David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued their Catalogue 220. It is a continuation of their long-running series of catalogues focusing on early America, primarily late Colonial times to post-Civil War Reconstruction. Here are a few of the items you will find this time.
James Otis Was one of America's first patriots, but he is not as well-remembered as most from his era. Unfortunate events intervened to sideline him. Even before the ending of the French and Indian War, when the British and colonists were on the same side, he was arguing against British intrusions into America's affairs. By the time of the Sugar Act, where a tax was placed on sugar, he strongly objected, coining, if not the exact phrase, the concept - taxation without representation is tyranny. That objection is expressed in this pamphlet, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved. This a third edition from 1764. It helped to ignite the controversy that concluded with the American Revolution. Unfortunately, Otis would not be able to participate in the movement for independence as it gathered steam. He started to show signs of mental instability in 1769 and a head injury in 1770 may have exacerbated it. He was honored by some of the well-known patriots who followed him, but he was unable to play a meaningful role going forward. Item 92. Priced at $2,750.
This is a bit of an odd item. It's a loyalty oath, headed United States of America State of Texas. It is a form oath with blank spaces to be filled in manuscript. The County is filled in "Travis." The oath was for Will Brown, noted as "Col'd" (colored). Brown was unable to write, so he has signed it with his "X"while the registrar and witness have attested for him. These loyalty oaths were required of Confederate soldiers seeking to regain their citizenship. It seems unlikely that a Black man would have been a confederate soldier, though it is possible, maybe through coercion. However, this oath has the word "Cancelled" across it with the name of Col. C.C. Moore. Moore was, we believe, a Union officer. Why would he have cancelled a loyalty oath by a Black man? They were not the ones who rebelled against the United States. That is not clear. Item 2. $3,000.
Thaddeus Stevens was one of the Radical Republican Congressmen. Before and during the Civil War, he was an advocate of freeing the slaves. After the war, he believed land should be confiscated from the plantations and given to freed slaves, so they would have a stake in the country. This didn't happen. He came into conflict with President Johnson who wanted to bring the Southern states back into the fold expeditiously. Stevens was vocal about his positions during the war. In 1862, General David Hunter issued a proclamation of emancipation for the slaves in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. He wanted them to be able to enlist with Union forces. This is the Speech of Hon. T. Stevens in Reply to the Attack of Gen. Hunter's Letter, from 1862. Stevens was not pulling his punches. He says the army should, "wherever they go, to free the slaves, to enlist them, to arm them... and set them to shooting their masters if they will not submit to this Government... I would not only liberate them, but I would seize every foot of land, and every dollar of their property as our armies go along, and put it to the uses of the war and to the pay off our debts. I would plant the South with a military colony if I could not make them submit otherwise." President Lincoln was far more moderate. He did not follow Stevens' advice and overturned Hunter's emancipation of slaves in the three states. This publication also contains a Pastoral Letter from the Bishop of New Orleans, saying, "The Catholic Church has ever deplored the cruel slavery in which a multitude of men are detained, to the great detriment of their souls, and has never ceased to labor to remedy so great a calamity." Item 108. $1,250.
This wasn't quite slavery, but it wasn't much different. It sure quacked like slavery. Twelve-year-old Isabella was made an indentured servant, with a master rather than parents. Her role was to serve her master, not to be a kid. This 1840 legal document orders to "place and bind out Isabella alias Kitt a Negro girl aged about twelve years, who has neither parents or guardians residing in this state, as a servant" to Owen M. Long, "to be instructed in the arts and mysteries of housekeeping, to live with and serve him as a servant for the term of six years from the date hereof, that is to say, until she shall arrive to and be of the age of eighteen years." Owen has "all the authority, power and right, to and over the said Isabella alias Kitt, and her services during said term, which by the laws of this state a master hath to and over a lawfully indentured apprentice." Owen agrees "to teach and instruct the said Isabella alias Kitt as his servant, or otherwise, to cause her to be taught to read and to be well and sufficiently instructed in the art and mystery of housekeeping, after the best way and manner he can; and also to train her to habits of obedience, industry and morality and provide for and allow her meal, drink, washing, lodging and apparel for summer and winter, and all other necessaries proper for such a servant, during the term of her service as aforesaid, and at the expiration of said term, will give unto the said servant two new suits of clothes suitable to her condition, also a bible." The art and mystery of housekeeping? I don't know whether "Kitt" fully appreciated being an "artist." Item 63. $2,500.
This is a Letter Addressed to the President of the United States on Slavery, Considered in Relation to the Constitutional Principles of Government in Great Britain and in the United States. By An American Citizen, written in 1854, published in 1855. The anonymous writer (Lesser says Jesse Chickering, a Unitarian minister and political economist who later practiced medicine) makes a cogent, constitutional argument against slavery. He argues that American law was based on British law which effectively abolished slavery. Bowing to the practical, he did not argue for immediate emancipation as the slave first had to be prepared for freedom. It is unlikely this letter moved the President. The President then was Franklin Pierce, a classic northern man with southern principles, who had no problem with slavery. Item 4. $450.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or [email protected]. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.
