James Cummins bookseller, in partnership with the George S. ManManus Co., has issued a catalogue of Selections from the Michael Zinman Collection. Michael Zinman is one of the greatest collectors of Americana ever. Earlier, he contributed over 11,000 items of early Americana to the Library Company of Philadelphia. What is found in this catalogue are some items he held onto longer or acquired after the earlier transfer. Collectors can be confident that anything that comes from the Zinman collection belongs in a serious collection of Americana. Here are a few of these items.
We begin with one of the earliest books printed in North America. It was printed in 1663 by Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson. Green had apprenticed with Stephen Daye, who ran the Cambridge press that printed the first book, the Bay Psalm Book. This book is known as the Eliot Indian Bible. It didn't take the new arrivals long to conclude those already here needed their help to save their souls. Offered are fifteen consecutive leaves from the Eliot bible. It was the first bible printed in America. It employed a phonetic translation into the Natick language which had no written form. These pages come from Leviticus with some wise words such as love your neighbor as yourself and treat the neighbor who sojourns in your land as a native since you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. Perhaps the natives would have been better served by being a bit more suspicious of their new neighbors. Item 1. $15,000.
Libraries are rather lax in enforcing rules over the books they lend today. No more late fees if you keep it around almost forever. It was not always so. Item 50 is a copy of Volume II of the Life of Oliver Cromwell by Rev. M. Russell published in 1839. This copy of the Lord Protector's biography from a New York circulating library has a warning note (“See Here”) on the upper panel, “'Ignorance of the law excuses no one, therefore REMEMBER...you must bring this Book back in a fortnight, or be fined six cents for each day you keep it over that time...don't injure it in any way...if you get a spot of grease or dirt on it the Trustees will make you pay a six pence...if you mark or write on it or tear any leaf or cover, you must hand over ten cents...if you injure it badly, you must pay the cost of the book and ten cents more. So reads the law of the State of New York. And now my dear friend, if you don't know how to use a book well, be careful---or you'll get it slap't onto you. Remember! LOOK-OUT.” Either those early librarians were tyrants or had a great sense of humor. $950.
For as long as kids have wanted to go out and play, there have been schools to prevent them from doing so. Instead, they had to read schoolbooks. Here is one of the best, at least for 1787. It is Miscellanies, Moral and Instructive, in Prose and Verse; Collected from Various Authors, for the Use of Schools, and Improvement of Young Persons of Both Sexes. Kids can always use improvement. The author has been identified as Milcah Martha Moore. She was a poet and a teacher. She was also a generous person, donating the earnings from this and later editions to a school for indigent girls. The reason I know this was one of the best textbook of the day is that it came with the highest endorsement one could hope for. “I have read, and with much pleasure, the manuscript specimen communicated to me of the Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. I am glad to hear they are now ordered for the press. A book, containing so many well chosen sentiments, and excellent instructions, put into the hands of our children, cannot but be highly useful to the rising generation.” That quote comes from Benjamin Franklin, and who would not want their children to follow Poor Richard's advice? It may be time to reprint this book after a two-century absence. Item 61. $1,500.
In 1787, reading and writing may have been enough to teach kids, but come modern times – 1877 – adults realized they needed to know more. It was time for sex education. James Ashton was here to teach them about the birds and bees (that being a euphemism). His book is The Book of Nature; containing Information for Young People who think of Getting Married, on the Philosophy of Procreation and Sexual Intercourse. Showing also How to Prevent Conception and to Avoid Child-Bearing. This book would have been useful to young people who weren't planning on getting married too. The preface explains, “the writer has examined all the different modes ever recommended, discovered or invented for the prevention of conception.” They didn't work. Item 75. $4,500.
Here is a song sheet for a new song that began, “Brave Lincoln calls and we'll obey / It's thro' the woods and far away...” Brave Lincoln was not Abe, and this was not the Civil War. This was Shays' Rebellion, and this song was published in 1787, the year of the rebellion. Rural Massachusetts farmers could not afford to pay their taxes and debts, and were at risk of having their land seized, their only source of income. They rebelled. Daniel Shays led what became known as Shays' Rebellion. Item 33 is a song sheet for what is described as An Excellent New Song, On the Expedition under the command of General Lincoln... This Lincoln was Benjamin Lincoln, a former Continental Army officer who headed a locally funded “well-regulated militia.” Lincoln's troops carried the day and the new nation survived its first rebellion. If you are looking to revive this oldie, it is sung to the tune of Over the Hills and Far Away. This is probably not the same Over the Hills and Far Away recorded more recently by Led Zeppelin, but maybe you can get these lyrics to fit with that tune if you don't know the other. Item 33. $8,500.
James Cummins Bookseller may be reached at 212-688-6441 or info@jamescumminsbookseller.com. Their website is www.jamescumminsbookseller.com.
