250 résultats
177524226s.d. [1775] 58 x 42,5 cm
1776List3149Knaresborough England 1776. Single three page letter measuring 6 ¼ x 7 ¾ inches. Normal wear; Near Fine. A letter from Nathaniel Sharpe in Knaresborough to Edmund Green a merchant in London addressed to Green at the Jamaica Coffee House. This café the first of its kind in London was established in the mid-17th century; in 17th and 18th century Britain coffee houses were popular meeting places particularly for conducting business. Sharpe writes to Green:<br /> <br /> “Your Esteem’d favour of the 22d is before me and the picture you have drawn of the situation of publick affairs are truly very alarming and have no doubt but the Representation is a very just and real one. . But to the following Fact place yourself in my situation and give me your Candid opinion Wether I am safe in letting £2200 lay any longer or whether I ought to call it in and place it out on a Security in this Country.â€<br /> <br /> He describes his investments and states that:<br /> <br /> “I have not one shilling in Trade since 1760 and in Decemr. 1762 Retir’d to this place and found myself in possession of a Happiness that I could ill brook to part with. And which I would wish to preserve. Should this sum be in no danger I can live as usual.â€<br /> <br /> The American Revolutionary War had a significant impact on the British economy; at the time Sharpe was writing although the conflict had been ongoing for some time the war itself was in its early days and uncertainty was high.<br /> <br /> Other than asking for financial advice Sharpe tells Green that Green’s “Brother Tommy had . taken a Cup of Liquor rather too freely and had been drawn into Cards†alarming their mother who had requested that Sharpe inform Green about the event; asks Green to visit her; and sends his good wishes to a mutual friend. unknown
178322278A Philadelphie (Paris), s.é., 1783. Un vol. au format in-12 (172 x 108 mm) de 192 pp. et 1 f. bl. Reliure de l'époque de plein veau glacé et moucheté fauve, double filet à froid porté sur les plats, dos lisse orné de doubles filets dorés, double caisson d'encadrement doré, pièces de titre de maroquin acajou, titre doré, jeu de petits filets obliques gras et maigres dorés sur les coupes, tranches mouchetées.
1763MILI2448Dublin, Printed by John Exshaw 1763. [16] S., S. 1-112, 121-559 S. (=Seitensprung ohne Textverlust), 8 (von 10) gest. Porträttafeln (inkl. Frontispiz), 3 (von 6) gef. Tafeln, neuer Halblederband mit mont. Orig.-Rücken, etwas gebräunt, stellenweise an den Rändern fleckig. Es fehlen die Porträts von Wolfe u. Hawke, sowie 3 Tafeln bzw. Pläne (Louisbourg, Germany, America) Das anonym veröffentlichte Werk wurde den Londoner Buchhändlern John Wright und John Almon zugeschrieben. Es enthält eine ausführliche Beschreibung der Feldzüge in Nordamerika von 1755 bis 1763 ("Origin of the troubles in North America" S.1) sowie Berichte über die Schlachten von Cape Breton und Quebec. Illustriert mit Falttafeln, darunter Ansichten von Montreal und Havanna. Erste Ausgabe. English Short Title Catalog, T127395; Sabin 15056 (nur 6. Auflage).
