JF Ptak Science Books // Blog Bookstore

Spanish Civil War Internees in Concentration Camps, 1940

Barbed Wire in France, They Fought for Freedom, their Reward--Concentration Camps. Published by the International Brigade Association in London, ca. 1940.  Good copy, though the text is browned and the left upper corner is nearly detached (as you can see in the photo). Still, an uncommon work on an uncommon topic.  PROVENANCE: Library of Congress, with their 6mm perforated stamp on the front cover, and their surplus stamp on the rear cover. $95

18x12cm, 15pp.  WorldCat/OCLC locates 15 copies, 8 in the U.S., all top-flight institutions.

This pamphlet tells of the conditions of the soldiers who fought with the International Brigade in defense of the Spanish Republic, and who wound up in concentration camps under the Spanish and then, in 1940, under the Germans. I don't often see early-ish works like this on concentration camps with that phrase in their title, but a quick look through WorldCat show that there are at least 25 just in the 1920-1938 period.  

Consequences of Ingestion by Man of real and Simulated Fallout (1963)

This is one of those titles that most people will read twice: 

The Consequences of Ingestion by Man of Real and Simulated Fallout.

LeRoy, George V. ; Rust, John H. ; Hasterlik, Robert J. Operated by the University of Chicago under Contract AT-(11-1)-69, Argonne Cancer Research Hospital, Chicago, 1963. 11x8", 32pp.  Fine copy. $150

I understand the need for the data and the research, but, still, it is a tough go, and no doubt a lot of unusual bits could be forced from the title. 

From the paper: "Abstract-Real and simulated particulate fallout and solutions of Sr⁸⁵CL₂ and Cs¹³⁴Cl₂ were fed to 102 healthy volunteers. Absorption and retention of ingested radioactivity was measured by whole-body counting using the gamma-ray spectrometer at the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital. An average of 3 per cent of the radioactivity of week-old local fallout W~S absorbed: the range was 0-9 per cent. Strontium and cesium leached or dissolved from simulated fallout behaved in the same way, metabolically, after absorption as they did when the tracer was swallowed in a solution or injected intravenously. The large number of subjects studied provided additional information on the range of variation of intestinal motility, biological availability of strontium, cesium and barium following ingestion of fallout, and retention of the radionuclides of these elements."

[Sr85=Strontium Cs134=Caesium]

Interesting set of descriptors used by the Defense Technical Information Center:

• "Descriptors :   (*RADIATION EFFECTS, FALLOUT), (*METABOLISM, FISSION PRODUCTS), (*FISSION PRODUCTS, ABSORPTION), GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM, EXCRETION, NUCLEAR PARTICLES, RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES, LABELED SUBSTANCES, TRACER STUDIES, ORAL, INJECTION (MEDICINE), DOSAGE, NUCLEAR RADIATION SPECTROMETERS, SOLUBILITY, CESIUM, BARIUM, STRONTIUM, SIMULATION, HUMANS."

The U.S. Attacks Monterey, California, 1842--by Mistake

Taking Possession of Monterey. Message from the President of the United States in rely to the resolution of the House of representatives...calling for information in relation to the taking possession of Monterey by Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones. February 22, 1843. House of representatives Executive Document Number 166, 27thCongress, 3rd session. 9X6”, 117pp. Howes M 740aa. Cowan 317   Removed from a larger bound volume. Crisp copy. $100

The wonderfully-named Thomas ap Catesby Jones (the “ap” evidently a Welsh patronymic indicating “Thomas, son of Catesby”) was a Commodore in the U.S. Navy in 1842 when a Short Series of Unfortunate Events occurred. Jones (1790-1858), a War of 1812 veteran, commanded a group of three naval vessels (including his frigate the USS United States and two sloops of war) from Lima Peru to upper California after understanding that the U.S. Was at war with Mexico and that there was a fear that the Brits were on their way to take over the middle-western coastline. So off he went, arriving at Monterey in October 1842, about four years ahead of the war. He settled off the cost and demanded the surrender of the Mexican gallery there, which consisted of about 60 soldiers in an old fort. The Mexicans, outnumbered and no doubt confused, surrendered the port the next day. The day after that, Jones received word that he had jumped the gun, somewhat, and withdrew from Monterey, with his apologies. From there, he went off to chase the British away from Hawaii, and somewhere in this course of events transports the deserter Herman Melville back to the U.S.

I cannot leave this without mentioning that Jones' nephew was named Catesby ap Roger Jones (1821-1877).

 

"Koreans' Dauntless Fight to Crush Japanese Imperialism" (1943)

 World War and Korea, by Commander Yaksan Kim (Vice Commander of the Korean Independence Army in China), translated by Sang Park.  One sheet, 12x11". This is a separately printed document following its publication in the Korean journal "The Future" (the organ of the Korean People's Revolutionary Party with the Korean Provincial Government) on February 15, 1943.  (The document is stamped having been received by the Library of Congress  on August 30, 1943.)  WorldCat/OCLC locates 0 copies. Good condition. SOLD

 Yak San Kim is listed in   as a foreign principal of Kilsoo K. Haan, a registered foreign  with offices on D St in Washington, D.C. (registered in November 1942).  "Gen. Yak San Kim in...negotiations [for abolishing unfavorable 'Nine Point' agreements between the Korean Provisional Government and the Chinese Military Council; [and in connection with] political and military issues and problems."

