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A scarce, author-signed window into early American Quaker history!
Offered here is an original 1907 hardcover edition of Just a Few “Friends” by Mary J. Taber, published in Philadelphia by The John C. Winston Company and expressly “Printed for Private Circulation.”
The quotation marks around “Friends” are meaningful—the title refers to members of the Religious Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers. Taber draws upon family recollections and local history to preserve stories of prominent Friends associated with New Bedford, Massachusetts, an important center of Quaker, maritime, and abolitionist history.
Most importantly, the front blank page bears a period handwritten inscription reading:
“Signed by the author
Mary J. Taber
New Bedford
September 1907”
Mary Jane Howland Taber (1834–1923) was a New Bedford author and local historian with deep connections to the area’s Quaker community. Her other works include The Cathedrals of England and Bathsheba’s Letters to Her Cousin Deborah, 1831–1861.
DETAILS:
* Title: Just a Few “Friends”
* Author: Mary J. Taber
* Publication year: 1907
* Publisher: The John C. Winston Company, Philadelphia
* Hardcover
* Printed for private circulation
* Illustrated with portraits and historical images
* Period author inscription dated September 1907
* Subjects: Quakers, Society of Friends, New Bedford history and genealogy
CONDITION:
Antique condition with visible age and use. The light-colored cloth boards show surface soiling, spotting, edge wear, and bumping/fraying at the lower corners. Pages display expected age toning and occasional spotting. The handwritten author inscription remains clear and attractive. Please examine all photographs closely, as they form an important part of the condition description.
A fascinating survivor with excellent appeal for collectors of Quaker history, New Bedford Americana, genealogy, privately printed books, and signed antiquarian volumes.
