Miscellaneous, Scarce and Collectible Books
Lorenzo Allen / Brian Wildsmith
 Fifer
for the Union by Lorenzo Allen. Illustrated by Brian Wildsmith. William
Morrow, 1964, first edition, hardcover with dust jacket in Mylar sleeve.
Unhappy at home, twelve-year-old Len runs away from his stepfather and home to
join the Union Army. He lies about his age and is accepted into the fife and
drum corps. Despite the hardships of army life, he remains enthusiastic until
the terrible day when he found himself surrounded by fallen soldiers, and knew
that somewhere among them on the battlefield his friend Mr. Putnam lay wounded.
he was determined to find him. The book pretty accurately portrays a soldier's
life in 1861.
Condition: Retired from school library with all the usual library
markings. Mylar sleeve is taped on with the usual resulting damage to end
papers. Pockets and date slips have been removed from paste-downs and end
papers, leaving remains of papers stuck to them. There are also library stamps
on end papers, title page, and edges, some of which have been inked out, with
the ink bleeding to the other side and the next page. Binding is tight and pages
are complete and secure. Library labels are pasted to spines of both boards and
Mylar sleeve and there is another label on the back of the sleeve. Jacket
appears to be in very good condition except that over half the back flap was cut
away to make room for the pocket (since removed). Someone wrote a big W 78 over
the paper left from the pocket on the back paste-down. There is a one-inch tear
at the top of the last page of text. Overall condition would be G+. 256 pages.
BTH-2908. $15.00-U
Carol Ryrie Brink Books
 Andy
Buckram's Tin Men by Carol Ryrie Brink. Illustrated by W. T. Mars.
Viking, hardcover, 2nd printing, 1966. Andy Buckram built four tin robots from
tin cans, bits of metal and other odds and ends. He gave each a name and special
personality. One was a girl -- the rest were male. They were his only mechanical
toys and he loved to play with them. One night a terrible storm flooded the
countryside, destroying Andy's home and electrifying his robots. Before Andy
knew it, he found himself in a leaky boat headed for a deserted island with his
four robots, his young friend Sparrow, and his baby cousin as fellow passengers.
A remarkable series of adventures follow. Condition: This book retired from a
school library is G+ / G. Pockets and date slips have been removed, with
resulting paper stuck to endpapers, both front and rear. Dust jacket is in mylar
sleeve which is taped to book with the usual tape damage to pages. Part of back
jacket flap was cut away to make room for pocket. Stamp on back paste-down has
been inked over, as has the one on the title page, and the ink on title page has
leaked to the next page a bit. There is also a library stamp on the fore edge,
which, fortunately, they forgot to ink over. Wish they had also forgotten to ink
over the stamp on the top edge. As far as I can tell without untaping the mylar
sleeve, the outside dust jacket is very good except for what might be a small
closed tear on the bottom edge and some library labels taped to the mylar
sleeve. The library binding is very strong and the pages are all secure and
clean except as noted above. There's still a lot of life left in this book. 192
pages. BTH-2906. $35.00-U. For collectors over 12 only.
Paul Brown Books
 Pony
Farm, written and illustrated by Paul Brown, Charles Scribner's
Sons, New York, 1948. First Edition, First printing. The children in this story live
right next door to a farm that raises Shetland ponies. Young readers will visit
the ponies with the children and watch their antics through Paul Brown's
beautiful drawings. Very good condition, but no dust jacket. Illustrated end
papers are very clean with a tiny bit of chipping on edges of rear end papers.
Edges and corners of boards have light wear. There is a small, light stain near
the top of the back board. Spine is barely sunned. Spine has black lettering,
and front has pony design in back. Cloth-covered boards are red. Light
finger print-like spots on the first and second text pages. Click on image to
enlarge it for more detail. This is not an ex-library book. BTH-3069. $94.50-U
Donald J. Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective, by Donald Sobel.
