Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Oliver Wendell Holmes. John Lothrop Motley, a Memoir. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$9.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Brown cloth, gold lettering, worn, text solid. FER; Ex-Library
Seller: Sleepy Hollow Books, Huntington, VT, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley : A Memoir. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$14.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Some wear to spine ends and lower edges. Light cover rubbing / soiling. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 278 pages
Seller: Novel Ideas Books & Gifts, Decatur, IL, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley, a Memoir. Houghton, Osgood, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$15.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Cocked; spine ends slightly worn.
Seller: By Books Alone, Woodstock, NY, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley: A Memoir. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$18.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. Exlibrary markings. Sound binding and hinges. Clean, tanned pages. Cloth over boards is edge rubbed with bumped corners and heavier wear to extremities of spine. ; Memoir of John Lothrop Motley (1814-1877), American author and diplomat. ; Ex-Library; 7.25" tall; 278 pages.
Seller: Cat's Cradle Books, Archdale, NC, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley: A Memoir. Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1879.
Price: US$18.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Red cloth over boards. Some wear on edges. Gift inscription on front endpaper. Binding tight. B/w frontis.
Seller: Bearly Read Books, Sudbury, MA, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. A MEMOIR.. Houghton, Osgood, and Co., 1879.
Price: US$22.00 + shipping
Description: Edgewear, especially top and bottom of; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 278 pages Very Good- spine. Boards have minor scuff and scratchs. Spine is a little weak especially mostly on end papers. (B114).
Seller: Rivers Edge Used Books, Clinton, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$40.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardcover. 8vo. Very good in green cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine. Light bumping to spine ends. Previous owner's decorative bookplate to front paste down. Else is clean and bright. Includes frontis with intact tissue guard. Literature. LIT209291.
Seller: The Kelmscott Bookshop, ABAA, Savage, MD, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley: A Memoir. Houghton, Osgood, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$45.00 + shipping
Description: Spine ends very slightly rubbed; faint dampstain along bottom edge of text.
Seller: By Books Alone, Woodstock, NY, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley: a memoir. Houghton Osgood, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$45.00 + shipping
Description: American diplomat and historian who was appointed to the U.S. legation in St. Petersburg in 1841 and later served as Minister to Austria and then Great Britain. He published his most famous work "The Rise of the Dutch Republic" in 1856. Nice tight copy, dark green binding, gilt lettering. Library markings, bookmark of previous owner on back of front cover.
Seller: Crabtree's Collection Old Books, Sebago, ME, U.S.A.
Oliver Wendell Holmes. John Lothrop Motley: A memoir. Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1879.
Price: US$48.74 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First trade edition. Brown cloth a little worn at corners and spine ends. teg.
Seller: JuddSt.Pancras, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$71.43 + shipping
Description: Near fine copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth over bevelled boards. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the spine bands and panel edges. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. ; 278 pages; Description: vii, 278 p. Front. (port. ) 22 cm. Subjects: Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877. 1 Kg.
Seller: MW Books Ltd., Galway, Ireland
HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. , 1879.
Price: US$75.00 + shipping
Description: HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. Boston: Houghton, Osgood, 1879. 8vo., decorative brown cloth stamped in gilt, top edge gilt. First Edition, Large Paper Format. Limited to 516 copies. [BAL 8933]. Near fine (some moderate wear spine). $75.00.
Seller: Antic Hay Books, Asbury Park, NJ, U.S.A.
HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. A MEMOIR. , 1879.
Price: US$75.00 + shipping
Description: HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. A MEMOIR. Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Co., 1879. Large paper issue. vii + [1] + 278 pp. 8vo., green cloth over bevelled boards with gilt lettering and top edge. Light soil to cloth. Corners worn, small tear to bottom corner of rear board. Armorial bookplate to front pastedown.Text clean, edges a bit age-toned, block tight. BAL 8933, Currier-Tilton p. 173.
Seller: Boston Book Company, Inc. ABAA, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. A MEMOIR. , 1879.
Price: US$75.00 + shipping
Description: HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. A MEMOIR. Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Co., 1879. First Trade Edition. [i]-[viii] blank leaf. portrait frontispiece inserted, green cloth, gilt lettering spine only and gilt top edge. Light soil to cloth. Bookplate to front pastedown. Text clean. binding tight. BAL 8933, Currier-Tilton p.173. The trade edition is suprisingly uncommon.
