Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2012 Issue

Broadsides, Broadsheets, and Pamphlets from David Lesser Antiquarian Books

Broadsides, broadsheets, and pamphlets.

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued a catalogue of Broadsides, Broadsheets, Pamphlets. These are ephemeral items, not intended to last long, the ones in this catalogue no exception to that rule. They generally carried the news, political disputes, and other issues of the day. Unlike books, usually meant to be read for years, the assumption was that their message would be read and soon discarded. Fortunately, some got put away in boxes and attics where they lay untouched for decades, even centuries, their moment in time preserved like fossils to be rediscovered many years later. What they offer us today is a look at that moment, as it was seen then, without the benefit of hindsight. There is an immediacy to this ephemeral material unlike the longer range views usually seen in books. The majority of the material in this catalogue comes from the 19th century, although there is material from the 18th, and a few from the 20th, as well. Here are some samples.

Item 27 contains two very rare broadsides, previously recorded as separate pieces but here printed together on a single sheet. The sheet folds into four pages, two carrying the proclamations, the other two becoming the cover for mailing. One is dated April 10, 1783, the other April 17. They were published by the Boston Committee of Correspondence at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. They display little sympathy for Massachusetts residents who remained loyal to the King. This copy was evidently sent to the selectmen of Gorham. It urges the towns to prevent Tories from returning to their land. Variously referring to them as “absentees,” “conspirators,” and “ingrates,” it calls on the towns to prevent these disloyal people from returning “To their Estates, the Rights of Citizenship, and the Enjoyment of Happiness they have been the main Instruments of making us thus long sorely toil and bleed for.” Priced at $15,000.

Those who fought on the losing side during the Civil War fared much better than those who supported the wrong side in the Revolution. Other than those at the highest levels, most Confederate soldiers were able to return to their land and regain full rights of citizenship by signing a loyalty oath. Item 41 is a collection of three such oaths, the wording being slightly different, but each required swearing loyalty to the U.S. Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation in particular. The three who received these pardons were Arthur McMurtry of Galveston, Texas, Edward Cousinard, a former mayor and future sheriff of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Thomas K. David of points unknown, who took his oath in Washington, D.C. Item 41. $3,250.

Item 135 is a folded, folio leaf promoting McCormick's Self Raker. Improved for 1867. Cyrus McCormick developed the first dependable mechanical reaper in the 1840s while living in Virginia. As he began to make sales of his machine, he found customers were mainly in the west, where land was more abundant. He moved to Chicago, set up a manufacturing plant, and began pumping out the reapers. It was McCormick's device that was perhaps more responsible than anything else for the development of the American farm belt, as it enabled the operation of large farms, something not possible before the invention of automated harvesting. McCormick's firm, the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, was merged with others to form International Harvester (now Navistar) in 1902. $600.

When the National Union Executive Committee, a pro-Union organization during the Civil War, promoted the vice-presidential candidacy of Andrew Johnson, they were more prescient of future events than even they could have imagined. Item 118 is an 1864 broadside headed, Who Shall Be Vice-President? Shall He Be a Loyal or Disloyal Man? It supports the candidacy of border state senator, Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's running mate, over peace Democrat George Pendleton of Ohio, running on the Democratic ticket under George McClellan. Pendleton's ties to the Copperheads may have made him particularly odious to Union supporters. This broadside emphasizes the importance of a loyal vice-presidential candidate on practical grounds - “Past experience shows that the choice of Vice-President of the United States is almost as important as that of President. In case the latter dies or becomes unable to perform the duties of his office, they devolve upon the former.” In the early days of the Republic, no one thought too much about the vice-presidency, but by 1864, two of the previously six elected presidents had died in office, and all too soon Lincoln would make it three of seven. $850.

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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