Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2009 Issue
Rare American History from David Lesser Antiquarian Books
Stephen A. Douglas strongly supported the Union in his final days.
Another leading senator of the era never appeared to have any such qualms about slavery, though he came from the North, Lincoln's state to be exact. This would be Stephen A. Douglas, famed for his debates with Lincoln, his doctrine of "popular sovereignty," and his loss to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election. Douglas' willingness to allow slavery to be extended to the western territories if approved by local residents, and his support of the Dred Scott decision (by downplaying its significance), turned northerners against him, even as it did little to gain him support in the South. The result was a thorough trouncing in the 1860 election to a man he had defeated for a senate seat just two years earlier. However, in the final days of his life, he did regain some of the respect he had lost in the North. Douglas' willingness to compromise on slavery was at least partly motivated by an overriding desire to preserve the Union, so that once the southern states seceded, he became a strong supporter of the Union cause. Item 38 is a Speech of Senator Douglas, Before the Legislature of Illinois, April 25, 1861... Less than two weeks after the outbreak of the Civil War, Douglas describes the rebellion as a "conspiracy to destroy the best government the sun of heaven ever shed its rays upon," and calls it, "...a war of aggression and extermination against the government established by our fathers." He called for his fellow Democrats to join him "...in defense of the government which we have inherited as a priceless legacy from our patriotic fathers... These are rights we can never surrender." It was a positive finale to an otherwise checkered career. Barely over a month later, Douglas died. $600.
Item 79 is a set of practical instructions for the use of that new high-tech device, the telephone. No, not the iPhone or the Blackberry - the telephone, that thing that was mounted on a wall and connected to other phones by wires. It is Practical Information for Telephonists. By T.D. Lockwood, Electrician, American Bell Telephone Company. This is an 1893 fifth edition of a guide first printed in 1882, just a couple of years after the first telephones were installed. $150.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.
