following day even more so]; and relates lurid anecdotes from a Cézanne biography he recently read (possibly Ambroise Vollard, Paul Cézanne (1919)), “Lors que Cézanne recevait un ami, ceux discutaient si fort que les pompiers et les flics de AIX., accouraient […] Quand pourons nous faire la meme chose?” [When Cézanne received a friend, they were debating so loudly that the Aix[-en-Provence] firefighters and cops came running up […] When can we do the same?]. Centre fold, otherwise fine. 4. Autograph Letter Signed [ALS] to “Cher Pierre” and signed “René”, 1921. One page on one leaf (217 x 137 mm), on Magritte’s father’s letterhead: “L[éopold] Magritte | Industriel | Téléphone : BRUXELLES 92,28 | BRUXELLES, LE……1921 | 16, Avenue du Boulevard”. Update on goings-on in the Brussels art scene: “et pour que le Soir en a fait une critique comme celle que je t’envoi il faut vraiment que on soit fort” [for Le Soir to write a review like the one I am sending you, we need to be very strong]. Usual folds, two holes (hole punched?) on left margin not affecting text. 5. Deux fillettes, en robes, de dos, c. 1920. Pencil on tracing paper, 190 x 145 mm. Signed with his cipher “MR”. Very mild creasing, otherwise fine. Transcriptions with Translations: Spelling and punctuation have been preserved. 1. TLS, 22 March 1920 Mon Vieu{deleted: x}, 1º Il faut demander une permission de 15 jours Histoire de v’nir d’ballader par ici. 2º Ne pas trouver l’exercise dur s’il ne l’est pas. 3º A l’ambulance si leservice est dur. 4º Une Viole rurale surine en cefmoment “Le comte de Luxembourg” 5º Envoyer mes amitiés à C–Rampon 6º De la métode dans tout meme dous’qu’on s’emm[erde] 7º Faire une toile épatante; 8º Ma literature commence `à me faire défaut. 9º Nous sommes allé entendre SPELEAS ET MELISANDE ” avec Bourgeois; c’est ce que j’ai entendu DE PLUS BEAU. Mercredi à 7 H ½ j’y retourne pendant ce que tu t’amuseras a “jouer soldat” 10º Achête “L’action d’art” nº6 critique du salon des indépendants 11º Enfin tache d’inqulquer si possible des principes humains a tes pauvres compagnons et attention pas de blagues! (Conseils du DUBOIS) 18º Ecris moi de tes nouvelles le plus souvent que possible et Fixemoi un jour Ous’ quon pourrait sortir avec ou sans Rampon à Cambrai. Salut in de chambre à coucher {ink: René} __________________________ [My old friend, Nº 1 It is necessary to request permission in order to come and stroll around here. Nº 2 Do not find the exercise difficult if it is not. Nº 3 To the ambulance if the service is hard. Nº 4 A rural [viola/assault] currently [plays/strikes] “The count of Luxembourg” Nº 5 To send my regards to C. Rampon Nº 6 On the method in all cases [?even where we are bored] Nº 7 Make a stunning canvas Nº 8 My books are beginning to fail me. Nº 9 We went to listen to SPELEAS AND MELISANDE [Pelléas and Melisandre] together with [Pierre] Bourgeois: it is the MOST BEAUTIFUL I have heard. Wednesday at 7:30 I will return there while you enjoy “playing soldier” Nº 10 Buy “L’action d’art” nº6 critic of the Salon of Independents Nº 11 Finally try to install humane principals in your poor companions if possible and pay no attention to jokes! (Advice from DUBOIS) Nº 18 Write to me as soon as possible with your news and fix me a date when we could go out with or without Rampon to Cambrai. Hello in the bedroom, René] 2. TLS, 23 March 1920 {ink: Mardi à 6h½ –} Cher ami, je reçois ta deuxieme lettre qui me fait baeucoup de plaisir, mais vois-tu il faut être fort, accepter l’inévitable et cultiver ta volonté. J’espére bien que ta lettre m’annoncera ta soumission aux forces matérielles et la victoire de ton cerveau sur tes sentiments”tu penseras sans doute que c{deleted: ‘es}e n’est pas mon cas, mais qu’importe je crois bien y arriver aussi {deleted: c}et je ne doute pas un instant de toi. La dactylographe de chez Declerq t’envoit ses pensées amicales. Je t’enverrai le chevalet lundi prochain, il est actuellement chez mon client et ne peut le déranger avant lundi. Compliments imbéciles à ton charcutier et ton dessin ateur debruxelles. et pour toi la plus jolie pen…sée! {ink: René – En attendant un portrait qui me fait défaut actuellement voici un autre!