THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY in MORAL and ELUCIDATORY LECTURES. By William Hutchinson, Master of the Barnstable Lodge of Concord.

NEW-YORK : Printed by Isaac Collins, no. 189, Pearl-Street, for COTTOM & STEWART, Booksellers and Stationers, ALEXANDRIA [Virginia], 1800.

Lacks its front and rear covers but the leather spine is present, 4.5x6.75 inches. Pagination: [4] blank leaves, vi, [2], 174, 22 pages, [4] blank leaves.

Condition: Lacks covers as noted above, the blank prelims and endpapers are toned, chipped and creased with numerous previous owner's signatures (especially Peter Brady who bought the book in 1900 and wants everyone to know that it's His Book), otherwise generally sound, the text block is well bound to leather spine, the pages have some toning and foxing, there is light shorelining to the first and last few pages, and there is an edge chip here and there, etc., overall the text pages remain tight, clean and unmarked.

The earlier London edition of this book can be found, but the ORIGINAL 1800 AMERICAN PRINTING has become almost impossible to find.

THE TRUE MASONIC CHART or HIEROGLYPHIC MONITOR containing ALL THE EMBLEMS EXPLAINED...by R.W. Jeremy L. Cross, G.L. To Which Are Added ILLUSTRATIONS, CHARGES, SONGS, &c.

NEW HAVEN (Connecticut): Published and Sold by the Author, third edition, 1824.

Hardcovers, leather covered boards, 4x6.5 inches, 240 pages. ILLUSTRATED with 44 PLATES, including two Frontispiece Plates, of MASONIC EMBLEMS & SYMBOLS, and an approximately 40 page section of Masonic Music Scores.

EARLY GALL INK SIGNATURES of WILLIAM BUELL, ASA BUELL and GILBERT SHERWOOD on the front and rear endpapers. Also on the rear endpapers, written lightly in pencil, are several signatures of WILLIAM BUELL, JR. with the address of Lockport, Niagara County. Though the time period is correct I have no idea if these are the important William Buells of the period. So I leave it to you to determine the validity and historical interest of any of the signatures.

Condition: Front cover, front endpapers, and frontispiece are disbound and laid on loosely (like a sandwich); all pages are age toned, there is foxing throughout, edgewear and corner creases here and there, a few pages have tears including the last page which has a long closed tear, two plates that have a long closed tear and pieces missing from their front margin (not affecting text), some pages with small edge tears; lots of early signatures on the endpapers as noted above, and also lots of numbers written in pencil on the front endpapers and some in gall ink on the rear endpapers. A well used copy that is nonetheless complete and legible, with lots of great masonic occult imagery and musical scores.

RARE with the interesting Buell provenance.

A DOCUMENTARY ACCOUNT of the BEGINNINGS of the LABORATORY PRESS, CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. By PORTER GARNETT.

Published by THE LABORATORY PRESS, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, 1927. FIRST and LIMITED EDITION. One of only 255 copies, so stated on the Colophon Page (the last page).

SIGNED, INSCRIBED and DATED by PORTER GARNETT on the front free endpaper to his long-time FRIEND and BOHEMIAN CLUB cohort, WiLLIAM H. SMITH, JR.:

"To / William H. Smith, Jr. / this souvenir of an old and valued friendship. / Porter Garnett / San Francisco / June 25, 1928."

Both William H. Smith, Jr. and Porter Garnett were active members of the Bohemian Club. William H. Smith, Jr. held various offices in the Club, including Secretary, wrote a Grove Play, directed Grove Plays (including one by Porter Garnett), and both were involved with the Bohemian Grove Hijinx encampment.

Hardcovers, parchment covered spine and paper covered boards, spine title label, 7.5x10 inches, Pagination: x + 131 pages + 46 unnumbered pages at the rear containing a descriptive and illustrated bibliography of the works of the Laboratory Press.

Illustrated with facsimiles of pages from the press, photographs, and five full page calligraphic initials in red.

The Laboratory Press was founded in 1923 as a part of Carnegie, set up to give students a chance to see what fine hand-printing and illustration involved. One of the more elusive American private press bibliographies.

VERY GOOD condition: Sunning / slight toning to spine, inner pages toned at the margins; otherwise tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, lightly used, very presentable copy.

About PORTER GARNETT (from Wikipedia):

******Porter Garnett was born in 1871 in San Francisco. He was an active member in San Francisco's literary scene and a MEMBER OF THE BOHEMIAN CLUB, writing and directing plays at Bohemian Grove. In 1896, he joined The Lark, founded the previous year by Gelett Burgess and Bruce Porter. In 1907 he became assistant curator of Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley.

IN 1922, GARNETT BECAME PROFESSOR OF GRAPHIC ARTS AT THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, teaching traditions, development and ideals of fine printing. There, HE FOUNDED THE LABORATORY PRESS, as the only program in the country FOR THE TEACHING OF FINE PRINTING until the press closed in 1935. The Press was one of the only dedicated to education in printing as a fine art. In 1932, he was awarded the AIGA Medal.

