From Russia (and Europe) with a Short List from Simon Beattie
- by Michael Stillman
Mr. Fualdes was the victim of a gruesome murder.
Item 12 is an obscure French news-sheet concerning the Fualdes Affair in 1817. Antoine Fualdes was a former prosecutor in Napoleon's time who had his enemies on the right of the political spectrum. He was brutally murdered, bled to death, and had his body dumped in the river. The trial, which led to murder convictions, was a cause celebre in its day, watched intensely in France and much of the rest of the world as well. This sheet was printed about a month after the trial. £300 (US $417).
In the Chechen region of Russia, there have been terrorist attacks, including a terrible school bombing a few years back, as local Muslims have sought independence from Russia. This is nothing new. Over two centuries ago, a Moslem leader known as Sheikh Mansur managed to gather various tribal Moslem groups in the region to attack the forces of Catherine the Great. Mansur was obviously a charismatic leader, disrupting Russian control in the area for several years. He was captured in 1791, sentenced to life in prison in St. Petersburg, where he died in 1794. Item 20 is Sheikh Mansur, a 1787 first and only edition, taken from the Italian original, almost nonexistent today. Why Mansur's story was brought to Italy is not clear, though there appears to have been interest in him and his prophecies in that country. Almost a century later, some letters were discovered, supposedly from Mansur, claiming he was really Giovanni Boetti, an Italian monk and missionary who disappeared in Asia, only to convert to Islam and become the prophet and leader Mansur. The authenticity of these letters is debated to this day. £1,200 (US $1,666).
Poetry can be written about almost any subject. If you don't believe it, take a look at item 13: Epitre a Mr. Moreau, premier chirurgien de l'hotel-Dieu de Paris, published in 1751. Author Mr. Le Roy, an attorney, wrote this poem to honor the surgeon Jean-Nicolas Moreau for amputating his arm. Le Roy's arm was badly damaged in a hunting accident. £400 (US $555).
Freeman’s, August 20. President Washington Reaffirms the US Treaty of Friendship and Peace with Morocco, the Longest Unbroken Treaty in US History. $50,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s, August 20. Weeks After Victory at Yorktown, Benjamin Franklin Promises Repayment of a French Loan that Funded the American Revolution. $200,000 – 300,000.
Freeman’s, August 20. Rare First Edition of the Foundational Text of the Mormon Church. $100,000 – 150,000.
Freeman’s, August 20. President Washington Sends the First Major Law Passed by Congress, the Tariff Act of 1789. $100,000 – 150,000.
Freeman’s, August 20. A Scarce Example of Audubon's Depiction of a Brown Pelican, Plate CCLI from his Birds of America. $30,000 – 50,000.
Freeman’s, August 20. The Official and First Obtainable Broadside Printing of the Lincoln's Final Emancipation Proclamation. $30,000 – 50,000.
