PDF - William Reese Company

catalogue three hundred eleven
American Women
W illiam R eese C ompany
409 Temple Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 789-8081
A Note
This catalogue is devoted to books, manuscripts, and art work by, or featuring,
American women. It is a diverse group of material including portraits of Ann
Gerry and Clara Catlin (see the front and rear covers of this catalogue); an Alfred
Jacob Miller watercolor of Indian women; Sarah Dearborn’s diary in Portugal in
1823-24; material by and relating to women famous in American history, from
Abigail Adams to Jacqueline Kennedy; Indian captivities; travel narratives; political
writings; and more.
Available on request or via our website are our recent catalogues 305 Recent Acquisitions
in Americana, 307 Hawaii, 308 Rare and Fine Books & Manuscripts, 309 Western Americana, and 310 American Manuscript Archives, Journals & Narratives, as well as Bulletins
30 Manuscripts, 31 Manuscripts, 32 Western Americana, 33 American Natural History, 34
Adams & Jefferson, and many more topical lists.
Some of our catalogues, as well as some recent topical lists, are now posted on the
internet at www.reeseco.com. A portion of our stock may be viewed via links at www.
reeseco.com. If you would like to receive e-mail notification when catalogues and lists
are uploaded, please e-mail us at [email protected] or send us a fax, specifying whether
you would like to receive the notifications in lieu of or in addition to paper catalogues.
Terms
Material herein is offered subject to prior sale. All items are as described and are considered to be on approval. Notice of return must be given within ten days unless specific
arrangements are made. Connecticut residents must be billed state sales tax. Postage
and insurance charges are billed to all nonprepaid domestic orders. Overseas orders are
sent by air unless otherwise requested, with full postage charges billed at our discretion.
Payment by check, wire transfer or bank draft is preferred, but may also be made by
MasterCard or Visa.
William Reese Company
409 Temple Street
New Haven, CT 06511
www.williamreesecompany.com
Phone: (203) 789-8081
Fax: (203) 865-7653
E-mail: [email protected]
Front cover: 62. [Gerry, Elbridge]: [Portrait of Ann Thompson Gerry]. [After 1815].
Rear cover: 31. [Catlin, George]: [Linen, George]: [Portrait of Mrs. Clara Catlin].
[New York. ca. 1840].
John Adams Writes Mercy Otis Warren
1. Adams, John: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JOHN
ADAMS TO MERCY OTIS WARREN]. Quincy [Ma.]. Nov. 24, 1813.
[2]pp. Quarto. Old fold lines. A few small spots of foxing, faint stain from
wax seal. Very good. In a folio-sized half morocco and cloth clamshell box,
leather labels.
A warm letter from former President John Adams to his dear friend and writer,
Mercy Otis Warren, with whom he had been recently reconciled after their long
falling out. Throughout the Revolutionary period, historian, poet, and dramatist
Mercy Otis Warren actively corresponded on political matters with numerous leaders,
including Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George
Washington, and especially John Adams, who became her literary mentor in those
early years of unrest. In 1805 her literary career culminated with the publication
of The History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. The
book’s sharp criticisms of Adams – that his passions and prejudices often debilitated
his judgment and that he had demonstrated a distinct leaning toward monarchy
during his sojourn in England – led to a heated correspondence and a breach in
their friendship in 1807. After nearly five years Elbridge Gerry managed to effect
a reconciliation between Mercy and Abigail and John. It was Mrs. Adams who
sent word to Mercy on Sept. 15, 1813 that her daughter, Nabby, had died of breast
cancer a month earlier. Adams’ opening salutation in this letter likely refers to
condolences sent by Warren, and suggests that Nabby’s death prompted an invitation to visit her:
I am very much obliged to you for your civilities to my wife, my son, Coll
Smith and my granddaughters. My girls have long expressed an earnest desire
to see Madam Warren, and have been highly gratified by their visit and very
grateful for the kind hospitality, the social enjoyments and instructive conversations they experienced. I congratulate you Madam on the happy marriage of
a granddaughter who once obliged us with a very short visit. I was delighted
with her manners and accomplishments, and found her visit much too short.
May every blessing attend her and all your family, in whose prosperity I take
a constant interest.
Adams moves beyond the opening exchange of family pleasantries to discuss Thomas
McKean’s comments on Mrs. Warren’s late brother, the brilliant but erratic James
Otis, Jr., at the 1765 Stamp Act Congress. “Governor M.Keans notice of your
brother I thought worth preserving in your family. The oddity of the dialogue and
the particular moment of its composition were the circumstances that made it rather
an object of curiosity than use. I think however the traits of character are correct.”
In a letter from McKean to Adams dated Aug. 20, 1813, McKean reminisces about
the Stamp Act Congress that convened in New York on Oct. 7 to elect a president
of that body: “In the Congress of 1765, there were several conspicuous characters.
Mr. James Otis appeared to be the boldest and best speaker. I voted for him as our
President, but Brigadier Ruggles succeeded by one vote, owing to the number of the
committee from New York, as we voted individually” (The Works of John Adams, X,
pp.60-62). Adams then moves on to further reflection on the rest of her family of
ardent patriots: “I know not madam what your father [ James Otis, Sr.], your husband
[ James Warren] or your brother would think of these times.” Adams, however, is
reluctant to conjecture about what the future might hold for America. “A mighty
effort of nature is in operation that no understanding below that Providence which
superintends and directs it, can comprehend. An entire separation, in government
at least, between America and Europe seems to be commencing: but what will be its
course when and how it will terminate; and what influence it will have upon Asia
and Africa, no living man, I believe will pretend to foresee.” Nevertheless, Adams
believes that he, Mercy, and their fellow patriots had long since laid the necessary
groundwork for the political sanguinity of America, but whose fate no longer lay
in their hands, due to advanced age. “We have acted our parts. The curtain will
soon be drawn upon us. We must leave the future to that Providence which has
protected us in the past. This sentiment of duty and interest I doubt not, Madam,
will be approved by you; as I hope it is reallized [sic] with gratitude, and entire
confidence and submission by your old friend and respectful humble servant.”
A cordial letter to an old friend, showing a more mature and philosophical John
Adams. Warren was eighty-five at the time – she was older than Adams – and she
died less than a year later. $42,500.
The “Child of the Alamo”
2. [Alamo]: Bryan, Guy M.: SPEECH OF GUY M. BRYAN, MEM-
BER FOR BRAZORIA, ON A JOINT RESOLUTION FOR THE
RELIEF OF THE INFANT DAUGHTER OF SUSANNAH AND
ALMIRAM DICKINSON [caption title]. [N.p. n.d., ca. 1850]. Broadsheet, 11¾ x 8½ inches. Several small holes in the text (affecting parts of a
few letters but not the readability) and chips at edges expertly repaired with
tissue. Lightly tanned. About very good. In a half morocco and cloth folding
case, spine gilt.
A rare printing of Guy M. Bryan’s “Child of the Alamo” speech, in support of a bill
in the Texas legislature to raise funds for the welfare of Susanna Dickinson and her
daughter, Angelina, two of the few survivors of the Alamo. Bryan was a nephew
of Stephen F. Austin and a veteran of the Texas War for Independence. In 1849
a bill was introduced in the Texas House for the relief of the Dickinson women,
and specifically to raise funds for the education of the teenage Angelina. Young
Angelina was a little over a year old when she, her mother, and her father, Almaron
Dickinson, found themselves under siege by Mexican forces in the Alamo, in late
February and early March, 1836. Mother and daughter survived the slaughter, though
Almaron did not. The Mexican general, Santa Anna, wanted to adopt Angelina,
but her mother refused and both were granted their freedom. Texas granted the
Dickinsons 640 acres of land in 1839, and they received another large grant of land
in 1855. In this speech, Bryan argues stridently for the grant to the “christened
child of the Alamo, baptised in the blood of a Travis, a Bowie, a Crockett and a
Bonham!” His fiery speech to the Texas House helped the bill pass through that
body, but it was later killed in committee. Angelina died in Galveston in 1869,
where she was a known “courtesan.”
Copies of this text are also known to have been printed on silk and on vellum.
Thomas W. Streeter had a copy on vellum, now at Yale.
WINKLER 139.
$2500.
A Colonial Virginia Fortune, with Slaves
3. Alexander, John: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JOHN
ALEXANDER TO HIS SON’S FUTURE MOTHER-IN-LAW, PENELOPE BARNES, INDICATING THE FORTUNE HIS SON
WILL INHERIT]. Boyd’s Hole [Va.]. April 13, 1761. [1]p. plus integral
address leaf. Folio. Backed with tissue. Slight paper losses in margins at folds,
minutely affecting two words of text. Light toning and soiling. About very
good. In a brown half morocco and cloth clamshell case, spine gilt.
John Alexander writes to the mother of his son’s fiancée, detailing the fortune he
intends to give his son, John, which he hopes is suitable to provide for the health
and happiness of the couple. The list includes livestock, land, crops, and nine slaves.
Judging by the items in the list, the Alexanders seem to have been fairly well-to-do
Virginia planters. John Alexander notes that he “shall be very proud of an alliance
between your family and mine,” and praises his son’s “prudent choice,” implying
that the Barnes’ were a desirable family connection. He writes:
Madam, My son John has informed me that he is ingaged to your daughter
Miss Elizabeth Barnes, & at the same time requested me to acquaint you with
the foretune [sic] I intend to give him, & as I think it a duty incumbent on
fathers to comply with such requests I take this method of gratifying him which
I assure you is as valid in law as if it was done by the most firm conveyance.
However as I am extremely well pleased with his prudent choice, I shall be
willing as at any time to make any conveyance, as your counsel learned in the
law will advise for the translation of the following estate.
To be short, I will give him now a thousand or fifteen hundred acres of
land, also the following people viz. Toney, Rose, Hannah, George, Vinah, Tom
younger, Sharper, Caesar & his valet Tom. Twenty five head cattle, twenty head
of sheep, thirty head of hogs, three plough horses & his riding horse and some
house hold furniture & corn & wheat to serve him for a year. I will deliver
every thing at Christmas except the land & that I will make him a conveyance
for upon demand. I hope this you will think will be a pretty beginning & if
it should lie in my power to advance him farther, I shall be sure to do it, so I
shall be very proud of an alliance between your family & mine.
A brief but informative glimpse into the proposition that was marriage among the
elite of colonial Virginia. $1500.
4. [Allain, Helene d’Aquin]: SOUVENIRS D’AMERIQUE ET DE
FRANCE PAR UNE CREOLE. Paris: Perisse Freres, [1883]. [4],vi,[2],
386,[1]pp. Half title. Original red cloth, spine gilt, expertly rebacked with
original spine laid down. Ex-Harvard University Library with gilt stamp on
spine, blindstamp on titlepage, and ink stamp on titlepage verso. Half title
leaf tanned. Else quite clean and neat internally. Good.
A scarce family memoir by a Creole woman whose roots stretch to the Caribbean and Louisiana. The first part describes Jamaica and Santo Domingo, and the
author’s ancestors. The second part is focused on 19th-century New Orleans, the
author’s parents, Creoles, slavery, voodoo practices, etc. The third part describes
life in Toulouse. Not in Clark, though much is devoted to a description of New
Orleans and Louisiana.
MONAGHAN 1353.
$750.
5. Anderson, Rufus: MEMOIR OF CATHARINE BROWN, A CHRISTIAN INDIAN OF THE CHEROKEE NATION. Boston: Crocker
and Brewster, 1828. 144pp. plus frontis. 12mo. Contemporary three-quarter
morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt. Extremities worn, hinges solid. Frontispiece loosening and nearly detached. Contemporary ownership inscription
on endpapers and titlepage. Lightly foxed. A good, solid copy.
Self-styled third edition, first published in Boston in 1825. An interesting biography of a Cherokee Indian woman. Catharine Brown, a native of Wills Valley in
Alabama, was converted to Christianity, attended a missionary school at Brainerd
(in Cherokee country) and then ran her own school at Creek Path. The appendix
contains further details about missionary activities, schools, etc., in the Cherokee
country, as well as some notice of Catharine Brown’s father and brother.
SABIN 1420.
$350.
Classic History of the Woman’s Suffrage Movement in America:
Inscribed by Susan B. Anthony
to Her Close Colleague and Supporter, George Francis Train
6. Anthony, Susan B.; Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Matilda Joslyn Gage; and
Ida Husted Harper, editors: HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
Rochester, N.Y. 1881, 1881, 1886, 1902. Four volumes, with fifty-seven plates.
Large octavo. Original burgundy publisher’s cloth, spines gilt. First volume
expertly rebacked, with original backstrip laid down. Volumes 2 and 3 with
institutional blindstamp on titlepage, new endpapers, and remnants of labeling
on the spine. Hinges a touch weak. Very clean internally. Very good overall.
