Rare Book Monthly
Articles - November - 2003 Issue
America, America (and two more Americas)<br>Four new Americana Catalogues
“Rare Americana” from David M. Lesser
Jefferson Davis may be remembered essentially for being anti-abolition, but he was also anti-prohibition. Consistent with his limited government themes, Davis wrote a letter to Texans in 1887 urging the defeat of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of liquor. A year after his death in 1889, Alabamans used his words in a broadside to oppose a similar attempt in their state. Lot 35. $275.
Aspen, Colorado, officials promoted their town in 1892 as having “wonderful properties and an even more wonderful future.” They were right, of course, but could little have imagined why. Its mining operations, railroads, schools, churches, cultural institutions and more were extolled. But, no one thought of skiing. Lot 25. $500.
Item 46 is an ironic broadside entitled Why I Will Not Vote the Democratic Ticket. Among the reasons are “Every man that shot a Union soldier was a Democrat…” and, ironically, “Every state that seceded from the United States was a Democratic State.” Of course all of those states are now Republican, while Democrats carried most of the states that were then part of the Union. $175.
Albert Gallatin was a man we could use today. He served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1801 to 1814 and was intent on eliminating the national debt. Unfortunately, the War of 1812 prevented him from completely accomplishing his goal, but he still managed to cut the debt in half during his term, despite such inconveniences as that war and the Louisiana Purchase. In Views of the Public Debt… from 1800 he explains his beliefs. Lot 50. $650.
David M. Lesser can be found on the net at www.lesserbooks.com or by phone at 203-389-8111.
Anyone who collects anything related to New Jersey must have Joseph J. Felcone’s “Catalogue 90, New Jerseyana.” This catalogue is filled with 1,094 items connected to the Garden State. Many are tied to local communities, such as public and church records, promotional and tourist materials, family records, maps and the like. However, there are also many items that will be of interest to those living outside her borders.