175634755Britain: n.p. 1756. Map. Fair. Approx. 11" x 8" map. Vertical crease. Light foning to the paper. Edges on the verso have a thin paper reinforcement. Bottom left corner tear. Fair condition. <br /> <br /> From the British Museum: Map of the town and harbour of Mahon with a larger scale plan of the town and fort of St. Philip inset above. Etching and engraving dated 1756. No publisher information. Subject term: Naval Engagements. Places include Europe Spain Balearic Islands Menorca Mahón. n.p. unknown
175723896London: Printed for J. Morgan 1757. Octavo. 7 3/4 x 4 5/8 inches. 4 99 1pp. Half-title errata on verso 1p. publisher's advertisements at back. Blindstamp to title H1 and H2 library number stamp at the foot of the verso of the title and at foot of p. 48. 20th-century half calf over marbled paper-covered boards joints rubbed.<br/> <br/>First edition of the fifth in a series by Tory political satirist and pamphleteer John Shebbeare.<br/> <br/>Here Shebbeare attacks the ministry of the Duke of Newcastle and the unfair influence exercised by George III's Hanoverian interests on policy. There are also references to Admiral Byng and problems in North America with the French. The first five letters were published between 1755 and 1757 and together they constituted a bold attack on the government and its handling of home and international affairs. Near the end of 1757 after Pitt's dismissal Shebbeare published his Sixth Letter and finally went too far: in the following year he was tried for libel fined pilloried and imprisoned and his final Seventh letter London: 1758 was seized and suppressed.<br/> <br/>Kress 5647; Sabin 80044; ESTC 35524. Printed for J. Morgan unknown books
1758AQ30172London: Printed by Thomas Baskett 1758. 30pp 2. Predominantly printed in blackletter. Initial and terminal leaves are blank. Uncut. Stitched as issued. Short marginal tears to head of leaves C1-2. An Anglican liturgy of services to be held on 17th February 1758 a day of national fasting and humiliation ordered for divine assistance to strengthen the resolve of the British Army and Royal Navy during the continuing hostilities of the Seven Years' War. ESTC T69794. Quarto. Printed by Thomas Baskett unknown
1760WRCAM35262London: A. Millar 1760. 456pp. Dbd. Very good. Lacks half title. Second printing of the first edition. The ascription of authorship to John Douglas is suggested by Halkett & Laing; William Pulteney has also been a candidate. An appeal to William Pitt and the Duke of Newcastle that the process of making peace with France must include France's relinquishing all of Canada Guadeloupe and Senegal. This work is important for having elicited Franklin's noteworthy THE INTEREST OF GREAT BRITAIN CONSIDERED WITH REGARD TO HER COLONIES. This second printing includes an erratum on the final page below "FINIS." HOWES L276. SABIN 20684 second ed. TPL 314 first issue. A. Millar unknown books
1760WRCAM221London: A. Millar 1760. 56pp. Half title. Later paper wrappers. Very good. The ascription of authorship to John Douglas is suggested by Halkett & Laing; William Pulteney has also been a candidate. An appeal to William Pitt and the Duke of Newcastle that the process of making peace with France must include France's relinquishing all of Canada Guadeloupe and Senegal. The issue is important for having elicited Franklin's noteworthy THE INTEREST OF GREAT BRITAIN CONSIDERED WITH REGARD TO HER COLONIES. TPL 315. JCB 1III:1264. A. Millar unknown books
1740WRCAM35453London: T. Cooper 1740. 460pp. Half title. Dbd. Light stain on half title leaf affecting but not obscuring a handful of letters. Else very good. "Relates largely to affairs with Spain in the West Indies the writer defending the Ministry and the Convention. Probably written by a Ministerial partizan" - Stevens. First of three editions. BELL L321. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 740/185. GOLDSMITHS 7808. SABIN 40399. STEVENS RARE AMERICANA 1926 1521. T. Cooper unknown books
179617385London: T. Burton and Co 1796. First Edition. Leather bound. Very good. First edition of A Narrative of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Fleet Under the Command of Earl Howe published in 1796. The first major sea battle of the Revolutionary War. Quarto 8 118pp. Full red crushed levant thin gilt trim. Spine professionally rebacked five raised bands title in gilt. Green silk endpapers all edges gilt. Previous ownership bookplates to front endpapers. Errata on verso of title page. Solid text block worn corners foxing to edges of leaves a very good example. Complete with a detailed frontispiece portrait of King George III tipped-in frontispiece portrait of Earl Howe and two large fold-out plates of battle plans bound in at rear. Binding by L. Staggemeire and Welcher of London. NMM Catalogue V 1798. Richard The First Earl Howe 1726-1799 was a Royal Navy officer who served Great Britain in the Seven Years' War the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary War. This work describes Howe's success in commanding the British Fleet during the "Glorious First of June" naval battles in 1794 with the British defeat of the French fleet of Villaret de Joyeuse in the North Atlantic. The first British naval victory of the Revolutionary War. T. Burton and Co unknown
176635128London: Britannia triumphant 1766. Map. Very good. Approx. 8.5" x 11" map. 2 vertical creases where map was folded. Small left edge tear in the margin. Very good condition. The original map is located at the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. Britannia triumphant unknown