The first and fourth volumes of this set are inscribed by Susan B. Anthony, to
the noted author, entrepreneur, and agitator, George Francis Train. Train and
Anthony spent weeks together in Kansas in 1867 stumping for women’s rights,
and later toured the country together. Train was the creator and principal backer
of Susan B. Anthony’s important newspaper, The Revolution, published from 1868
to 1870. The inscription in the first volume reads: “George Francis Train / with
grateful memory / of his valuable aid / in Kansas in 1867 & / the Revolution 1868
/ Susan B. Anthony / Madison Square / Nov. 22, 1881.” The inscription in the
fourth volume reads: “George Francis Train / & his daughter / Stamford Ct. / See
what gains have / been made since – Kansas 1867 – / four states with full suffrage
– Wyoming / Colorado, Utah & Idaho – great hopes for / the future – with great
respect & gratitude / Susan B. Anthony / 17 Madison St / Rochester / N.Y. / June
20, 1903.” Train’s contributions to the women’s suffrage movement, especially with
regard to the campaign in Kansas, are discussed in the second volume of this work.
George Francis Train (1829-1904) was born in Boston, received an education
in Massachusetts, and found work in a relative’s shipping office in Boston. He
went on to manage the company’s offices in Liverpool and Melbourne, Australia
before embarking on a tour of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Train became
a proponent of streetcar lines in England and railroads in the American West,
involved himself in numerous public issues, including the Fenian cause, and wrote
several books. Train was a major supporter of women’s rights, and provided financial
backing for Susan B. Anthony’s newspaper, The Revolution. He first met Anthony
in 1867, when she invited him to help the cause of women’s rights in Kansas (he
was then developing real estate in Omaha). Train was a candidate for the American presidency in 1872, joined the French Communists (only to be expelled from
France in 1870), and championed Victoria Woodhull. His greatest impact on the
public imagination stemmed from his around-the-world trip of 1870, which he
accomplished in eighty days, serving as the inspiration for the Jules Verne novel.
Train travelled around the world at least two more times, and became increasingly
eccentric in his old age.
A key work, a record of the various documents that formed the basis of the
women’s rights movement. All four volumes are present here in their first editions.
This work was published over an extended period, accounting for the similar but
not uniform bindings, with varying imprints. In 1922 two additional volumes
were published, but are not present in this set – as would be expected since George
Francis Train died before their publication.
Edited by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage,
and Ida Husted Harper, the first three volumes were published between 1881 and
1887, and the first supplementary volume (volume 4) appeared in 1902. Because
of the extended and varied means of publication, complete sets are rare, and generally ex-library. The volumes document the speeches, papers, correspondence, and
other records of the women’s rights movement, and to some degree the temperance
and abolition movements as well. The first four volumes include documents from
the 19th century, as follow: Volume 1: 1848-61; Volume 2: 1861-76; Volume 3:
1876-85; Volume 4: 1883-1900. The introduction to the fourth volume describes
the first three volumes as representing “the seed-sowing time of the movement,”
while the fourth volume captures the harvesting of the first few fruits of that “long
period of persistent tilling and sowing.” The set is illustrated with copper-plate,
steel-engraved, and photogravure portraits of prominent and lesser known figures
in the fight for women’s rights.
ALLIBONE, CRITICAL DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 1378.
$15,000.
Shipwreck on the Great Lakes
7. Applebee, Mary: A NARRATIVE OF THE WRECK OF THE
SCHOONER NEW CONNECTICUT, ON LAKE ERIE, SEP T.
4th, 1833; TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION OF MRS. MARY APPLEBEE, WHO WAS
CONFINED IN THE CABIN FIVE DAYS! THE SCHOONER BEING FOR THE GREATER PART OF THE TIME, IMMERSED
IN WATER! Buffalo: Printed by H.A. Salisbury, 1834. 14pp. Gathered signatures, string-tied. Some edge wear. Two closed two-inch tears in titlepage,
bookplate on verso of titlepage. Dampstain throughout. Good.
A very scarce narrative of a shipwreck on Lake Erie, told by a woman passenger.
Mrs. Applebee was aboard the New Connecticut, sailing from Conneaut, Ohio to
Buffalo, when the ship wrecked and went under. She was trapped in her cabin for
several days while the ship was underwater and recounts her ordeal with remarkable stoicism. “Her adventure is one of the most remarkable in the annals of the
lakes” – Severance. Not in Sabin or Huntress. OCLC locates only three copies,
at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, the Buffalo History Museum, and
Marietta College.
SEVERANCE, BUFFALO IMPRINTS, p.570. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 22990. OCLC
33350835, 18318167.
$800.
Early Edition of America’s First Sex Manual
8. [Aristotle’s Masterpiece]: [Early Erotica]: ARISTOTLE’S MASTER-
PIECE COMPLETED. IN TWO PARTS. THE FIRST CONTAINING THE SECRETS OF GENERATION IN ALL THE PARTS
THEREOF...THE SECOND PART BEING A PRIVATE LOOKING-GLASS FOR THE FEMALE SEX.... New York: Printed for the
Company of Flying Stationers, 1793. 130pp. plus frontis. Contemporary patterned paper boards, leather spine. Front board detached, spine partially perished. Some minor soiling and light wear. Very good. In a blue half morocco
and cloth box.
An early American edition of this famous and mildly racy publication. As a result
of its frank discussion of sexual matters, this work was considered pornographic
and has been dubbed “the dirty book of the early modern period.” The book contains detailed descriptions of sexual intercourse, human sexual development, sexual
organs, the exact meaning of virginity, sterility, pregnancy, childbirth, adultery, etc.
The frontispiece shows “The Effigies of a Maid all hairy, and an infant that was
born black, by the Imagination of the Parents.” There are also several woodcuts in
the text, including an illustration of a womb and the female reproductive system.
Rare, with only ten copies noted by ESTC.
EVANS 25120. ESTC W6202. AUSTIN 61.
$4500.
A Traitor Wooing a Boston Debutante
9. Arnold, Benedict: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
BENEDICT ARNOLD TO MRS. HENRY KNOX]. Watertown.
March 4, 1777. [1]p. plus integral address leaf. Folio. Small loss in margin
from wax seal, repaired. Minor soiling. Silked. Very good. In a blue half morocco and cloth clamshell case, spine gilt.
An anxious letter written by a smitten Benedict Arnold to Boston society matron
Lucy Flucker Knox, enclosing a letter for delivery to young Miss Betsy De Blois.
The love-struck hero of Fort Ticonderoga writes:
Dear Madam, I have taken the liberty of incloseing a letter for the heavenly
Miss Deblois, which by the favour of your delivering, with the trunk of gowns
&c., which Mrs. Colburn promis’d me to send to your house, I hope she will
make no objections against receiving them. I make no doubt you will soon have
the pleasure of seeing the charming Mrs. Emery, and have it in your power to
give me some favourable intelligence. I shall remain under the most anxious
suspense until I have the favour of a line from you, who (if I may judge) will
from your own experience, conceive the fond anxiety, the glowing hopes, and
chilling fears, that, alternately possess [me].
In February 1777, in Mrs. Knox’s drawing room, Arnold was introduced to Boston
society and – more importantly – to the “beautiful...straight, tall, elegant” Tory belle,
Elizabeth (Betsy) De Blois. A widower for a little over a year, Arnold immediately
fell headlong in love with the sixteen-year-old Betsy – twenty years his junior – and
asked Mrs. Knox to present his case. Delighted with her role as matchmaker, Lucy
Knox dutifully delivered Arnold’s ardent letters, along with a trunk of gowns and
other lavish gifts, designed to show both his affection and financial solidity. He
hoped that Betsy would accept these gifts as well as his desire to court her. Possibly
owing to the vast difference in age, the “heavenly Miss Deblois” rebuffed Arnold’s
several advances, finally refusing to answer his dramatic and passionate love letters.
Betsy had many subsequent suitors, but in the end, never married. Having failed
to win the hand of Miss De Blois, Arnold began courting the lovely and vivacious
Margaret (Peggy) Shippen in the summer of 1778, to whom he wrote equally ardent
letters – one of which he lifted practically verbatim from a letter he had sent to
$15,000.
Betsy De Blois. The two were wed in April 1779.
10. [Austin, Mary S.?]: [COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPT POEMS].
[N.p. [1790s?]. [4]pp. on folded quarto sheet. Creased, else good.
A somewhat bleak collection of four sacred poems, accomplished in a neat manuscript hand with a lovely calligraphic title, and signed by Mary S. Austin. The
titles include “On the Death of Miss Hamilton By a Lady of Hudson,” “A Hymn,”
“Maria,” and “Mortality.” $500.
“....Congress being now engaged on the Louisiana business...”
11. Bache, Catherine Wistar: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED,
FROM CATHERINE WISTAR BACHE TO HER BROTHER,
DR. CASPAR WISTAR, REQUESTING HE SPEAK WITH THE
PRESIDENT REGARDING AN APPOINTMENT FOR HER
HUSBAND]. Settle, Pa. Oct. 31, [1803]. [2]pp., plus integral address leaf.
Folio. Old folds. Minor soiling. Small loss from wax seal, not affecting text.
Very good. In a blue half morocco and cloth clamshell case, spine gilt.
Catherine Wistar Bache, wife of Dr. William Bache, writes to her brother, Dr.
Caspar Wistar, requesting that he write to President Thomas Jefferson on behalf
of her husband, who seeks a government appointment. Catherine’s brother, Caspar Wistar, was a prominent Philadelphia physician and teacher at the University
of Pennsylvania; a member of the American Philosophical Society, he was also a
friend of Thomas Jefferson and would succeed him as president of the Society in
1815. Her husband, the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was likewise a Philadelphia physician and one of the few doctors who stayed behind to help during the
yellow fever epidemic of 1793. At this time the family was experiencing financial
difficulties, and Catherine hopes her brother will agree to write President Jefferson
about a federal appointment which will prove more lucrative. Interestingly, she
mentions Congress being engaged with “the Louisiana business,” referring to the
Louisiana Purchase. She writes:
Two days ago I received letters from Doct. Bache...in which Doct. B. wishes
me to have an application made to the President for him. He thought of my
applying to Mrs. Randolph but Congress being now engaged on the Louisiana
business I think the more immediately an application is made the greater the
probability of success, and I also believe that an application from a Philadela.
friend particularly from Doct. Wistar will have more weight. William wishes to
obtain the Land Office or Surveyor Generalship; the business of the hospital is
extremely laborious without an adequate compensation from excessive fatigue.
Doct. B. has again been attack’d with a bilious fever which confined him to
his bed for a week. He has been in the habit of seeing from 30 to 40 patients
daily and without any assistance even to put up medicine which renders it too
fatiguing for any person to continue it long without a more liberal establishment. His exertions have been attended with great success, having lost but 7
out of 400 patients and 6 of those were drunkards....If it is not disagreeable
to you to write to the President on the subject it will be conferring on us a
very weighty obligation. If you think this request improper don’t hesitate to
decline it....From a conversation Dr. Bache had with Mr. Gallatin last winter
there is great reason to believe the appointment may be obtained if applied for
before the vacancy is filled.
Through one means or another Dr. Bache did secure a post as the Surveyor of the
Port of Philadelphia, which he would hold until his death in 1820. $900.
Original Botanical Watercolors
12. Badger, Clarissa W. (illustrator): [Sigourney, Lydia Mary; William Cul-
len Bryant; Mary Howitt; and others (contributors)]: FORGET-MENOT. FLOWERS FROM NATURE, WITH SELECTED POETRY.
New York: [Privately printed], 1849 [i.e. 1848]. Letterpress title, 18 leaves of
letterpress text. Eighteen original botanical watercolors by Clarissa Badger,
highlighted with gum arabic. Folio. Original red moiré cloth, covers elaborately
gilt, spine gilt, a.e.g. Spine expertly repaired. Very good. All within a modern
red half morocco and cloth box, titled in gilt.
The rarest American color plate botanical book, here containing the maximum
recorded number of original watercolors.
This work was privately published and
apparently issued with varying numbers
of both “plates” and text leaves. We know
of only two other copies, both complete
as issued: one with thirteen watercolors
and text leaves was sold at Christie’s
London (March 17, 1999, lot 4); and
we have handled one other inscribed
copy with seventeen watercolors and text
leaves. The present example is therefore
the most extensive copy recorded to date.
“Both Clarissa Munger and her sister,
Caroline, were artists. Caroline went on
to become proficient at painting miniature portraits on ivory...Clarissa concentrated her talents on drawing plants and
flowers. In 1828 Clarissa married the
Reverend Milton Badger. During their marriage they lived...in...Massachusetts;
New York City; and...Connecticut....Though little is known about her life other than
the landmark dates of her birth, marriage, and death, Mrs....Badger’s fine drawings
and talented hand have survived to keep her name alive” – Kramer.
Mrs. Badger was an illustrator with an intuitive feeling for the decorative, as she
amply demonstrates in this work and in her later publications. The present work is
in effect a prototype for these published works: Wild Flowers Drawn and Coloured
from Nature (New York, 1859), quarto, twenty-two plates; and Floral Belles from the
Green-House and Garden (New York, 1867), folio, sixteen plates.
J. Kramer, Women of Flowers (New York, 1996).
$37,500.
