Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2007 Issue
Some Unusual Antiquarian Books from Samuel Gedge Ltd.
Von Schmidt-Phiseldek predicts European and American future.
Misunderstandings and outright hostility between the Western and Muslim worlds are nothing new. Spain had a long, unhappy history with its significant Muslim population in the 16th century. It attempted to force conversion to Christianity upon the population, but many who supposedly converted still kept their old ways. The Spanish position was expressed by Antonio Quintino in 1611 in Relatione di quello che trattavano I Moreschi di Spagna... It is an account of the expulsion of the Spanish Muslims, or Moriscos. Among the justifications are rumors that the Moriscos kept a giant toad in a secret cave and fed Christians to it. This makes the previous claims of witchcraft almost seem plausible. Item 78. £450 ($905).
Conrad von Scmidt-Phiseldek was a Danish visionary, at least he was in his book Europe and America or the relative state of the civilized world at a future period. This is the first English language edition of a work originally written in German, where in 1820 Schmidt-Phiseldek predicts the coming ascendancy of America. He also says that Europe must unite to retain its place in the world, something they are finally coming around to almost two centuries later. Item 83. £750 (US $1,508).
Item 2 presents some Strange and wonderful news from Chipping Norton in the county of Oxon. This place was a precursor to Roswell in the County of Chaves, New Mexico. A few of its citizens were witnesses to "dreadful apparitions." Flaming swords and other strange things appeared in the nighttime sky one summer eve in 1679. It's interesting that things such as swords appeared in 1679, compared to modern spaceships today. Evidently aliens keep up with the times too. £475 (US $955).
Samuel Gedge Ltd. May be found online at www.samuelgedge.com, telephone +44 (0)1263 722 555.