1739WRCAM35446London: T. Cooper 1739. 31pp. Dbd. Very good untrimmed. Second edition. A point-by-point refutation of a recent pamphlet which favored diplomacy to war with regard to recent colonial trade conflicts with Spain. A REPLY. was one of many 1739 pamphlets that reflected and reinforced the British public's outrage at perceived injustices to British seamen by the Spanish in the Caribbean. Prime Minister Walpole bowed to popular sentiment in October and commenced the War of Jenkins' Ear. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 739/248. DE RENNE I p.79. GOLDSMITHS 7685 first ed. SABIN 69687. T. Cooper unknown books
177921556.07Philadelphia PA 1779. No binding. Fine. Pennsylvania Packet or General Advertiser. Newspaper. Pennsylvania Packet or General Advertiser. John Dunlap Philadelphia Pa. July 1 1779. 4 pp. 10 1/2 x 17 untrimmed. Page 1-2 leads with extracts from the Journals of Congress regarding Indian Affairs and New Hampshire land disputes. Extensive content on the Revolutionary War medical department including a lengthy serialized ""Doctor Morgan's Vindication"" regarding the Continental Congress's dismissal of Dr. John Morgan who had great success managing military hospitals for Washington's Army without cause or explanation. Here he obtains testimony from General Nathanael Greene and even Washington himself to defend his reputation.Page 3 reports war news from Pennsylvania as well as a June 29 1779 act of the Continental Congress borrowing $20 million to maintain fiscal solvency.Page 4 includes advertisements for runaway slaves book auctions and stolen horses.Excerpt ""IN CONGRESS June 29 1779.AS Congress are bound by every motive of policy and of public & private justice to maintain the credit of the paper money emitted by their authority on the faith of the United States; so it is their intention not only to avoid further emissions but to diminish the quantity in circulation provided that the respective States by correspondent and vigorous exertions shall put it in their power to raise the necessary supplies.Resolved therefore That twenty millions of Dollars or such a part thereof as shall be brought into the Continental Loan-Offices on or before the first day of October next be borrowed on the faith of the United States at an interest of six per cent. per annum.For facilitating the said Loan Resolved1. That the Loan-Officers in every state do immediately open subscriptions for the said Loan. 2. That the executive authorities of the several states be requested immediately to appoint persons of character and influence in every county town or district to receive subscriptions and transmit the same to the Loan-Officer or Officers in the states respectively. 3. That no subscription be received for less then five hundred dollars. 4. That all subscriptions under ten thousand dollars shall be paid into the Loan-Office where the same shall be subscribed or into the Hands of the person obtaining the subscription within fourteen days after the subscription shall be made. 5. That any person subscribing ten thousand dollars or upwards shall be allowed to pay the same at two periods to wit one half within fourteen days after the subscription the residue on or before the first day of October next; the whole to bear interest from the time of the first payment provided the other payment shall be punctually made. 6. That each lender shall have his election either to receive the principal at the expiration of three years from the date of the Loan or to continue it in the funds on interest until the whole amount of Continental bills in circulation shall not exceed the sum in circulation at the time of the Loan. 7. That interest on all sums which shall be paid into the Loan-Office before the said first day of October or which shall be subscribed and paid agreeably to the terms of the 5th resolution aforesaid shall be payable annually at the Continental Loan-Office of the State in which the money was originally subscribed. 8. That when the interest on Monies which have been or may be placed in the several Loan-Offices on or after the first day of March 1778 shall become due and be paid the same until some more accurate standard of value can be devised shall be increased in proportion to the increase of the sum of Continental paper money which may be in circulation after the date of such Loans respectively.Extract from the MinutesCHARLES THOMSON Sec'ry."" unknown
177921556.07Philadelphia PA 1779. No binding. Fine. Pennsylvania Packet or General Advertiser. Newspaper. Pennsylvania Packet or General Advertiser. John Dunlap Philadelphia Pa. July 1 1779. 4 pp. 10 1/2 x 17 untrimmed. Page 1-2 leads with extracts from the Journals of Congress regarding Indian Affairs and New Hampshire land disputes. Extensive content on the Revolutionary War medical department including a lengthy serialized ""Doctor Morgan's Vindication"" regarding the Continental Congress's dismissal of Dr. John Morgan who had great success managing military hospitals for Washington's Army without cause or explanation. Here he obtains testimony from General Nathanael Greene and even Washington himself to defend his reputation.Page 3 reports war news from Pennsylvania as well as a June 29 1779 act of the Continental Congress borrowing $20 million to maintain fiscal solvency.Page 4 includes advertisements for runaway slaves book auctions and stolen horses.Excerpt ""IN CONGRESS June 29 1779.AS Congress are bound by every motive of policy and of public & private justice to maintain the credit of the paper money emitted by their authority on the faith of the United States; so it is their intention not only to avoid further emissions but to diminish the quantity in circulation provided that the respective States by correspondent and vigorous exertions shall put it in their power to raise the necessary supplies.Resolved therefore That twenty millions of Dollars or such a part thereof as shall be brought into the Continental Loan-Offices on or before the first day of October next be borrowed on the faith of the United States at an interest of six per cent. per annum.For facilitating the said Loan Resolved1. That the Loan-Officers in every state do immediately open subscriptions for the said Loan. 2. That the executive authorities of the several states be requested immediately to appoint persons of character and influence in every county town or district to receive subscriptions and transmit the same to the Loan-Officer or Officers in the states respectively. 3. That no subscription be received for less then five hundred dollars. 4. That all subscriptions under ten thousand dollars shall be paid into the Loan-Office where the same shall be subscribed or into the Hands of the person obtaining the subscription within fourteen days after the subscription shall be made. 5. That any person subscribing ten thousand dollars or upwards shall be allowed to pay the same at two periods to wit one half within fourteen days after the subscription the residue on or before the first day of October next; the whole to bear interest from the time of the first payment provided the other payment shall be punctually made. 6. That each lender shall have his election either to receive the principal at the expiration of three years from the date of the Loan or to continue it in the funds on interest until the whole amount of Continental bills in circulation shall not exceed the sum in circulation at the time of the Loan. 7. That interest on all sums which shall be paid into the Loan-Office before the said first day of October or which shall be subscribed and paid agreeably to the terms of the 5th resolution aforesaid shall be payable annually at the Continental Loan-Office of the State in which the money was originally subscribed. 8. That when the interest on Monies which have been or may be placed in the several Loan-Offices on or after the first day of March 1778 shall become due and be paid the same until some more accurate standard of value can be devised shall be increased in proportion to the increase of the sum of Continental paper money which may be in circulation after the date of such Loans respectively.Extract from the MinutesCHARLES THOMSON Sec'ry."" unknown books
1739WRCAM35449London: T. Cooper 1739. 63pp. Dbd. Very good. A defense of Robert Walpole's international policy leading up to and including the Convention of El Pardo January 1739. Walpole's long diplomatic efforts praised by the anonymous author of this pamphlet would soon prove to have been in vain as the Prime Minister reluctantly declared war on Spain later in the year. The result was the desultory affair known as the War of Jenkins' Ear. Of this pamphlet's two 1739 editions the present one is given priority by EUROPEAN AMERICANA and CATALOGUE OF THE GOLDSMITHS' LIBRARY OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 739/280 GOLDSMITHS 7693. SABIN 79228 another ed. STEVENS RARE AMERICANA 1926 1539. T. Cooper unknown books
179332480London: Printed for J. Debrett 1793. The Second Edition with Considerable Additions. Three-quarter leather. Good. Octavo. 1 xvi 433 pages 1 page blank 19 page index 1 page errata 2 pages advertisements 1. Recased binding with three-quarter brown leather and marbled paper covered boards. Gilt title and five raised bands on the spine. Newer front and rear end papers and one front blank end sheet inserted. The original rear end sheet is present. The folding frontispiece map is toned on the verso with an old repair made also on the verso. Some light edge wear to the map. The folding view of the Rapids of the Ohio and the State Map of Kentucky are in very good condition with light toning. <br /> <br /> Pages 417-433 includes a "Report of the Secretary of State to the President of the United States of the Quantity and Situation of the Lands not Claimed by the Indians Nor Granted to Nor Claimed by Any Citizens Within the Territory of the United States. Read in the House of Representatives Nov. 10 1791" by Thomas Jefferson. <br /> <br /> Howes I 12; Howes Reference Filson - F 129; Sabin 34355; Streeter III 1523; Clark II 41 "An early account of the western country.which was produced by a man who left Kentucky without settling his obligations who seems to have been involved in efforts to organize a French expedition to take the lower Mississippi Valley and who treated Mary Wollstonecraft Shamelessly. This book was written in the form of letters from Kentucky to a friend in England. In all probability they were written in Europe. Printed for J. Debrett unknown
