Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2020 Issue

Patience Rewarded

At long last...

Circuses are an obscure footnote and been part of the human landscape for a millennium.  Even in remote backwaters such as the Hudson Valley in New York State in the 19th century, such entertainments were sufficiently developed to attract audiences as well as local authorities that looked upon such circuses as something close to gangs of mountebanks and women of the night.  So to protect residents of Poughkeepsie regulations were passed in 1854 defining acceptable from unacceptable activities that drew crowds:

 

“To prohibit all exhibitions of any natural or artificial curiosities, caravans, circuses, theatrical and other shows or exhibitions or performances for money, within the bounds of the city, or, if the Common Council shall deem it advisable to license the same, upon such terms as the Common Council may direct.” Ultimately the town fathers could decide “acceptability” and what charge promotors would be assessed for their Poughkeepsie Vatican.

 

However, it seems such permissions may only have been infrequently granted given that the section in the Poughkeepsie laws dealing with circuses fell within a series of paragraphs considering darker possibilities:  riots, gaming, circuses, disorderly houses, public nuisances, and gunpowder.

 

Nevertheless such things were exciting and promoters offered ready money.

 

So this brings to my purpose for mentioning this subject - a late 19th century image providing visual evidence that local authorities may have long thought circuses were the devil’s workshop, nevertheless such events’ relentless appeal must have worn down the community’s resolve to save the souls of the locally vulnerable.  Alas, excitement did overcome community reservations in 1892 as evidenced on eBay, an early photograph of two disreputable characters with an announcement of the Great Adam Forepaugh Show pasted on a nearby wall a researcher confirmed was for the year 1892.  The Circus’s schedule that year listed an exhibiting plan linking both the Gloucester Show advertised in the image and another nearby place, Poughkeepsie.  Since first seeing it I’ve wanted to buy it but thought the price too high given the connection was tangential.  A few days ago, for whatever reason, the seller for the first time, after it listing it for about 2,500 days, spontaneously offered a 30% discount after having rebuffed my offers dating as far back as Obama’s first term.  Voila!  I immediately committed and paid.  Patience rewarded!

 

This all said, the Poughkeepsie connection is established by a travelling schedule for the Forepaugh Show for 1892.  On that document Poughkeepsie was scheduled on May 23rd and Gloucester, the location forever seared into memory by the image of the poster for the same show on July 23rd.   Such are the connections affirmed.

 

This show moved on often.  Here’s their schedule for 1892:

 

 

April

23-30, Philadelphia Pa., Forepaugh Park.

May

Sunday
2 - Wilmington, Del.
3 - Chester, Pa.
4 - Pottstown, Pa.
5 - Reading, Pa.
6 - Pottsville, Pa.
7 - Shamokin, Pa.
Sunday
9 - Shenandoah, Pa.
10 - Allentown, Pa.
11 - Easton, Pa.
12 - Hazelton, Pa.
13 - Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
14 - Towanda, Pa.
Sunday
16-17 - Buffalo, N. Y.
18 - Dansville, N. Y.
19 - Elmira, N. Y.
20 - Scranton, Pa.
21 - Carbondale, Pa.
Sunday
23 - Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
24 - Pittsfield, Mass.
25 - Danbury, Conn.
26 - New Britain, Conn.
27 - Hartford, Conn.
28 - Waterbury, Conn.
Sunday
30 - Bridgeport, Conn.
31 - Middletown, Conn.

June

1 - New Haven, Conn.
2 - Northampton, Mass.
3 - Holyoke, Mass.
4 - Springfield, Mass.
Sunday
6-11 - Boston, Mass.
(Huntington Ave. and West Chester Park)
Sunday
13 - Providence. R. I.
14 - Williamantic, Conn.
15 - Norwich, Conn.
16 - Woonsocket, R. I.
17 - Webster, Mass.
18 - Worcester, Mass.
Sunday
20 - Newport, R. I.
21 - Fall River, Mass.
22 - New Bedford, Mass.
23 - Brockton, Mass.
24 - Taunton, Mass.
25 - Clinton, Mass.
Sunday
27 - Lowell, Mass.
28 - Nashua, N. H.
29 - Concord, N. H.
30 - Manchester, N. H.

