Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - October - 2008 Issue
Early Americana from Helen R. Kahn
Some intolerable acts from the intolerable British.
Here is a long title that seems believable enough until you get to the very end: Memoirs of the Life and Gallant Exploits of the Old Highlander, Serjeant Donald MacLeod, who, having returned, wounded, with the Corpse of General Wolfe, from Quebec, was admitted an out-pensioner of Chelsea Hospital, in 1759; and is now in the CIII.d Year of his Age. Was he really 102? MacLeod was said to have been born in 1688 to a poor family in Scotland. He joined the military at a young age and fought in Flanders around 1715. In 1757, he was off to North America, appointed as a drill sergeant, to fight in the French and Indian War. Of course that would have made him 69 at the time, a surprisingly advanced age for a drill sergeant. He fought at Louisburg and Quebec before being sent back to the Chelsea Hospital, evidently in the company of his general's dead body. MacLeod was not finished yet. He volunteered to assist Henry Clinton during the American Revolution, at which point he must have been at least 88, but the offer was declined. Clinton should have accepted, as he didn't do that well with his younger soldiers. MacLeod instead retired to what he was best at, making babies. While at the age of 102 he could no longer recall just how many children he had, there were at least 16 sons still living, and God only knows how many daughters (Donald didn't know). They ranged in age from 83 to 9, and the author tactfully points out there would probably be even younger ones if his current wife had not reached the advanced age of 49. For those suspicious of the story, author Thomson, who was an extremely prolific writer, points to two other men who lived to the ages of 150 and 160 as proof that MacLeod's age of 102 was believable. Sure. Item 128. $350.
Item 68 is the disagreeably titled Observations upon Certain Passages in Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, which appear to have a tendency to subvert religion, and establish A False Philosophy. It's not surprising that there would be some fundamentalist attacks on Jefferson, but it is surprising who the author was. This 1804 bit of unpleasantness was authored by Clement Moore, better known for writing A Visit from St. Nicholas ('Twas the Night before Christmas). $650.
Helen R. Kahn and Associates may be reached at 514-844-5344 or hrk@hrkahnbooks.com. The website is www.hrkahnbooks.com.
