Stephen Leacock rare 9 books collection and ephemera
Place Published: New York
Publisher: John Lane
Date Published: 1912-1998
Binding: Hard Cover
FEATURES RARE SUNSHINE SKETCHES 1ST AMERICAN ISSUE WITH DUST JACKET & SIGNED
Collection includes 9 books, two of which are early works in dust jacket and 4 ephemera. Of special importance is first American issue of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town in rare dust jacket and signed, plus 1912 Canadian issue of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town with very rare front panel of the 1st Canadian Issue dust jacket mounted on inside front cover. Plus, one signed Leacock postcard to Mr. Trevellian, dated 10 March 1940 and Leacock stamp and drawing on envelope (12 Nov. 1969), first day of issue.
9 Books:
• Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. New York: John Lane, 1912. First American issue, first printing, in dust jacket. Brown cloth with cream lettering (stamping on spine missing a few letters). The jacket, featuring an illustration of Jos. Smith by Hovsh on the front panel, is in very good condition – small piece missing from the back panel, tiny chips on the spine, a few smudges on the front panel. Tipped in before the front free endpaper is an extra leaf: “Sent to the National Allied Bazaar by Stephen Leacock Dec. 1916.” National Allied Bazaar was held in Boston in the Mechanics Bldg from December 9 to 20 to fund raise for sufferers of the First World War. It was organised by the (American) National Allied Relief Committee. This was before America officially entered the war.
The copies of the first printing described by Spadoni (A11a.1) have a cancel title, but the copy here has an integral title leaf. Although WorldCat records 26 copies of the first American issue of Sunshine Sketches, the book in jacket in this condition is one of the great rarities of Canadian literature. Carl Spadoni, the author A Bibliography of Stephen Leacock, includes a b&w copy of the jacket, which he obtained from Robert Dagg Rare Books catalogue 24 (October 1996). Spadoni did not examine the Dagg copy because it was sold privately. The only other known copy of the first American issue in jacket was acquired by Library and Archives Canada.
• Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. London: John Lane The Bodley Head; New York: John Lane Company; Toronto Bell & Cockburn, 1912. First edition, first Canadian issue. Spadoni A11a.2. Dark red cloth with “BELL & COCKBURN” on the spine. Two small slits at the top and bottom of the spine, two tiny white spots on the lower board. The names of two former owners are written on the front free endpaper. The front panel of the dust jacket is pasted to the front pastedown. Only one known copy of the entire jacket of the Canadian issue is known to be extant, located at the Stephen Leacock Museum on a reprint of the Canadian issue.
• Canada: The Foundations of Its Future. Montreal: Privately Printed [The House of Seagram], 1941. Presentation copy signed by Samuel Bronfman (the Canadian businessman and philanthropist who founded the Distillers Corporation Limited and arranged for the publication of the book) to E.A. MacNutt, Vice-President, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Montreal. Also signed by Bronfman at the end of the introduction. Signed by Leacock on p. xxx at the end of the author's foreword. Red padded leather titled in gilt on upper board and spine, with gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, ribbon book marks. Illustrated with tissue-guards and captioned paintings by some of the principal artists of the day. A luxurious production in beautiful condition. Approximately 300 to 400 copies were bound in this manner. The more commonly encountered regular “edition” in blue buckram does not have all the gilt of the deluxe edition or the captioned tissue-guards on the paintings. Spadoni A92 (first binding variant).
• Behind the Beyond. New York: John Lane, 1913. First American edition in very good dust jacket. Green cloth in slightly chipped jacket. The white jacket has brown printing and an illustration,“The Curtain Rises”, in brown by A.H. Fish. Illustrated by Fish with 17 plates: colour frontispiece, 16 b&w drawings. The front flap has information on the book and Leacock (referred to as the “the Canadian Mark Twain”). From an aesthetic perspective, this book is important because it is Fish’s debut work as an illustrator. Spadoni A12a.
• Povestiri umorisci [Short Stories, a selection from Leacock’s many works.]. Bucure ti: Editura pentru Literatur Universal , 1965. Romanian trans. Tudor Mainescu and Micaela Ghitescu. Paperback in very good condition. Spadoni H51.
• Laugh with Leacock. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1930. First American edition. Spadoni A56a. Red moiré cloth, a few pages torn at the right side. The book has tributes on pp. v-vii about Leacock’s work from fourteen humorist, including Irvin S. Cobb, Charles Partlow “Chic” Sale (the American actor and vaudevillian), and George Ade. Signed by Sale’s wife on the front free endpaper. Inserted into the book are: an undated ALS from Leacock to Sale in which Leacock invites Sale to his club and informs him that he’s hosting a party for him; and a card signed by Sale, circa 1930, featuring original mixed media illustration by notable collector H.M. Brehm, Appleton, Wisconsin.
• Two Stories & a Letter for Christmas. Ottawa: Fomorian Press, 1998. Dark green wrappers, embossed silver label on the front cover, wire-stitched. Fine condition. Designed by Douglas McKercher and published in a limited edition of 200 copies. Intended as a stocking stuffer at Christmas and dedicated to the designer’s children and their children. With an e-mail from McKercher inserted, explaining the origin of this publications. Only one copy (LAC) reported by WorldCat. Includes “A Christmas Letter”, “Hoodoo McGinn’s Christmas”, and “The Errors of Santa Claus”.
• The Marionettes' Calendar 1916. London: John Lane, the Bodley Head, [1915]. W.W. Curtis Ltd Cheylesmore Press Coventry Printers & Engravers. Spadoni A20. Cream-coloured thick paper wrappers, the same paper stock for the entire book. Very mild embrowning and a pin hole on the front cover. Scotch tape residue to front endpapers. Otherwise, a tight unannotated copy of a very scarce imprint, only a handful of copies recorded. Engagement calendar for the year 1916, with 12 stanzas of clever verse by Leacock; illustrated and decorated stylishly throughout by A.H. Fish. Printed in red and black. Advertisement for five additional titles by Leacock on inside of the back wrapper.
• Montreal: Seaport and City. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1942. First American edition. The seventh volume of the Seaport Series. Green buckram with an illustration of a ship and scroll blind-stamped on the upper board. In a tattered dust jacket (intact but with tears, front flap almost detached). Signed by Leacock on the half title and dated by him “Dec 11 1942”. Spadoni A95b.
Four Ephemera:
Two typescripts (ts):
• “Another Year”. Ts., puncture from staples at the top left-hand corner, a couple of pencil annotations on the first page. 5 pp. Letterhead at top front of the British & International Press Ltd., Clifford's Inn, Fleet Street, London. Spadoni C37.59. Published in Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1937.
• “Question and Answer. The Old Time Get-Wise-Quick System”. Ts., attached with metal fastener, a pencil annotation on the first page. 9 pp., circa 1930s-40s. Letterhead at top front for British & International Press Ltd., Clifford's Inn, Fleet Street, London. Not in Spadoni bibliography. A spoof on the Question and Answer format of children's textbooks, notably Richmal Magnall’s Question, or Compendium of Universal Knowledge. References to Hitler and Mussolini.
• One signed postcard: Postcard to Mr. Trevellian, 10 March 1940, thanking him for his kind letter about Too Much College. The front of the card has a photo of the Windsor Hotel in Montreal where Leacock resided in the later part of his life.
• Leacock stamp on envelope (12 November 1969), first day of issue, with a colour drawing on the front of the envelope of Leacock and a man laughing.
On consignment with LDRB.
Very Good / Good. Item #8734
$6,000.00 USD
$8,285.96 CAD