Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - November - 2005 Issue

Travels and Voyages from William Reese

Travels and Voyages from William Reese Company.

'
By Michael Stillman

The William Reese Company's
240th catalogue is titled Travels and Voyages. Reese specializes in the very top level of books, manuscripts and ephemera. You will find contemporary items either written by, or concerning the voyages of the greatest explorers. Not to be namedroppers, but some of those you will find here are Magellan, Drake, Vancouver, Dampier, Hakluyt, Drake, Cook, Kotzebue, Wilkes, Bligh, Ross, and Foss.

Foss? Few explorers of this time had it easy, but no one ever suffered like poor Daniel Foss. His book is A Journal of the Shipwreck and Suffering of Daniel Foss....the Only Person Saved from on Board the Brig Negociator....and who Lived for Five Years on a Small Barren Island - During which time He Subsisted on Seals, and Never Saw the Face of a Human Creature. If all he subsisted on was seals, this might not be quite as horrible a story. According to Foss, and he being the only survivor, it is hard to verify the details, the Negociator left Alexandria (other editions say Philadelphia) in 1811 (others say 1809). On Nov. 26, 1811 (or November 15, 1809), the ship struck an iceberg in the Pacific and went down. All hands made it to the lifeboats, but nine days later, only 13 were left, the result of the extreme cold. A bit later still, the number dwindled to three, and dying of hunger, they drew lots to see which would be dinner for the others. Then there were two. They survived this way until March, when the two spotted a small island. Unfortunately, their boat overturned 100 yards from shore, and only Foss made it to the island alive. It was then that Foss began subsisting on seals and collected rainwater, a step up from his previous cuisine, but certainly very tiresome since this was all he had for the next five years. How many ways can you cook a seal? Finally, he was spotted by a U.S. ship and was saved from his island. So, is Foss' account of his story accurate? Since he was the only survivor, we'll never know, but considering that by 1816, he was publishing contradictory editions concerning the year they left, and where they left from, one might question his memory, if not his honesty. Item 57. Priced at $4,500.

Here are some fascinating, though embarrassing letters from Loring Austin. Austin set out from America to Russia to establish a trading business. His letters to his father give a picture of the port city of Archangel in Russia at the time. Unfortunately, Austin was not successful in his business ventures. A letter on his return trip is most revealing. His American ship was threatened by French and Danish privateers. They were forced to seek protection from the British fleet. Writes Austin, "To our shame it must be confessed that our flag waves in the Baltic the very emblem of impotence, and our commerce....finds its only security under the British flag, a protection we cannot request without disgrace, & which perhaps may not be granted, without some sarcastic remark upon our national imbecility too galling to be made without impunity, yet too obviously just to admit of reply." Talk about humiliation. Less than a year later, America would go to war with Britain, the impressment of U.S. sailors into the British navy a major cause. Perhaps the British were a bit more justified than we thought, since we seemed to be free riding their naval protection. Item 7. $2,000.

Rare Book Monthly

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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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
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    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.
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    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
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    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
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