When Porter and his wife Edna retired, they established their home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Garnett died on March 21, 1951, in Calistoga, California. After his death, an archive of his papers was created in his name in the Bancroft Library.******

RARE, especially so SIGNED and INSCRIBED by the Author, Printer and Bohemian PORTER GARNETT to his friend, fellow BOHEMIAN CLUB member WILLIAM H. SMITH, JR.******

(1) PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF CANADA... at its SIXTEENTH ANNUAL COMMUNICATION, HELD AT OTTAWA, ONTARIO... 1971. HAMILTON (Canada): Spectator Steam Printing House, 1871. Disbound from a larger work that probably contained other proceedings, there are 314 pages in this proceedings with the pages numbered 602 to 915 plus a title page and a 6 page index at the rear, 5x8 inches. Only FAIR condition. Disbound, as noted above, title page is almost loose, there is chipping to the fragile page edges, mainly on the first and last few pages, the pages are toned with age, the last page has much of its upper portion torn away and has a 3 inch tear, there are previous owner's pencil marks here and there throughout; nonetheless a complete copy of this interesting Canadian Masonic report from 1871. (2) PROCEEDINGS OF THE M. W. GRAND LODGE OF THE ANCIENT AND HONORABLE FRATERNITY OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND... Held at Charlottetown June 25, 1894. CHARLOTTETOWN (Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Canada): Haszard & Moore, Printers, 1894. Disbound, 5.5x8.5 inches, 47 pages. Only FAIR condition. Disbound, as noted above, waterstaining / shorelining to the gutter and bottom margin of most pages, chipping to the edges and corners of the first and last few pages, a vertical crease down the middle where the booklet was probably folded in half to fit into a pocket, pages are toned, there are previous owner's bright blue pencil marks here and there throughout; nonetheless a complete copy of this interesting Prince Edward Island Masonic report from 1894.

THE ANNALS OF THE BOHEMIAN CLUB VOLUME IX - MUSIC and MUSICIANS in BOHEMIA The First One Hundred Years [A Symphonic Summary], by Richard P. Buck.

Published by the Bohemian Club, San Francisco, 2007. Limited to 3,000 copies, as stated on the Colophon Page (the last page).

COMPLETE SET - Hardcover book, green cloth covered boards with gilt titling on the spine, 7x9.5 inches, xvii, 187 pages + Three CDs and accompanying booklet in a cd case + Slipcase covered in matching green cloth, with gilt design on the front and gilt titling on the spine

NEAR FINE BOOK, very light rubs to the covers, overall looks and feels unused, tight, bright, clean and unmarked; in a VERY GOOD SLIPCASE that has some shelf rubs, overall bright and solid; with CDs that look unused, and an accompanying CD booklet that is in GOOD condition, with some creasing. A wonderful, very presentable set.

STEWARDS MANUAL, 1904. History of Its Foundation, Aims and Purposes, Portraits and Biographies of Members, Famous Recipes and Instructions by Prominent Stewards.

PUBLISHED by the STEWARDS ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY, Club Room, 49 East Twenty-Eighth Street, New York, 1904. FIRST EDITION.

A guide to the organization and practices of New York Stewards. Includes a history of the Stewards Association of New York, its members, and the RECIPES and SERVING TIPS of some of New York's most prominent stewards.

Hardcover book, red cloth covered boards, black title and design on the front cover (including the emblem of the Stewards Association of New York), 7x10.5 inches, 144 pages. Includes ads here and there throughout for items that Stewards at places such as the Ritz might need, e.g. Champagne, Vichy Water Spritzers, Porcelain Fine Tableware, etc.

ASSOCIATION COPY: "George Pratchett / New York Stewards Association / N.Y.", is hand-written on the front free endpaper.

LAID-IN is an official envelope of the Stewards Association of New York, with its printed emblem and address on the envelope's return address corner. The letter is postmarked 1903. It is addressed to "THE GORHAM MFG. CO. / Broadway & 19th Street / N.Y. / HOTEL DEPT." The Gorham Manufacturing Company was one of the largest American manufacturers of sterling and silverplate. GORHAM MANUFACTURING has an ad on page 3 of this 1904 book. The actual letter is lacking, so you'll just have to imagine the fancy silverware being ordered by a steward at a high-end fraternal members-only very exclusive New York club..

Condition: The covers have spotting and are worn at the corner tips and spine ends, but are still doing their job well; the page edges are foxed (page edges of the closed book); internally the pages are nice, tight, bright, clean, clear and unmarked. A solid, presentable copy.

RARE, ORIGINAL 1904 FIRST EDITION of the NEW YORK STEWARDS MANUAL. Quite special with the association to a New York Steward, and the laid-in 1903 Stewards Association of New York envelope addressed to Gorham Manufacturing.