Letters to Esq. Pedant, in the East, by Lorenzo Altisonant, an Emigrant to the West. Published for the Benefit of Youth; By a Lover of the Studious.
Cambridge City, Wayne County [Indiana]: D. K. Winder, Printer, 1844. From the Bart Auerbach Collection. 12mo. [2], [8], 10-64 pages. Original red roan-backed brown boards. Worn, but internally very good. Item #409408
First edition of this pioneer Indiana educator's first book, which consists of a series of letters, ostensibly pertaining to local events, written in the most convoluted and complex language imaginable (a bizarre phonetic English).
This undoubtedly was Hoshour's own copy as it is riddled with textual corrections and marginal notes (in ink and pencil), has an added chapter summary in the table of contents (in light pencil), and contains an ink note on the rear free endpaper: "Printing 2,000 copies would come to about $100. Binding extra." Most likely these corrections were made in anticipation of a later edition. The work was popular enough to go through several printings: Cincinnati 1850 and 1856; Indianapolis 1870. Byrd & Peckham 1125; Streeter sale 1421; Banta 155-6.
Price: $1,250.00