Elsevier/Nelson Books. The first
in the now famous Encyclopedia Brown series. Hardcover, 15th printing. VG/VG. Some rubbing
and a little chipping on jacket, mostly on back. BT #495, $16.00 -U(B)
Horses and Horsemanship
Cross-Saddle
and Side-Saddle Modern Riding for Men and Women E.V.A. Christy with One
Hundred and Twenty-Two Illustrations. J. B. Lippincott Company, assumed first
American edition, 1932. No dust jacket. Chapter titles are Character Building by
Horsemanship; Saddlery; Saddling and Unsaddling; The Cross-Saddle Seat; Mounting
and Dismounting Cross-Saddle; The Side-Saddle Seat; Mounting and Dismounting
Side-Saddle; Bridlery; Birdling and Unbridling; Horsemanship (A) Arms, Wrists
and Fingers; Horsemanship (B) Body, Voice, Legs, Spurs, Blunts, Whip and
Martingale; Horsemanship (C) Horse Psychology; Horsemanship (D) Personality
(Rider's) and Hands; Horsemanship (E) Accumulative; Comparison between the Cross
Seat and the Side Seat; On the Road; Opening and Closing Gates When Mounted; and
Something About Outfit. At the end is a Glossary of Technical Terms.
Condition is between good and very good for its age: The cover
is cloth in some shade of what might be a faded red with gilt lettering on
spine. The pages are very thick. There is a frontispiece of "A Good Cross-Saddle
Seat." There is no date after the Forward by Sir Charles Frederick or the
author's preface. There is a horseshoe imprint effect at the bottom of the front
end papers made by a string under the front paste down making an indentation on
the other side that matches and makes a perfect horseshoe. This impression of a
horseshoe carries through the bottoms of all the front pages up to and including
the title. I don't know if this is a defect or put there by design, but it does
match the subject. There is nothing similar at the back. The cover is cloth in
some shade of what might be a faded red with gilt lettering on spine. The pages
are very thick. There is a frontispiece of "A Good Cross-Saddle Seat." There is
no date after the Forward by Sir Charles Frederick or the author's preface.
There is a horseshoe imprint effect at the bottom of the front end papers made
by a string under the front paste down making an indentation on the other side
that matches and makes a perfect horseshoe. This impression of a horseshoe
carries through the bottoms of all the front pages up to and including the
title. I don't know if this is a defect or put there by design, but it does
match the subject. There is nothing similar at the back. The cloth cover is
darker on the spine, which has lighter streaks contrasting with the darkening,
than on the front and back. All edges are getting dark, and top and bottom edges
have small spots. There is a tiny black spot on the part of the back board that
extends down. past the bottom edge. Board edges are lightly worn, especially at
spine ends and corners, which are lightly bumped. Spine leans just a bit toward
front. Binding is secure and pages are free of any writing. I scanned the
frontispiece and title page because I thought that would give more information
than the cover, which is just the color you see on the left edge in the scan
with no lettering or illustrations. BTH-3999. $149.50-U
Picture Books
 Gawain
and the Green Knight: Adventure at Camelot by Y.R. Ponsor with illustrations
by Darrell Sweet. Macmillan, 1979. First Edition. VG/G-. Green cloth
cover has gilt lettering on spine. Light wear to spine ends and corners on cover. Previous
owner stamp on ffep. End papers are tan. Jacket has several tears of about one inch or
less at top and bottom edges. There is also some chipping at edges. Not price-clipped. Not
a remainder. Illustrations of this old Arthurian tale are black and white drawings. A
prose version. BT#2244. $10.00-U (B)
 The
Sun-Bonnet Babies written and illustrated by Bertha L. Corbett,
publisher not stated, 1900. This book is the first introduction to the Sunbonnet
Babies that later appeared in color with stories by Eulalie Osgood Grover,
illustrated by Bertha L. Corbett. On the page after the copyright page it says
"Pictures and rhymes by Bertha L. Corbett and there is a picture in black and
white of two Sun-bonnet Babies. The rest of the book is, after the introductory
six-line verse (pictured below), composed of a two-line verse on one page
followed by a black and white sketch on the next. Each page is printed on
only one side, except for the title page/copyright page. The book is unpaginated.
The cover is light green boards with some color, featuring an ink bottle with a
feather pen, on which sits a Sun-Bonnet Baby reading a book. (See cover image
above).