Handsome Color Plates of Flowers
13. Badger, Mrs. C.M.: FLORAL BELLES FROM THE GREENHOUSE AND GARDEN. PAINTED FROM NATURE. New York.
1867. 66pp. plus sixteen handcolored plates. Folio. Publisher’s morocco, elaborately gilt, expertly rebacked preserving original backstrip. Morocco darkened
and scuffed, mostly along the edges and corners, and in the center of the rear
board. Internally clean and bright, near fine.
A lovely American color plate book of the mid19th century. “Contains 16 very beautiful full
page flower plates in many colors and shades.
Each flower portrayed is also the subject for
a poem which serves as text for the illustration” – Bennett. Species represented include the
night-blooming cereus, camellias, azaleas, lilies,
tulips, roses, and passion flowers, among others.
These handcolored plates were executed in an
era when chromolithographs were fast replacing
hand work. Daniel McGrath comments: “It is
interesting to survey the achievements of those
lithographers who were swimming against the
tide...there are sixteen reputable lithographs
with complex coloring in Mrs. C.M. Badger’s
Floral Belles....”
Clarissa Badger was an artist with an intuitive feeling for the decorative, amply illustrated
in this work. “In 1828 [she] married the Reverend Milton Badger…they lived…in
Massachusetts; New York City; and...Connecticut. Though little is known about her
life other than the landmark dates of her birth, marriage and death, Mrs. Badger’s
fine drawings and talented hand have survived to keep her name alive” – Kramer.
BENNETT, p.6. McGRATH, p.57. NISSEN BBI 56. J. Kramer, Women of Flowers (New
York, 1996).
$4000.
14. Barton, Clara: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM CLARA
BARTON TO JOSEPH L. KILLGORE, COMMANDER NEW
YORK ASSOCIATION UNION OF EX-PRISONERS OF WAR].
Brooklyn, N.Y. May 5, 1907. [2]pp. on two sheets of letterhead of The National First Aid Association. Fine. In a quarto folding cloth case, leather label.
At the end of the Civil War President Lincoln placed Clara Barton, the “Angel of
the Battlefield,” in charge of the search for the missing men of the Union Army.
In the summer of 1865, Barton, along with a detachment of workers, soldiers, and
a former prisoner named Dorence Atwater, who had smuggled out a list of all the
union soldiers who had lost their lives at Andersonville prison, came to the Andersonville cemetery to identify and mark the graves of the Union dead. Thanks
to Atwater’s list and the efforts of Clara Barton, over 12,000 soldiers who died at
Andersonville were identified, and their graves were marked. Upon being invited to
participate in a memorial service for the dead over forty years later, Barton responds
with a ringing statement of hope:
Soldiers, it is well you meet to memorialize such an occasion, and immortalize
such a day; for immortal it will be in one form or another, while history lasts.
The world has no history so enduring as the history of its martyrs. They who
write their names in blood, for the cause of righteousness, and humanity, like the
Great Martyr of all, sign a deathless record. A record that neither perishes, nor
fades with time, but like His holds a beacon Light for all coming generations.
This, soldiers is your mission, the Holy cause which calls you together, which
inspires your thought, and your action; and in this spirit I am with you, even
unto that great day when wars shall cease, humanity fill its depleted ranks, –
men calmly reasoning together shall search the right and the truth, and these
shall make them free.
$4500.
15. Bates, Rebecca W.: [AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT, SIGNED, BY
REBECCA BATES REGARDING HER SERVICE IN THE WAR
OF 1812]. [N.p. 1879]. [1]p., 2¾ x 5 inches, mounted to a slightly larger
card. Minor soiling. Very good.
Autograph document written by Rebecca Bates, a heroine of the War of 1812.
Bates was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper at Scituate Harbor, Massachusetts.
During the War of 1812, Bates and her sister, Abigail, noted the approach of two
boats full of British soldiers. The girls grabbed a fife and drum and made such a
racket that the British believed there was a large American force ashore and turned
back. She and her sister were dubbed “The Army of Two.” The document reads:
Rebecca W. Bates, born 1793 aged 86 years one of the American Army of Two
in the War of 1812 who with her sister aged 15 years saved two large vessels
laden with flour and their crews from imprisonment with fife and drum from
being taken by the British off Scituate Harbor Mass. [signed] Rebecca the fifer.
$400.
16. Bertolini, Serafino: LA ROSA PERUANA OVERO VITA DELLA
SPOSA DI CHRISTO SUOR ROSA DI SANTA MARIA NATIVA
DELLA CITTA DI LIMA NEL REGNO DEL PERU, DEL TERZ’
ORDINE DI SAN DOMENICO. Rome. 1666. [14],615,[1]pp. plus engraved frontispiece portrait. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, spine
lettered. Light soiling to vellum; portion of spine chipped. Remnants of later
paper label on spine. Light foxing and tanning. Very good.
Biography of Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first Catholic saint of the Americas.
Rose, born Isabel Flores de Oliva, was born in Lima. She was canonized in 1671 by
Pope Clement X, the first saint from the Western Hemisphere. Only three copies
on OCLC, at the Newberry, New York Public, and John Carter Brown libraries.
PALAU 28497. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 666/5. OCLC 28983049.
$2000.
17. Blackwell, Alice Stone: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL TO MR. PAINE, CONTRIBUTING MONEY TO THE CREW OF THE SHIP LINARIA DURING
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR]. Cambridge. March 12, 1937. [1]p. Old
fold lines. Near fine.
A brief letter from Alice Stone Blackwell to Mr. Paine, offering assistance to the
crew of the British merchant ship Linaria, who refused to put into port in Spain
during the Spanish Civil War. She writes: “Dear Mr. Paine: Here is a small contribution for the heroic crew of the Linaria. I wish I felt able to send a big one.
Yours cordially.” Blackwell was an ardent political activist for most of her long life,
$650.
and clearly supported the crew’s boycott of Franco’s regime. 18. Blackwell, Alice Stone: [LETTER, SIGNED BY ALICE STONE
BLACKWELL, TO REV. GEORGE L. PAINE]. Cambridge. June 23,
1949. [1]p. Old fold lines. Near fine.
Suffrage leader and activist Alice Stone Blackwell writes to Rev. George L. Paine
less than a year before the end of her life: “Dear Friend: Your kind communication
has wholly bewildered me. I do not know in the least what I have done to deserve
it. Yours gratefully.” Blackwell has signed her name in a shaky hand, her last name
nearly illegible, her ninety-one years evidencing themselves in her signature.
$450.
19. [Boardman, Douglas]: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
DOUGLAS BOARDMAN TO MARTHA BRADSTREET]. Ithaca, N.Y. Jan. 19, 1869. 3pp. [with:] OPINION OF HON. DOUGLAS
BOARDMAN, IN THE CASES OF J. GRAY BAIN vs. JOSEPH
M’CARTY, AND J. GRAY BAIN vs. DARIUS EVERY. SUBMITTED OCTOBER, 1866. Deposit, N.Y.: L.P. Allen, [1866]. 7pp. Letter
folded for mailing, splitting at the main vertical fold, and along one horizontal
fold. Pamphlet browned, some marginalia and underlining, vertical crease.
Both items very good.
Douglas Boardman was a Circuit Court judge in New York State. In this letter
to Martha Bradstreet he praises her for her longevity and strength, and wishes her
good health. He goes on to state that in his position as a member of the bench, he
cannot offer her any legal advice, as he is proscribed by law from acting as attorney or
counsel, but that he will be visiting the town of Delhi, New York, and she may visit
him if she would like. Martha Bradstreet (1780-1871) was the step-granddaughter
of colonial Gen. John Bradstreet (d. 1774), and spent some fifty years of her long
life adjudicating land claims in upstate New York growing out of Bradstreet’s will.
She often represented herself in court, but also retained the services of attorneys.
The Opinion... regards a case growing out of Martha Bradstreet’s numerous land
claims in and around Utica, New York. The ruling was not in Mrs. Bradstreet’s
favor in her attempt to claim historical title to the land. The titlepage bears the
ownership signature of Edward Livius Bradstreet, her longest surviving son, who
carried on the fight for hereditary land rights after his mother’s death. No copies
listed on OCLC. Scarce. $500.
20. [Book of Common Prayer]: THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER,
AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS, AND
OTHER RITES AND CEREMONIES OF THE CHURCH, ACCORDING TO THE USE OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.... Boston.
1794. [388],244,[4]pp. 12mo. Contemporary red morocco, gilt. Hinges worn,
some wear to boards and spine. Contemporary ownership inscriptions on titlepage and several internal leaves. Some light soiling and wear, heavier to front
few leaves. Good plus.
The Book of Common Prayer for the Episcopal Church, printed by Manning &
Loring in Boston for Thomas and Andrews. This copy bears the contemporary
ownership inscriptions and stamping of two women, Elizabeth and Sarah Burd.
“Mrs. Burd” is stamped in gilt on the front board, and Sarah Burd has written her
name and “by inheritance” on the front fly leaf.
EVANS 27575. GRIFFITHS 1794/11.
$750.
21. [Boston Female Asylum]: AN ACCOUNT OF THE RISE, PROG-
RESS, AND PRESENT STATE, OF THE BOSTON FEMALE
ASYLUM. TOGETHER WITH THE ACT OF INCORPORATION. ALSO, THE BYE-LAWS, AND RULES AND REGULATIONS, ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF MANAGERS. Boston.
1803. 28pp. Dbd. Extremities bit rubbed. Scattered foxing. Just about very
good.
A scarce account of the Boston Female Asylum. Shaw & Shoemaker locate only
four copies.
SHAW & SHOEMAKER 3864.
$250.
22. Bowdich, Thomas Edward and Sarah: EXCURSIONS IN MADEI-
RA AND PORTO SANTO, DURING THE AUTUMN OF 1823,
WHILE ON HIS THIRD VOYAGE TO AFRICA...TO WHICH IS
ADDED BY MRS. BOWDICH, I. A NARRATIVE OF THE CONTINUANCE OF THE VOYAGE...II. A DESCRIPTION OF THE
ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS ON THE RIVER GAMBIA. III. APPENDIX...ILLUSTRATED BY SECTIONS, VIEWS, COSTUMES,
AND ZOOLOGICAL FIGURES. London: George B. Whittaker, 1825.
xii,278pp. plus twenty-two plates (four colored, three folding), including frontis. Quarto. Modern three-quarter calf and marbled boards. 19th-century library stamp on verso of titlepage and several other pages. A few instances of
foxing. Very good. Untrimmed.
A very interesting work on Portugal, Madeira, Porto Santo, and northwestern Africa. T.E. Bowdich made three trips to Africa and died there at age thirty-three.
His notes for this final expedition covered only the outward voyage to Madeira,
and the text was completed by his widow, Sarah Bowdich. She edited his notes,
completed the text, and provided all but two of the illustrations. In several cases
Mrs. Bowdich actually drew the lithographs, which were then printed by the
Hullmandel firm. There is much in the text on botany, zoology, and geology. The
plates include coastal and inland views, local costumes, shells, insects, fish, and a
plate of linguistic characters.
ABBEY 190. COLAS 418. GAY 2983. IBRAHIM-HILMY II, p.382.
$2000.
23. [Bowes, Elizabeth]: THE CASE OF LADY BOWES AND HER
AGENTS [caption title]. [London? 1715]. Small folio broadsheet. [2]pp.,
including printed and contemporary manuscript docketing on verso. Dbd.
Early folds and early stab holes in left margin. Some foxing. Else very good.
A rare document petitioning Parliament on behalf of Lady Elizabeth Bowes (née
Blakiston), a direct ancestor of the current royal family on the line of the Queen
Mother. In 1692, Lady Bowes’ father, the Baronet Sir Francis Blakiston, leased his
coal mines and coal pits at his Gibside estate in County Durham to “Charles Montague” for a term of thirty-one years. The lease was granted on the provision that
Montagu ensure the safety of the mines by maintaining sufficient stays and pillars
to support the roof. After twenty-two years of proper maintenance, Montagu disappeared, and the workers of the mines began causing serious damage to the support
system. Lady Bowes subsequently had an injunction ordered against further work
in the mines and became involved in a legal wrangle with Sidney Wortley Montagu,
brother of Charles. In the present document she seeks to ensure that Parliament
is aware of the steps she had taken to keep the mines from collapsing and to keep
from being held liable for any collapses that may occur from damage already done.
An early example of lobbying literature, which first began proliferating in the
lobby of the House of Commons at the time of the accession of King George I and
the British general election of 1715. Rare, with ESTC recording only one copy, at
Oxford. $950.
24. [Bradford, William]: THE ART OF COURTING DISPLAYED IN
EIGHT DIFFERENT SCENES; THE PRINCIPAL OF WHICH
ARE TAKEN FROM ACTUAL LIFE, AND PUBLISHED FOR
THE AMUSEMENT OF THE AMERICAN YOUTH. Newburyport:
William Barrett, 1795. 225pp. Contemporary calf, red gilt morocco label. Head
of spine slightly chipped, stain on rear cover. Overall, a good copy.
