.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Washington Irving, 1809
Details
A History of New York, the Greenhill-Bradley Martin copy
Washington Irving, 1809
[IRVING, Washington (1783-1859).] A History of New York, From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. By Diedrich Knickerbocker. New York: Inskeep & Bradford, 1809.
The Greenhill-Bradley Martin copy of the first edition, in a contemporary binding, of Irving's comic satire published under the name "Diedrich Knickerbocker"; "the first completely original American non-scholarly book" (Grolier). A parody of contemporary histories that often ignores and alters facts, it takes its reader from the discovery of America through early Dutch colonization (providing portraits of figures such as Wouter van Twiller, William Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant), and concludes with the fall of New Amsterdam to the British in 1664. Though on its face a history of New York, it was also very much a Federalist critique of Jeffersonian democracy. BAL 10098; Grolier American 28; Langfeld and Kleinfield 11.
Two volumes, octavo (175 x 105mm). Folding engraved plate (margins of plate slightly irregular; short tears at folds with one repaired, touching image). Contemporary sheep, spines gilt ruled, black morocco spine labels (joints cracked with volume 1 front board nearly detached); modern chemises and quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: Harold Greenhill, 1893-1968 (bookplate) – Mildred Greenhill, 1900-1991 (bookplate) – H. Bradley Martin (his sale, Sotheby's 30 & 31 January, lot 2108).
Washington Irving, 1809
[IRVING, Washington (1783-1859).] A History of New York, From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. By Diedrich Knickerbocker. New York: Inskeep & Bradford, 1809.
The Greenhill-Bradley Martin copy of the first edition, in a contemporary binding, of Irving's comic satire published under the name "Diedrich Knickerbocker"; "the first completely original American non-scholarly book" (Grolier). A parody of contemporary histories that often ignores and alters facts, it takes its reader from the discovery of America through early Dutch colonization (providing portraits of figures such as Wouter van Twiller, William Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant), and concludes with the fall of New Amsterdam to the British in 1664. Though on its face a history of New York, it was also very much a Federalist critique of Jeffersonian democracy. BAL 10098; Grolier American 28; Langfeld and Kleinfield 11.
Two volumes, octavo (175 x 105mm). Folding engraved plate (margins of plate slightly irregular; short tears at folds with one repaired, touching image). Contemporary sheep, spines gilt ruled, black morocco spine labels (joints cracked with volume 1 front board nearly detached); modern chemises and quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: Harold Greenhill, 1893-1968 (bookplate) – Mildred Greenhill, 1900-1991 (bookplate) – H. Bradley Martin (his sale, Sotheby's 30 & 31 January, lot 2108).
Brought to you by
Heather Weintraub
Specialist, Books, Manuscripts, & Archives