North America. Volume I. Volume II. [2 vols bound]

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1863. Hardcover. iv, 335, iv, 334p., two installments as a singleton, hardbound in 7.5x4.7 inch diced brown cloth boards pressed in blind, spine-titled gilt. A shaky copy; external titling now illegible; extremities are worn and nicked with short splits to joints (hinges remain sound pace a short crack in front hinge), find eighth-inch losses around rims of head and tail, textblock is cracked in several places near the division of parts, one crack held by cords only with some slippage (of one textblock half) and the starting of one signature. The text is generally stiff and hard to open. We see one only ownership mark and one only marginal note, a scarcely legible, "I went there too" or somesuch in old pencilling. Sold "WAF" (with all faults); in short, a reading copy of a chatty personable memoir by an opinionated traveler who travelled far and wide and was allowed to get close to Union troop activity, and who schmoozed some with secessionists. Beyond "reading copy" function, item would be an excellent candidate for a beginner bookbinder to practice re-casing - doable, and a significant book, too.