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(BIBLE IN MINIATURE.) [Taylor, John.]
The Bible.
Woodcut illustrations. 286
pages plus final blank. 64mo, original boards, worn; minor foxing, a few leaves detached;
1796 gift inscription on front flyleaf.
Philadelphia: Sower & Jones, circa 1794-96
[1,500/2,500]
Stated “eighth edition” of Taylor’s Verbum Sempiternum, a popular abridgement of the Bible in verse.
Dedicated to President Washington on pages [5-6]. Adomeit, Thumb Bibles, A129 (though the
present copy is a variant with page 286 printed as “28”, as in the 1798 edition); Evans 26649;
Welch 1293.7. 3 copies in ESTC.
76
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(BUSINESS.)
Letterbook of the American Tobacco Company’s sales
department for plug tobacco.
296 pages of bound carbon copy typescript letters on
tracing paper. 4to, original cloth, moderate wear; contents somewhat wrinkled but otherwise
strong, minor dampstaining to the blank pages in the rear of the volume.
[Durham, NC?], 1908-11
[400/600]
These letters were written by W.S. Mason and W.S. Tisdel of the Plug Sales Department of the
American Tobacco Company. Most of the letters relate to the sales of chewing tobacco to wholesale
customers in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Both islands had strong customer bases of American troops in the
wake of the Spanish-American War, though one might expect that Cuba was able to supply its own
tobacco needs. Some of the letters discuss the company’s products at length. One 12 May 1908 letter
to a Cuban distributor, for example, notes: “The writer when in Cuba noted the fact that chewing
tobacco being moldy did not seem to interfere with its sale, the consumer being willing to take it either
way. We noted further that . . . the consumer desires the tobacco both a little softer and a little sweeter
than that we have been furnishing to you.” These letters date from the peak of American Tobacco’s
near-monopoly powers, while antitrust proceedings were working their way through the courts; the firm
was broken up into four smaller companies in 1911 by order of the Supreme Court.
77
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(BUSINESS.)
Minute book of the executive committee of the Eastern Steel
Company.
286 manuscript pages. 4to, original polished calf gilt, worn and lacking back-
strip; a bit musty.
New York, 1903-08
[500/750]
The Eastern Steel Company’s main plant was in Pottsville, PA, though the executive committee met
in New York City. Among the members of the committee were philanthropist August Heckscher and
architect Charles D. Wetmore. The minutes discuss the hiring of top managers, plant improvements,
financing, and more. A detailed 1904 expansion plan presented by the finance committee appears on
pages 37-47. Documents relating to the 1907 acquisition of the Cuban Mining Company of West
Virginia appear on pages 163-182.
78
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(CALIFORNIA.) Todd, Charles H.
Letter describing the business dealings of
Gold Rush millionaire Sam Brannan.
Autograph Letter Signed to friend S.A.
Brimblecorn of Grafton, MA. 3 pages, 9
3
/
4
x 7
3
/
4
inches, on a folding sheet, with address
panel on final blank bearing red inked postmark “San Francisco 15 Jul 40”;minimal wear.(MRS)
San Francisco, CA, 13 July 1850
[400/600]
Describes at length being called as a witness in a business dispute between the famed Mormon apostate
and Gold Rush entrepreneur Samuel Brannan and his business partner J.W. Osborn: “Upon my
word I never saw so jumbled a mess.”