• Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2016 Issue

Rare Americana (and a Few English Items) from David M. Lesser Antiquarian Books

David Lesser's catalogue 151.

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued their Catalogue 151 ofRare Americana. This time there are several British items here, but most go back to colonial days when America was part of the British empire, so that's close enough. Otherwise, what we find are primarily pamphlets and other shorter form paper, ranging from colonial days to roughly Reconstruction. Here are a few samples.

 

This being an election year, we will begin with some political comments that some readers will like, others not. "All men who chased me with blood-hounds were Democrats, that tried to starve me to death were Democrats...[I]n fact my friends the majority of outlaws are Democrats, all Anarchists are Democrats. How can a decent man belong to such a bone spavined rotten crowd." Surprisingly, this is not a quote from Donald Trump. Rather, it came from one Eppenetus Washington McIntosh. McIntosh had his reason for disliking Democrats. He was a Union soldier during the Civil War, and while there were some pro-Union War Democrats in the North, most northerners were Republicans at the time, southerners Democrats. That would still be the case when McIntosh gave this speech years later in 1892. He had been captured during the war and spent six months in the horrors of the Andersonville prison, where 13,000 Union soldiers died from disease and malnutrition. If that wasn't enough, once released at the end of the war, he was one of the Union soldiers riding on the steamship Sultana back to his home in Illinois when it exploded, killing 1,800 of the 2,300 passengers onboard. McIntosh was blown into the water and managed to swim to a sandbar. Item 112 is A Speech Made by Rev. E.W. McIntosh, at Harmitage [sic], MO, Aug. 15, 1892. It is a broadside recitation of his words that day, which includes a few more choice ones for Democrats, who "lived for years in open adultery with a harlot called slavery: lived with her until she died of corruption and was buried amid the sobs and groans of her paramour." In defense of the Democratic Party, it should be pointed out that McIntosh was something of a crackpot. He had some sort of certificate from the Methodist Church he used for reduced fares, but it is questionable whether he was actually a reverend. He claimed that as a boy he did office work for Abraham Lincoln. He was institutionalized in an insane asylum for a while and received a military pension for insanity. However, that pension was reduced when it was discovered he didn't need full time care, as attested by the fact that he was able to travel around giving speeches. His physical health was good enough that he lived another 35 years. Priced at $175.

 

Immigrants being the focus of a presidential election is nothing new. They were never more a focus than in the election of 1856. At that time, the controversy raged over Irish and German immigrants, with a healthy dose of anti-Catholic sentiment thrown in. During the prior two years, the American Party, more familiarly known as the "Know-Nothings," blossomed from the fringes to major status. They even managed to get a former President, Millard Fillmore of the now defunct Whig Party, to run on their ticket. Item 95 is the Principles and Objects of the American Party, put out by a group of Know-Nothings from the 15th ward of New York City. They attack immigrants as being "ignorant of our institutions and laws, often ignorant of our language, necessarily in all cases unimbued with the traditional and native sentiment which gives life and permanence to our institutions." The party credo was "Americans should be governed only by Americans." The Know-Nothings made a strong showing, Fillmore gathering 21% of the vote, though that was only enough to carry one state – Maryland. The party quickly faded away after this election, as the split between North and South which would soon lead to civil war became the dominant issue. $250.

 

The anti-Catholic sentiment pervading the 1856 election can be seen by the very existence of this item: Col. Fremont Not a Roman Catholic. Evidently, some of his opponents must have been making such a claim, under the assumption it would damage his candidacy. Fremont was the nominee of the newly created Republican Party, running against Fillmore and Democrat James Buchanan. The writer explains that while it is true Fremont once made a cross upon a rock on one of his expeditions, and was married by a Catholic priest, this does not mean he is a Catholic. Fremont was raised and considered himself Episcopalian, and said he was married by a priest for want of another clergyman available to perform the ceremony. The controversy evidently did not benefit either Fremont or Know-Nothing Fillmore, as Buchanan won the election. Item 67. $250.

 

In keeping with a presidential theme, item 45 is a presidential portrait, a lithograph created by Nathaniel Currier, from his early days, long before the partnership with James Ives. If this were a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, you can be sure it would cost you a pretty penny. You're in luck. It isn't. Rather, it is an 1837 lithograph of President Martin Van Buren. Van Buren, Andrew Jackson's hand-picked successor, had a rough time when the economy went south and was defeated for reelection in 1840. However, he had this in common with Lincoln. He became a strong opponent of slavery, later running, like Fillmore, unsuccessfully on a third-party ticket (the anti-slavery Free Soil Party). $375.

 

People today tend to be heavier than they were in the 19th century – too much good, or perhaps too much bad, as in unhealthy, food. However, the 19th century had its weighty people, and one of them was celebrated in this 1818 pamphlet: The Life of that Wonderful and Extraordinarily Heavy Man. Daniel Lambert, from his Birth to the Moment of his Dissolution; with an Account of Men Noted for their Corpulency... Lambert was an Englishman, and the heaviest verifiably known man on earth up to that point. He was strong and athletic as a youth, and claimed he did not overeat or drink alcohol. He had no visible signs of diseases that might have caused him to be so overweight, and managed to get around well despite his bulk. He had held a position as a jailer, but when that jail closed, he made money, when it was needed, by displaying himself. Lambert died suddenly one morning in 1809 at the age of 39, though up until ten minutes earlier he was feeling fine. At his death, Lambert weighed 739 pounds, and wheels were placed on his coffin so that it could be moved to his grave. Item 96. $750.

 

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

  • 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.
  • 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

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