Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2007 Issue
The Pacific Northwest from Wessel and Lieberman
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Item 209 is a 1967 publication of the Congress of Racial Equality, intended to stir pride in the children of their Negro history classes: George Washington Bush: Washington's Negro Pioneer. This George W. Bush did not have such an easy go in life, but had to fight racial prejudice even while becoming a very successful farmer. In 1845, he and a group of white friends and family set out for the Oregon Territory in an attempt to escape prejudice in slave state Missouri. However, he encountered exclusion when he arrived, so Bush moved north of the Columbia River to an area virtually unsettled near today's Olympia. The Bush party settlement of this area would prove to be a critical factor in this territory breaking away from Oregon in 1853 to become the Territory and later State of Washington. $5.
Orange Jacobs was another Washington pioneer who made the trek across the Oregon Trail. In 1908, an older Orange Jacobs published his Memoirs of Orange Jacobs: Containing Many Interesting, Amusing and Instructive Incidents of a Life of Eighty or More Years, Fifty-Six Years of Which Were Spent in Oregon and Washington. Jacobs led an important life, serving as a territorial judge and Supreme Court Chief Justice, delegate to Congress, and Mayor of Seattle. For those keeping track, his "Eighty or More Years" proved to be 87 (he died in 1914). This copy is signed by Jacobs. Item 211. $100.
Item 186 is a biography of another Seattle mayor -- Dr. Minor. A sketch of the background and life of Thos. T. Minor, M.D. (1844-1889). Despite a relatively short life, Dr. Minor was the only person to serve as both Mayor of Seattle and Port Townsend. Thomas Pelly's 1933 book is the only biography of this eminent citizen. $75.
For those seeking a spectacular work of photography, item 192 is Art Work of Portland, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River, by Benjamin Gifford. This is a 1912 folio limited edition with over 100 photogravures, most full-page in size. $2,250.
Wessel and Lieberman may be found online at www.wlbooks.com or reached by phone at 206-682-3545.
