Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2012 Issue

The War of 1812 - Observing Its 200th Anniversary

General Jackson takes on the British at New Orleans (perhaps a bit stylized).

We saw great celebrations around the land when America observed the 200th anniversary of the Revolution. Similar events have been featured at notable anniversaries of Civil War events. This month, we note the 200th anniversary of the beginning of America's first real, post-independence war. Celebrations will be more subdued.

The Revolutionary, Civil, First and Second World Wars gather the most attention, but more of America's skirmishes have been akin to the War of 1812. Not a lot was accomplished, and in hindsight, one wonders why this thing couldn't have been avoided. The War of 1812 was the ultimate stalemate. Both sides could claim victory, because no one really won. However, one notable result did come from this war. Outside of some minor border scraps along the U.S. Canadian line, it marked the end of hostilities between America and its former colonial ruler, Great Britain. The terrible confrontations and fights between the two were over, and one of the strongest and longest-lasting friendships was about to be forged. Unlike World War I, at least in this limited sense, the War of 1812 proved to be the war to end all wars.

If the War of 1812 is a minor memory in American history, it must be virtually invisible in England. At least at the time, it was a major event for Americans. Great Britain had been fighting in some war or other almost constantly for about a thousand years. Who could tell one war from another? They were always fighting the French, the Spanish, the Dutch, or all of them at any given moment. In fact, the British had just concluded a war with Sweden. Sweden! Who fights Sweden? It was more a war on paper than actual fighting, but war had been declared. The British fought in so many wars against the Europeans they had to resort to naming them by the number of years – the Seven Years' War, the Thirty Years War, the Hundred Years War. This was a nation that went to war over someone's ear, the infamous War of Jenkins' Ear. Even as they went to battle with the United States, they were engaged in a much more serious war in Europe, against Napoleon. Who would be surprised if the British couldn't remember much about the War of 1812?

Through the first dozen years of the 19th century, America was regularly in disputes with both England and France. Those two nations, as usual, were fighting over whatever they were fighting over at that particular moment. Neither wanted other nations trading with their enemy, so they regularly intercepted U.S. shipping. This incensed America, which, as a neutral nation, asserted its right to trade with whomever it chose. The U.S. tried various embargoes against the European combatants, but to no avail. However, the British particularly angered Americans by their policy of impressment of American seamen. England believed that American seamen had been born British subjects, and therefore they had the right to draft them into the Royal Navy. They accomplished this on the spot, forcing them off of U.S. merchant ships and into their navy. Add to that, the British liked to stir up trouble from Canada, such as encouraging western Indians to attack far off American outposts. It was just too much. On June 18, 1812, President Madison selected the British as the worst offender, and the War of 1812 was on.

The Americans attacked the British in Canada, but to no avail. The British pushed them back, but never penetrated that deeply into the U.S. either. It was essentially a stalemate. Once Napoleon had been put in his place, in the year 1814, it freed up more British forces to deal with those American upstarts. The British Navy entered Chesapeake Bay and began wreaking havoc on America. They burned down Washington, and then moved on to Baltimore. On that famous night, the Americans held off British bombardments of Fort McHenry. In the morning, our flag was still there. The Americans may not have gained any territory through the war, but they did gain a national anthem. And Francis Scott Key's words were set to the melody of an old British drinking song no less. The British got the last laugh on that, as we notice every time some poor celebrity attempts to sing that tortured melody before a ballgame.

There really wasn't much more to fight about after that. In December of 1814, the two sides decided to call it off. In those days, communications were really slow, so the message did not reach British forces set to attack New Orleans. They attacked anyway, and were surprisingly routed by Andrew Jackson's defenders. America finally had its rousing victory, even if it came after the war was over. Along with The Star Spangled Banner, the War of 1812 gave us one of the top selling songs of the 1950s, The Battle of New Orleans.

So, Americans should raise a toast to their brave citizens who fought off the affront to their honor, and defended their homeland between 1812 and 1815. And, the British too, should honor their noble warriors who went off once again to fight over something or other. If nothing else, it provided practice for whatever their next war would be. A list of British wars indicates that later in 1815, the British would be back in battle again, in the Hundred Days (as opposed to Years) War and the Second Kandyan War. Don't ask me. I have no idea what that last one was about.

For collectors of books and other works on paper, the War of 1812 is a field not nearly so crowded as the better known wars. The competition is less fierce, and fewer people will be able to match your expertise. Along with remembering the battles themselves, the war thrust two generals into the White House, the aforementioned Andrew Jackson, and many years later, William Henry Harrison, who promptly died in office. Both are highly collectible, one for being a major force in American history, the other for the extreme rarity of material he signed as President (he served only 30 days, mostly from a sick bed). This is a field ripe for collecting. Oh say, can you see?

Rare Book Monthly

  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
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    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

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