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141 THORLEY, John. Melissēlogia [Greek letters] Or, the Female Monarchy. London: printed for the Author; and sold by N. Thorley, 1744 “can females rule the hive?” First edition of this influential 18th-century manual on beekeeping, in which Thorley settled the question of the sex of the queen bee by observing one laying eggs on his hand, among other important discoveries. It features a handsome frontispiece reproducing the first illustration of bees, made with the aid of a microscope by Cesi and Stelluti in 1625. This work notably improved Butler’s earlier F eminine Monarchie (1609), the first work to record in print that the large bee in a colony is female, and superseded Warder’s The True Amazons as the standard English work on beekeeping. Thorley was the first to observe that beeswax is secreted, and not collected from plants as was previously thought, and that bees can recognise colours. “After reminding his readers that God not only established monarchy but also subjected women to men, Thorley acknowledged that the ruler of the hive was a queen” (Merrick, p. 10). Octavo (194 × 115 mm). Contemporary calf, spine with raised bands, double gilt fillet border to covers, blind stamped decoration to board edges, rear free endpaper renewed, edges sprinkled red. Engraved frontispiece by Thomas Loveday after Cesi, 4 engraved plates. Ownership inscription of Susannah Page dated 23 August 1770 to front pastedown, and of one Jeremiah Ward dated 4 February 1811 to front free endpaper. Joints sometime neatly refurbished, a little loss of leather to spine ends, extremities a little rubbed, minor scuffs to covers, very occasional faint marks to contents, couple of minor marginal paper flaws, otherwise clean. A very good copy. ¶ ESTC T98162; Harding 97. Jeffrey Merrick, Order and Disorder Under the Ancien Régime , 2007. £2,500 [161747]
Together, 4 items: 1) autobiography, octavo (193 × 132 mm), contemporary roan-backed brown paste paper boards, blue endpapers; 2) autograph promissory note signed from Spitzeder, dated 5 December 1878, single bifolium (leaf size identical) of “Adele Spitzeder” letterhead, hand-written in ink across three sides; 3) autograph letter signed from Spitzeder, dated 27 April 1879, single bifolium (203 × 127 mm) of “Adele Spitzeder (Vio), Componistin” letterhead, hand-written in ink across two sides; 4) photographic carte-de-visite (105 × 60 mm), c. 1870, mounted to single leaf of paper, the card annotated “Spitzeder” in lower margin, the leaf annotated “Die München Hochstaplerin Adele Spitzeder” in pencil, “1870”, and “Schauspielerin”. Contemporary shelf mark spine label, blue paper library labels of the E. Prager Leihbibliothek, Weinstrasse Nr 14, Munich on title page and p. 1, ex-libris annotation on front pastedown. Binding worn, front inner hinge cracked at head but otherwise firm, contents generally clean with a few spots and occasional faint marginal dampstain, paper stock evenly browned and friable resulting in a couple of short closed tears (upper edges of leaves a4 and 1.1) and chips (upper corners of 3.7 and 3.8); a good copy. Autograph material creased from folding and browned, the promissory note partly split along folds, carte- de-visite image clear and unfaded. In very good condition. ¶ Robert F. Mulligan, “Adele Spitzeder, the Queen of Confidence Tricksters”, American Institute for Economic Research , 2 May 2022; Matthew Partridge, “Great frauds in history: Adelheid Luise Spitzeder”, MoneyWeek , 31 July 2019. £6,500 [147023] 140 TEASDALE, Sara. Love Songs. New York: Macmillan Company, 1917 First edition, first printing, rare in such lovely condition, of the poetry collection that won the first Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1918. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, vignette to front cover, top edge gilt. With dust jacket. A fine, fresh copy, exceptionally bright and clean, in the like dust jacket, with closed tear to front panel, a few trivial nicks and chips to extremities; a notably well-preserved and sharp example. With the publisher’s promotional pamphlet loosely inserted. £2,000 [149709]
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139 SPITZEDER, Adele. Geschichte meines Lebens. [Together with autograph and photographic material.]
Only 15 percent of the outstanding deposits were recovered, prompting a wave of suicides. In July 1873 Spitzeder was sentenced to a prison term of three years and ten months for fraudulent bankruptcy. After her release in September 1876, her notoriety ensured large audiences when she composed and performed at the piano in public. Her memoirs, Geschichte meines Lebens , were published two years later. “Spitzeder also started issuing promissory notes, possibly to cover her living expenses. These notes contained an explicit warning that the issuer offered no security and that the creditors waived reimbursement if she was unable to repay the notes. On 13 February 1880, she was arrested with Marie Riedmayer, who had been her nurse and companion since her release from prison. However, prosecutors decided there was little they could do to protect anyone who was still willing to give her their money, and she was released. For the rest of her life she lived off the charity of benefactors and a modest monthly allowance of 50 gulden she still received from her mother” (Mulligan). The promissory note and letter are dated 5 December 1878 and 27 April 1879 respectively. Their variant letterheads – “Adele Spitzeder” and “Adele Spitzeder (Vio), Componistin” – are indicative of the ways in which Spitzeder continued to cycle through identities even after her first arrest, and the overriding concern of both pieces is money. The carte-de-visite shows Spitzeder at her most pious, wearing a large cross pendant and drab, demure frock. Outside Germany, we trace just five copies of Geschichte meines Lebens (British Library, Museumsgesellschaft Zürich, Library of Congress, Boston Athenaeum, and the Gerritsen Collection copy). Manuscript material of Spitzeder’s is equally rare.
Stuttgart: Stuttgarter Verlagscomptoir, 1878 the queen of confidence tricksters
Scarce first edition of the autobiography of actress and speculator Adele Spitzeder, written while in prison for operating the first recorded Ponzi scheme. It is offered here with a photographic carte-de-visite of Spitzeder and two autograph documents in her hand – a signed letter and a signed promissory note – all contemporary with the book. On retiring from a relatively successful acting and singing career, Adele Spitzeder (1832–1895), stage name Adele Vio, struggled to fund the luxurious lifestyle to which she had become accustomed and accrued significant debt. In 1869 she founded the Spitzedersche Privatbank on Munich’s Dachauer Straße; through word-of-mouth and newspaper advertisements she quickly built a large customer base, primarily among the working classes and farming community. Despite Spitzeder and her employees’ lack of formal training in accounting and the bank’s chaotic business practices, “by 1872 the bank was so successful that she was considered to be the wealthiest woman in Bavaria” (Partridge). It operated as a classic Ponzi scheme, taking the deposits of new customers to pay fantastic rates of interest to the original depositors. Spitzeder’s fraud was uncovered when several creditors collaborated and demanded their money simultaneously. In all, Spitzeder stole 38 million South German Gulden (roughly equivalent to $430 million today) from almost 32,000 citizens.
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
LOUDER THAN WORDS
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