An early treatise on the moral pleasures to be derived from an appropriate courtship,
with numerous examples in the form of letters. Described are a variety of scenarios,
including two impetuous youths, a widow and widower, and a septuagenarian and
a twenty-something. Evans notes the copyright was issued to William Bradford,
but this work is also variously attributed to Ebenezer Bradford.
EVANS 28341.
$500.
25. Bradley, Eliza: AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE SHIP-
WRECK AND SUFFERINGS OF MRS. ELIZA BRADLEY, THE
WIFE OF CAP T. JAMES BRADLEY OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, COMMANDER OF THE BRITISH SHIP SALLY WHICH
WAS WRECKED ON THE COAST OF BARBARY. Boston: James
Walden, 1821. 108pp. with folding woodcut frontispiece and full-page woodcut
illustration. 12mo. Contemporary half leather and marbled boards. Extremities
worn, some loss to paper on front board. Contemporary ownership inscription
on front fly leaf and titlepage, light staining on endpapers. Very good.
An unusual American edition, with the scarce folding frontispiece woodcut depicting
Eliza Bradley’s delivery into captivity. Originally appearing in 1820, Bradley’s story
is one of fantastic survival. She accompanied her husband on a voyage to Teneriffe,
but their ship was wrecked off the coast of Barbary during a violent storm. They
survived, but soon after their landing they were captured by a band of Arabs and
made slaves. Her husband managed to escape and was able to return to purchase
her freedom. Bradley’s narrative proved exceedingly popular, going through numerous editions in New England and New York. Though not recorded in American
Imprints, the NUC locates one copy of this edition, at Brown University.
AMERICAN IMPRINTS 4822 (variant ed).
$375.
The First Book by the First Poet of New England
26. Bradstreet, Anne: THE TENTH MUSE LATELY SPRUNG UP
IN AMERICA. OR SEVERALL POEMS, COMPILED WITH A
GREAT VARIETY OF WIT AND LEARNING, FULL OF DELIGHT...ALSO A DIALOGUE BETWEEN OLD ENGLAND
AND NEW, CONCERNING THE LATE TROUBLES...By a Gentlewoman in those parts. London: Printed...for Stephen Bowtell..., 1650.
[14],207pp. Blank A1 not present. Titlepage and four subsequent leaves in expert facsimile. 16mo. 20th-century brown morocco. Extremities lightly rubbed.
Leaves A7 and A8 chipped at foredge, some contemporary ink staining. Light
soiling throughout. Several leaves trimmed closely with slight loss to letters at
foredge. Occasional small tears at edges of leaves. A decent copy.
First edition of the first book by the first poet of New England, a foundation work
of American literature and written by the first American female author. A book
which has rarely appeared on the market. Anne Bradstreet was the daughter of
Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts. She married Simon Bradstreet, who
afterward became governor of the same colony. According to Roger Stoddard, “this
is the cornerstone of New England belles lettres.” No perfect copy has appeared at
auction since 1949 (the Britwell-Harmsworth copy). We have handled two other
copies, also imperfect, in 1990 and 1996.
CHURCH 498. WING B4167. WEGELIN 28.
$20,000.
27. Burroughs, Eden: A FAITHFUL NARRATIVE OF THE WON-
DERFUL DEALINGS OF GOD, TOWARDS POLLY DAVIS, OF
NEWGRANTHAM, IN THE STATE OF NEWHAMPSHIRE....
Concord: Elijah Russell, 1792. 12pp. Contemporary drab paper wrappers.
Removed from a pamphlet volume, several leaves loosening. Later catalogue
description pasted to front cover. Later bookplate inside front cover. Some
light foxing and wear. Very good.
Pamphlet recording the illness and religious tribulations of Polly Davis, who claimed
to have had visions of Hell. Rare, with fewer than ten copies located.
ESTC W25500. BRISTOL B7948. SHIPTON & MOONEY 46421.
$500.
28. Calatayud y Borda, Cypriano Geronimo de: ORACION FUNEBRE
QUE EN LAS SOLEMNES EXEQUIAS DE LA R.M. MARIA ANTONIA DE SAN JOSEPH LARREA, ARISPE, DE LOS REYES:
QUATRO VECES MINISTRA EN EL MONASTERIO DE TRINITARIAS DESCALZAS DE ESTA CIUDAD DE LIMA.... Lima: En
la Imprenta de los Huerfanos, 1783. [116],144pp. Small quarto. Contemporary
vellum, printed paper label. Ex-lib. ink stamp on titlepage, covered over with
white out. Some light scattered foxing. Very good.
Funerary work for Maria Antonio de San Josepha (1718-81), which includes a
labyrinth poem in the shape of a cross, printed in black, red, and green. Only six
copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1542. VARGAS UGARTE 2321. PALAU 39594. OCLC 77630191,
166611610, 55238516.
$2250.
Printed by a Woman Printer
29. Campbell, George, translator: THE FOUR GOSPELS, TRANS-
LATED FROM THE GREEK. WITH PRELIMINARY DISSERTATIONS, AND NOTES CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY. Philadelphia: A. Bartram, 1799. viii,xvi,488,196,[16]pp. Quarto. Contemporary calf,
spine gilt, leather label. Front hinge starting, extremities rubbed. Contemporary inscription on front fly leaf. Minor scattered foxing, but generally quite
clean internally. Very good.
Second American edition of this translation of the Gospels by Scottish minister
George Campbell. An important piece of scholarship, this work was first published
in London in 1789, with the first American edition appearing in 1796. “Through
all these years Campbell had diligently pursued his own critical and historical
studies of scripture. These researches were finally published in 1789 as The Four
Gospels..., acknowledged by contemporaries to be his scholarly masterpiece. This
massive work contained fresh translations of the canonical gospels with extensive
critical notes, as well as historical discussions of the nature and method of translating ancient terms and documents” – DNB.
The typography and printing of this book is elegantly done, the work of Ann
Bartram, one of the relatively few women printers of the Federal period. A nice copy.
EVANS 35200. HILLS 71. ESTC W4382. DNB (online).
$1500.
30. [Carey, Mathew]: ADDRESS TO THE WEALTHY OF THE LAND,
LADIES AS WELL AS GENTLEMEN, ON THE CHARACTER,
CONDUCT, SITUATION, AND PROSPECTS, OF THOSE
WHOSE SOLE DEPENDENCE FOR SUBSISTENCE, IS ON THE
LABOUR OF THEIR HANDS. [ Philadelphia]: Wm. F. Geddes, 1831.
viii,28pp. Dbd. Light foxing and toning, mainly on last few leaves. Very good.
An essay by Philadelphia publisher Mathew Carey advocating a better standard of
living for the working class poor. In his introduction Carey directly mentions the
condition of seamstresses in Boston, noting their meager earnings, long hours, and
harsh working conditions. He includes details of household expenses in comparison with wages earned, etc., disabusing his readers of the myth that the poor may
always support themselves comfortably if only they put their minds to it. Scarce,
with fewer than ten copies in OCLC.
AMERICAN IMPRINTS 6400. KRESS C.2748.
$650.
A Lovely Portrait of George Catlin’s Wife
31. [Catlin, George]: [Linen, George]: [OVAL PORTRAIT OF MRS.
CLARA BARTLETT GREGORY CATLIN]. [New York. ca. 1840]. Oil
on linen, mounted on masonite, framed; 6 x 5 inches, framed to 9½ x 9 inches.
In very good condition. See rear cover of this catalogue for illustration.
A lovely portrait of George Catlin’s wife, Clara, painted by Scottish-born artist
George Linen. Born in Greenlaw, Scotland, George Linen came to America in 1834
and established a painting career first in New York City. He had studied painting
at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and worked as a portrait painter in
England for about ten years before immigrating. He opened a studio in New York
City and became a successful painter of small-format portraits, exhibiting regularly
between 1837 and 1843 at the Apollo Association and the National Academy of
Design. Nine of his portraits were praised in the New-York Spectator on May 18,
1837: “...exceedingly well colored and carefully finished; and if Mr. Linen is young
in the profession, as we suppose he is, they give promise of very high rank for him
hereafter.” Two years later he received a silver medal from the National Academy of
Design for his portrait of Henry Clay. Although he is known primarily as a portrait
painter, Linen also painted landscapes after retiring to a farm in New Jersey in 1868.
Clara Bartlett Gregory met and married George Catlin in her hometown of
Albany, New York in 1828, while he was there to paint Governor De Witt Clinton.
Despite her frail health, she accompanied her husband on one of his five journeys
west and supported his efforts to capture the likenesses of American Indians. She
and their youngest son died while visiting Paris in 1845, a loss that devastated
Catlin. $6000.
32. Child, Lydia Maria: [AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION, SIGNED “L.
MARIA CHILD”]. Wayland [Ma.]. Jan. 19, 1860. [1]p. on blank stationery.
Fine. In a green cloth chemise.
Lydia Maria Child (1802-80) was an abolitionist, a women’s rights activist, and a
popular poet who is remembered for the Thanksgiving poem whose first line reads:
“Over the river and through the woods.” Here Child quotes an old Greek proverb:
“When you receive [underlined] a kindness, remember it; when you bestow [underlined] a kindness, forget it.” $200.
33. [Clappe, Louise A.]: THE SHIRLEY LETTERS FROM CALIFOR-
NIA MINES IN 1851-52 BEING A SERIES OF TWENTY-THREE
LETTERS FROM DAME SHIRLEY...TO HER SISTER IN MASSACHUSETTS.... San Francisco: Printed by Thomas C. Russell, 1922. xlvii,
350pp. plus eight handcolored plates. Original cloth backed boards, paper
label. Front hinge broken. Very clean internally, and near fine overall. In green
paper dust jacket, gilt.
From a limited signed edition of 450 copies, and with the plates handcolored, this
is one of 200 copies on Exeter book-paper. The letters first appeared serially in
The Pioneer magazine of San Francisco in 1854-55 under the pseudonym of “Dame
Shirley.” This is the first edition in book form. “...These letters present a vivid and
unexcelled picture of every-day life in the mines” – Howes. “These superlatively
readable and informative letters from a gifted young New England woman to her
sister in ‘the States’ may well be accorded first place in any gathering of notable
Gold Rush literature” – Wheat.
HOWES C427. WHEAT GOLD RUSH 39. ZAMORANO 80, 69. KURUTZ 133a.
$500.
Pioneer of First Ladies, and the Jackie Kennedy of Her Day
34. Cleveland, Frances F.: [NEW YEAR’S GREETING CARD, SIGNED
“FRANCES F. CLEVELAND PRESTON”]. [N.p. n.d., but after 1913].
5½ x 4½ inches. Colored vignette of sailing ship above the caption, “A Happy
New Year,” folded over printed text, and signed beneath. Fine. In cloth folder.
Frances F. Cleveland (1864-1947) was the youngest woman (twenty-one years old)
to serve as First Lady, the first First Lady to be married in the White House (to
Grover Cleveland), and the first to serve two non-consecutive terms. Because of
her beauty and charm, Frances provoked keen popular interest – she was very much
the “Jackie Kennedy” of her own day. She also became the first presidential widow
to remarry (in 1913, to Thomas Preston, professor of archaeology at Princeton)
$300.
after her husband’s death in 1908. A Woman of Easy Virtue, Seduced by Burr
35. Coghlan, Margaret: MEMOIRS OF MRS. COGHLAN, (DAUGH-
TER OF THE LATE MAJOR MONCRIEFFE,) WRITTEN BY
HERSELF...INTERSPERSED WITH ANECDOTES OF THE
LATE AMERICAN AND PRESENT FRENCH WAR; WITH REMARKS, MORAL AND POLITICAL. New York. 1795. 184pp. 12mo.
Contemporary calf, leather label. Calf worn, chipped at top of spine. Front
free endsheet excised. Some light foxing, a couple small holes in one leaf not
affecting text. Else internally good.
The first American edition, with the preface which was suppressed in many copies.
The author was noted for her affair with Aaron Burr during the American Revolution, and thereafter spent a good deal of time in New York and Europe. Some of
her travels are described in this narrative.
HOWES C543. KAPLAN 1136. SABIN 14208. EVANS 28442.
$500.
36. Coghlan, Margaret: MEMOIRS OF MRS. COGHLAN, DAUGH-
TER OF THE LATE MAJOR MONCRIEFFE: WRITTEN BY
HERSELF. WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES. New York: T.H.
Morrell, 1864. [8],158pp. plus several inserted leaves and plates. Contemporary
publisher’s cloth, rebacked with modern green morocco, spine gilt. Corners
rubbed, cloth lightly soiled. Clippings pasted to front and rear pastedowns.
Frontispiece loosening. Much of text block lightly dampstained, else bright
and clean. About very good.
A later, privately published edition of this memoir, first published in New York
in 1795. The author was noted for her affair with Aaron Burr (and a lot of other
people) during the American Revolution, and thereafter spent a good deal of time
in New York and Europe. This is a classic tell-all courtesan’s tale, claiming to spill
the dirt on various well known figures of the time in a slightly risqué narrative.
This copy is one of 100, signed by the publisher; it has been extra-illustrated with
$500.
relevant clippings, plates, articles, and manuscript notes. 37. [Confederate Imprint]: VIOLETTA (OR I’M THINKING OF A
FLOWER). [Augusta: Blackmar & Bro., 1862]. [4]pp. Folio. Self-wrappers.
