Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2021 Issue

Early Americana from David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books recently published their Catalogue 182 of Rare Americana. Lesser's catalogues focus on Americana from the 18th and 19th centuries, generally pamphlets, documents, and other less-than full book-length material. We note a particularly high number of items related to America's original sin, slavery. It rose from being a generally accepted, if not beloved, necessity at the time of independence to an institution abhorred by many, beloved by others, with little middle ground. No wonder it tore the nation apart. Here are a few selections from this latest Lesser catalogue.

 

The Compromise of 1850 probably unleashed the forces that made the Civil War inevitable, but it was during the previous two decades that docile acceptance of slavery in the U.S. turned to hostility in the North. It was too egregious a violation of human rights, and a violation of American ideals of freedom, to be tolerable any longer. Agitation grew. One such example is The New England Anti-slavery Almanac for 1841. It encourages establishing free schools for Black children, provides hints for anti-slavery debaters, provides an “Ecclesiastical Roll of Infamy” of northern Methodist clergy who voted for a resolution prohibiting “colored persons to give testimony against white persons,” and a “Congressional Roll of Infamy” for Northern Congressmen who voted for the Gag Rule, which prohibited Congress from accepting petitions concerning slavery. As for the still upcoming presidential election of 1840, it says “President Van Buren and General Harrison have both publicly taken the side of the oppressor against the oppressed and the God of the oppressed. Both of them glory in it.” Van Buren, in his post-presidential years, would become vehemently anti-slavery, running as the Free Soil presidential candidate in 1848, but unfortunately, during his presidential years, he showed little interest. One of the most noteworthy features of this almanac is that it provides substantial content on the Amistad incident, including portraits of Cinque and others. Item 84. Priced at $750.

 

Even free African Americans weren't always quite so free in antebellum America. Item 55 comes from the border state of Missouri in 1855. Slavery was legal in Missouri, but that state remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Its citizens were among the most divided in the country. It is a printed bond, securing the rights of Elizabeth Howard, a “free colored” woman, to reside in Missouri. For free Blacks, they had to have respectable White citizens post bond for them to live freely in the state. For a $100 bond, she was permitted to reside in Missouri, so long as she “shall be of good behavior.” No such requirement was imposed on Whites, as Jesse James could attest. Ms. Howard's guarantors were Dr. Charles Sebastian Hertich, a prominent physician, and Lt. Col. Joseph Felix St. James, a lawyer and mayor of St. Genevieve. The 1860 census shows Elizabeth Howard as a free Black woman with four children living in St. Genevieve County. $1,500.

 

Next we have an account of an army officer with a checkered history: Defence of Major Gen. Pillow before the Court of Inquiry at Frederick, Maryland, Against Charges Preferred Against Him by Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott (1848). Scott was commanding American forces during the Mexican War. Pillow, a vain sort, took more than his due credit in a battle at the expense of Gen. Scott. Scott, also a vain sort, was not pleased. Pillow was court-martialed. Fortunately for him, he was a Democrat and former law partner of President Polk, and Polk despised the Whig Scott. Charges were first reduced and then dismissed, though the court of inquiry found that Pillow had “appropriated to himself more than a just share” of the credit. Pillow was the author of this self-defense. Now for the rest of the story – Pillow became a secessionist and a general in the Confederate army. His reputation eroded after some battle mistakes and retreats. His final battlefield command was removed after Pillow was found, when ordered to lead his troops forward, hiding behind a tree. He spent the remainder of the war at a desk job. Item 94. $350.

 

This is certainly a novel defense against a charge of murder. Men, don't try this. Item 35 is the Official Report of the Trial of Laura D. Fair for the Murder of Alex P. Crittenden... published in 1871. Mrs. Fair had been carrying on with married San Francisco lawyer Alex Crittenden. She wished him to divorce his wife and become Mrs. Fair's fifth husband. He obviously chose not to do so, nor to acknowledge their child. On a ferry he was taking to see his wife, Mrs. Fair shot him. She was convicted and sentenced to death, but the verdict was overturned on appeal due to trial errors. Fair's attorneys then argued insanity. As they explained, her actions were the result of female hysteria caused by “scanty and retarded menstruation, a chronic disease of the womb.” Medical witnesses testified that this was a common condition among women and therefore she had followed an irresistible impulse to kill. This is a case where law and medicine intersected, and both were full of it. $175.

 

Perhaps the abolitionists had it all wrong. Victoria Clayton certainly thought so. Her book is entitled White and Black under the Old Regime. By Victoria V. Clayton (Widow of the Late Henry D. Clayton, Major General, C.S.A., Judge of the Circuit Court of Alabama, President of the University of Alabama). This was published in 1899, and the “Old Regime” to which she refers is the antebellum South. The Claytons went to Kansas in 1855 to oppose John Brown and the abolitionists, returning home in time for Mr. Clayton to serve the Confederate cause. According to Mrs. Clayton, things were wonderful in the Old South, although she does speak of problems maintaining a normal home life in Alabama and controlling servants. “Servants” was often a euphemism for slaves in the South. Nevertheless, Mrs. Clayton maintained that life was wonderful for everyone before the war, Blacks included. She explains, “Every slave family possessed a garden, truck patch, chicken house and a lot of hens, and, from those sources, always had something nice to present to us, their young 'misses.'” She was undoubtedly jealous she was one of those young misses, and not a slave herself. She said they “cherished” those presents. And then Lincoln went and ruined it all, for Blacks and Whites alike. Item 20. $275.

 

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions