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New York: Privately Printed, 1934. [3], 7, [7] pages on hand-made paper; 2 mounted photographs, the first of a painted portrait of Isaac Roosevelt and the second of the sword. Folio-sized, 10-1/4 by 14 inches.

A rather odd book, presenting a survey of Franklin Roosevelt's male ancestors, with an emphasis on the Revolutionary War-era politician Isaac Roosevelt. The final page is devoted to John Bailey, who made a sword for Isaac.

It appears that the House of Peters, at one time a fine clothier, had turned to selling artifacts in the 1930s, issuing elaborate books to document collections they presumably had for sale.

In this case, your humble cataloguer believes they had in their possession a sword once owned by Isaac Roosevelt, and seeing that his great-great grandson was in the White House, sought to capitalize on this fact. It is, in any case, an uncommon book, published in an edition of just 12 copies. Two copies located on OCLC, one at the American Antiquarian Society and the second at the Harry Ransom Center. ISBN: B0016MYB6U.

Ithaca, NY: 9 by 11-1/2 inches. Director's scrapbook for the 1983 Cornell University student production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Jimmy Smits and Margaret Reed. Smits' performance as Chief Bromden was widely acclaimed and helped launch his professional career.

This is a record of the production kept by the chairman of the Cornell Univesity theater arts program, Richard Shank, who directed the play. The book, bound in library buckram by Shank after the play's run finished, includes 1) two copies of the Samuel French script, one for reproduction and the other extensively annotated by Shank with notes on the staging;

2) fold-out plans for the set;

3) publicity clipping, flyers, programs, and other ephemera from the production;

4) five still photographs taken during a performance of the play; 5) Shank's extensive clipping file of reviews of earlier productions, often with notes about how to respond to criticisms of the play; 6) call sheets and other communications with the actors.

In all, a remarkable, one-of-a-kind record of a notable production of this play based on Kesey's classic novel. Two of the actors, Smits as well as Margaret Reed (Nurse Ratched), went on to have notable careers as television and film actors. Smits was one of the first Mexican American actors to earn national acclaim. ISBN: 281AIB1040908.

Leipzig: Schwickertschen Verlage and E. B. Schwickert, 1803-1836. A rare complete set of this early 19th century German dictionary of pure mathematics, published in five volumes (in six books) and a two-volume supplement (Supplemente zu G. S. Kluegel's Woorterbuche der reinen Mathematik). Volumes 4 and 5 were co-written by Carl Brandan Mollweide and Johann August Grunert; Grunert authored the supplements.

Volume 1: A-D (1803): viii, 944 pages, 8 folding plates; 2: E-J (1805), 956, [6] pages, 6 folding plates; 3: K-P (1808), 933, [3] pages, 10 folding plates; 4: Q-S (1823), vi, 889, [1] pages, 7 folding plates; 5.1, T-U (1831), iv, 589 pages, 8 folding plates; 5.2, V-Z (1831), 590-1188, [1] pages; Supplement 1: A-D (1833), vi, 737, [1] pages, 2 folding plates; Supp. 2: E-Z (1836), 1032 pages, 4 folding plates.

Kluegel (1739-1812) held a variety of academic positions before taking the chair of mathematics at the University of Halle, a position he held for 20 years before retiring. As a theoretician, his primary work was on parallels and in trigonometry, but in the 19th century he was known for this dictionary. He completed three volumes before his death and the work was carried on by Mollweide (volume 4) and Grunert (vol. 5 and the supplements).

According to the St. Andrews University MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, "It was [Kleugel's] mathematical dictionary, however, which led to his fame. This was the three volume work Mathematisches Wörterbuch... which appeared between 1803 and 1808. The work includes articles such as "Abacus", "Algebra", "Analysis", "Geometry", "Logarithms", "Parallels" and a host of similar ones. His definitions often illustrate the state of mathematics at this time and are now of interest to historians of mathematics... The dictionary was widely used for several generations making Klügel's name widely known."

Mollweide was also an important German mathematician, best remembered for the Mollweide projection of the sphere, used in many atlases. Mollweide's best-known student was August Moebius.

Kluegel's dictionary of mathematics is quite scarce, complete as here in 8 volumes, with only a few institutional holdings, mostly in Germany. ISBN: 281AIB1040944.

Humboldt County, California: 1994-96; 1999-2003; 2005. NORBAG, founded in 1995, is a group of amateur and semi-professional book artists, who meet regularly to learn new techniques and to exchange work. Just as various amateur press associations and local printers' chappels echo the fine press movement, local book arts guilds use the same techniques and book forms as professional book artists. One common element of book arts guilds and amateur press associations is the regular exchange of work among the members. From the very beginning, NORBAG organized a Christmas card exchange. Present here are cards from the earliest exchanges from the founding year of the organziation, with a few earlier examples. There is also a run of cards from 1999 to 2005, lacking 2004. The cards offer an interesting look at the amateur book arts, as the participants explore screenprinting, embossing, various book structures, collage techniques, and paper styles. This collection includes more than 100 cards from about three dozen different artists, many contributing cards in multiple years. All in all, an interesting look into the amateur book arts world. ISBN: 281AIB1036819.

London: Michael Codron Ltd, (n.d. but ca. 1960s). 8-1/2 by 11 inches. 117 leaves. Murdoch attempted to adapt her novel for the stage but was dissatisfied with the results and nearly abandoned the project. For a while she was working with the West End producer Michael Codron, and they discussed the project on September 29, 1962. Soon after, she sent her working draft to J. B. Priestley, who offered to collaborate on the play. Their joint script became a big hit, playing more than 1000 performances. Codron did not end up producing the play in London and what his involvement was is hard to determine. That he was involved early on but did not have his name associated with the public productions suggests that this playscript dates from late 1962 or early 1963. An uncommon Murdoch and Priestly item. Not on OCLC. ISBN: 281AIB1041150.