Lithograph title and sheet music. Spine reinforced with archival tape, minute
repair in lower outer corner of first leaf, moderate browning. Very good.
Variant edition, without priority, also printed in New Orleans. A very romantic
song, written during a most difficult time. Words by Morgan C. Kennedy, music
by the popular Edward Eaton. Dedicated to “Missess Maria W. Skelton & Kate
S. Finney.” “And ever ripe within my heart,” the lover pines, “The virgin queen of
flowers.” Scarce.
PARRISH & WILLINGHAM 7580. OCLC 3681094.
$400.
38. [Confederate Imprint]: [Craik, Dinah Maria]: MISTRESS AND
MAID: A HOUSEHOLD STORY [wrapper title]. Richmond: West
& Johnson, 1864. 120 [of 122] pp. Dbd., later plain rear wrapper. Tattered
first leaf laid down on archival paper, moderate foxing and browning. Good.
Lacks the final leaf of text.
A fictional Confederate imprint by this popular female author who often published
under the pen-name of “Miss Muloch.” Scarce.
PARRISH & WILLINGHAM 6286.
$300.
Early American Color Plate Book
39. [Costume]: THE MIRROR OF THE GRACES; OR, THE ENGLISH LADY ’S COSTUME. New York: I. Riley, [1813?]. xii,240pp. plus
three handcolored copper plate engravings. Lacks the titlepage, half a preliminary text leaf, three quarters of pp.53-54, and one plate. 16mo. Modern
tan cloth, paper label. Faint age toning. All plates with marginal repairs and
flaws. Good.
American edition after the first British edition of 1811. According to Bennett, “[t]
his is said to have been the first color plate American fashion book...it is excessively
rare.” The handcolored copper plate engravings depict feminine attire suitable for
various occasions: “Evening Dresses,” “Morning or Domestic Dresses,” “Carriage
or Promenade Dresses,” and “Opera or full Dresses.” An illuminating, illustrated
treatise on the female condition in early 19th-century America.
BENNETT, p.28. McGRATH, p.208. REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL
CHARACTER 45. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 35286. OCLC 9625673.
$500.
40. [Crockett, Davy]: CROCKETT ALMANAC IMPROVED 1842
[wrapper title]. Boston: S.N. Dickinson, [1841]. [36]pp. Woodcuts. Original pictorial wrappers, string-tied. Wear around edges of several leaves, a
few leaves dog-eared. Final leaf with
tears, including a 2½ x ¾-inch tear,
affecting the illustration on the rear
wrapper and ten lines of text on the
final text page. About good.
One of the later Crockett almanacs, in
this case something of a thematic issue
turned over to numerous accounts of
Indian barbarity accompanied by some
terrific woodcuts. That of “Preparations to Burn Miss Fleming” must have
raised a few eyebrows in those days, as
would “Massacre of a White Girl by the
Indians.” An occasional hunting tale is
tossed in for slightly higher moral edification. Despite the sensationalism, in
his preface publisher Dickinson promises to convey “interesting and valuable
information, respecting the Western
country.” The Crockett almanacs were
terrifically popular in their day and are
rather scarce now.
DRAKE 4236. HOWES C897. $1250.
Some Racism Down Under
41. Cruikshank, George: PROBABLE EFFECTS OF OVER FEMALE
EMIGRATION, OR IMPORTING THE FAIR SEX OF THE SAVAGE ISLANDS IN CONSEQUENCE OF EXPORTING OUR
OWN TO AUSTRALIA!!!!! [London. 1851]. Handcolored etching, 7¼ x
17¼ inches, matted to 13½ x 23 inches. Old fold lines, minor wear. Very good.
An excellent example of this satirical print drawn by illustrator and cartoonist George
Cruikshank, and issued with his The Comic Almanac for 1851. Cruikshank was a
notable artist who contributed illustrations to the works of Charles Dickens, among
others. Throughout the first decades of Australian settlement, men outnumbered
women to an extraordinary degree, resulting in grave social problems for the new
colony. Active attempts to address the imbalance included immigration drives for
women in Britain. Cruikshank’s burlesque cartoon imagines that the supposed
exodus of women who took up offers of assisted passage to Australia has created a
critical shortage of women in England. His dockside scene depicts the ship-load of
Pacific Island women – all of whom are drawn as African savages with exaggerated
black features, some with stretched ears, etc. – who have responded to the desperate
call of the crowd of pallid Englishmen, greeting them upon arrival. $1250.
42. [Dannelly, Elizabeth Otis]: DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY OF
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. A POEM BY A LADY OF
GEORGIA. Charleston. 1866. 24pp. Old marbled boards. Leaves tanned
and rather brittle, some edge chipping, front free endpaper and titlepage detached, old stamp on titlepage. A fair copy only.
Historically based post-war verse by a Georgia woman. The poet based her poem
on the facts presented in William Simms’ account of the burning of Columbia
during Sherman’s raid. The NUC locates only four copies of this intriguing work
(DLC, GU, NcD, ScU). $350.
43. [Davis, Mary Elizabeth]: THE BRITISH PARTIZAN: A TALE OF
THE OLDEN TIME. Macon: Burke, Boykin & Company, 1864. 157pp.
Original printed wrappers. Slight wear and chipping along spine. Minor toning and foxing. Very good.
First Confederate edition, after the first appearance in book form in 1839 published
under the author’s maiden name, M.E. Moragne. Most copies of the 1839 edition
were purportedly destroyed in a flood. This romantic tale, set against the backdrop
of the American Revolution, originally appeared as a serial in the Augusta Mirror.
A lovely sample of Confederate literature, in the original wrappers.
DE RENNE II, p.664. PARRISH & WILLINGHAM 6293. OCLC 6118554. $1750.
44. Davis, Varina Anne: Davis, Jefferson: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER,
SIGNED, FROM VARINA DAVIS, ENCLOSING A CARD
SIGNED BY HER FATHER, JEFFERSON DAVIS]. Beauvoir, Ms.
Feb. 10, 1887. [2]pp. plus autographed card. Lightly stained at bottom corner,
minor soiling otherwise. Very good.
Varina Anne Davis, “Daughter of the Confederacy,” writes to “Mrs. Coxe,” enclosing
a souvenir autograph card signed by her father, Jefferson Davis. Varina Anne Davis
(1864-98) was born in the last year of the Civil War, to Jefferson Davis, president
of the Confederate States of America. She became an author and an advocate for
Confederate veterans, earning her the title, “Daughter of the Confederacy.” She
writes:
Dear Mrs. Coxe, Enclosed you will find a card subscribed by my father. I only
wish I could give you something more individual and expressive of himself, for I
am sure you love him, from your kind expressions, both in your work and when
I had the pleasure of seeing you and making the promise which I now fulfil.
$600.
Diary of an American Minister’s Wife in Portugal
45. [Dearborn, Sarah Bowdoin]: [MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF SARAH
BOWDOIN DEARBORN, KEPT IN LISBON WHILE HER HUSBAND, HENRY DEARBORN, WAS SERVING AS U.S. MINISTER TO PORTUGAL]. Lisbon. July 9, 1823 – July 7, 1824. Over 400
complete pages. Quarto. Original green boards. Spine perished, front board
detached, slight wear to extremities. Very good. In a half morocco and cloth
box.
A previously unknown diary of Henry Dearborn’s wife, kept while he was serving
as minister plenipotentiary in Portugal. Dearborn (1751-1829) had a distinguished
career as an officer in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812. He served
as Secretary of War, collector of the port of Boston, and as a congressman from
Massachusetts. In 1822 he was appointed minister to Portugal by James Monroe,
a post he held for two years. He was accompanied in Portugal by his wife, Sarah
Bowdoin (widow of James Bowdoin, 1752-1811). During her first year in Lisbon,
Sarah Dearborn kept no diary, and she explains this fact in the first entry of the
present diary. Beginning on July 9, 1823 and continuing through the voyage home
a year later, she kept the present daily journal.
Entries range in length from one or two sentences to two full pages and more.
Almost every entry describes in detail the Dearborns’ dinner companions, noting
the positions of the men, and the social attributes of the women. The arrival and
departure of dignitaries is always noted. The diarist comments on local customs,
houses, living arrangements (of both the foreign officials and of the locals), street
crime, etc. She was a close observer of the domestic situations of her companions:
their children, personalities, education, and general accomplishments.
In all, a superb journal, offering a fine insight into the public as well as the
domestic life of an American diplomat’s family in western Europe in the early 19th
century. The journal is completely unknown, having descended in the Dearborn
$12,500.
family until the present time. 46. Dix, Dorothea: [AUTOGRAPH POEM, “THOU SHALT REAP
IF THOU FAINT NOT,” WRITTEN AND SIGNED BY SOCIAL
REFORMER DOROTHEA DIX]. [Np. ca. 1841]. [2]pp. manuscript on
a folded folio sheet. Repairs along a portion of the upper and lower edges.
Near fine.
A fine memento of the life and work of the important 19th-century social reformer,
Dorothea Dix, who labored tirelessly on behalf of the mentally ill. The poem is
entitled “Thou Shalt Reap If Thou Faint Not” and is an allegory about the positive
results that will come from selfless work. A few lines of the poem read: “Where
the foot of sin hath trod / there, unwearied do thou toil; / still renew with ready
zeal / efforts to reclaim the soil”; and “Take the sickle, reap ye there; / Garner in
the sheaves spread wide; / What the harvest? Souls are saved, / Pardoned, sealed,
and sanctified!”
The text of this poem was printed, with unattributed authorship, in the September 1841 issue of The Monthly Miscellany magazine, published in Boston. A
note in manuscript above the text of the poem reads: “I have in my hand before me,
the autograph effusion of a particular friend, the celebrated female philanthropist
of our country, who has done so much all over the land in behalf of the insane.
She herself placed it in my hand....” The text of the poem is consistent with Dix’s
handwriting, and she has signed it at the end with her initials, “D.L.D.”
Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-87) was born in Hampden, Maine and became a
teacher in 1816, opening her own school for young women five years later. In the
mid-1830s, while in England recuperating her health, she became interested in
the work of social reformers who concerned themselves with the plight and care
of the mentally ill. Beginning in the 1840s, Dix would make this her life’s work,
at first concentrating on the conditions in which the mentally ill were cared for in
Massachusetts, and then expanding her efforts throughout the East and the entire
United States, and then to England and Europe. She petitioned legislatures to
reform existing hospitals, and to build new, more humane facilities. During the
Civil War, Dix was appointed superintendent of U.S. Army nurses. She continued
her efforts on behalf of the mentally ill after the war and up to her ninth decade.
“Her efforts paved the way for improved treatment of the mentally ill as well as the
creation of more than 120 new mental health facilities...Her distinguished career
as an advocate for reform has earned her an important place in history as well as
the respect of people around the world” – ANB.
An evocative Dorothea Dix manuscript.
ANB 6, pp.635-37.
$1250.
47. [Duncan, Mary (Grey) Lundie]: AMERICA AS I FOUND IT. London.
1852. xii,380pp. Original cloth. Somewhat sunned, some fraying at head and
toe of spine. Light dampstain along bottom edge of a few leaves, but generally
clean inside. Overall very good.
“Mrs. Duncan traveled through much of the East...She discusses a wide range of
subjects of social and humanitarian import, such as education, churches, weddings,
funerals, and prisons, in a wordy, rambling, and impersonal fashion that makes for
interesting social history. She had much to say about slavery and the colonization
society...” – Clark. She got as far south as Washington, where she witnessed an
“effervescence of enthusiasm” for Henry Clay.
CLARK III:306. SABIN 1017.
$200.
A Great Rarity
48. Eakins, Thomas: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
FAMED AMERICAN ARTIST THOMAS EAKINS TO ARTIST
JAMES D. SMILLIE, TRANSMITTING A SKETCH BY HIMSELF AND BY EAKINS’ FUTURE WIFE, SUSAN HANNAH MacDOWELL]. Philadelphia. Jan. 25, 1879. [1]p. autograph letter, signed, on
a folded sheet. With accompanying envelope, addressed in Eakins’ hand. Old
folds. Fine.
A very nice – and very rare – example
of an autograph letter, signed, from the
great American artist, Thomas Eakins.
Though brief, the letter contains interesting content and associations, discussing
the hoped for exhibition of a now lost
Eakins watercolor as well as a work by
his then-student and future wife. Eakins
letters are very, very rare on the market.
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) was one
of the most important and innovative
American artists, distinguishing himself
greatly as a painter, as a teacher, and as a
photographer. The present letter is written
from Eakins to James D. Smillie (18331909), a noted landscape painter, etcher,
and lithographer. Smillie, whose father
was a respected engraver, is remembered
for his illustrations in the Emory report
on the Mexican Boundary Survey and for
his landscape painting, which featured the
Sierras and the Adirondacks (some of which were used in William Cullen Bryant’s
Picturesque America). In the 1880s, Smillie became a prominent printmaker.
