Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2004 Issue
Americana From <br>William Reese
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When is The Life of Catherine II. Empress of Russia a book of Americana? When it’s John Adams personal copy. The second volume of this three-volume set contains at least 35 annotations in Adams’ own hand. These had to do with Russian foreign policy which would have been of keen interest to Adams. The second president would later give this set to his granddaughter Caroline Amelia De Wirt in 1822, four years before his death. Item 2. $9,000.
There are many items for collectors of the great American West. For example, there is a copy of the first edition, second issue of Francis Parkman’s The California and Oregon Trail (only a handful of copies of the first issue were printed, likely for Parkman’s own use). This is one of the most classic and readable books describing at least the eastern part of that trail in the early stages of its role in western migration (the mid 1840s). Item 69. $2,500. Item 8 is William Blackmore’s Colorado: Its Resources, Parks, and Prospects as a New Field for Emigration… Privately printed in London in 1869, it was designed to lure immigrants to Colorado. Blackmore was a large landowner himself, and had great faith in the state’s future. Unfortunately, things would not go well for him. He would become bankrupt and commit suicide, but in time Colorado would entice perhaps more immigrants than it knows what to do with. $12,500. Item 95 is J.H. Triggs’ History and Directory of Laramie City, Wyoming Territory… This is a directory and promotion for the city and surrounding areas, and is the first such directory from Wyoming. $6,750.
Of course there are some Lewis and Clark items. Item 31 is Patrick Gass’ A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery, Under the Command of Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke… Evidently Capt. Clark did not command that his name be spelled correctly. Gass was a member of the expedition, and having obeyed President Jefferson and Captain Lewis’ command to keep a journal, he was able to release an account of the journey long before the official one (in 1810, or four years before the official account). $7,500. Item 45 is a rare 1807 printing of the expedition roster. Eight of the members, including Patrick Gass, are singled out for additional remarks. $12,500. Item 46 is the first British (printed the same year as the American first) edition of the official report: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River… $39,500.
One of the more collectible religious texts this side of the Gutenberg Bible is the first edition of The Book of Mormon. Printed in Palmyra, New York, in 1830, it predates the many journeys the followers of Joseph Smith would be forced to make before settling in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Mormon texts are highly collectible and consequently are among the most expensive to obtain. Item 66. $72,500. Unitarians are not such avid collectors. Item 97 is the first Unitarian prayer book, and it is priced at much more modest $2,750. It was compiled in 1785 by Rev. James Freeman, minister at King’s Chapel in Boston. This was an Anglican congregation which split from the main church over differing views on doctrines such as the Trinity. This congregation went on to become the first Unitarian church in the country.