} __________________________ [Dear friend, I received your second letter which please me very much, but do you see it is necessary to be strong, accept the inevitable and marshal your willpower. I do hope that your letter will announce your submission to material forces and the victory of your brain over your emotions—you will no doubt think that this is not the case with me, but regardless I very much believe that you can do it too and I do not doubt you for a moment. The typist at Declerq’s office sends you her regards. I will send you the easel next Monday, it is currently at my client’s and can’t disturb him before Monday. Imbecile compliments to your butcher and your designed in Brussels. and for you the best regard! René – While waiting for a portrait that I am currently missing, here is another one!] 3. TLS, 19 April 1920 {Letterhead: René Magritte Bruxelles, 37, R. de Potter. Artiste Peintre} Vendredi, Cher Pierre, j’ai ete opéré vendredi dernier et voila aujourd’hui seulement qu’il m’est possible de t’écrire avec calme et dignité! L’operation est tres douloureuse mais les jours qui la suivent le sont encore plus, mais enfin je suis débarasse des ces amidales em[merdantes] Hier je lisais la vie de Cezanne; et lorseque un bourgeois qu’il haissait entre pharanthese, lui demandait avec quoi il peignait ses fonds, Cezannes répondait: “Avec de la M[erde].” Lors que Cézanne recevait un ami, ceux discutaient si fort que les pompiers et les flics de AIX., accouraient les croyant au feu, alors que c’etait une fumée de pipe qui s’échapait de la fenétre, les autres à un assassinat, tellement il gueul,. Quand pourons nous faire la meme chose? Esperons que ce seras bientot; Et tu buches ty? J’ai recu ta letter avec croquis lieutenante qui me parrait bien. Le centre d’art est creve{deleted: r} depuis 2 ou 3 semaines, je ne crois pas te l’avoir dis? Je t’écrirai desormais tous les vendredis! Mes meilleurs amitiés {pencil: René} __________________________ Dear Pierre, I was operated on last Friday and it is only today that I can write to you with peace and dignity! The operation was very painful but the following day even more so, but I am finally rid of those bothersome friends. Yesterday I was reading the life of Cézanne; and when a bourgeois whom he hated between parentheses, asked him what he painted his backgrounds with, Cézanne replied: “With S[hit].” When Cézanne received a friend, they were debating so loudly that the Aix[-en-Provence] firefighters and cops came running up, thinking there were a fire, when it was only pipe smoke escaping from the window, the others an assassination, he was shouting so much. When can we do the same? Hopefully it will be soon; And are you drinking there? I received your letter with the lieutenant sketch which looks good to me. The Centre d’Art has been dead for 2 or 3 weeks, I don’t think I’ve told you? From now on I’ll write to you every Friday! My best wishes, René 4. ALS, 1921 {Letterhead: L. Magritte Industriel BRUXELLES, LE………………1921. Téléphone : BRUXELLES 92,28 16, Avenue du Boulevard} jeudi, Cher Pierre, Bourgeois à donné une conference Mardi, et pour que le Soir en a fait une critique comme celle que je t’envoi il faut vraiment que on soit fort. Et c’etait tres bien en effet. J’espere bientot te voir et à part ça comment ça va? René __________________________ [Dear Pierre, [Pierre] Bourgeois have a conference on Tuesday, and for Le Soir to write a review like the one I am sending you, we need to be very strong. And it was very good indeed. I hope to see you soon and apart from that how are you? René].
Offered for Sale by: The Manhattan Rare Book Company -
Remarkable plan to rebuld Windsor & Eton
David D Kyle; Henry Kerl Outline Of A Proposed Plan For Building New Towns At Windsor And Eton In Order Completely To Improve The Castle And Parks. Addressed To The Right Honourable The Commissioners Of Her Majesty’s Woods, &c., To The Provost And Fellows Of Eton College, And To The Mayor And Corporation Of Windsor
$499.23 *
* estimated currency conversionPrivately Published; London, 1847. Exceptionally scarce speculative plan to rebuild Windsor and Eton towns, considering the present decay of both, the imminent arrival of the railway, and the desirability to increase space around the castle. The authors, Kyle and Kerl, provide arguments for their proposals, costings, and two signed, hand-coloured plans, showing the towns before and after implementation. Stock toned, with a little marking, but in general good order. Folded maps to rear show some offsetting from colour wash. Second map has short tear along one fold, but this minor. First map has pinholes to corners, suggesting that it was displayed before binding. Contemporary green cloth a little worn. One copy only in museums (V&A). 8vo. [1], 9pp + plans.
Offered for Sale by: Dodman Books
