Volume 1 — ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR 1905

I expect to publish within the coming twelve months several interesting items of Americana, viz:

I.—The History of the Second Company, Governor’s Foot-Guard of the State of Connecticut; by Jason Thomson, Esq., of the New Haven Bar (a member of the Company). This was originally issued as a pamphlet, but has long been out of print. The Company is the third oldest military organization in the United States, beginning its history with service in the Revolution when Benedict Arnold, its first captain, took the Colony powder by force from the hesitant Selectmen of New Haven, and marched to Cambridge, accompanied by Israel Putnam, to join the patriot forces there. It has since served in the War of 1812, the War of the Rebellion, and the Spanish-Cuban War. The history of such an organization is obviously well worth preserving and enlarging by illustrations, as I have done. It will contain:

1. A rare plate of Benedict Arnold, in uniform, as he appeared before Quebec.

2. A colored plate, showing the present uniform of the Company.

3. A most interesting reproduction of a document of unique interest—the original manuscript petition to the Assembly of Connecticut, praying for the incorporation of the Company. This is signed by all the original members of the Company, including Arnold and his brother-in-law, Pierpont Edwards, who afterwards, by the irony of Fate, became the executor of his estate, at the discovery of his treason.

The original is owned by the New Haven Colony Historical Society, and will be reproduced, not by engraving, but by an actual photograph—folding to fit the size of the page. The edition will be limited to 250 copies, of which 248 will be for sale.

200 will be octavo (6 × 9) gilt top, bound in cloth. $3.00.

50 will be large paper, bound in boards, 8 × 11, untrimmed edges, gilt top, special paper. $5.00.

Postage extra on each.

The printing will be from type, distributed as soon as the work has been done, and this edition will never be duplicated.

II.—The Poems of Edward Coate Pinkney. With a biographical sketch of of the poet, by Eugene L. Didier, author of a “Life of Edgar A. Poe,” “Life of Madame Bonaparte,” etc. The original edition of these poems is now one of the rarest items of Americana. It was published in 1825, and won the admiration of the chief American critics, Poe among them, who pronounced Pinkney to be “the first of American lyrists,” and his poem, “A Health,” (of which I give two verses herewith) “especially beautiful—full of spirit and brilliancy.”

59A HEALTH

I fill this cup to one made up of loveliness alone,

A woman, of her gentle sex the seeming paragon;

To whom the better elements and kindly stars have given

A form so fair that, like the air, ’tis less of earth than heaven.

Her every tone is music’s own, like those of morning birds,

And something more than melody dwells ever in her words;

The coinage of her heart are they, and from her lips each flows

As one may see the burthened bee forth issue from the rose.

Only Pinkney’s untimely death—before he was twenty-five—prevented his becoming one of the foremost poets of our country. The North American Review, then the highest literary authority in the country, said: “If the name of Thomas Carew or Sir John Harrington had been attached to these poems, we should, in all probability, like others, have been completely taken in.” Another critic declared: “Some of his poems are not surpassed by any similar productions in the English language.” I risk nothing in saying that Pinkney’s readers of 1905 will re-echo these praises—and I trust all who have heretofore sustained me in my historical publications will give as hearty support to this, my first effort in the field of American poetry. The edition will consist of 250 copies, of which 200 will be in octavo (6 × 9) form, gilt top, uncut edges, at $3.00.

50 copies, on special paper, large paper (8 x 11). $5.00.

Postage extra on each.

Each style will have a portrait of the author, from an authentic original.

III.—Adventures in the Wilds of America and the British-American Provinces. By Charles Lanman, author of A Dictionary of Congress, The Private Life of Daniel Webster, etc., etc. With an Appendix by Lieut. Campbell Hardy, Royal Artillery.

2 vols., octavo. 500 pp. each. Illustrated. Portrait, and memoir of the author by William Abbatt. Price $10.00.

Large paper (8 x 11) 3 vols. (consecutive paging), special fine paper. Only 15 copies. $20.00.

Originally published in 1857, this most valuable and interesting work has long been out of print and scarce, and hence not known to the present day as its merits deserve.

