James Fenimore Cooper’s ‘Sea Tales’ in silent auction in Redlands

Ted Parsons

Professor Parsons’ Picks, now a staple in the silent auctions offered by the Friends of the A.K. Smiley Public Library, began nearly a year ago. The concept was to offer collectible books at a moderate price.

According to Ted Parsons, Friends of the Library volunteer and head of the Friends’ antiquarian book committee, the selection criteria include offering books whose authors were well-known writers of earlier days; selecting a book because the subject is interesting, unusual or historically significant; featuring items whose illustrations are especially noteworthy; and finding those eclectic books that have a special appeal for the collector.

“Those who love interesting and unusual books will want to look over each week’s selection of the ‘Picks,’ ” Parsons said.

This week’s selections are “A Young Man in a Hurry” by Robert William Chambers, “The Sea Tales” by James Fenimore Cooper, “Sermons and Soda Water” by John O’Hara, “The Rocky Mountains of Colorado,” “Port Angeles, USA” by John McCallum and Loraine Ross and “The Road to Storyland” published by M.A. Donohue.

They are up for bids until 1 p.m. July 29. The books are on the Professor Parsons’ Picks shelf in the silent auction area on the main floor of the A.K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands. Bid sheets and descriptions may be found with each book.

Following are Parsons’ descriptions of the books and his comments.

“A Young Man in a Hurry” by Robert William Chambers (1865-1933) is a book of 10 short stories. It is a first edition published in 1904. Chambers was both an author and an illustrator, though after 1894, he devoted most of his time to writing and became a best-selling novelist.

This is a collection of light, romantic tales in which Chambers’ love of fishing, hunting and natural scenery is displayed. The stories are all set in America.

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The title story is a comedy of coincidence with an atmospheric setting of snow in nighttime New York. It begins with a young man carrying a suitcase and dashing to catch a descending elevator.

This is a collectible book by one of America’s most popular authors of the early 20th century.

The dealer price is $15 to $35. The minimum bid is $8.

Famed author James Fenimore Cooper wrote “The Sea Tales,” a set of five novels penned early in the 19th century. The compilation, published in 1882, includes “The Pilot” (1823), “Red Rover” (1828), “The Water Witch” (1830), “Wing and Ding” (1842) and “The Two Admirals” (1842).

Cooper (1789-1857) was a prolific and popular American author whose historical romances created a unique form of American literature. His “Sea Stories” about the early U.S. Navy are well regarded by most historians, but not by Mark Twain. They were also sometimes criticized by others of his contemporaries.

Readers interested in stories about seafaring in the early 1800s will appreciate this collectible volume. Cooper himself was an officer in the Navy from 1808 until the 1820s.

The dealer price is $40 to $75, and the opening bid is $12.

A set of individually bound titles up for bids is a group of three novellas titled “Sermons and Soda Water” by John O’Hara (1905-1970). This first printing is in excellent condition, though the slipcase has a loose top flap.

In the foreword O’Hara wrote that he used the novella form because he wanted to do so, and he wanted to get it all down while he could, being 55 years old at the time. One critic wrote that, “O’Hara is an ‘American Balzac’ who laid bare life in the U.S. from 1900-1970 and was a complete, accurate, and reliable chronicler.”

O’Hara had an uncanny ear for dialogue and used it in writing about social class, people and their continuing struggle to “get ahead.”

The dealer price is $25 to $90, and the opening bid is $10.

“The Rocky Mountains of Colorado” was published by the Smith-Brooks Printing Co. in 1913. This is a beautiful “viewbook” with 14 plates showing scenes of the Rocky Mountains with short descriptions on the facing page. The cover shows a view of Estes Park.

This book was created in the days before color photography. The plates were made from photographs that were then painstakingly colored by hand to make the “colored photos.”

Books made this way were very expensive when published in the early 1900s. The dealer price for this edition is $45 to $70, and the opening bid is %10.

“Port Angeles, U.S.A” traces the action-packed history of Port Angeles from 1862 when it was an unnamed village on the Olympic Peninsula. Lusty days of logging, Indians, founder Victor Smith, promoters, newspapers, old country doctors, pulp mills, fishing wars, etc., are among the variety of topics covered. This collectible book tells part of a history of the northwest that is often overlooked.

The dealer price is $15 to $45, and the minimum bid is $7.

Collectors of children’s literature will enjoy “The Road to Storyland,” published in 1935 by M.A. Donohue. This is a large, beautifully illustrated group of four stories that include “Puss in Boots,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “Aladdin” and “Babes in the Wood.” The spectacular, full-page (9-by-11-inch) color plates by illustrator C.H. Lawrence are what make this book special.

The dealer price is $20 to $85, and the minimum bid is $10.

Funds received from the purchase of all auction items go to help support the A.K. Smiley Public Library.

Source: Friends of the A.K. Smiley Public Library
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