Rare Book Monthly
A Catalogue of Colonial Americana<br>From the William Reese Company
East Florida, a bit north of Disney World
While they were planting rice in Carolina, New Englanders had bigger issues to deal with, like witches. A refutation of the horrific practices of this dark period comes from Bishop Francis Hutchinson. In 1718 he published An Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft. With Observations upon the Matters of fact; Tending to Clear the Texts of the Sacred Scriptures, and Confute the Vulgar Errors about that Point. Hutchinson distrusted the accusatory testimony of children, and recognized that “confessions” elicited under deprivation and duress were not confessions at all. Unfortunately, Hutchinson was in England while the lunatics were running wild in the colonies. Item 80. $1,200.
An intriguing book is Robert Lade’s Voyages du Captaine Robert Lade…, a narrative of his voyages to Africa and America. What makes Lade’s work so interesting is that there is no evidence the gentleman ever existed. The book is supposedly a French translation of an English edition, but that does not exist either. It’s “translator” was one Abbe Antoine Francois Prevost, who produced a compilation work of voyages, so suspicions are he used this background to create the travels of the imaginary Mr. Lade. Item 91. $1,350.
If you don’t have time to read any of William Penn’s books, at least read his titles. They are entertaining in themselves. Item 126 is Truth Rescued from Imposter. Or a Brief Reply to a Meer Rapsodie of Lies, Folly, and Slander… This pamphlet is a reply to an opponent who served as a judge in an unsuccessful trial against Penn. $3,500. And in case there was any doubt of Penn’s certainty of the correctness of his beliefs, there’s Truth Exalted; In a Short, but Sure, Testimony Against All Those Religions, Faiths, and Worships that have been Formed and Followed in the Darkness of Apostacy. – And for that Glorious Light which is now Risen, and Shines Forth in the Life and Doctrine of the Despised Quakers, as the Alone Good Old Way of Life and Salvation. No wonder they were despised, with an attitude like that. In fairness to Penn, he was a much more tolerant person than this early work suggests. Item 127. $3,500.
Considering his extensive governmental and diplomatic roles, it’s easy to forget the breadth of Benjamin Franklin’s scholarship. Here’s a copy of his Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America… This book contains a description of his famous experiment with a kite and key in a lightening storm. Item 63. $9,500. And then we find Franklin involved in the founding of the first hospital in the colonies. Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital… reports on the founding and early operation of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Franklin printed the work and is believed to have written the first part. Item 59. $12,500.
