Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2007 Issue
Miscellaneous New Acquisitions from John Michael Lang Fine Books
Ernest Griset's imaginary natives.
Item 15 is one which ties in with the preceding manuscript -- The Coeur D'Alenes, or a Tale of the Modern Inquisition in Idaho by May Arkwright Hutton, published in Wallace in 1900. May Arkwright was a working class immigrant to the Coeur D'Alene mining district who labored as a cook before opening a boarding house. One of her diners was Levi (Al) Hutton, a railroad engineer, whom she married. Hutton was one of those who invested in Day's Hercules mine and worked there when he had spare time. However, Al Hutton got caught up in a mining strike when his train was commandeered. He was temporarily jailed under martial law though he was not involved. Mrs. Hutton, strongly pro-labor, wrote this book in protest. Ironically, the following year, the Hercules began to produce large profits, and the working-class Huttons became millionaires. They would move to more spacious quarters in Spokane, but Mrs. Hutton would remain politically active, being a tireless worker for women's suffrage. However, she did try to round up and destroy as many copies of this book as she could find. $500.
For those hoping to emulate the good fortune of the Days and Huttons there is En Route to the Klondike. Chilkoot Pass and Skaguay Trail. This provides routes and advice on traveling to the gold fields of Alaska, with photographs of miners, camps, Indians, and more. However, it is dated 1897, so perhaps the gold is now gone. Item 1. $450.
Item 9 is an 1867 color plate book, with 36 hand-colored engravings by Ernest Griset. The book is Legends of Savage Life, by James Greenwood. This is meant to be a humorous look at an imaginary tribe, though one might infer that it is African in origin. Lang notes that Griset's illustrations are "less than politically correct." Tipped in is an advertisement for another Greenwood/Griset book, "The Hatchet Throwers," a similarly offensive work. $300.
John Michael Lang Fine Books may be reached at 206-624-4100 or jmlbooks@isomedia.com. Their website is found at www.jmlbooks.com.