 Book's
introductory verse page.
 Condition:
Good. The surface paper on the boards is worn on the edges and on the spine.
Where the surface paper is worn off the spine, there is what appears to be a
layer consisting of newsprint with German script on it, as in a German
newspaper. As you can see from the image, the very ends of the spine are
missing. What's left of the spine top above the missing part is only attached
from the book's back and is coming away from the the front. The bottom of
the spine has lost its surface paper diagonally from front to back sides and the
surface paper of the back side of spine is rubbed off in various degrees for the
bottom third. You can see that there is also a piece of the surface paper worn
off near the front side of the spine bottom. Other edges have lighter wear, with
surface paper rubbed off only on very edges, and corners are moderately worn
with some of board exposed. Edges of pastedown pages are sunned. Front pastedown
has a few mild wrinkles, as though paste might not have been evenly applied.
Back pastedown has such wrinkles only next to gutter. Free endpapers have very
mild creases. Front free end paper has a gift inscription to the previous owner
dated July 2, 1906. Page opposite copyright page has some barely visible
smudges, probably light finger prints. There is a closed tear at the top of the
Introduction page, pictured above, that doesn't show in the picture, and on the
page opposite to it, which is blank, there is a spot of about an inch the color
of light tea -- could be foxing. There are also a couple of mild creases on that
page. you can click on the image of the back of the book to see an enlargement.
If you have any further questions about the book, please email me.
BTH-4383. $200.00-U
 Who's a Pest? by Crosby
Newell Bonsall, An I Can Read Book. Harper & Row, 1962. G/G. This is a trade
hardcover edition with its original dust jacket, not an ex-library or book club
edition. Condition details: Pages have a "handled" look with an occasional spot
on a page. There is a small chip in the bottom edge of page 19/20. Light wear to
illustrated boards at edges and corners. Dust jacket is price-clipped with
moderate wear at edges and corners. Spine ends of jacket have small tears and
chips. Bottom corner of jacket back has a diagonal crease that folds away from
tear at flap edge. There are a couple of light stains on the jacket front and a
couple of small dark spots on jacket back. BTH-4385. $23.50-U
Stephen Meader Books
 Lonesome
End by Stephen W. Meader. Illustrated by Ned Butterfield. Harcourt,
Brace and World, New York, 1968. First edition. 190 pages, hardcover with dust
jacket. Although Todd Ross had never gone out for football because the chores on
his father's ranch kept him so busy, the coach convinces Todd that the team
badly needs him. Todd had not expected to feel such satisfaction from being on
the team, sharing in the daily practice sessions, and playing in the Saturday
afternoon games. By the end of the victorious season, Todd had even changed his
view of himself, and was happy he'd been part of the team's success.
Football fans will recognize a kindred spirit in Mr. Meader as
he conveys the color and noise of the game, the complicated details of plays,
and the gathering tension in the field and stands as the game begins and is
played through.
Condition: G/VG-. Retired from junior high school library. Has
the usual library markings. Pocket and date slip have been removed, as has front
free end paper. This has removed some of the surface of the end papers and not
quite all of the pocket and date slip. Mylar jacket protector has been taped on
with the usual damage to the boards, which are covered with light brown cloth.
Jacket has some rubbing and light wear, mostly at edges. The person who was
marking out the library stamps used a black marker which bled through the title
page to the other side in a couple of small spots. Page 177/178 is loose, but
still attached. Its edges have creased and chipped a bit where it hangs a little
unevenly. Spine leans at a slight angle, and corners are barely bumped.
BT-3124. $25.00-U (B)
Vintage Pocket Books
 The
Whoop-Up Trail by B.M. Bower. Pocket Book # 310, 1945, 3rd printing, 190
pages. Cover art by Bill Gillies. An exciting western originally published in
1933. Full of outlaws, horse thieves, danger, and mystery, with a touch of
romance. Physical description: Very light wear to cover. Appears not to have
been read. Perma-Gloss coating is beginning to loosen at corners. Over-all very
good condition. BT-3479. $10.00-U (A)
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