The text of the letter reads:
Mr. James D. Smillie. Dear Sir, I send you for your illustrated catalogue a
sketch of my water color “A Quiet Moment.” I asked my pupil Miss Macdowell
to make a sketch of her water color “Waiting for her Money.” I hope you will
insert them both and oblige yours truly Thomas Eakins.
Thomas Eakins’ student, Susan Hannah MacDowell, would become his wife in
1884. She studied art with Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy for six years, and
was a talented painter, winning prizes from the Academy for her art. She was also
a significant collaborator with Eakins on his photographic work, and was the subject of important Eakins portraits. The sketch of his own work (neither sketch is
included with this letter) that Eakins is sending Smillie is of “A Quiet Moment,”
a watercolor which is now lost. Apparently Eakins was asking Smillie to include
his sketch and that of Miss MacDowell in a forthcoming exhibition hosted by the
American Watercolor Society, of which Smillie was the president.
Auction records for the past thirty years list only three clipped Eakins signatures,
and no letters. A rare opportunity to acquire a Thomas Eakins letter. $12,500.
An Important Archive of a Key Figure
in Transforming American Indian Themes to Popular Culture
49. Eberhart, Nelle Richmond: [EXTENSIVE ARCHIVE OF MANU-
SCRIPT NOTEBOOKS OF COMPOSER NELLE RICHMOND
EBERHART, CONTAINING PROSE AND LYRICAL WORKS,
AS WELL AS TWO LARGE SCRAPBOOKS]. [Various locations].
1913-1936. Thirty-seven composition notebooks, plus two thick scrapbooks.
Notebooks mostly octavo with cardboard covers; scrapbooks folio, cloth over
heavy boards. Some wear to notebooks, several chipped. Some leaves a bit
brittle. Scrapbooks worn at extremities, cloth frayed. Overall, very good.
An important archive of the manuscript writings of author and lyricist Nelle Richmond Eberhart (1871-1944), containing much material relating to the Indianist
Movement in American music. Eberhart is best known for her work with composer
Charles Wakefield Cadman, and is credited with introducing Cadman to the music
and culture of Native American Indians. The archive contains a wealth of prose
and lyrical writing, covering more than twenty years of her career from 1913 to
1936 and filling hundreds of sheets of paper.
Eberhart became enamored of Native American culture while growing up in
Atkinson, Nebraska, where her family moved in 1881. While there she witnessed
the trials of Indian removal and relocation to Oklahoma, and developed an interest
in the culture and music of the local tribes. Later, when married, she lived near
Lincoln, Nebraska until moving to Pittsburgh in 1899. A school teacher, author,
and lyricist, she was a pioneer of the Indianist music movement, which adapted
traditional Native American music into modern-day themes. She met Cadman in
Pittsburgh in 1902 at the start of his career, and by 1906 they had created Indianist
songs together, and Eberhart was corresponding with Alice Fletcher and others on
the topic. Collaborators for many years, Eberhart wrote the lyrics for more than
one hundred of Cadman’s best-known songs and worked with him on several operas.
The most well-known of these songs, “From the Land of Sky Blue Water,” written
in 1908, was popularized by American soprano Lillian Nordica and was considered
a wild success. Eberhardt’s other collaborations with the Cadman include “At
Dawning”; the opera “Shanewis”; and the songs “The White Dawn is Stealing,” “Far
Off I Hear a Lover’s Lute,” “The Moon Drops Low,” “From Wigwam to Teepee,”
and “I Hear a Thrush at Eve.” Eberhardt frequently traveled with Cadman, who
was an important collector of Native American music. His cylinder recordings of
native music, made in Indian Territory, are at the Smithsonian. At the same time
Cadman became a well-known theatre producer
Also included here are two large scrapbooks belonging to Eberhart’s daughter,
opera singer Constance Eberhart. Constance’s career led the family to move to
New York in 1918. These scrapbooks include many clippings, correspondence,
and at least one signed photograph. A significant archive of an important figure
in early modern American music, and of the adoption of American Indian themes
into popular culture.
Arlouine G. Wu, Constance Eberhart: A Musical Career in the Age of Cadman (Buffalo,
1983).$11,000.
50. Eldridge, Elleanor: MEMOIRS OF ELLEANOR ELDRIDGE. Providence: Printed by B.T. Albro, 1847. 128pp. 16mo. Contemporary cloth-backed
decorative boards, paper label. Spine frayed, hinges weak. Old stains on pastedowns. Else very good.
One of several printings of the second edition, after the first edition of 1838. Eldridge, the granddaughter of a Narraganset Indian woman and an African chief, was
born in Warwick, Rhode Island in 1785. The memoir exposes the cruel injustices
experienced by Ms. Eldridge and includes testimonials by friends and acquaintances
concerning her right to recover the loss of her life savings and other property. The
proceeds from the sale of the book were to help her recover the property.
FIELD 489. SABIN 22102. WORK 311 (all earlier eds).
$350.
51. Elizabeth II, Queen of England: [TYPED LETTER OF STATE,
SIGNED (“ELIZABETH R”), FROM ELIZABETH II AS QUEEN,
WITH SEAL, TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC CONCERNING HER RECENT CORONATION]. “Our
Court of Saint James’s” London. July 30, 1953. [2]pp. on two conjugate leaves
of stationery, edges gilt, with gilt-embossed royal crest at head. Folio, on a
folded sheet. Fine. In a folding cloth box, gilt leather label.
This letter is dated only a month after Elizabeth’s highly anticipated and, for the
first time in history, highly publicized coronation, which came more than a year after
King George VI’s death. It was attended by representatives from nations around
the world, as well as by many less prestigious viewers, being the first to be televised.
This letter concerns the choice of Secretary of State Don Manuel de Moya Alonza
as a representative of the Dominican Republic at the coronation ceremony, under
President Hector Bienvenido Trujillo Molina. Trujillo was elected unopposed the
previous year to succeed his brother, Raphael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, who had
acted as dictator since 1930. This act of faux democracy left the elder Trujillo with
the ultimate power over the country until his assassination in 1961. None of this
comes through in the letter, which exhibits polite esteem for the leader on the part
of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth:
We have received the Letter which You addressed to Us on the Eleventh day of
May the last, and in which You informed Us that, being desirous of manifesting in a special manner Your interest in the solemnity of Our Coronation, You
have made choice of His Excellency General Don Manuel de Moya Alonza,
Secretary of State without Portfolio, as Head of the Special Mission charged
with the representation of the Dominican Republic at the ceremonies held on
this occasion....We hasten to thank you for the sentiments of congratulation
and goodwill to which You have thus given expression. We think it is due to
General de Moya Alonzo and his colleagues to assure You that in the discharge
of the Mission thus entrusted to them, their conduct has been such as to merit
Our entire approbation and esteem and has been in full accordance with Our
earnest desire for the maintenance and still further improvement of the relations of friendship and good understanding which so happily subsist between
Our Realm and the Dominican Republic. And so we commend You to the
protection of the Almighty.
It is rare to find a Letter of State signed by Queen Elizabeth II, and extremely rare
$3000.
to find one concerning her coronation. An exceptional letter. A Signer Mentions the Stamp Act
52. Eller y, William: [AU TOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
WILLIAM ELLERY TO HIS DAUGHTER LUCY, OFFERING
FATHERLY ADVICE AND MENTIONING THE AGITATION
SURROUNDING THE STAMP ACT]. Newport. Sept. 9, 1765. 4pp.
Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Old folds. Lightly soiled. Reinforced at folds
with tissue. Good. In a large half morocco and cloth clamshell box, spine gilt.
William Ellery (1727-1820) was a merchant, customs collector, lawyer, and clerk
of the Rhode Island General Assembly, as well as a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. He was an important leader in the Newport Sons of Liberty, and
in 1776 became a member of the Continental Congress. Ellery was intensely loyal
to the interests of Rhode Island and the Northeast, and would go on to be a justice
of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. One of his grandsons was Richard Henry
Dana, author of Two Years Before the Mast.
A widower, Ellery writes to his twelve-year-old daughter in a display of fine
absentee colonial parenting.
My dear child, I am very much pleas’d with your writing to me so often,
especially I am pleas’d to see how much you mend in your writing....[In my
previous letter] I urged it upon you to tarry at Cambridge the coming winter...that you would live better at your uncle’s than you will at home; that any
advantages in point of behaviour or otherwise that you may have obtain’d will
be confirmed; that the precepts & example of the best of women will be more
beneficial to you than to live in a house which is almost without a head. In
short, my dear, in every point of view it appears to me that it will be much
for your pleasure as well as advantage to live this winter with your aunt, that
I am sure you can offer no reasonable objection to it. Every opportunity for
improvement which offers to you, you should chearfully embrace and perhaps
you may never be favour’d with so good an one again. I know you will want
to take a game of Newport romps; but a little trifling fun should always give
way to solid lasting benefit.
He goes on to mention the trouble aroused by the Stamp Act:
I am sorry to hear that there hath been so much confusion & mischief at Boston; especially that your uncle was threatened, that they were put to so much
trouble, & thrown into such a panick. Mobs are indeed dreadfull things. You
may see by the last week’s Boston Prints what mischief hath been done here.
At present this town is in peace & I hope will remain so.
He writes that Lucy’s siblings are all well excepting her sister, who fell while “abroad
against my consent,” injuring her nose. He adds a note of warning: “Children who
disobey their parents may expect to meet with many disasters in life.” Her nose
is on the mend and she will be learning to spin yarn over the winter, which Ellery
urges Lucy to do as well, if possible. $4500.
“...I am a Father, and never gave a stone to a child
when it asked for a fish”
53. Ellery, William: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM WIL-
LIAM ELLERY TO HIS DAUGHTER, ALMY, SENDING ADVICE AND GOOD WISHES FOR HER RECOVERY FROM
ILLNESS]. Newport. Oct. 15, 1803. [3]pp. Small quarto, on a folded folio
sheet. Old folds. Closed tear, with minor loss, repaired on first leaf. Small loss
to second leaf from wax seal, affecting four lines of text (about ten words).
Lightly soiled. Good. In a folio-sized tan cloth folder, gilt leather label.
William Ellery, a Rhode Island lawyer and politician and a signer of the Declaration
of Independence, writes to his daughter, Almy Stedman, dispensing concern and
advice for Almy’s health. Ellery (1727-1820) was by turns a merchant, a customs
collector, and a clerk before taking up the law in 1770. He was elected to the
Continental Congress in 1776, where he signed the Declaration of Independence
and served until 1785, while simultaneously holding office on the Supreme Court
of Rhode Island. Ellery was the first Collector of Customs for the port of Newport under the dictates of the new federal Constitution, a position he held until
his death in 1820.
In this letter he dispenses fond advice to his daughter, Almy, wife of U.S.
Congressman William Stedman, who represented Massachusetts in the legislature.
Stedman was elected to Congress in March 1803, and, as the letter notes, he was
away attending to the needs of his constituents. Ellery’s letter encourages Almy
to keep a calm mind and body, defer cleaning her house, and to take the open air.
He closes with news of some friends.
His letter reads, in part:
Your infirm state requires great attention, and fortitude of mind, especially
at this juncture, when he who was faithful, and provided almost every thing
for his family, is gone to fulfill his engagements to his constituents, and the
whole care of it is devolved upon you. It is vain to repine and give way to any
things which occur in this checker’d state. What cannot be corrected becomes
lighter by patience, and I need not even hint to whom we are to repair when
we are in affliction....I wish you had a cordial companion to converse with,
and to participate in the cares of your family. But if such an one cannot be
obtained, you must not suffer the weakness of your disposition to induce any
bodily or mental fatigue. You must not iron; nor exercise the brush or broom;
and you are not to be distressed if the tables and hand irons should not shine;
nor even if a web should be woven in the obscure corner of one of your rooms.
Your exercise is to be taken in the open air, whenever the weather will permit,
and you are to preserve a mind as composed as possible, let what will happen. I know it is much easier to give advice than to take it, and Dean Swift,
in his manner, has observed that he never knew a person who could not bear
the affliction of another perfectly like a Christian....Altho’ I have for a long
course of years endeavored to stand buff against the calamities of life, and,
perhaps...appeared not to be possessed of those very fine feelings with which
your delicate spirits are tormented...I am a Father, and never gave a stone to
a child when it asked for a fish. I hope I shall not be thought too apt to give
advice. That which I have given and now give to you I am sure will, if it be
complied with, prove beneficial.
$2500.
54. Farnham, Eliza W.: LIFE IN PRAIRIE LAND. New York. 1846. 408pp.
Original gilt pictorial cloth. Head of spine chipped. Ownership signatures on
front fly leaf and titlepage. Else very good and bright.
Farnham’s account of her travels and experiences in the West, living in northern and
central Illinois in the early 1840s. She pays particular attention to conditions of
women: “Very many ladies are so unfortunate as to have had their minds thoroughly
distorted....They cannot endure the sudden and complete transition which is forced
upon them by emigration to the West...[they] suffer the loss of artificial luxuries,
but never appreciate what is offered in exchange for them” (Preface). “Doubtless
fictitious in some of the details but throws light on frontier conditions” – Buck.
