My Book. With Vignettes by C.M. Seyppel -- inscribed and with letter by publisher, W. K. Bixby
(St. Louis): W. K. Bixby, (1905). First Printing. Hardcover. One of a limited number (this is no. 321) privately printed by Bixby, with bound in limitation slip initialed in pen by Bixby, also inscribed by him on flyleaf to J. J. Turner. Includes facsimile of typed letter, 2 pp, by Buskett, the original possessor of the manuscript, to Bixby about the circumstances of this book, etc. Royal 8vo, 10 x 8 inches, vellum backed pictorial boards, very good, light general rubbing, soil and darkening to binding, contents very good, handsomely printed in colors on thick vellum-paper. Bixby was a St. Louis railroad magnate with Union Pacific who presided over the formation of the American Car & Foundry Company; he retired at 48 to dedicate himself to philanthropy and the collecting of art, rare books and manuscripts. He was instrumental in the success of the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. Turner, the recipient of this set, was vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad lines west of Pittsburgh, and in that capacity, traveled to St. Louis in the spring of 1903 to begin planning for the PRR exhibit; it must have been on this trip that the two befriended each other. Very good. Item #H26559
Price: $125.00