Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2006 Issue
Rare and Unique Books and Manuscripts from the 19th Century Shop
Martin Van Buren (left) and Walt Whitman.
Published in 1900, Die Traumdeutung, or the interpretation of dreams, indelibly changed psychological thinking forever. Sigmund Freud introduced us to such topics as the unconscious, or subconscious, the libido, Oedipus Complex, and all of those wonderful concepts that let us know how warped we really are. Now we can feel guilty about what we dream, even if we have no control over it. Offered is a first edition of this important work, one of only 600 copies printed. $30,000.
Here are a couple of photographs of notable Americans. One is an imperial size (19"x15") photo of President Martin Van Buren by famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. Van Buren served in the White House (1837-41) prior to the development of photography, but fortunately he lived long enough to pose for this distinguished image in retirement. It was probably taken around 1856. $35,000. Poet Walt Whitman posed for photographer George Cox in 1887. Whitman reportedly spun around in a rotating chair while Cox took a series of photos, each looking quite natural and unposed. The photograph here offered is 9"x 7". $28,000.
Next is the one Mormon item that is even older and more valuable than the first edition of the Book of Mormon. It is the unauthorized publication of parts of that book in The Reflector, a newspaper from Palmyra, New York. Newspaper publisher Abner Cole, using the penname of "O. Dogberry, Esq.," used the same printer as Joseph Smith. However, he stole some of the chapters Smith had brought to the press for printing and published them several months ahead of Smith. This led to a confrontation between Smith and Cole, after which Cole desisted. However, several issues of the newspaper were published, starting with January 2, 1830, and a very few copies survive. These are a few of those issues. $175,000.
You may reach the 19th Century Shop online at www.19thcenturyshop.com, phone number 410-727-2665.