1757WRCAM51214Kittery Me 1757. Broadside 12 x 7 1/2 inches. Old folds mild toning. Very good. In frame. Appears to be docketed on verso but not examined outside frame. A manuscript roll-call for a company of Maine military personnel organized to participate in the French and Indian War. The document lists over seventy names of regulars in two columns plus an additional dozen names under "The Alarm List" essentially a reserve list of soldiers appointed to defend the homefront. Below the Alarm List is the following text: "The above is a True & Perfect list of all the soldiers in the Train'd band & Alarm List from sixteen years old to sixty as far as has come to my knowledge. Attest Daniel Emery jun. Clerk und. Oath." The Emery family supplied seven members of this list of officers and soldiers with others such as the Furbush Ferguson and Wamouth families also providing more than one man for the army. Several names are crossed out about half of which belong to a family supplying more than one member to the list. Most of the men on the Alarm List are also identified by profession such as deacon miller or sailor among others. Such lists of colonial American military personnel for the French and Indian War are exceedingly rare in the market. An important colonial Maine and military document. unknown books
1755319725Annapolis: Jonas Green 1755. 2pp. Bound with: Acts of the province of Maryland made and passed at a session of Assembly begun and held at the city of Annapolis on Saturday the twenty-second day of February in the fourth year of the dominion of the Right Honourable Frederick Lord Baron of Baltimore absolute lord and proprietary of the provinces of Maryland and Avalon &c. Annoque Domini 1755. Published by authority. 8pp. Folio. Period wrappers restitched some losses to the blue sugar paper old repairs at head of each leaf with minor losses old dampstaining. 2pp. Bound with: Acts of the province of Maryland made and passed at a session of Assembly begun and held at the city of Annapolis on Saturday the twenty-second day of February in the fourth year of the dominion of the Right Honourable Frederick Lord Baron of Baltimore absolute lord and proprietary of the provinces of Maryland and Avalon &c. Annoque Domini 1755. Published by authority. 8pp. Folio. Recruiting for Braddock's Campaign. Passed in December 1754 "to raise a Body of able Land-men for his Majesty's Service against the French and their Allies on this Continent" this separately-printed session law essentially authorizes a draft system for forcing "all and every able-bodied Freeman who live idle and do not follow or exercise some lawful Calling" to be enlisted as soldiers. Given the timing it is believed that the troops being raised were intended for service on the Braddock expedition against Fort Duquesne.<br/><br/>Bound together with the above is a second session printing of Maryland laws including acts relating to the French and Indian War: "An Act to Prevent the People of this Province from Supplying the French or their Indian Allies with Ammunition Warlike Stores or Provisions of any Kind" and "An Act for Regulating the Rates of Carriage and Quartering Soldiers in Public Houses within this Province for His Majesty's Service." Also included are acts on currency courts and tobacco.<br/><br/>Both session printings are rare with ESTC recording only five copies in four institutions and eight copies in six institutions respectively. Bristol B1727 and Evans 7458; Wroth 179 and 180; ESTC W33246 and W7078 Jonas Green unknown books
179227926Paris Imprimerie royale 1792 in-4 en feuille
1757WRCAM9300AAnnapolis: Jonas Green 1757. 213pp. Contemporary plain front wrapper rear wrapper renewed. Small ink library stamp on verso of titlepage tape repairs to edges of each leaf mostly small and inconsequential minor foxing. Very good. In a black cloth slipcase. A rare Annapolis imprint comprising the session laws for Maryland in early 1757. In the midst of the French and Indian War naturally there is significant content related to the war. Namely there are three acts: "An Act for his Majesty's Service and the more immediate Defence and Protection of the Frontier Inhabitants of this Province" encompassing the first four-and-a-half pages "An Act for the Relief of sundry Inhabitants of this Province who have had their Servants Enlisted into his Majesty's Servants" and "An Act to prevent the Exportation or Carrying out of this Province Ammunition Warlike Stores or Provisions of any Kind towards supplying the French or their Allies." The first of these acts calls for the raising of 500 men to be organized into companies to protect the frontier and for the manner of their deployment and use. Most of the others laws are continuing acts relating to slaves "languishing Prisoners" debtors and other issues. Rare with ESTC recording only three copies in two institutions AAS has two. EVANS 7935. WROTH 197. ESTC W7081. Jonas Green hardcover books
17603697A great small map of a good portion of the now southeastern United States reaching to the Gulf coast at the south and Texas to the west. The area to the east of the Mississippi is marked "Territory in Dispute." The colonies of Virginia North and South Carolina and Georgia all extend to the Mississippi. <br /><br />English claims to the disputed area are bolstered by a notation along the border between the Carolinas noting: "A large country subject to the English since 1729." Numerous Indian tribes are noted as well as "Wandering Indians" at the western portion of the Gulf coast. <br /><br />Maps from <i>The British Magazine</i> are cited by Jolly as "practically unobtainable." A fascinating portrayal of the area that was the subject of the French and Indian War in a very uncommon source. <br /><br />Reference: Jolly Maps of America in Periodicals before 1800: 157. Not in Cumming; <i>The Southeast in Early Maps</i>. ICN 7568. From The British Magazine, February, 1760 issue.
