Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2004 Issue
Unusual 19th Century Literature and<br>Americana from Ken Leach
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For some non-political songs, you can pick up sheet music for The Schoolmaster, which was described as “a very popular glee.” Perhaps in 1839, but its popularity has not survived. Item 95. $150. Then there’s a manuscript music book from around 1780 with the words and some music for various tunes. This song has no music, but if you provide a melody, the songbook will provide the lyrics for “Crazy Jane.” Certainly she must be more interesting than “Plain Jane.” Item 36. $200.
Some of the risks of oil production were evidently apparent even back when most people were still riding horses. Item 64 is John McLaurin’s Sketches in Crude-Oil. Some Accidents and Incidents of The Petroleum Development in All Parts of The Globe. With Portraits and Illustrations. It was published in 1896. $750. Environmentalists will also be interested in the sheet music for the 1837 ballad Woodman! Spare That Tree! Item 96. $50.
Biblical scholars will probably be surprised by this title: The Blackwater Chronicle. The Narrative of an Expedition Into The Land of Canaan, in Randolph County, Virginia. This astonishing discovery of the true geographical location of Canaan will undoubtedly force a reassessment of many Biblical assumptions. This book was published in 1853. Today, Randolph County is located in West Virginia, which explains John Denver’s line “Almost Heaven, West Virginia.” Item 100. $350.
Here’s a view that will have to be remembered in books, as it can be seen no more: Views of the Profile Mountain, and the Profile Rock, or the “Old Man of the Mountain,” at Franconia, New Hampshire. The famed “old man” was an attraction even back in 1847 when this book was published, and came to be a symbol of New Hampshire. But nothing lasts forever. Much of the “old man” collapsed last year, obliterating New Hampshire’s revered landmark. Item 78. $650.
Anyone for a steamboat ride? Item 27 is a ticket from a Connecticut transportation vendor. “This ticket entitles the bearer to Twenty miles travel on board the Boats of the Connecticut River Valley Steam-Boat Company. Winsor, January 20, 1831.” It doesn’t specify the date as an expiration, so perhaps the ticket is still good, if you can find the Connecticut River Valley Steam-Boat. $75.
