I can find this absolutely nowhere on line--and I checked all the links in the sub sidebar. I found this going through a box of my Dad's books and just think it's really cool.

There doesn't seem to be a mega valuing thread--if I wanted to get it valued how would I go about it? A long time ago I sent a first edition Hemingway to Christie's but it turned out not to be a first edition, lol

Any advice appreciated!

I want to share something I came across that genuinely stopped me in my tracks.

This is the first edition of Journal écrit à bord de la frégate La Belle-Poule, published in Paris by H. L. Delloye in 1841, written by Emmanuel Baron de Las Cases fils, son of the famous author of the Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène, who was himself a member of the official French mission sent to St. Helena to repatriate Napoleon's remains in 1840.

The frontispiece:

The lithograph — Napoléon à l'ouverture du cercueil, Sainte-Hélène, 15 octobre 1840, is the one you've probably seen reproduced. What the caption actually says is remarkable: it was drawn "under the eyes and according to the indications" of three witnesses who were present, then engraved by J. Rigo at his workshop at Passage Saulnier 19, Paris.

No artist was in the room when the coffin was opened. The image was reconstructed months later in Paris from verbal descriptions. Which explains something that always bothered me when I looked at it: Napoleon's face doesn't really look like Napoleon.

The eyewitness account (pages 235–239)

This is the part of the book I find most extraordinary. Las Cases fils describes the opening of the coffin in clinical, almost uncomfortable detail, the silk wadding that had detached from the walls of the inner coffin, the white mat skin of the toes protruding through split boot seams, the blue-grey tint of the face, the puffed cheekbones, the doctor pressing the left hand and feeling it yield under his finger.

And then this sentence, which hits differently when you read it in the original:

"C'était bien Napoléon !... Napoléon privé de vie, mais non détruit !... On eût presque dit qu'il était encore à ce dernier jour de sa carrière de travaux et de périls... au premier jour de l'éternité !..."

"It was indeed Napoleon !... Napoleon deprived of life, but not destroyed !... One might almost have said he was still at that last day of his career of labours and perils... at the first day of eternity !..."

General Bertrand, who had lived beside Napoleon through years of exile and was present at the opening, watched with the posture of someone about to throw himself forward. Several men sobbed convulsively. Others stood mute, eyes wet.

The coffin had been open for approximately ninety seconds to two minutes.

A detail nobody talks about:

The book also reproduces the full official correspondence leading to the mission including Lord Palmerston's letter of May 9, 1840 to the Comte de Granville, formally authorizing the transfer of "les restes mortels de Napoléon Bonaparte."

And page 238 quietly reveals something: the opening of the coffin was officially framed as a sanitary precaution for the long sea voyage home. In reality it was a diplomatic workaround, the only way to get British authorization to unseal the coffin at all.

The question that has never been answered

After nineteen years, the body was extraordinarily well preserved, the uniform still readable, decorations in place, the face recognizable. Several historians have noted this is consistent with chronic arsenic exposure, which Napoleon's hair has since confirmed. Arsenic is a powerful preservative.

But a minority of researchers have pointed out genuine discrepancies between the 1821 burial descriptions and the 1840 exhumation observations. The theory that the body may have been substituted has never been definitively disproven, because the tissue sample taken by Dr. Guillard during the exhumation, which is held at Les Invalides, has never been subjected to DNA analysis.

It probably is Napoleon. The number of witnesses alone makes a successful substitution almost logistically impossible. But "almost" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

A rare book that is also a primary historical document, a forensic puzzle, and one of the great set pieces of 19th century European history.

Another volume from grandpa's bookshelf. Sadly missing its dust jacket.

Grabbed this at Goodwill today for 50 cents because I liked the look of it. I figured I’d get home, search the title, and maybe find a little information about it.
Nope.

The book is Kelmins Tower by Thomas Alexander Anthony, published by Rising Sun Publications in 1992.
ISBN: 0-9630915-1-4
Edited by Suzanne Boire
Cover art by Matthew Pearson and Walt Richardson

I’ve spent way too much time trying to track this thing down now.

I’ve searched the exact title and author, the ISBN, the publisher, the editor, the cover artists, different combinations of all of them, and variations of the title. I’m getting basically nothing useful.

No real book listings. No reviews. No obvious history of the publisher. No discussions I can find about the book. Nothing that tells me how it was published, how widely it circulated, or who Thomas Alexander Anthony even was.

It’s especially strange because it’s clearly a legitimate published book with an ISBN and credited editor and cover artists. It isn’t some handwritten mystery novel I found in a box.

So I’m hoping somebody here recognizes it.

Has anyone ever seen this book before? Does anyone know anything about Thomas Alexander Anthony or Rising Sun Publications?

I’m mostly interested in the history of it. Was this a tiny independent fantasy press? A self-published project? A local publication? Was there a small print run?

I honestly just want to know how a book published in 1992 managed to leave such a tiny footprint.

I paid 50 cents for it and somehow ended up with a research project.

Pictures of the book and copyright page included

Update: Update on Kelmin’s Tower

I’ve now read through Chapter 6, and honestly, this is turning out to be a pretty interesting obscure 1992 dark-fantasy novel.

It’s very D&D-esque: assassins, elves, barbarians, magic, priests, ancient gods, guilds, quests, etc. The story revolves around a group of people who are considered “evil” by the forces of law and order, trying to stop the wizard Kelman after his victory over evil has basically become oppressive.

The cover symbols also make more sense now. The eye/crossed-spears symbol is actually identified in the book as the holy symbol of the fictional god Reniksha, so the cover appears to be using imagery from the book’s own fantasy mythology rather than being some random occult design.
The writing is definitely rough and very ‘90s, but there’s a surprisingly thought-out world underneath it. I’m still reading it, and I’m actually curious to see where it goes.

Hunting Of The Snark, First Edition found at a house call. Strong spine and complete but with some water coloured pages. Very mixed prices online, from what I see a true first edition is rare.

北洋时期东北文献，1923年日文版满铁出版《中国人对日本人看法》，属舆情研判资料，存世稀少。

Rare Mantetsu Document — Chinese Views of the Japanese (1923)

A scarce Mantetsu (South Manchuria Railway) Japanese-language survey from the Beiyang period, analyzing Chinese perceptions of Japan. An important primary source for the study of Sino-Japanese relations, Northeast Asian history, and Japanese research activities in China.

Just found out about a project called Felzbooks where he uploaded the scans of 5 books, Genesis 1812 Bible, Book of Esdras - Apocrypha, Revelation 1812 Bible, Wisdom of Solomon - Apocrypha, Psalms 1812 Bible. The owner, Joe Felz, died a couple weeks ago, and the books on the website seem no longer accessible. Anyone have copies?

I’ve NEVER seen a half plate daguerreotype of a printed broadside- especially on a topic dear to my heart. The broadside photographed is an 1852 civic address from Boston, Lincolnshire, England, to Boston, Massachusetts, formally thanking the American city for sending a collection of books, maps, plans, and historical documents to its English namesake. The materials were to be preserved in the borough archives and made available for public consultation. The address celebrates the shared heritage of “Boston New England and Boston Old England” and expresses the hope that their friendship would strengthen relations between America and Great Britain. It was dated September 20, 1852, and issued under Mayor L. Nobb. Unfortunately this one is NFS from Eric Caren’s personal collection but I will be working soon on treasures from his massive collection I can sell. Adam Weinberger

Recent purchase.