BUCK 356. SABIN 23862.
$200.
55. [Fashion]: FRANK LESLIE’S “Lady’s Journal” CUT PAPER PATTERNS [caption title]. [New York. ca. 1870]. 104pp. plus three paper patterns. Folio. Original brown publisher’s cloth, gilt. Extremities lightly worn.
Negligible soiling. One leaf torn, with old tape repairs. About very good.
Pattern book for fashions of the 1870s, illustrating a wide selection of clothing
patterns for women, girls, and boys, including coats, jackets, skirts, and undergarments, as well as a few for men’s shirts. Most patterns cost 25 cents each, and
each gives approximate measurements and sizes. The three paper patterns here are
from Peterson’s Magazine for 1885. They are for a girl’s frock, a Spanish vest, and
a chasseur jacket. All are in very nice condition and could easily be used today to
make the intended item of clothing. $500.
56. Felton, Mrs. [pseudonym]: LIFE IN AMERICA. A NARRATIVE OF
TWO YEARS CITY & COUNTRY RESIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES. Hull. 1838. 120pp. Frontispiece map. 12mo. Original maroon
patterned cloth. Front board lacking, map and first four pages detached. Slight
browning. Contemporary ownership signature on front free endpaper. Good.
The first thirty pages describe the author’s sea voyage from England to America.
She established a residence in New York City, with a country home on Long Island.
She offers her views on city life, blacks, the frequency of fires, and comparisons with
life in Europe. The map illustrates New York City. Not in Howes.
SABIN 24044.
$200.
57. Fickes, Elizabeth H.: DIARY. [1856-1857]. 48pp. typescript, typed on
recto. Large quarto. Wrappers, bradbound, title typed on front wrapper. Wrappers a bit sunned, but overall very good.
Typed transcription of Fickes’ diary from the middle of the 19th century. Fickes
was a married woman with three young sons when she started her diary. The first
half is a travel journal from Washington to Oskaloosa; the second half is a succinct
$400.
record of frontier life in Iowa. 58. Fremont, Jessie Benton: SOUVENIRS OF MY TIME. Boston. 1887.
[2],393,[4]pp. Original gilt cloth, t.e.g. Spine ends slightly frayed, inner front
hinge cracked. Bookplate and contemporary ownership inscription on front
endpapers. Still, a very good copy of a book often found quite worn.
Autobiographical sketches of a woman who spent most of her life in the midst of
public society, as the daughter of Thomas Benton and the wife of John Fremont.
Contains chapters devoted to her time in California, New Orleans, and St. Louis,
$500.
and various European travels. 59. Fremont, Jessie Benton: FAR-WEST SKETCHES. Boston. 1890. [3],
10-206pp. 12mo. Original gilt cloth. Very minor wear to spine ends. Bookplate
on front pastedown. Else fine.
A collection of essays by John Fremont’s wife about life in the West, including an
account of her experiences in the Sierras around the time of the Gold Rush, as
well as comments on Yosemite, Indians, Mexicans, etc. Pages 136-51 includes an
account of a visit to Mariposa Big Tree Grove in June 1859.
COWAN, p.222. CURREY & KRUSKA 119.
$375.
Gerry Bored at the Constitutional Convention,
While Alexander Hamilton Draws Up His Will:
“I am as sick of being here as you can conceive...”
60. Gerry, Elbridge: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM EL-
BRIDGE GERRY TO HIS WIFE ANN, MENTIONING THE
DRAWING UP OF HIS WILL AND THE TEDIUM OF THE
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION]. Philadelphia. Aug. 21, 1778
[i.e. 1787]. 4pp. Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Old fold lines. Minor soiling and wear. Very good plus. In a half morocco and cloth clamshell case,
spine gilt.
An affectionate letter written by Founding Father Elbridge Gerry to his young wife,
Ann, noting that he is having Alexander Hamilton draw up his will, and mentioning some of the slow-going action of the Constitutional Convention. Still stuck
in Philadelphia working on the Constitution, Gerry writes of missing his family,
telling Ann that he has begun thinking about his own mortality and has asked
Alexander Hamilton to compose his will for him:
We cannot foretell or foresee the decrees of Omnipotence respecting our existence, that is a matter which He wisely conceals from mortals; but I do not
expect a long life, my constitution appears not to be formed for it, & such as it
is, constant attention of one kind or another prey on it. But if anything makes
life in the least desirable it is you, my dearest girl & our lovely offspring. Detached from your comforts, life to me would be a source of evils....Your pappa
is in the instance you mention too sudden; he desired me to see Hamilton &
Doctor Johnson & I saw them both. Hamilton was disposed to all the alterations proposed & made several: but as some required an alteration of the State
of Facts in consequence of your pappa’s minutes, Hamilton said he would have
that done in New York as soon as he arrived, first consulting your pappa &
seeing him with Harrison. He thot that as Harrison drew the Bill, delicacy
required such a mode of proceeding & indeed I should have conducted in the
same manner had the case been my own. I think it would be best for your pappa
to meet them, & after they have made the alterations, I will consult Doctor
Johnson, if he will send the Bill & Will. I see their design of procrastination,
but these things have their own course, & cannot be too much hastened.
Gerry goes on to mention the proceedings of the Convention and his decided lack
of enthusiasm for them:
I am as sick of being here as you can conceive. Most of the time I am at home
or in convention. I do not think in a week I am ten hours any where else.
We meet now at ten & sit till four: but entre nous, I do not expect to give my
voice to the measures.
Indeed, Gerry did not sign the Constitution, unwilling to accept it without a Bill
of Rights.
Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) can rightly claim to be one of the foremost Founding Fathers. He was elected to the Second Continental Congress, and was a signer
of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, serving in
Congress until 1785. He played an important role in the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but refused to sign because of the lack of a Bill of Rights. He was a
prime mover for one in the First Congress, where he served as a Representative.
He later served as an ambassador to France under John Adams, and governor of
Massachusetts, where his manipulation of voting districts led to the term “gerrymander,” for which he is probably best known today. In 1812, although already ill,
he was elected vice president on Madison’s second ticket. He died in Washington
in 1814. Gerry did not marry until he was forty-one, and then to the much younger
Ann Thompson, who was twenty-two. Ann later had the melancholy distinction
of being the longest surviving widow of a signer of the Declaration. $12,000.
All the Latest Gossip from Philadelphia, 1791
61. Gerry, Elbridge: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM EL-
BRIDGE GERRY TO HIS WIFE ANN, RELATING THE LATEST
GOSSIP AND NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL]. Philadelphia. May 30,
1791. 7pp. Quarto, on folded folio sheets. Old fold lines. Crisp and clean.
Docketed on verso in Ann Gerry’s hand. Fine. In a folio-sized half morocco
and cloth clamshell case, spine gilt.
A charming and chatty letter written from the nation’s capital in Philadelphia by
Founding Father Elbridge Gerry to his wife Ann, relaying instructions and news.
Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) was a politician and signer of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts with a well-established mercantile business. He
would go on to become governor of Massachusetts, vice president under James
Madison, and notorious for being the namesake of the term “gerrymandering.”
He was a close friend and associate of John Adams, among others. Gerry did not
marry until he was forty-one, and then to the much younger Ann Thompson, who
was twenty-two. Ann, a New York socialite, has the melancholy distinction of being the last surviving widow of a signer of the Declaration, dying in New Haven
on March 17, 1849.
After instructing Ann on the disposition of some of his correspondence, Gerry
writes (noting that he wrote the first portion of the letter while in the House of
Representatives):
The above I wrote in the House of Reps. & from thence went to dine with
the President, who is very friendly. There were the Earl of Wisecomb, a
number of gentlemen of the Senate, & the following ladies: Mrs. Cabot, Mrs.
Lear, Miss Butler & Miss Wadsworth. The first I think is an ordinary piece
of household stuf [sic]. I did not know her, until enquiring of Cabot for his
wife he informed me she sat next to Mrs. Washington. Mrs. Lear was very
particular in her enquiry for you & why I had not brot you. I wispered [sic]
that it was impracticable, she laughed & said it was a good reason. I enquired
for her little boy, & informed her that as she herself was improved, (for she
looks very pretty), in the manufacture I hoped she would continue it. But like
all other ladies she declared her intention (as tho it was the reverse) to leave
it off....The President & his family are sociable & friendly. Dear little Miss
Custis was there & looks thin, owing as she informed me to her having had
the fever & ague at Mount Vernon. Her little brother had been confined 20
days with a fever & like to have dyed.
Gerry continues with further tales about members of Philadelphia society in their
circle. Ann has docketed the letter on the final page, noting that it is from “My
ever dear E. Gerry.” $6000.
Portraits of Elbridge Gerry and His Wife Ann
62. [Gerry, Elbridge]: [PORTRAIT OF ELBRIDGE GERRY, SIGNER
OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES]. [with:] [PORTRAIT OF ELBRIDGE GERRY ’S WIFE, ANN THOMPSON
GERRY]. [N.p. after 1815]. Two portraits, oil on canvas, expertly conserved.
Each 24 x 19½ inches, In matching period gilt frames. Very good. See front
cover of this catalogue for color illustration of Mrs. Gerry’s portrait.
A charming pair of portraits of Elbridge Gerry and his wife, Ann Thompson Gerry,
after the originals by John Vanderlyn. The image of Gerry is the best-known portrait
of him and exists in several copies by unknown artists, as here, besides the original.
It shows a bust-length image, his arms crossed, looking intently at the viewer.
Elbridge Gerry can rightly claim to be one of the foremost Founding Fathers.
Born into a merchant family in Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1744, his radical
politics led him to become active in the Committees of Correspondence and a
wanted man at the time of Lexington and Concord. He was elected to the Second
Continental Congress and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the
Articles of Confederation, serving in Congress until 1785. He played an important
role in the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but refused to sign because of the
lack of a Bill of Rights. He was a prime mover for a Bill of Rights in the First
Congress, where he served as a Representative. He later served as an ambassador
to France under John Adams, and governor of Massachusetts, where his manipulation of voting districts led to the term “gerrymander,” for which he is probably
best known today. In 1812, although already ill, he was elected vice president on
Madison’s second ticket. He died in Washington in 1814.
Gerry did not marry until he was forty-one, and then to the much younger Ann
Thompson, who was twenty-two. Her portrait shows her in a bust-length view and
captures her personality. It was said “she possessed considerable force of character
and a dignified and gentle manner.” She later had the melancholy distinction of
being the last surviving widow of a signer of the Declaration, dying in New Haven
on March 17, 1849. She is buried in the Grove Street Cemetery, about two blocks
from the offices of William Reese Company.
George A. Billias, Elbridge Gerry, Founding Father and Republican Statesman (New York,
1976).$20,000.
63. [Gibbons, L.]: ADVERTISEMENT EXTRAORDINARY! [caption
title]. [Bath? 1813]. Broadsheet, 7½ x 6½ inches. Light fold lines, faint dust
soiling, small piece torn from lower left blank margin. Very good.
This eyebrow raising broadsheet assures the public that its author, a Mrs. L. Gibbon, despite recent reports to the contrary, is indeed a woman. An excerpt from
the text reads:
Whereas some ill-disposed Persons have scandalously reported that I, Mrs.
L. Gibbons, have lately been discovered to be a Man! – This is to certify you,
Ladies and Gentleman in particular, that the Whole is a vile Fabrication:
Also, that I still continue in my profession of making geographical, geometrical, anatomical, and systematical Survey’s of Ladies’ Waists, in their various
Dimensions, as usual; and affording you Opportunity of furnishing yourselves
with my celebrated Stays, Corsets, Venus’s Inexpressibles, Diana’s Shapes – and
all the Paraphernalia calculated to improve and adorn the Female Form, from
the age of 15 to 95....
On the verso is a short ditty regarding fickle fashion. This item was discovered with
a group of similar items printed in Bath in 1813, hence the present attribution. A
likely unique British oddity. $250.
In a Remarkable Mother-of-Pearl Binding
64. [Gift Book]: [American Binding]: THE KEEPSAKE: A GIFT FOR
THE HOLIDAYS. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS EXECUTED EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK. New York: John C. Riker, 1853. 304pp.
plus chromolithograph presentation page and list of illustrations, added engraved titlepage, and seven plates. Publisher’s black lacquer binding with
mother-of-pearl inlays, skillfully rebacked with original gilt spine laid down,
a.e.g. White silk endpapers, stamped in gilt. Two corners chipped, part of
central inlay chipped. Chromolithograph leaves chipped at extremities. Minor
offsetting and foxing, but generally quite clean internally. Very good.
A lovely gift book in a spectacular lacquer-and-inlays binding. The seven plates
complement the text, which includes a story by Agnes Strickland.
FAXON, LITERARY ANNUALS AND GIFT BOOKS, p.39. THOMPSON, ANNUALS, p.132.
$1650.
65. Gowanlock, Theresa, and Theresa Delaney: TWO MONTHS IN THE
CAMP OF BIG BEAR THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF THERESA GOWANLOCK AND THERESA DELANEY. Parkdale. 1885.
