Alex Cooper is pleased to offer an exceptional group of books in the Discovery Sale which closes December 21st, 2020. These feature rare Americana; Atlases and books on Travel; Literature, including sets and bindings; Classical Law; Religious Works; and Early Imprints. There are many scarce and rare titles, all without reserve.
Many of the books come from a Coale-Sappington family home in Liberty Town, in Frederick Co., Maryland. They were original developers of the town in the later 18th Century. Generations of physicians and storekeepers occupied the same house there, creating one of those increasingly rare “fossils,” where nothing of any sentimental value was ever thrown away. Among the treasures in this sale:
Lot 185: John Carey’s Holy Bible, published in Philadelphia in 1790, in the original binding, the first Roman Catholic Bible printed outside of Europe. Though our copy is imperfect, it is still truly remarkable. The edition was less than 500 copies, and in the 1950s, only about 35 examples were known, making it one of the scarcest Bibles anywhere. This newly found example has genealogical entries for the Coale Family (of Elkridge and later Liberty) from the 1750s to early 1800s.
Lot 190: The rare first edition of Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, published in New York, 1828, in two large volumes, with the original leather bindings. The author’s name synonymous with the word dictionary, this monument of early American scholarship is almost never available for sale.
Those interested should keep on the lookout for a trove of documents, account books and ephemera from the same estate in upcoming sales. Click here to see the entire auction catalog.
Richard Hall
Books, Manuscripts & Ephemera
richard@alexcooper.com