Dog Ears - Michigan and the Great Lakes

Historic Michigan: Land of the Great Lakes; its life, resources, industries, people, politics, government, wars, institutions, achievements, the press, schools and churches, legendary and prehistoric lore, ed. George N. Fuller. Published by the National Historical Association, Inc. and dedicated to the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society in Commemoration of its Fiftieth Anniversary. 1924. Vol. II only, pp. 541-1048, with table of contents preceding and index following. Dark blue cloth. Shelfworn; front hinge cracked; else Good. $30

CHASE S. OSBORN COLLECTION

Chase S. Osborn (1860-1949), born in a log cabin in Indiana and educated at Purdue University, spent much of his adult life as a newspaperman in northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan and was governor of the state of Michigan from 1911 to 1913. The only Michigan governor elected (thus far) from the Upper Peninsula, he did not run for a second term. Osborn led a colorful life, prospecting for iron, lobbying for the Mackinac Bridge and, after the death of his first wife, marrying his former adopted daughter, Stellanova, two days before his own death. Having been a regent of the University of Michigan, he left his Sugar Island property, including cabin and fireproof “go-down,” to the U. of M. for forestry research.

The three volumes described below will be sold together, as a collection, for $225, or individually. Prices for individual titles appear following descriptions, but it is the collection, each volume inscribed to one couple (husband only, in the third case), that is unique.

Schoolcraft Longfellow Hiawatha, by Chase S. Osborn and Stellanova Osborn. Lancaster, PA: Jacques Cattell Press, 1942. First edition, signed by both authors, inscribed “To Ater from Uncle Chase, To Edna from Stellanova, with best wishes and affection right on to Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Ater Markland, February 1945.” Dedication (typeset, not inscribed) to this book reads as follows: “This book is dedicated to the Great Lakes Region of North America Which Is Without Equal Also To Its Sturdy Pioneers Both White and Red Who Inspired Schoolcraft and Longfellow.” Black cloth, gilt title and illustrative motif (Indian paddling canoe) on spine and front board. 697pp with illustrations and index. Tight and bright. $125

“Hiawatha” With Its Original Indian Legends, by Chase S. Osborn and Stellanova Osborn. Lancaster, PA: Jacques Cattell Press, 1942. Lancaster, PA: Jacques Cattell Press, 1944. First edition, signed by both authors and inscribed “To Edna and Ater Markland with love abidingly.” The authors write in their foreword, “One of the outstanding features of this Great Lakes Edition of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, [typeset with only closing comma] is a complete correlation of the poem with the original Indian legends from which it was constructed. The prose Indian tales parallel the appropriate sections of the poem.” Etc. 255pp, with b/w photographs and index. Black cloth lightly worn on corners and spine ends; gold title faded. Condition is G+. $75

An Accolade for Chase S. Osborn: Home, State, and National Tributes On the Occasion of Chase S. Osborn Day, October 4, 1939, published by the City of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, for presentation to Governor Osborn in Honor of his Eightieth Birthday, January 22, 1940, edited by Stella Brunt Osborn. Sault Ste. Marie: Sault Ste. Marie Printing Company, 1940. First Edition, inscribed by Chase S. Osborn to Wilbur Ater Markland, “whom I love as a son, including his superb [?] family,” dated October 16, 1940. Among those writing on the occasion was Franklin D. Roosevelt, from the White House, to say, “I want to join with the home folks who are arranging for Chase S. Osborn Day in your honor. Your activities have been so manifold and so useful that one finds it difficult to estimate the full value of your lng and distinguished public service. But as one who has prized your friendship through many years I want to join with the folks in the old home town and send all good wishes for your health and happiness.” Light green cloth; 603pp with index. With spine sunned, ends bumped, boards lightly stained, and front hinge loose, the condition of this book is slightly less than Good, but the former governor’s inscription and signature on the front-facing endpaper are bright and clear. $35

TWO BY ROBERT TRAVER:

Laughing Whitefish, by Robert Traver (John D. Voelker). NY: St. Martin's, 1990 limited edition. This copy is $56 of 300 signed by John Voelker. Green cloth in matching slipcase, VG/VG. $150