Yak San Kim was also listed as a foreign principal (operating in Free China) of the Korean National revolutionary Party (registered in November 1942) where his activities were listed so: "Activities for Foreign Principal: Registrant states that it gives "moral and some material support to [the] Korean Army in Free China, under Y. S. Kinm." Registrant reports that it is the publisher and distributor of the following pamphlets in the English language: World War and Korea, by Commander Yaksan Kim; Korea Should be Independent, by Chiang Kaishek; and What Korea Wants. It also publishes and distributes a bimonthly newspaper in the Korean language, entitled Korean National Front.

(For the foreign agent report see: REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938, AS AMENDED FOR THE PERIOD FROM JUNE 28, 1942 TO DECEMBER 31, 1944. June 1945 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE https: //www.fara.gov/reports/Archive/1942-1944_FARA.pdf)

 

 

A Rare Document on the Jinan Massacre, May 1928

Tonight I  re-located/re-resurrected a rare and emotional document on the Japanese massacre of Chinese soldiers and civilians at Jinan ("Tsinan"), Shandong ("Shantung"), China. It forms part of the long pre-Sino-Japanese War (of 1934/7-1945), and though it is often described as an "incident" it was far more than that, as more than 6,000 soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army of China and civilians were killed, with many thousands more wounded, done in by the Imperial Army of Japan, which suffered only 200 casualties (most of these being wounded). SOLD

I've scanned as much of this document as I could without damaging the pamphlet and reproduced those three pages below--it isn't quite half of the document, but it does give the main thrust of it, and certainly displays the writer's outrage and frustration.  Brutish Massacre by Japanese Forces at Tsinan was written by Y.S. Chen of the National Labor University, Kiangwan, Shanghai, China, and was printed from typed sheets via an offset process of some sort and published not later than June 28, 1928.  My copy is surplussed  from the Library of Congress, where the documents division received it on June 28, 1928, which means it was probably printed within weeks of the massacre. There is only one copy of this document located in WorldCat/OCLC (at Northwestern University), and there are no hits on the title in various online searches.  

I've scanned as much of this document as I could without damaging the pamphlet and reproduced those three pages below--it isn't quite half of the document, but it does give the main thrust of it, and certainly displays the writer's outrage and frustration.  Brutish Massacre by Japanese Forces at Tsinan was written by Y.S. Chen of the National Labor University, Kiangwan, Shanghai, China, and was printed from typed sheets via an offset process of some sort and published not later than June 28, 1928.  My copy is surplussed  from the Library of Congress, where the documents division received it on June 28, 1928, which means it was probably printed within weeks of the massacre. There is only one copy of this document located in WorldCat/OCLC (at Northwestern University), and there are no hits on the title in various online searches.  

Rare London Naval Conference Document, 1930 (H.L. Mencken's copy)

JF Ptak Science Books  

Summary of Memoranda Setting Forth Policy of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom at the Naval Conference. No publisher or place of publication indicated, and not dated, though printed in 1930. 13x8 inches, 6 leaves. WorldCat/OCLC locates 0 copies.  Two old horizontal folds; the cover has a chip missing in the upper left making it detached from the brass and twine paper-gatherer.  Good copy. $150

This was the fifth in a series of naval conferences of global concern (1921-1937) involving Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy, the representatives gathering in London for January/February to work out revisions and extensions of the Five Power Treaty adopted in 1922. Although billed as a peace/disarmament conference, it really didn't work out that way, or so it seems—much of what was discussed was on the limiting of tonnage production of ships and subs, but it seems that the upper limits were designed above the actual production capacity of some nations.

This was H.L. Mencken's copy, with a small penciled note to that effect in a librarian's hand on the back of the title page, along with a date. Mencken covered the proceedings, and evidently, soon afterwards (March 19^th) gave this copy of the outline memoranda to the Library of Congress.

Provenance: H.L. Mencken, then to the Library of Congress, de-accessioned in 1998. There are no internal L.C. Or Mencken markings; there is a L.C. surplus/duplicate rubber stamp on the rear cover of the document.

 

 

 

Collection: Anti-Fascist Italian Writer's Observations on Italy, 1943/4.

JF Ptak Science Books

These 37 works by the Italian anti-Fascist writer Gaetano Salvemini were all given to the Library of Congress by him in on March 4, 1947.  They are all offprints or reprints. 37 pieces, $350

"After Salvemini's  arrest in 1925 for opposing the newly formed Italian fascist regime, he left Italy but continued to actively organize resistance to Benito Mussolni in France, England and finally in the US. From 1930 to 1948 he lectured in History at Harvard University. Salvemini founded the antifascist Mazzini Society in Massachusetts in September 1939. He obtained US citizenship in 1940. Notable writings of the American years are The Fascist Dictatorship in Italy (1928), Under the Axe of Fascism (1936). and Prelude to World War II. In 1954 he retired to Italy."--from WIKI  The works include:

A Map of the "White Mountain" of the Himalaya, 1821

JF Ptak Science Books 

"H.T. Colebrooke. "On the Height of the Dhawalagiri, the White Mountain of the Himalaya", pp 240-9, with an accompanying map, (9x7", "Reduced Copy of a Part of Captain B. Blake's Survey of the Province of Goorukpoot during 1812, 13, 14, & 1815 including the Positiion of the Mountain Dhawalagiri and four other very remarkable peaks of the Himalaya Range" , in The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, published by John Murray for the Royal Institution, London, 1821 volume XI,  pp.240-9,  contained in the volume of 431pp, with 6 plates, including three folding (including two maps).  Bound in half-calf with calf tips, and marbled boards.  $250   Condition: nice copy, though the spine is somewhat scuffed.  Good copy.  

"The Dhaulagiri massif in Nepal extends 120 km (70 mi) from the Kaligandaki River west to the Bheri. This massif is bounded on the north and southwest by tributaries of the Bheri River and on the southeast by Myagdi Khola. Dhaulagiri I is the seventh highest mountain in the world at 8,167 metres (26,795 ft) above sea level. It was first climbed on May 13, 1960 by a Swiss/Austrian/Nepali expedition.”--Wiki

• James D. Maycock, Geological Description of Barbadoes, pp 10-20. With a colored map.
• Captian Veetch, "Account of the Remains of a Mammoth", pp 20-26, with an engraved plate.
• Analysis of A System of Chemistry, by Thomas Thomson, a very long review from pp 119-172. 
• William Olbers, "An Essay on the easiest and most convenient Method of calculating the Orbit of a Comet from Observations", pp 177-182.
• M. Biot, "On the Magnetism impressed on Metals by Electricity in Motion", pp 281-290.
• J.F. Daniell,  "On a New Pyrometer", pp 309-320.

 

 

Magnificent Map of Gettysburg--40 Square Feet, 1925-7

JF Ptak Science Books

A Map of Gettysburg and Antietam.  From: The Military Engineer, the jorunal of the Society of Military Engineers, published at the Mills Building, Washington, D.C., 1925-1927. 

[Detail of Emmitsburg, about six miles southwest of Gettysburg]

This is a massive map of Gettysburg, in 12 colorful sections, published 1925-1927 in issues of the Military Engineer, printed by the War Department Corps of Engineers, with the map measures about 40 square feet--it is a superb wall map for "historians and war games" (according to the journal). The maps are printed in color, include contour lines and all manner of human geography, in very high detail, including individual houses.  

[Detail from the Gettysburg sheets]

The map is in 12 section on 8 separate sheets, with the bottom two thirds of the 3 section x 4 section grid being two maps on one sheet.  Each map section print-line runs 23x17" (excluding margins etc.), the whole measuring about 70"x 68". All together, the map covers a piece of ground 23 x 23 miles, with 3" equal to about 1 miles (scale 1/21120).

This is simply a terrific map. 

[Detail from the Gettysburg sheets]

Condition: I'd say this was overall in Very Good condition, though the maps are clean, very bright, and very crisp--I doubt that they were opened very much at all (judging by the difficulty in opening them now). The major detriments are the occasional tears in the sheet folds. Currently they are folded, as issued, though I'm very tempted to open, flatten, and repair them so that they are ready to hang.  $750

Tight One-Page High-Level Recommendation for a U.S. Chemical Weapons Position, 1917

JF Ptak Science Books 

WHITNEY, Willis R. Carton copy of a typed letter to the Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels outlining his review of the U.S. chemical warfare capacity, 1917.  $750

On 21 December 1917, thee years into the beginning of World War I and eight months after America entered the war,Willis R. Whitney composed this one-page letter composing the American response to the use of poison gas in warfare. Whitney was founder and head of one the great research laboratories in America—run by General Electric, the GE Lab—and was one of the leaders of the U.S. Navy‘s Naval Review Board (along with Thomas Edison and Hudson Maxim, among others), and wrote to Josephus Daniels, who was at the time the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. 

Whitney was a chemist, a former instructor at MIT, and a Ph.D. under Ostwald, a brilliant, “bearish” intellect in many fields, an innovator, and a leader, a tactician.  He summarized the state of affairs, and communicated quickly and with clarity and without hesitation what he thought must be done, and how America should respond to the German chemical threat. 

The Germans had first used chemical weapons (shells containing xylyl bromide) against Russian troops in Bolimow, Poland.  It was the first foray into a section of the war that caused more than one million casualties and 85,000 deaths. It would be another three months for the first full-scale use of a chemical weapon—in the form of chlorine gas—in the Second Battle of Ypres.  But the time Whitney sent his letter, chemical warfare had been a deeply-established weapon.

Whitney recommends that the U.S. begin production; that several plants be established to produce the chemicals, and to get on the matter immediately, suggesting a man to head the work.  As it turns out the work didn’t begin in earnest for a number of months later, the first large quantities becoming available just after the signing of the Armistice.

{I should note that I purchased this letter--rather, Whitney's carbon copy of the letter--many years ago from the estate of  a U.S. Navy historian.)