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Miscellaneous New Acquisitions from John Michael Lang Fine Books Recent Acquisitions from John Michael Lang. By Michael Stillman John Michael Lang Fine Books has issued its List 22 of Recent Acquisitions. This includes 32 new items without a particular underlying theme, but probably including something for almost anyone. There are several offerings pertaining to Lang's home territory, the Pacific Northwest, but there are also items which discuss cooking, world's fairs, travel, wooden coins, Hoover dam, New Mexico, Spain, San Francisco, and book decorations, as well as autographed books from Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, actress Katherine Hepburn, and French Chef Julia Child, children's books, a Tennyson set and Hamlet's soliloquy. That's a start. Here are a few samples. We start with the oldest book in this collection, The Truth Exalted in the Writing of That Eminent and Faithful Servant of Christ, by John Burnyeat, published in 1691. Burnyeat was a Quaker who traveled around the colonies in the 17th century, spending much time in Maryland and Virginia. He was closely associated with Quaker founder George Fox and coauthored a book with him. He also found himself, with Fox, in a spirited and less than warm debate with Rhode Island founder Roger Williams. It is perhaps odd that two leaders, among the most tolerant of the time, could not get along with each other. This book tells of Burnyeat's journeys and the antagonism he endured for his faith. Item 6. Priced at $750. Item 17 is an unpublished circa 1958 mimeographed typescript of Harry Day and the Hercules by Charles R. Stark, Jr. It is marked "final revision" of this book intended for Caxton Printers of Caldwell, Idaho, that for whatever reason, never came to be (Caxton did print another Stark work, "The Bering Sea Eagle"). The unpublished work is a biography of the Idaho mining and smelting magnate of the first four decades of the 20th century. Day and a partner staked their claim to the Hercules mine in 1889, but it was not until 1901 that a strong vein of silver and lead was discovered, eventually making Day, his family, and various investors wealthy. The Hercules shut down in the 1920s, but by then Day had obtained other mines, and interests in smelting plants, real estate, the Wallace, Idaho, newspaper and other investments. He died in 1942. $650.
Miscellaneous New Acquisitions from John Michael Lang Fine Books Ernest Griset's imaginary natives. Item 15 is one which ties in with the preceding manuscript -- The Coeur D'Alenes, or a Tale of the Modern Inquisition in Idaho by May Arkwright Hutton, published in Wallace in 1900. May Arkwright was a working class immigrant to the Coeur D'Alene mining district who labored as a cook before opening a boarding house. One of her diners was Levi (Al) Hutton, a railroad engineer, whom she married. Hutton was one of those who invested in Day's Hercules mine and worked there when he had spare time. However, Al Hutton got caught up in a mining strike when his train was commandeered. He was temporarily jailed under martial law though he was not involved. Mrs. Hutton, strongly pro-labor, wrote this book in protest. Ironically, the following year, the Hercules began to produce large profits, and the working-class Huttons became millionaires. They would move to more spacious quarters in Spokane, but Mrs. Hutton would remain politically active, being a tireless worker for women's suffrage. However, she did try to round up and destroy as many copies of this book as she could find. $500. For those hoping to emulate the good fortune of the Days and Huttons there is En Route to the Klondike. Chilkoot Pass and Skaguay Trail. This provides routes and advice on traveling to the gold fields of Alaska, with photographs of miners, camps, Indians, and more. However, it is dated 1897, so perhaps the gold is now gone. Item 1. $450. Item 9 is an 1867 color plate book, with 36 hand-colored engravings by Ernest Griset. The book is Legends of Savage Life, by James Greenwood. This is meant to be a humorous look at an imaginary tribe, though one might infer that it is African in origin. Lang notes that Griset's illustrations are "less than politically correct." Tipped in is an advertisement for another Greenwood/Griset book, "The Hatchet Throwers," a similarly offensive work. $300. John Michael Lang Fine Books may be reached at 206-624-4100 or jmlbooks@isomedia.com. Their website is found at www.jmlbooks.com.