Danny and the Boys: Being Some Legends of Hungry Hollow, by Robert Traver. Cleveland & NY: World Pub. Co., 1951, 1st ed. Good condition. $50

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The 32nd Division in the World War, 1917-1919. Issued by the Joint War History Commissions of Michigan and Wisconsin. Madison, WI: 1920. Photos, maps, portraits, Honor Roll lists. 319pp. Clothbound, illlustrated cover. Hinges cracked, edges worn. $60

All Around the Town: A Pictorial History of Tompkins Township, Jackson County, Michigan. Published by the Tompkins Home Extension Club Historical Society and printed by the Exponent Press, Brooklyn, MI, 1976. Copiously illustrated with well-reproduced photographs and bound in red cloth. 324pp. $20

All Our Yesterdays: A Narrative History of Traverse City & the Region, by Lawrence Wakefield. Traverse City, MI: Village Press, 1977. Blue cloth, 298 pages, #1800 of signed, limited edition of 2,000. Very good. $45

Between the Iron and the Pine: A Biography of a Pioneer Family and a Pioneer Town, by Lewis C. Reimann. Ann Arbor, MI: Northwoods Publishing, 1951. Green cloth with gold lettering, 225 pages, illus. Ex-lib. $30

The Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan, 1897, compiled and arranged with a digest of Supreme Court decisions and other annotations, and published under authority of Acts 268 of 1895 and 26 of 1897, by Lewis M. Miller. Lansing: Robert Smith Printing Co., 1899. Three leatherbound volumes, 1556 pages. Good. $600

The Ghost in the Tower: An Episode in Jacobia, by Earl H. Reed. Chicago: Privately printed, 1921. Author’s signature and annotation, in artist’s pencil, on title page. 62 pages; ten full-page lithographs with tissue overlays. Gift inscription and some wear. A very special book by the author of Dune Country. Good+. $600 (See also The Silver Arrow below.)

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The Great Lakes and the Vessels That Plough Them: Their Owners, Their Sailors, and Their Cargoes, together with A Brief History of Our Inland Seas, by James Oliver Curwood. With 72 illustrations and a map. 1967 reprint limited edition of 350. Dark blue cloth, 227pp. VG+ $175

Hans W. Anderson, His Life and Work. Published in Leland, Michigan, by the Leelanau Historical Museum, 1988. Copy #119 of limited edition of 1700. Softcover. Includes biographical sketch and catalog of all known works of this Northport folk artist. $40

Heritage of Grand Traverse Bay: The City and Its People, by Donna Stiffler Bollinger. Traverse City, MI: Village Press, 1979. Clothbound. Near VG. $24

Historical Collections & Research made by the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, Vol. 37, 1909-1910. 761 pages. Cloth. Good. $25

History of the Michigan Agricultural College and Biographical Sketches of Trustees and Professors, by W. J. Beal, professor of botany and founder of the famous Beal Gardens. East Lansing, MI: 1915. Beautifully rebound in crimson leather, this tall octavo of 150 pages is illustrated with many black-&-white photographs of early campus buildings, along with portraits of trustees and faculty. Pocket in rear holds two additional documents, a folded campus map and “M.A.C. Represented by a Stream.” $385

History of Oakland County, Michigan, with Illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, from original sketches…. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1877. Original boards, completely resewn and rebacked, with new endpapers. Large folio, vi, 334, xxv pages. $495

The Miami Years: 1809-1959, by Walter Havighurst. NY: Putnam’s, 1948, second printing. Story of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, by author with “an intimate knowledge of the land and lore of the Old Northwest Territory.” Signed by author on half-title page. Red cloth, illustrated dust jacket, 254 pages, illustrations. $30

Michigan and the Old Northwest, Volume I of the Highways to History series, published by the Great Lakes Greyhound Lines, 1945. Paperbound, 80 pages. Painless history in bright, saturated colors and comic book format, as well as maps and sepia-tone photographs. $20

