Dickson (Sarah Augusta)

(26 cm), xiv, 227 pp., frontispiece, [11] leaves of plates (some in colour), text illustrations. Publisher’s green cloth, gilt “Armes of the Smoakie Society” on upper cover. - A scholarly survey of tobacco in sixteenth-century literature, written by the curator of the incomparable Tobacco Collection assembled by George Arents and housed in the New York Public Library. Was the leaf balm or bane? cure or curse? a “holy herb” (a term apparently coined by Damião de Góis)? Limited edition (400 unnumbered copies). Originally published in the Bulletin of the New York Public Library, 1953-1954. ¶ Clipping from the Antiquarian Bookman, 5 February 1955, on pastedown. Excellent, unmarked copy.