Seller: Boston Book Company, Inc. ABAA, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$75.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Very Good. First American Edition. 8vo - over 7_" - 9_" tall. Large paper edition, limited to 516 copies which was published a few weeks after the English. The trade edition was printed from the same plates and trimmed to 5 X 7. Ref.: BAL 8933. Motley was an American diplomat and historian. He was appointed secretary to the U.S. legation in St. Petersburg, Russian, in 1841, and he later served as minister to Austria (1861-67) and Great Britain (1869-70). He published his most famous work, 'The Rise of the Dutch Republic' in 1856. TEG. Minor foxing restricted mostly to the blanks. Some very minor soiling and wear to cloth with shelf wear to head and tail of spine. [Loc.17]
Seller: ReREAD Books & Bindery, Little Rock, AR, U.S.A.
Price: US$85.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition, one of 516 large-paper copies. Frontisportrait, vii, 278 pp. Original brown cloth, large 8vo, top edge gilt. Gift inscription on front flyleaf ('T. S. Johnson/from his father/C. R. J./July 1, 1879'), else Very Good. Currier & Tilton, A Bibliography of Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1953, p. 172. 'In about 1846 [Motley] had begun to plan a history of the Netherlands, in particular the period of the United Provinces, and he had already done a large amount of work on this subject when, finding the materials at his disposal in the United States inadequate, he went to Europe in 1851. The next five years were spent at Dresden, Brussels and the Hague in investigation of the archives, which resulted in 1856 in the publication of The Rise of the Dutch Republic, which became very popular. It speedily passed through many editions, was translated into French, and also into Dutch, German and Russian' (Wikipedia).
Seller: Ted Kottler, Bookseller, Redondo Beach, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$88.00 + shipping
Description: Near fine copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth over bevelled boards. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the spine bands and panel edges. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. ; 278 pages; Description: vii, 278 p. Front. (port. ) 22 cm. Subjects: Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877. 1 Kg.
Seller: MW Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$179.57 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First U.s. Edition. Hardback. Large 8vo. pp vii, 278. Original publisher's orange cloth, lettered gilt on spine and on front cover. Signed presentation from the author on the first blank page, 'The Countess of Minto, with the respect of the author, Oliver Wendell Holmes.' Slight mottling and very slight rubbing, otherwise clean, very good+.
Seller: Burwood Books, Wickham Market, United Kingdom
Holmes Oliver Wendell. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY. A MEMOIR. Boston Houghton, Osgood and Co 1879, 1879.
Price: US$192.50 + shipping
Description: First Edition. This being one of an unspecified number of large paper copies, which may have been printed prior to the publication of the general trade issue. A gift presentation on the front endpaper dated "Christmas 1878" would help to assert that assumption. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of John Motley with facsimile signature. Large 8vo, publishers original terra cotta cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and on the upper cover, t.e.g. vii, [i], 278 pp. A very good and well preserved copy, the cloth with very little wear and bright gilt, a little unobtrusive old staining that is very mild and one signature is a little loose. THE LARGE PAPER ISSUE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN ONLY 516 COPIES, AND ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN PRINTED FIRST. The piece was written by Holmes at the request of the Massachusetts Historical Society. John Lothrop Motley (181477) was an American historian and diplomat from Massachusetts who wrote a number of books and articles of importance. His RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC (3 vol., 1856), enjoyed great success for many years, as did his HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS (4 vol., 186067). He was a diplomat of some note and carried on well in the classical tradition of Massachusetts public servants. Motley had spent a short period in 1841 as secretary of the U.S. legation at St. Petersburg and later was minister to Austria (186167). President Grant appointed him minister to Great Britain in 1869.
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.
HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley. A memoir. Houghton, Osgood and Company, Boston, 1879.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Description: Engraved frontispiece. Original beveled brown cloth, title and author's name in gilt to top cover and spine, slightly worn at edges, corners and extremities of spine. Presentation inscription from Motley's son, Edwin, and morocco bookplate of Alfred Sutro. First limited large paper edition, one of 516 copies; printed first, but issued simultaneously with the trade edition.
Seller: B & L Rootenberg Rare Books, ABAA, Sherman Oaks, CA, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley; a Memoir. Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1879.
