Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2017 Issue

African-Americana, Archives and American Social Movements from Langdon Manor Books

The first catalogue from Langdon Manor Books.

Langdon Manor Books of Houston has issued their Catalog 1. African-Americana, Archives and American Social Movements. Social movements, along with American personal narratives, photo albums and outsider books, are Langdon Manor's specialties. In these politically tumultuous times, there is much to learn from yesterday's trials and tribulations, though we seldom do. History does repeat itself. It's just a matter of figuring out which historic lessons are about to be repeated next. Here are some samples of the material found in this first catalogue.

 

We begin with the last gasps of slavery, a day when many African Americans were not just treated inhumanely, but were regarded by the law as property, not humans. Item 30 is an Auditor's Warrant for compensation for a slave who lost his life as a result of being impressed into service by the Confederacy. We know him only as Tom, the property of South Carolina plantation owner Nathan Henry. As of 1860, Henry owned 24 slaves, half of them age 10 or younger. Impressment was approved by the Confederacy in 1863, allowing for the seizure of property for the war effort. Tom was around 26 years old when he was impressed in September 1864. He was described as "stout, healthy and intelligent." He was appraised, like any piece of property, with a financial value. Tom's was $6,000. Tom was sent off to work building fortifications on James Island. However, he became ill. One affiant said that he became ill because he was "unnecessarily whipped and abused and...not fortified with rations." He was sent back to Henry's plantation, but he was already very sick. Tom collapsed and three days later died. Ultimately, the claim was allowed for half of Tom's appraised value. The award, naturally, went to Tom's owner, not his kin. Priced at $850.

 

Slavery ended the following year, but integration into American institutions took much time. Item 17 is a military recruitment broadside for the First World War, issued in 1918. It is headed REGISTRANTS! Serve Your Country With The Skill Set That is Yours. Sixty-five skill sets were listed, and African Americans were recruited too. However, they were only recruited for seven skill sets: blacksmiths, bricklayers, buglers, carpenters, chauffeurs, clerks and cooks. African Americans were sought only for physical tasks, and combat roles was not among them. Nevertheless, by the end of the war, 40,000 black soldiers had participated in the fighting anyway. $400.

 

Here is another remnant of segregation. It is a copy of the book The Cradle of Texas, History Stories, by Sallie Glasscock, published in 1937. This is a common book, not notable to African American history except for the embossed seals and stamps on it. They note that it belonged to the Colored Branch Houston Public Library. Houston had a private library, open only to whites, as far back as 1854. The local Women's Club set about raising funds to construct a library building in 1899, but did not raise enough. Fortunately, Andrew Carnegie provided funds for the construction of a library building in 1901, finished three years later. However, Houston's blacks still could not read their books. In 1909, African Americans sought their own library, and with the aid of another Carnegie grant, one was built in 1913. Eight years later, both libraries became part of the new Houston Public Library, but blacks still were limited to the Colored Branch. It would not be until 1961 that this branch was finally closed down, the structure demolished the following year. Item 5. $100.

 

This item combines segregated groups working together for a good cause. Such were conditions in 1943. It is a program for Football 930th Field Art. Bn. vs A. & T. College. This was for a football game to take place on December 4 in Durham, North Carolina. On one side was the 930th Field Artillery Battalion, originally part of the Illinois National Guard, who would serve in Italy the following year. Their opponent was the team from A&T College, today North Carolina A&T. While the school was black and the military unit segregated, the sponsor of the game was a whites-only orphanage. However, the beneficiary of the proceeds of the game was a black orphanage in Oxford, N.C. Item 27. $275.

 

Item 15 is the medical records of Dr. Cyrus O. Weller, from the years 1881-1884. He was a physician in the small town of Columbus, Texas, located along I-10 between Houston and San Antonio (of course it wasn't on I-10 in 1881). Dr. Weller was born in Tennessee, educated in Philadelphia, and married a local woman whose family emigrated to Columbus. This assuredly explains why he ended up in this small Texas town. He was a well respected physician in Texas, and moved his practice to Austin in 1885. This perhaps explains why these years are in their own ledger. What is notable about this ledger is that the majority of Dr. Weller's patients were black. Langdon Manor did a census check on about the first half of the patients listed and those showed that 72% were African American. It is not known whether this was for humanitarian reasons, business reasons, or simply reflected the make-up of the surrounding population. We do know he provided much care for the indigent during a yellow fever epidemic in 1873, so we can surmise that Dr. Weller was a caring man. The thousands of listings in the ledger disclose names of patients, dates and prices of treatments, and what sort of treatments were provided, such as vaccinations, tumor removal, amputations, tooth removal, and more. $2,500

 

Langdon Manor Books may be reached at 713-443-4697 or LangdonManorBooks@gmail.com. Their website is found at langdonmanorbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    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.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    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.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    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.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    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
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    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.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    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
    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

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions