Louise E. Bettens/Thomas S. Bettens
Edward D. Bettens: New York. The Gillis Press, 1909/1910. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #21-7794
Photogravures (Gubleman), 8.5 x 6", full leather, raised bands, gilt spine lettering "Louise E. Bettens" and date "1910, top edge gilt, gilt ruled edges and leather doublure, silk endpapers, 132pp (plus several unnumbered pages). Covers have light wear, archival repair to the sides of the spine tips, contents very good-fine. There is a loose address label (formerly attached to a blank page), it bears the return address of Edward D. Bettens, and the name and address of the recipient, Eliot Tuckerman, is hadwritten. One of the tributes to Thomas S. Bettens is by Eliot Tuckerman, who writes to Louise E. Bettens, his mother, "Thank you for the beautiful Memorial Book...I shall also value the book as a reminder of my friendship with you and Mr. Edward Bettens, for which I also have to thank my old friend and teacher". (Harvard '94). Mrs. Louise E. Bettens, 1827-1914, was the mother of three sons, Frank (d. 1864), Thomas (d. 1907), and Edward (d. 1920). She was the entire support of her family (due to her husband's severe illness) for many years. Eventually Edward, who became a successful lawyer and Thomas, a college professor, were able to take care of her. She became a well known art collector. Descriptions of other copies of Edward Bettens' list that the bookbinder was Stikeman & Co., that name is not shown even though the book is identical. Printed on hand made Japanese Imperial Paper, this memorial tribute to Thomas S. Bettens is limited to "TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES OF THE BOOK ENTITLED THOMAS SIMMS BETTENS TWELVE, WITH SOME INSERTIONS ADDED, ARE FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION UNDER THE TITLE OF LOUISE E. BETTENS". The twelve books...are an express acknowledgement by her sons that if their lives had been useful, the credit belongs to their mother...." Extremely handsome book. Very SCARCE.
Price: $250.00