Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2007 Issue

Western Books from Gene W. Baade

none

none


Item 102 is a broadside that anticipates one of the major issues of the 1896 election. From 1893, it is headed To the Friends of Silver, published in Butte, Montana. The bimetallic standard, which backed currency with either gold or silver, was important to Montana's silver miners, as it required the government to purchase substantial amounts of the metal. However, the use of a bimetallic standard rather than gold tended to be inflationary, not popular with eastern business interests. This broadside calls on silver miners to organize to defend the bimetallic standard, and notes that Congressman Richard P. Bland (coauthor of the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 which required government purchases of silver) would attend. The metallic standard issue would come to a head in 1896 when silver advocate William Jennings Bryan would be trounced by gold standard supporter William McKinley. $75.

Item 4 is an obscure account of an ugly railroad strike from 1921-1922. This self-described "home-made product, compiled and printed under all the trying circumstances incident to inexperience and the lack of proper facilities" is entitled, An Industrial War. History of the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Strike... It was written by Walter F. Bradley and published in Harrison, Arkansas, seat of the strike, in 1923. When the railroad announced a cut in wages, the railroad workers, affiliated with the AFL, walked out. Initial local sympathy for the workers quickly disappeared as the strike went on. Local businesses were dependent on the railroad, which made it known they would not reopen the line unless residents could prevent sabotage by striking employees. The locals were successful, with the help of a lynching, in intimidating the workers and breaking the strike. Most strikers had to flee to Missouri. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory for the railroad, which suffered substantial losses, ending up in receivership a few years later and foreclosed and sold in 1935. $750.

Gene W. Baade may be reached at 425-271-6481 or bookwest@eskimo.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.

Review Search

Archived Reviews