Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2011 Issue

The Law from The Lawbook Exchange

Federal order excludes Japanese from the west coast during World War II.

Item 37 is a broadside from one of the worst episodes in American history. It is Civilian Exclusion Order No. 41, published from San Francisco on May 5, 1942. This ordered "all persons of Japanese descent, both alien and non-alien," out of all of California and most of Oregon and Washington. The result was most Japanese from these areas were sent off to internment camps, in effect imprisoned in shoddy camps for much of the remainder of the war. The government formally apologized and offered reparations to survivors and descendants in 1988. $1,500.

 

Item 153 is headed Anno Vicesimo Secundo Henrici Octavi. It is an accounting of 16 acts adopted during the 22nd year of the reign in England of King Henry VIII. It was published circa 1547, though it would pertain to 1531, just about the time Henry was starting to slip off the deep end. Among the acts of that year were "An Acte Ageynst Poysonnyng" and "An Acte Concernyng Outlandishe People Callyng Themselves Egiptians." The latter referred to Gypsies. $4,500.

 

Item 36 is a broadside for a law upon a law, A Law in Addition to a Law, Entitled "Of the Public Market Houses." Passed February 1, 1836, this law sets down regulations for the public markets in Albany, New York. It sets out regulations for the handling of meat and poultry as well as other food at the Centre Market, one of three in the city. Other rules set the hours, cost of permits, and allocation of stalls. It contains the printed name of Mayor Erastus Corning at the bottom. I don't know whether Albany still has these public markets, but when I was young, well over a hundred years after the date of this broadside, I accompanied my grandfather to the Albany Public Market while he would pick out (live) chickens. And the mayor was still Erastus Corning. No, Erastus didn't live that long. Erastus, great American railroad tycoon, served but one term as mayor in the 1830s. His great-grandson, Erastus Corning II, served over 40 years in the 20th century. $1,500.

 

Item 11 is a collection of letters and other material pertaining to the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal after the Second World War. It includes 300 letters from defense attorney John G. Brannan to his brother Sonny, also an attorney. Brannan had been assigned to help defend Admiral Osami Nagano. Nagano, leader of the Japanese Navy, had been reluctant to attack America, but was overridden on this call. He would later be kicked upstairs as the war effort went poorly. Nonetheless, as one letter here indicates, he was aware of the planned attack on Pearl Harbor. At a dinner with Nagano's wife, after his death, Brannan overheard her say to another Japanese officer that her husband had expressed regret at not being able to inform him in advance of the attack. Nagano suffered a heart attack and died during the trial. $15,000.

 

The Lawbook Exchange may be reached at 732-382-1800 or law@lawbookexchange.com. Their website is found at www.lawbookexchange.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€
  • 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
    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, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions