Fort Pitt and Letters from the Frontier (#2 of 100 LP copies in full leather with note from Mary Darlington, etc.)
Pittsburgh: J. R. Weldin, 1892. First printing. Hardcover. No. 2 of 100 large paper copies. Quarto, 11 x 8.75 inches, full black morocco gilt, gilt leather turn-ins, bookplates of C. Bernard Shea and Charles Mortan Ewing. About fine copy with minimal wear. Tipped in is a letter from Mary Darlington dated January 12, 1904, "Dear Sir, please accept my thanks for the valuable addition to our Bibliotheca Americana. Yours with respect, M. C. Darlington." This letter was probably addressed to the heirs of C. Bernard Shea, who died in 1900; one of the founders of Hornes' Department Store, Shea was a major cultural leader in Pittsburgh and had one of the finest private libraries in the city, apparently with many rarities in Americana. The Darlington's library, which was housed at the University of Pittsburgh, probably acquired a few treasures from the Shea collection after the settling of the Shea estate (one wonders what happened to the rest of Shea's library); the other bookplate is from a curator of archives at Washington and Jefferson College in the early part of the century; it includes a typed note by Ewing on one of the facsimile plates. The book reprints the late 1740s journal of Captain Celeron has he journeys from NY State into Pennsylvania via the Allegheny River claiming land for the French; letters etc. from Generals Grant, Forbes and Bouquet, orderly book of Capt. Ecuyer, life of General O'Hara, letters from officers in the Continental Army 1776-1799, and William M. Darlington's historical survey of the origins of Allegheny County. A splendid copy of a rare book with excellent western Pennsylvania associations. Near Fine. Item #H22954
Price: $500.00