176337559London: Robert Sayer 1763. Engraved map on four joined sheets hand coloured sectioned and linen backed at a contemporary date. Overall sheet size: 42 1/8 x 47 3/8 inches. Housed in a tan cloth box. An early issue of Bowen and Gibson's impressive wall map of North America: the first issue following the end of the French and Indian War.<br/> <br/>Bowen and Gibson's map was first issued in about 1755 under the title An Accurate Map of North America. It was reprinted and served as a template for the enormous political changes of the next forty years attesting to its importance. Aside from its stunning visual impact Bowen and Gibson's map teems with information including numerous Native American placenames in the western areas native tribal regions notes and routes of early roads and the forts along the Mississippi and to the west of the Appalachians. The two insets are of Baffin and Hudson's Bays and the mouth of the Colorado River the latter map based on the explorations of Eusebio Kino. The roccoco cartouche is particularly attractive and features a Native American couple with their small child and a group of indigenous animals: beaver alligator parrot and the skin of a mountain lion. The present issue was the first to the published following the French and Indian War and includes the boundaries as reflected by the Treaty of Paris of 1763.<br/> <br/>Stevens & Tree "Comparative Cartography" 49b in Tooley The Mapping of America; Degrees of Latitude 36; Phillips A List of Maps of America p. 589. Robert Sayer unknown books
1757List1527Boston: S. Kneeland 1757. Broadside double sided 13 x 8 inches. Slight creasing small holes from being previously bound near fine overall. Near Fine. A broadside printed by S. Kneeland in 1758 concerning the billeting of soldiers and officers during the French and Indian War. Title continues: Billeting Officers and Soldiers. An Act. Passed by the Great General Court or Assembly of His Majesty’s Province of Massachusetts-Bay in New England: Begun and Held at Boston upon Wednesday the twenty-fifth Day May 1757. An Act making Provision for Quartering and Billeting Recruiting Officers and Recruits in his Majesty’s Regular Forces employed for the Protection and Defence of his Majesty’s Dominions in North-America.†The law required town officials to quarter and billet recruiting officers and recruits. Disputes over the funding of the war would help lay the groundwork for the American Revolution. We find no physical copies in OCLC. Cushing Mass. Laws 628. S. Kneeland unknown
175623894London: Printed for M. Cooper at the Globe 1756. Small octavo. 7 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches. 100pp. Blindstamp to title and G4 library ink stamp to the verso of the title and p. 48. 20th-century half calf over marbled paper-covered boards rubbed marks from old library label on upper cover.<br/> <br/>The first edition of a scarce but important critical commentary on the British government's handling of the French and Indian war.<br/> <br/>This work relates "to the inefficient conduct of the ministry in the disputes with France especially in America on the Ohio and elsewhere under Washington Braddock etc. For this and later publications Shebbeare was fined and put in the pillory. A change of government brought him a change of sentiment and a pension" Sabin.<br/> <br/>Howes S366; Sabin 80038; ESTC T75830. Printed for M. Cooper, at the Globe unknown books