Miscellaneous New Acquisitions from John Michael Lang Fine Books

Recent Acquisitions from John Michael Lang.

By Michael Stillman

John Michael Lang Fine Books has issued its List 22 of Recent Acquisitions. This includes 32 new items without a particular underlying theme, but probably including something for almost anyone. There are several offerings pertaining to Lang's home territory, the Pacific Northwest, but there are also items which discuss cooking, world's fairs, travel, wooden coins, Hoover dam, New Mexico, Spain, San Francisco, and book decorations, as well as autographed books from Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, actress Katherine Hepburn, and French Chef Julia Child, children's books, a Tennyson set and Hamlet's soliloquy. That's a start. Here are a few samples.

We start with the oldest book in this collection, The Truth Exalted in the Writing of That Eminent and Faithful Servant of Christ, by John Burnyeat, published in 1691. Burnyeat was a Quaker who traveled around the colonies in the 17th century, spending much time in Maryland and Virginia. He was closely associated with Quaker founder George Fox and coauthored a book with him. He also found himself, with Fox, in a spirited and less than warm debate with Rhode Island founder Roger Williams. It is perhaps odd that two leaders, among the most tolerant of the time, could not get along with each other. This book tells of Burnyeat's journeys and the antagonism he endured for his faith. Item 6. Priced at $750.

Item 17 is an unpublished circa 1958 mimeographed typescript of Harry Day and the Hercules by Charles R. Stark, Jr. It is marked "final revision" of this book intended for Caxton Printers of Caldwell, Idaho, that for whatever reason, never came to be (Caxton did print another Stark work, "The Bering Sea Eagle"). The unpublished work is a biography of the Idaho mining and smelting magnate of the first four decades of the 20th century. Day and a partner staked their claim to the Hercules mine in 1889, but it was not until 1901 that a strong vein of silver and lead was discovered, eventually making Day, his family, and various investors wealthy. The Hercules shut down in the 1920s, but by then Day had obtained other mines, and interests in smelting plants, real estate, the Wallace, Idaho, newspaper and other investments. He died in 1942. $650.

Miscellaneous New Acquisitions from John Michael Lang Fine Books

Ernest Griset's imaginary natives.

Item 15 is one which ties in with the preceding manuscript -- The Coeur D'Alenes, or a Tale of the Modern Inquisition in Idaho by May Arkwright Hutton, published in Wallace in 1900. May Arkwright was a working class immigrant to the Coeur D'Alene mining district who labored as a cook before opening a boarding house. One of her diners was Levi (Al) Hutton, a railroad engineer, whom she married. Hutton was one of those who invested in Day's Hercules mine and worked there when he had spare time. However, Al Hutton got caught up in a mining strike when his train was commandeered. He was temporarily jailed under martial law though he was not involved. Mrs. Hutton, strongly pro-labor, wrote this book in protest. Ironically, the following year, the Hercules began to produce large profits, and the working-class Huttons became millionaires. They would move to more spacious quarters in Spokane, but Mrs. Hutton would remain politically active, being a tireless worker for women's suffrage. However, she did try to round up and destroy as many copies of this book as she could find. $500.

For those hoping to emulate the good fortune of the Days and Huttons there is En Route to the Klondike. Chilkoot Pass and Skaguay Trail. This provides routes and advice on traveling to the gold fields of Alaska, with photographs of miners, camps, Indians, and more. However, it is dated 1897, so perhaps the gold is now gone. Item 1. $450.

Item 9 is an 1867 color plate book, with 36 hand-colored engravings by Ernest Griset. The book is Legends of Savage Life, by James Greenwood. This is meant to be a humorous look at an imaginary tribe, though one might infer that it is African in origin. Lang notes that Griset's illustrations are "less than politically correct." Tipped in is an advertisement for another Greenwood/Griset book, "The Hatchet Throwers," a similarly offensive work. $300.

John Michael Lang Fine Books may be reached at 206-624-4100 or jmlbooks@isomedia.com. Their website is found at www.jmlbooks.com.