Michigan Today: Its Human and Physical Resources as They Affect Education, published by Eugene B. Elliott, 1937. Lansing, MI: State of Michigan Department of Public Instruction, Bulletin No. 307. Paperbound, 301 pages, illustrated, mostly demographics and economy, with index and suggestions for further reading. Good. $12

Mystery of the Missing Nun & Other True Murder Tales of the Grand Traverse Region, by Lawrence Wakefield. Detroit: Harlo Press, 1977, 1st ed, signed. Wraps. RARE. VG. $94

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On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors: John Z. De Lorean's Look Inside the Automotive Giant, by J. Patrick Wright. Grosse Pointe, MI: Wright Enterprises, 1979, 1st ed. Dj is lightly rubbed but without creases or tears and is not price-clipped. VG/NearVG. $50

Portage and Its Past, by Grace J. Potts, edited by Posie Thomlinson, with photographs by Paul Butch and drawings by Derek Rexton Rainey. Portage, MI: Portage Public Schools & the City of Portage Public Library, 1976. Written for the bicentennial of Portage, Michigan. This is signed by author, editor, illustrator, photographer, and many others; there are signatures throughout the book. Very nice copy with clean, intact dust jacket. $75

Public Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan Passed at the Regular Session of 1913, Containing Concurrent Resolutions and Amendments to the Constitution, compiled by Frederick C. Martindale, Secretary of State. Lansing: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., 1913. Three-quarters leather. 910 pages. Good. $50

Public Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan Passed at the Regular Session of 1919, Containing Concurrent Resolutions and Amendments to the Constitution, compiled by Coleman C. Vaughan, Secretary of State. Fort Wayne, IN: Fort Wayne Printing Co., 1919. Clothbound. 886 pages. Dampstained. Fair to good. $40

Reminiscences, by George F. Cunningham. Benton Harbor, Michigan: Ellen Morrill Cunningham, 1939. Blue cloth, 66 pages. From pre-Civil War New York to 20th-century Michigan, with time in California, Florida and Missouri, George Cunningham’s memoir offers written snapshots of a bygone America. Scarce title in very good condition. $60

The Saga of the Great Lakes fleet -- North America's fresh water merchant marine, by Jacques Lesstrang. Seattle, WA: Salisbury Press (Superior Publishing Co.), 1977, 1st ed. Near VG, with gift inscription, owner name; no dj (as issued?). $40

Selected Papers of Haven Emerson, published on the Occasion of his Seventy-Fifth Birthday, 19 October 1949. Battle Creek, MI: W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Bound in red leather with raised bands. Public health history. Signed by author. VG. $40

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Ships & Shipwrecks in Door County, Wisconsin, Vols. I (1961) and II (1963), by Arthur C. Frederickson & Lucy F. Frederickson. Wraps. Both volumes VG. SET $50

A Short History of Michigan State, by Lyle Blair & Madison Kuhn. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State College Press, 1955. Blue cloth, 39 pages. Ephemera from Founders’ Day Centennial, 1955, included with book. $25

The Silver Arrow, by Earl H. Reed, with illustrations by the author. Chicago: Reilly & Lee, 1926. Brown cloth, 238 pages. Light shelf wear. Signed in artist’s pencil by author on title page. $15

Song of the Pines: A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin, by Walter & Marion Havighurst, illustrated by Richard Floethe. Philadelphia: Winston, 1950, third printing. Cloth/illustrated dust jacket, 205 pages. G+/G+. $25

State of War: Michigan in World War II, by Alan Clive. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 1979. 301 pages, photographs, notes, bibliography, index. Small gift inscription. Clothbound, near VG, in G+ dust jacket. $95

The Territory of Michigan [1805-1837], by Alex R. Gilpin. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1970, 1st. VG in near-VG dust jacket. $30

The View from Courthouse Hill, by William R. Peterson. Privately printed. Blue cloth, gilt title, no dust jacket (as issued). 398 pages; photographs; appendices. History of Cadillac, Michigan, by Judge Peterson of Cadillac. VG. $250

The Wolverine of 1936 and The Wolverine of 1937. No, these yearbooks are not from the University of Michigan but from Michigan State College! Were your relatives here then? $25 each.

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