Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2004 Issue

All Politics Is Local: Books of Millie O'Neill and Speaker of the House Thomas P. O&#39Neill Jr.

What we can surmise indirectly is that although Treasures was a “Coffee-table” book, it was not resident on an O'Neill coffee table.


By Renée Magriel Roberts

When we arrived in Harwich Port in 1975 it was hard to ignore what I can only think of as a large presence at Ike’s breakfast place on Main Street. Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. and his family had a home here, within walking distance to Bank Street Beach. By ’75 Tip had been in politics for over 40 years. He was hard to miss in the village, which was — and still is — a pretty sleepy little place. He was affable and approachable and ate his breakfast in one of the leatherette booths or on a stool at a formica countertop, right in front of the short-order cook. Representative O’Neill didn’t have airs; he was a real person in spite of his celebrity, quick with a handshake and a smile.

In 1977, Tip O’Neill capped his already successful political career with a truly remarkable 10-year leadership role as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the longest continuous service in this post in the Nation’s history. Informed by the Great Depression, Tip consistently supported programs for the disadvantaged and let light and air into the secrecy that had enveloped the workings of Congress. Here on the Cape he was responsible for creating and preserving one of the jewels of the National Park System, the Cape Cod National Seashore. As Democrats, and social activists, we revered him, as we revered John F. Kennedy, whose seat in the House Tip had won back in 1952.

In 1984 Boston College named its library after him and received his political papers upon his death in 1994. Last fall, his wife Millie passed away; their estate was settled this year. The O’Neill’s home in Harwich Port was sold; antiques and collectibles were picked up by the local auction house. Items not valuable enough to auction were tagged for a yard sale. The O’Neill children identified and distributed treasures. Tip and Millie’s everyday books were packed into boxes, some destined for the tag sale and others for the Treasure Chest, a free store at our local dump.

We now arrive at the tale of two dogs — Geraldine, a mutt who looks like the dictionary definition of bird dog, with a bossy, runt-like personality, opinionated, and obsessive about working, and Chessie, the pedigreed reddish brown and white Portuguese Water Dog. The former is one of three siblings, foisted on us by a relative; the latter dog belongs to Kip and Stephanie O’Neill, the Speaker’s son and daughter-in-law. We happen to live near the only field in town where you can let your dog exercise (do not ask for the location), and as oftentimes happens, the dogs make friends long before the people do. It is — well — a democratic kind of place where any dog can run, as long as they don’t beat up on other dogs or humans.

Rare Book Monthly

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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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
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    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
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    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.
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    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.
  • Sotheby’s
    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
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  • 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
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