While other books on similar subjects have been issued since, I think none of them—or all combined—equal this, as a record not alone of sport, but of travel, description of scenery, literature and legend (for the author has recorded many most beautiful Indian legends). The range of his journeys was from Florida to Labrador, and from the Atlantic to the 60present St. Paul and Minneapolis. His style needs no encomium from me. I prefer to quote from letters to him from Washington Irving and Edward Everett:

My Dear Sir:

I am glad to learn that you intend to publish your narrative and descriptive writings, in a collected form. I have read parts of them as they were published separately, and the great pleasure derived from the perusal makes me desirous of having the whole in my possession. They carry us into the fastnesses of our mountains, the depth of our forests, the watery wilderness of our lakes and rivers, giving us pictures of savage life and savage tribes, Indian legends, fishing and hunting anecdotes, the adventures of trappers and backwoodsmen; our whole arcanum, in short, of indigenous poetry and romance: to use a favorite phrase of the old discoverers, “they lay open the secrets of the country to us.”

I return you thanks for the delightful entertainment which your Summer rambles have afforded me. I do not see that I have any literary advice to give you, excepting to keep on as you have begun. You seem to have the happy, enjoyable humor of old Izaak Walton, and I trust you will give us still further scenes and adventures on our great internal waters, depicted with the freshness and skill of your present volumes.

With the best wishes for your further success, I am

Very truly, your obliged

Washington Irving.

Edward Everett wrote:

I fully concur with the opinions expressed by Mr. Irving on the subject of a collective edition of your narrative and descriptive writings. While I am not familiar with all of them, from those which I have read and from his emphatic and discriminating commendation, I am confident the series would be welcomed by a large class of readers. You have explored nooks in our scenery seldom visited, and described forms of life and manners of which the greater portion of our busy population are entirely ignorant.

Wishing you every success, I am

Very truly yours,

Edward Everett.

A selection of a few of Mr. Lanman’s chapters will give a slight idea of the variety of his book:

Legends of the Illinois—Lake Winnipeg—Fish of the Upper Mississippi—Down the St. Lawrence—The Saguenay River—The Hermit of Aroostook—The Falls of Tallulah—The Valley of Virginia—The Cheat River Country—Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers—Accomac—A Week in a Fishing Smack—A Virginia Barbecue—Esquimaux of Labrador—The Western Pioneer.

61IV.—Garden’s Anecdotes of the Revolution (both series). The author, Alexander Garden, was Major in Lee’s Legion—and his work is one of the best on its theme. The first volume was published at Charleston, in 1822; the second in 1824. Each is scarce and valuable, the second particularly so. I propose revising the text, to eliminate errors, and to issue my edition in two octavo volumes (6 x 9) with a number of illustrations, including one or more of the author, and one each of the brothers Pinckney (not heretofore published), and a number of landscapes.

The edition will be limited to 200 copies (6 × 9) and 50, large paper (8 x 11)—the former in cloth, gilt top, with paper label; the latter in charcoal boards, gilt top, and untrimmed edges. The prices will be $10.00 and $15.00 respectively.

N. B.—All these works will be printed in large type (Small Pica, same as this line) on fine paper, well bound and produced in the general style of my other publications. Address, William Abbatt, 281 Fourth Ave., N. Y.

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

TO WILLIAM ABBATT

281 FOURTH AVE., NEW YORK

I Hereby Subscribe For:—

I. The Governor’s Foot-Guard ____Copies, ordinary form ____Copies, large paper

II. The Poems of Edward Coate Pinkney ____Copies, ordinary form ____Copies, large paper

III. Adventures in the Wilds of America, by Lanman

(3 Volumes)

____Copies, ordinary form

____Copies, large paper

IV. Garden’s Anecdotes of the Revolution

(The two series in one volume)

____Copies, ordinary form

____Copies, large paper

Name________________________________

Address________________________________

Date________________________________

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

Page Changed from Changed to

58 tiful—full of spirit and brilliancy beautiful—full of spirit and brilliancy

Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.

Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter.