Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2009 Issue
Literature and Americana from James Cummins Bookseller
Poet Langston Hughes as a 23-year-old busboy.
The Civil War did not end without one great, final tragedy - the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Item 243 is a copy of Lincoln's Last Hours, by Charles Leale, along with some photographs and inscribed material relating to the author. Leale was an army physician who attended Ford's theater on that fateful night as he wished to see Lincoln. He was only 23 years old when circumstances forced him to rush to Lincoln's box. Leale was the first to locate the gunshot wound, and treated Lincoln as best he could, trying to relieve pressure from bleeding on Lincoln's brain. Leale would stay with him for the remaining nine hours of Lincoln's life, tending to his medical needs, while understanding that there was no way the President's life could be saved. His 1909 book is one of the best eyewitness accounts of Lincoln's final hours. This collection comes from the estate of Leale's granddaughter. $2,000.
Item 33 is an interesting photograph, a portrait of poet Langston Hughes. However, he wasn't waxing poetic at the time (1925). He was still a 23-year-old busboy when this picture was taken, dressed in a spiffy white uniform (click the thumbnail image above to view this photograph). $750.
James Cummins Bookseller may be reached at 212-688-6441 or cummins@panix.com. Their website is www.jamescumminsbookseller.com.
