Essays Before a Sonata by Charles E. Ives. Knickerbocker Press. 1920. 5 1/2" x 7 3/4" 124 pages Hardcover with no dust jacket. Moderate cover edge wear. Gilt lettering on spine is somewhat faded, but still quite legible. Bumping to cover tips. Light foxing to the edges of the page block. Light foxing inside front and back covers. Erasure remarks inside both front and back covers. Bookstore rubber stamp inside the back cover. Light bumping to the tips of the first few pages. A tiny bit of separation in front page fifty one. No other previous owner markings. No tears, folds or creases to pages. Binding is tight with no looseness to pages. Not ex-library, not remaindered and not a facsimile reprint. For sale by Jon Wobber, bookseller since 1978. II05a

"1920: The sonata is published by Schirmer at Ives's expense (Schirmer does not put their name on it); he publishes the book separately with Knickerbocker Press, again at his own expense.

1921, January: Ives sends out 200 copies of the Concord, and also copies of the book." - https://charlesives.org/following-concord-sonata

In other words, the copies of 'Essays Before a Sonata' published by Knickerbocker Press were paid for by Ives and sent out for free to introduce people to his music and ideas. - Jon Wobber