Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2020 Issue

The Latest Selection of Rare Americana from David M. Lesser Antiquarian Books

Rare Americana from David M. Lesser.

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has published their Catalogue 172 of Rare Americana. This is their latest selection of material related to America primarily from the late 18th and the 19th century. We find much here about politics, slavery, war, crime and religion. Four out of five of those are still major topics of discussion and conflict today, and even human slavery in somewhat different forms is still around. These are a few selections from the 150 items offered herein.

 

We begin with an unexpected book, or at least unexpected to have been written by someone who worked in the antebellum South. The title is American Chattelized Humanity, and Its Supports. By Jonathan Walker, late of Florida, where he was put in the Pillory, fined, branded with Hot Irons, imprisoned eleven months, &c. &c., by the Government of the United States, for an attempted act of Humanity, published in 1847. Walker was a fisherman and his crime was an attempt to help some runaway slaves escape by boat to the British West Indies, where slavery had been outlawed. For his act of humanity, he was imprisoned and literally branded, with the letters “SS” for slave stealer branded on his hand. He became known in the North as “the Man with the Branded Hand.” After his release, brought about when northern abolitionists paid his fine, Walker moved north and told his story and that of slaves in the South. He tells of the indignities and brutalities experienced by the slaves and the contradictions with America's expressed ideals. Writes Walker, slavery “has plunged us into deep disgrace in the eyes of the civilized world, and into awful guilt at the bar of our common humanity.” An image on the cover depicts a slave sale with the caption “Horses, Slaves, & Other Cattle Sold Here.” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about Walker entitled “The Branded Hand.” Item 143. Priced at $750.

 

Here is a man who had a very different view of what constitutes freedom. Judah Benjamin was a Louisiana senator who held several high level cabinet posts in the Confederate government after the outbreak of the Civil War. He was an eloquent speaker who used his skills to promote slavery and racism. In his waning days as a U.S. Senator before resigning to join the Confederacy, he delivered this Speech of Hon. J.P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, on the Right of Secession. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, Dec. 31, 1860. In it, he claimed the states had the right to secede, while foreseeing the likelihood that it would lead to war. He concludes that while the Union “may carry desolation into our peaceful land,” and “set our cities aflame,” that “you never can subjugate us; you never can convert the free sons of the soil into vassals, paying tribute to your power; you never can degrade them to a servile and inferior race. Never! Never!” Evidently, he missed the irony of using a claim to defend the “free sons of the soil” to justify enslavement of the people who actually worked that soil on behalf of the plantation owners. At the end of the war, Benjamin managed to escape the country as Walker's slaves attempted, by getting a boat to take him to the Bahamas. Item 10. $1,000.

 

Confederate officials and soldiers weren't the only people to suffer losses as a result of their side's defeat in the Civil War. Also, there was Curtis Wilhoit and others like him. They were owners of Confederate bonds. Item 29 is one such bond, stating “It is hereby certified that the Confederate States of America are indebted unto Curtis Wilhoit or assigns in the sum of forty eight hundred dollars redeemable after the first day of January 1866 with interest...at eight percent per annum.” No, it was not redeemable on January 1, 1866, as there was no Confederate States of America to redeem it anymore. Four thousand eight hundred dollars was a lot of money to lose in 1866. This certificate is signed by Robert Tyler, son of President John Tyler, the only U.S. President to support the Confederacy during the Civil War. $350.

 

Abraham Lincoln freed (most of) the slaves at the beginning of 1864 through the Emancipation Proclamation, but it took a constitutional amendment to eliminate the practice once and for all. That was the 13th Amendment. It states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except imprisonment for conviction of crimes, shall exist in the United States. It went into effect near the end of 1865. Item 1 is a collage of pictures of all the senators and congressmen who voted to adopt the 13th Amendment, along with President Lincoln and Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin. Hamlin was still in office when Congress passed the amendment, though he had been replaced by Andrew Johnson by the time the states ratified it. Item 1. $750.

 

Just before the Civil War started, a little boy was born in San Francisco... a very little boy. His name was Leopold S. Kahn, and a decade later he was discovered by P.T. Barnum. At the time, Barnum described him as being even smaller than Tom Thumb. In Barnum fashion, P.T. gave him a military title and name, “Admiral Dot,” and put him on display. Item 64 is a carte de visite of “Dot” circa 1876. The caption says Admiral Dot, Eighteen years old; Twenty-five inches high. Twenty pounds. The “Admiral” is standing on a luxurious, velvet-seated chair. I found an earlier such card in which “Dot” at age 14 was only 16 pounds though 25 inches tall. Evidently, all that eating must have stirred his growth hormones. Admiral Dot became too tall for Barnum. He married another small person and had two average size children. Eventually, he reached four feet tall. $125.

 

Admiral Dot had a nephew who also experienced dwarfism and was also part of Barnum's show. Lesser offers his carte de visite too. His name was Samuel Kahn, but Barnum gave him the name “Major Atom.” His card is captioned, Major Atom, Aged 10 Years, Weight 15 lbs. No height is given. Item 65. $125.

 

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 2:
    John Ford Clymer, U.S. Troops' Triumphant Return to New York Harbor, oil on canvas, circa 1944.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 44:
    Edward Gorey, Illustration of cover and spine for Fonthill, a Comedy by Aubrey Menen, pen and ink, 1973.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 50:
    Harrison Cady, frontispiece for Buster Bear's Twins by Thornton W. Burgess, watercolor and ink, 1921.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 54:
    Ludwig Bemelmans, Pepito, portrait of Pepito from the Madeline book series, mixed media.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 79:
    Gluyas Williams, Fellow Citizens Observation Platform, pen and ink, cartoon published in The New Yorker, March 11, 1933.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 86:
    Thomas Nast, Victory, – for the moment, political cartoon, pen and ink, 1884.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 91:
    Mischa Richter, Lot of 10 cartoons for Field Publications, ink and pencil, circa 1940.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 111:
    Arthur Getz, Sledding In Central Park, casein tempera on canvas, cover of The New Yorker, February 26, 1955.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 124:
    Richard Erdoes, Map of Boston, illustration for unknown children's magazine, gouache on board, circa 1960.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 155:
    Robert Fawcett, The old man looked him over carefully, gouache on board, published in The Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1945.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 170:
    Violet Oakley, Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, charcoal and pastel, circa 1918.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 188:
    Robert J. Wildhack, Scribner's for March, 1907, mixed media.
  • 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
  • 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

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