H. L. PEEKE. [Alcohol in America] Americana Ebrietatis. NY: Priv. Pr., 1917. Inscr. to Gabriel Wells

From the Dobo collection.

The first 36 lots in this sale are from the collection of Francis Dobo (1908-1998)

Hewson Lindsley PEEKE (1861-1942). [History of alcohol in America] Americana Ebrietatis. New York: Privately Printed [for Louis M. Thompson], 1917. Octavo (8 3/8 x 5 3/8 inches; 213 x 137 mm). Pp. [1-]10-154. (Neat repair to verso of title, margins toned and paper somewhat brittle.) Original half vellum over black cloth-covered boards, lettered in gilt on the upper cover and spine, original cloth chemise.

Provenance: Gabriel Wells (nee Weiss, 1861-1946, presentation inscription from the author, signed and dated “Apr. 16^th 1917” and noting that this is a “proof Copy – interesting for its faults as most of us are for our sins”, by descent to); Frank Dobo.

An apparent ‘proof copy’ from the original privately printed edition, limited to 100 copies. This example presented by the publisher to NY bookseller, publisher, author and historian: Gabriel Wells.  Peeke provides a history of alcohol drinking in America, including customs, laws, liquor traffic, and temperance societies.

“These pages are not written to prove any theory or fact except the growth of sentiment in the last two centuries against the liquor trade.” (extract from the dedication).

“Mr. Peeke was a staunch follower of the old Prohibition party He ran for Congress twice and other offices frequently under its banners. "The Wets Cannot Win," his motto, became a Sandusky byword… He was the author of Americana Ebrietatis, Stories of Sandusky, and the history of Erie Co, in two volumes. .. Mr. Peeke derived his greatest pleasure from his library, one of the finest in this section of the country.” (obit. in The Sandusky Register 17 Feb 1942). Gabler G32140.

Francis Dobo: the “epitome of a 20th Century intellectual” Hungarian born Francis F. Dobo (1908-1998) was an important figure in the world of publishing, contemporary literature and photography for over half a century. He was lifelong friends with the renowned Hungarian masters of candid photography, Brassaï and André Kertész, first in Hungary and later in Paris in the 1930s. It was in Paris he encountered Henry Miller, Louis-Ferdinand Celine and Raymond Queneau: he corresponded and supported Miller from then on, and subsequently became Queneau’s U.S. agent.  Love of books and literature seems to have been a family trait: his uncle was Gabriel Wells (1861-1946), one of the two most important rare book dealers of his generation. The present selection includes a small number of books which belonged to Wells, with the rest being a cross section of the best of the contemporary literature which was such an important part of Francis’ life. William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Koestler, Christopher Isherwood, Norman Mailer, Franz Kafka are all here !