Rare and Significant Americana from David Lesser Antiquarian Books
Catalogue 99 of Rare Americana from David Lesser.
By Michael Stillman
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has reached number 99 in their series of catalogues of Rare Americana. As usual, it is filled with the odd and unusual, along with many items relating to important events in American history. Lesser's catalogues are a must for the Americana collector as they always are filled with the unexpected, be it politics, religion, science, commerce, travel, or anything else relating to early America. Here are some examples.
Pastor Charles Turner left few words unsaid in A Sermon Preached Before His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq; Governor...May 26th, 1773. Turner speaks unequivocally of the colonists' "unalienable right" to determine their own government. He excoriates British rule, concluding, "How distressing the thought of being slaves, how charming that of being free!" Governor Hutchinson, an unrepentant British loyalist, must have been squirming in his seat through this sermon. He would be run from the colony the following year by revolutionary colonials who despised him. Item 129. Priced at $850.
The Arthur Hodge case was one of the most egregious of slavery cases, though this one occurred on the British West Indian island of Tortola. Hodge flogged his slave, Prosper, for two days, and then left him to die a slow and painful death over the next week and a half, without medical assistance or food. Prosper's initial crime was "causing a mango to fall off of a tree." The case was so shocking that, in an instance of great rarity, this slave owner was executed for killing his slave. The details of this case, which helped lead to the end of slavery in the British West Indies, are presented in Papers Relating to the West Indies...in Reference to the Trial and Execution of Arthur Hodge... Item 53. $750.
Polly Davis experienced the torments of Hell and the joys of Heaven, all without dying. A sickly New Hampshire woman in 1792, suffering convulsions, she saw visions of Hell, with damned souls moaning in eternal agony. She next saw Heaven and all its beauty, and then was returned to mortal life with God's command that she warn others. However, first she had to endure 16 more days of sickness, whereupon she was visited by an angel, and her sickness cured. In case you have doubts, it is all related here in A Faithful Narrative of the Wonderful Dealings of God, Towards Polly Davis...by Eden Burroughs. Item 10. $650.
The issue of slavery was such an irreconcilable divide that it not only split a nation, it even split many of its churches. Long before the Civil War, the Methodist Episcopal Church broke into northern and southern churches. Item 6 is a reflection of that schism, published in 1848: Brief Appeal to Public Opinion...Affecting the Rights and Interests of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Evidently, the new southern church was not pleased with the division of property granted by the old church. Item 6. $275.
Koller Auctions Books & Autographs 18 September 2024
Koller, Sep. 18: Cowper, William. Anatomia corporum humanorum ab excellentissimis… Utrecht, 1750. CHF 25,000 to 40,000
Koller, Sep. 18: Bell, Thomas. A Monograph of the Testudinata. London [1836-1842]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds [and] Supplement completed after the authors death…, London [1849-]1861 and [1880-]1887. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
Koller Auctions Books & Autographs 18 September 2024
Koller, Sep. 18: Gould, John. The birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, including many new species recently discovered in Australia. CHF 50,000 to 80,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Levaillant, François. Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des rolliers, suivie de celle des toucans et des barbus. Paris [1801-]1806. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Koller, Sep. 18: Pfinzing, Melchior. Die geverlicheiten und einsteils der geschichten des loblichen streytparen…, Nürnberg, 1517. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: Bible, Arabic & Latin. Biblia Sacra Arabica, 3 vol., Rome, Tipografia della Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, 1671. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Shepard (Ernest). "Wind in the Willows" Toad Escapes from Prison, original pencil drawing with watercolour, 1931. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Economics.- Smith (Adam). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vol., second edition, Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, 1778. £12,000 to £18,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: Burma.- Burmese School (1870s). Folding manuscript, or parabaik, of festivities and processions, probably from the Court Workshop at the Royal Court at Manadaly, Burma, [c. 1870]. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: More (Sir Thomas). La Description de l'Isle d'Utopie ou est comprins le Miroer des republiques du monde, first French edition, Paris, Charles l'Angelier, 1550. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Botany.- Dioscorides (Pedanius). De medicinali materia libri sex, hand-coloured throughout, Frankfurt-am-Main, Chr. Egenolff, 1543. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: World.- Blaeu (Johannes). Nova et Accuratissima Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore Joanne Blaeu, engraved map, [c.1662]. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Shelley (Mary). Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, 2 vol., [second edition], Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1823. £7,000 to £10,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: [Evans (Marian)] 'George Eliot'. A complete set of first editions of her works, uniformly bound in red morocco, 1858-1885 (30). £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 26th September 2024
Forum, 26 Sep: Lewis (C.S.) [The Chronicles of Narnia], 7 vol., first editions, 1950-56. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Albertolli (Ferdinando). Porte di Città e Fortezze...di Michele Sammicheli, Milan, 1815. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, 26 Sep: Gregynog Press.- Euripides. The Plays, one of 25 specially-bound copies, this by George Fisher at the Gregynog Bindery, 1931. £4,000 to £6,000.
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HAMILTON, Sir William - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: 1779. € 50,000 - 80,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KIRCHER, Athanasius - Turris Babel. Amsterdam: 1679. € 3,000 - 5,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: EDWARDS, George.London - Gleanings of Natural History. Londra: 1758-1764. € 7,000 - 10,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: HEVELIUS, Johannes - Cometographia. Danzica: 1668. € 20,000 - 30,000
Il Ponte, Sep. 24-25: KUPKA, Frantisek - Quatre histoires de blanc et noir. Parigi: 1926. € 10,000 - 15,000