Price: US$475.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: This book has been bound in a dark green cloth with gilt lettering on the spine and front cover. The head and foot of the spine have worn. Corners have bumped. Upper edge gilt. Spill {water} mark on upper section of the textblock. Frontispiece portrait retains protective tissue cover. Introductory Note, Table of Contents, 224 pages of text followed by Appendix's A - G, concluding with a memorial poem by William Cullen Bryant. This copy was owned by Dr. Clarence J. Blake who gifted it to the library of Howe Military Academy. Oliver Wendell Holmes has inscribed the front end paper has follows: "Clarence J. Blake, with the kind regards of Oliver Wendell Holmes." Affixed to the front end paper is a letter to Dr. Blake from the author. It reads as follows: "Dear Dr. Blake, Anytime before 9 p.m. - That is between 6 1/2 and 9. I meant to have loaded you with this book - I save you this trouble by lending it - please accept it as an evidence only of unrequited favor. Very Truely Yours, O.W. Holmes." A presentation label from the library has been affixed to the inside front paste-down. A date label is on the back cover paste-down. These are the only library markings. Text is clean and tight in it's binding. A very nice copy. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Seller: Lowry's Books, Three Rivers, MI, U.S.A.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell. John Lothrop Motley. A Memoir. Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1879.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Octavo, brown cloth lettered in gilt; top edge gilt; corners rubbed, with; slight discoloration to bottom right covers. First edition, "large-paper" issue of 516 copies, with each page enclosed in a frame of printer's rules. Although the title page bears the date 1879, the volume actually appeared in December 1878. BAL 8933; Tilton pp. 172, 173. A presentation copy, inscribed: "Hon. John Jay, with the respects of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Dec. 25th 1878," on the front free endpaper ---- John Jay, grandson of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, worked tirelessly on behalf of the abolitionist movement, notably acting as counsel for black fugitives after the enactment of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, and later served as the United States minister to Austria-Hungary under President Ulysses Grant. Meanwhile, the historian-diplomat Motley, close friends with both Holmes and Jay, served as United States minister to the Austrian Empire as well as ambassador to the United Kingdom, until removed by Grant. In 1877, Motley passed away. The same year Jay published a moving tribute, "Motley's Appeal to History," and two years later Holmes published his eulogistic "John Lothrop Motley. A Memoir," which drew much praise from the press. A compelling triple association copy with a distinguished provenance
Seller: North Star Rare Books & Manuscripts, Sheffield, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition, one of an unspecific number of Large Paper Copies from the Large Paper Edition. Special dated presentation is 1878 which might make this a pre-publication copy. John Lothrop Motley (181477), American historian and diplomat, b. Dorchester, Mass. Author of two novels concerning Thomas Morton (1839 and 1849), as well as a number of articles for the North American Review. Motleys study of the history of the Netherlands resulted in The Rise of the Dutch Republic (3 vol., 1856), long a standard work and a popular success, and History of the United Netherlands (4 vol., 186067). His last work, The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, appeared in 1874. Motley had spent a short period in 1841 as secretary of the U.S. legation at St. Petersburg and later was minister to Austria (186167). President Grant appointed him minister to Great Britain in 1869, but difficulties arising from Motleys tendency to ignore the instructions of Secretary of State Hamilton Fish and from Grants animosity toward his sponsor and friend, Charles Sumner, caused him to be relieved of his post in 1870. Signed/Presentation copy: "Henry H. A. Beach With the kind regards of his friend Oliver Wendell Holmes Dec. 25th 1878." Beach was apparently a medical student at Harvard and friend of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Very Good Plus in woven terracotta cloth and bevelled boards stamped brightly in gold on the front boards and the spine. Very clean, tight, and attractive with the top edge gilded. With light rubbing to the extremities and a little creasing to the top of the spine. With a faint whitish smudge between the gilded lettering "John and Lothrop" at the top of the spne. A very handsome, collectible, signed presentation copy. Scarce with an 1878 dated presentation inscription. First Edition, one of an unspecific number of Large Paper Copies from the Large Paper Edition. Special dated presentation is 1878 which might make this a pre-publication copy.
Seller: Brainerd Phillipson Rare Books, Holliston, MA, U.S.A.