July

1 - Portsmouth, N. H.
2 - Rochester, N. H.
Sunday
4 - Portland, Maine
5 - Bath, Maine
6 - Augusta, Maine
7 - Bangor, Maine
8 - Waterville, Maine
9 - Lewiston, Maine Sunday
11 - Biddeford, Maine
12 - Newburyport, Mass.
13 - Haverhill, Mass.
14 - Lawrence, Mass.
15 - Woburn, Mass.
16 - Salem, Mass.
Sunday
18 - Gloucester, Mass.
19 - Lynn, Mass.
20 - Waltham, Mass.
21 - Marlboro, Mass.
22 - Fitchburg, Mass.
23 - Athol, Mass. Sunday
25 - Gardner, Mass.
26 - Keene. N. H.
27 - White River Junction, Vt.
28 - St. Johnsbury. Vt.
29 - Montpelier, Vt.
30 - St. Albans, Vt.
Sunday

August

1 - Burlington, Vt.
2 - Rutland, Vt.
3 - Bennnigton, Vt.

August

4 - North Adams, Mass.
5 - Troy, N. Y.
6 - Hudson, N. Y.
Sunday
8 - Albany, N. Y.
9 - Cohoes, N. Y.
10 - Kingston. N. Y.
11 - Newburgh, N. Y.
12 - Hoboken, N. J.
13 - Middletown, N. Y.
Sunday
15 - Norwich, N. Y.
16 - Cortland, N. Y.
17 - Ithaca, N. Y.
18 - Binghamton, N. Y.
19 - Oneonta, N. Y.
20 - Saratoga Springs, N. Y.
Sunday
22 - Schenectady, N. Y.
23 - Amsterdam, N. Y.
24 - Gloversville, N. Y.
25 - Little Falls, N. Y.
26 - Utica, N. Y.
27 - Watertown, N. Y.
Sunday
29 - Oswego, N. Y.
30 - Syracuse, N. Y.
31 - Auburn, N. Y.

September

1 - Geneva, N. Y.
2 - Batavia, N. Y.
3 - Rochester. N. Y.
Sunday
5 - Hornellsville. N. Y.
6 - Olean, N. Y.
7 - Bradford, Pa.
8 - Jamestown, N. Y.
9 - Erie, Pa.
10 - Butler. Pa.
Sunday
12-13 - Pittsburgh, Pa.
14 - McKeesport, Pa.
15 - Greensburg, Pa.
16 - Johnstown, Pa.
17 - Altoona, Pa.
Sunday
19 - Williamsport, Pa.
20 - Sunbury, Pa.
21 - Harrisburg, Pa.
22 - Bethlehem, Pa.
23 - Plainfield, N. J.
24 - Jersey City, N. J.
Sunday
26 - Paterson, N. J.
27 - Newark, N. J.
28 - New Brunswick, N. J.
29 - Camden, N. J.
30 - Bridgeton, N. J.

October

1 - Trenton, N. J.
Sunday
3 - Lancaster, Pa.
4 - Chambersburg, Pa.
5 - Hagerstown, Md.
6 - Cumberland, Md.
7 - Clarksburg, W. Va.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Books and Manuscripts
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane] — Isaac D'Israeli. Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel. 70,000 - 100,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Brontë, Charlotte. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me..." 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Eliot, George. The author's magnum opus. 25,000 - 35,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Whitman, Walt. Manuscript written upon the Death of Lincoln, 1865. 60,000 - 80,000 USD
  • Sotheby’s
    Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining, Philadelphia, 1846. $3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: 17th–19th-century case maps of various locations. $1,500 to $2,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Andreas Cellarius, Haemisphaerium Stellatum Boreale Cum Subiecto Haemisphaerio Terrestri, celestial chart, Amsterdam, 1708. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Vincenzo Coronelli, Set of engraved gores for Coronelli’s monumental 42-inch terrestrial globe, Venice, circa 1688–97. $18,000 to $22,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, group of four navigational charts, Antwerp, 1580s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Thomas Bros, Block Book of Berkeley, Oakland, 1920s. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Nieuhoff & John Ogilby, An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, map of China, plan of Canton, London, 1673. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Frederick Sander, Reichenbachia, St. Albans, 1888-1894. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Two early illustrated works on horsemanship and breeding, Nuremberg, early 18th century. $700 to $800.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Gould, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans. Supplement to the First Edition, London, 1834; 1855. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, London, 1808–14. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Oakley Hoopes Bailey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Boston, 1896. $800 to $1,200.
  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000

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