136pp. Numerous in-text illustrations. Original cloth, stamped in gilt. Closed
one-inch tear in backstrip, inner hinge starting. Else very good, internally
clean.
The two women were the sole survivors of the Frog Lake massacre in North Saskatchewan in 1885 and were taken captive by Indians. They were rescued after
two harrowing months. This is one of the last Indian captivities, chronologically.
Although in two parts, the pagination is continuous.
GRAFF 1605. AYER SUPPLEMENT 60. PEEL 602. VAUGHAN 114.
$425.
66. Grant, Anne: MEMOIRS OF AN AMERICAN LADY; WITH
SKETCHES OF MANNERS AND SCENERY IN AMERICA, AS
THEY EXISTED PREVIOUS TO THE REVOLUTION. London.
1809. Two volumes. xii,322; vii,[1],344pp. Frontispiece inserted from another
source. 12mo. Modern three-quarter brown morocco, gilt-stamped spines,
green gilt morocco labels, t.e.g. Internally clean. Very good.
Second London edition. “The ‘American Lady’ means Mrs. Schuyler. Mrs. Grant
passed many years of her youth in the family of General Schuyler, of Albany, of
whom and of Provinc’ Life her book is a most delightful picture” – Sabin. Contains
many observations of the Indians; notes on the Huguenots and Palatines; and much
material on colonial New York and the inhabitants of Albany (where the Schuylers
lived), and about the Schuylers themselves.
HOWES G303. SABIN 28296.
$300.
67. Griffith, Elizabeth: LETTERS ADDRESSED TO YOUNG MARRIED WOMEN. Philadelphia: John Turner, 1796. 126pp. Contemporary
calf, black gilt morocco label. Rubbed. Ink gift inscription on front pastedown,
upper blank margin of first leaf torn, scattered foxing. Good.
A recommendation of the cultivation of the religious virtues with advice on the
“affection due to a husband.” One bit of advice: “A married woman should continually reflect, that her happiness as well as her power, has no other foundation but in
her husband’s esteem and love.” Elizabeth Griffith is listed as the author on the
titlepage, but recent scholarship suggests that this volume is actually a collection of
variously-authored texts issued by the publisher under Griffith’s name in order to
capitalize on her success as an author of a similarly titled manual issued in London.
An interesting marriage instructional, with slight underpinnings of frustration at
the plight of the female condition.
NAIP w013534. EVANS 30517.
$425.
68. Guinan, Texas: [PHOTOGRAPH OF ACTRESS AND SINGER
MARY LOUISE CELIA “TEXAS” GUINAN]. [New York. 1915]. Sepia
photograph, 9½ x 7¼ inches. Bottom right corner very lightly creased. Near
fine.
Texas Guinan (1884-1933) was famous first as a singer and vaudeville personality,
and later as the hostess of a New York City nightclub, the 300 Club, during the
prohibition era (the 300 Club was about a block down West 54th Street from the
later Studio 54). There she was the toast of a similarly chic, elite, and spendthrift
crowd. In 1917 she debuted as a silent film actress, appearing as the first cowgirl,
a role she played in several films. The photograph shows Guinan facing left, with
her head turned slightly to the right, eyes looking over her right shoulder. She has
an engaging smile, with her mouth slightly open, which makes it appear that she is
either about to laugh or in the midst of cracking wise. A contemporary manuscript
note on the verso of the image reads: “Texas Guinan with ‘The Whirl of the World’
Musical Spectacle, Cort Theatre, February 15th 1915. No other record.” A lovely
image of this interesting woman. $250.
The “Belle of Hayti”
69. [Haiti]: THE BELLE OF HAYTI. New York: W. Peters, 32 Ann St.,
[ca. 1830s]. Lithograph, 18½ x 14 inches. Several small closed tears, repaired.
Backed with archival paper. Minor soiling and wear. Very good.
A highly stylized rendering of what an early 19th-century artist thought a Haitian
woman should look like. The belle is depicted from the waist up, facing slightly
right. She wears a chic gown with puffed sleeves, in the style of the 1830s, her
head wrapped in a patterned turban showing a few tight black curls peeking out
at the bottom. She is adorned with large dangling earrings, a cameo necklace, and
several rings. Her right hand holds a feather fan, while her left hand is held to her
face in a slightly provocative manner. Though her skin is darker in tone, she has
Anglicized features. We could find no record of this unusual lithograph, nor the
company that produced it. $2000.
Item 69.
70. [Hall, Frances]: NARRATIVE OF THE CAPTURE AND PROVI-
DENTIAL ESCAPE OF MISSES FRANCES AND ALMIRA
HALL.... [N.p.]. 1833. 24pp. Frontis. Modern paper-backed boards. Occasional fox mark. Very good.
First printed the year before. The girls’ names were actually Sylvia and Rachel
Hall. The captivity as told here is true, with some inaccuracies. The Hall sisters
were spirited away from a settlement on the Fox River by members of the Sauk
and Fox tribes. They suffered the usual indignities and witnessed the Indians’
continued molestations of frontier settlements during their captivity. The sisters
survived, perhaps because Philip Brigdon, “an unfortunate Kentuckian,” kept them
company. Howes suggests authorship by W.P. Edwards, the perpetrator of the
Lewis captivity account.
HOWES H61. AYER 210. BUCK 244.
$600.
71. Hamilton, Alexander: OBSERVATIONS ON CERTAIN DOCU-
MENTS CONTAINED IN No. V & VI OF “THE HISTORY OF
THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR 1796,” IN WHICH THE
CHARGE OF SPECULATION AGAINST ALEXANDER HAMILTON, LATE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, IS FULLY
REFUTED. Philadelphia: Printed for John Fenno, by John Bioren, 1797.
37,[1],lviii pp. Early 20th-century three-quarter morocco and cloth, spine gilt.
Joints lightly worn, bookplate on front pastedown. Early ownership signature
on titlepage and first text leaf. Upper outer corner of titlepage torn and neatly
repaired. Occasional staining, a few fox marks. Ownership signature of Robert
Means, Jr. on titlepage. Very good overall.
The first edition of the infamous “Reynolds pamphlet” in which Hamilton describes
his affair with Maria Reynolds and admits to paying off a blackmailer. In the
pamphlet Hamilton took the extraordinary step of admitting to adultery in order to
clear his name of financial scandal. While successful in its purpose, it destroyed any
hope of a political career on the national stage, and provided salacious ammunition
for his enemies. A second edition, printed in 1800, was published by Hamilton’s
opponents to keep the scandal alive in the election of 1800, after the Hamilton
family had purchased and destroyed most of the original edition.
HOWES H120. EVANS 32222. SABIN 29970. SHEIDLEY 36. FORD 64.
$2750.
Biography of the First Catholic Saint of the Americas
72. Hansen, Leonhard: VITA MIRABILIS ET
MORS PRETIOSA VENERABILIS SORORIS
ROSAE DES MARIA LIMENSIS.... Rome. 1664.
[8],360,[4]pp. Lacks engraved titlepage. Small quarto.
Contemporary limp vellum, tooled in gilt on covers,
a.e.g. Light soiling to covers; edges worn in places. Inscription on front pastedown. Light to moderate foxing
and dampstaining; some minor worming, minutely affecting text. Good.
Biography of Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first
Catholic saint of the Americas. Rose, born in Lima as
Isabel Flores de Oliva, was canonized in 1671 by Pope
Clement X, the first saint from the Western Hemisphere.
Seven copies are located in OCLC.
MEDINA (BHA) 1452. SABIN 30249. PALAU 112196.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 664/89. OCLC 42453291,
54270098, 258128415.
$4500.
The Low Life of St. Louis
73. Harris, Louisa: BEHIND THE SCENES; OR NINE YEARS AT
THE FOUR COURTS OF SAINT LOUIS. By Mrs. Louisa Harris,
Police Matron. St. Louis. 1893. 220pp. Original publisher’s cloth, gilt. Extremities rubbed. Internally clean. Very good.
Memoir of a police matron, considered to be among the first works written by a
female law officer. In her book Harris details the seediness and suffering she has
seen while working in St. Louis. Anecdotes include tales of prostitution, spousal
abuse, abandoned children, and drug addiction in St. Louis in the 1880s. $475.
74. Harrison, Constance Cary: WOMAN’S HANDIWORK IN MODERN HOMES. [New York]: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1881. xii,242pp. plus
five chromolithographic plates and numerous uncolored wood engravings in
the text. Original cloth, stamped in burgundy ink, gilt-lettered cover. Internally
clean. Contemporary bookseller’s label and later ownership signature on front
pastedown. Very good.
Detailed instructions and ideas for decorative projects in the home, ranging from
embroidery and vase painting to treatments of walls, windows, and furniture. Two
of the plates depict room designs by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and the leaf following
the titlepage reprints part of an address by William Morris. Some of the chromolithographs are also interesting from a technical perspective, appearing to take
advantage of the color subtleties made possible by stippling, and by the crosshatching
technique more commonly found in chromoxylography. $350.
Signer of the Declaration from New Jersey
75. Hart, John: [AUTOGRAPH DOCUMENT, SIGNED BY JOHN
HART, DETAILING A DEBT TO BE PAID TO ACHSAH LAMBERT, WITH LATER NOTATIONS ON THE DEBT]. [N.p., but
near Trenton]. Sept. 16, 1772. [2]pp. plus 3 x 3-inch attached note. Folio. Old
fold lines. Some light soiling. Very good. In a blue half morocco and cloth
clamshell case, spine gilt.
Document written and signed by John Hart, signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey, detailing the terms of a debt of £42 owed to Achsah
Lambert (a woman); it is witnessed and signed by another woman, Elisabeth Smith.
John Hart (1714-79) was a New Jersey politician and judge, as well as a Signer.
He attended every session of New Jersey’s extralegal Provincial Congress, from
1774 to 1776, sat on New Jersey’s Committee of Safety, serving as its treasurer.
He served as Speaker of the state legislature from 1777 until his death. Achsah
Lambert seems to have been a woman of some means who owned several acres in
and around Trenton. The bond reads:
Know all men by these presents that I John Hart of the township of Hopewell
in the County of Huntsdon and western division of the provence of New Jersey
are held and firmly bound unto Achsah Lambert of the township of Notingham
in the county of Burlington and povence [sic] aforesaid in the just and full sum
of forty two pounds good and lawful money of the said povince [sic] and for the
payment thereof to be well and truly paid and done I do hereby find myselfe
my heirs, executors and administrators firmly sealed with my seal and dated this
sixteenth day of September in the year of oure Lord one thousand seven hundred
and sevinty two 1772. The conduct of this obligation is such that if the above
bounden John Hart himself, his heirs, executors or administrators shall and do
well and truly pay or cause to be paid unto the above named Achsah Lambert
or to her certain attorney, her heirs, executors or administrators or assigns the
just and full sum of twenty one pounds like money as above mentioned and
that on or before the sixteenth day of September next insuring the date hereof
together with lawfull interest for the same without any let fraud or delay than
this present obligation is to be void but otherwise to stand and remain in full
fore power and virtue in the law.
On the integral leaf Hart has docketed it with the notation: “John Hart obligations
£21-0-0.” A later note below his docketing reads: “Mentioned in inventory of the
estate, ‘Desperate.’” At the top of the leaf, Achsah Lambert has signed the document, noting that on May 24, 1776, she received £5/17/8 from Hart. The next
notation below that signs the bond over to Lambert Cadwalader on May 19, 1781,
also signed by Achsah Lambert and witnessed by two people (one of them a woman).
A further notation reassigns the bond from Cadwalader back to Lambert just a few
months later, on Aug. 7, 1781. It is likewise signed by Cadwalader, a prominent
New Jersey merchant and representative to both the Continental and U.S. Congress.
The note that accompanies the document appears to be in Achsah Lambert’s hand.
It reads: “This bond was assigned to L. Cadwalader by Miss Achsah Lambert in
1781 in order to prevent its being pd. in Continental money, and re-assigned to her
by him in the same year. I believe the money will never be recovered.”
Hart’s estates were ravaged by the British during the Revolution, which may
have contributed to his delinquency. An interesting document, signed by more
than one colonial New Jersey woman, and two important New Jersey politicians.
$3500.
Bret Harte Reviews Mrs. Victor
76. [Harte, Bret]: [AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT, BEING A BOOK
REVIEW, WITH NUMEROUS AUTOGRAPH CORRECTIONS,
OF MRS. FRANCES FULLER VICTOR’S The River of the West,
PUBLISHED IN THE Overland Monthly]. [San Francisco? ca. 1870].
[4]pp. manuscript written on the rectos of four 8½ x 5¾-inch sheets, each
sheet mounted to a slightly larger sheet of stiff card. A total of 400 words
of text. Manuscript sheets chipped at edges with loss to a handful of letters
of text. Good overall. In a quarto-sized half morocco and cloth folding case,
spine gilt.
An original Bret Harte manuscript, being a review of a well-received book on the
American fur trade by a prominent American woman journalist. Harte’s article
appeared in the June 1870 issue of the Overland Monthly, and reviewed not only
Frances Fuller Victor’s The River of the West, but also W.H. Gray’s A History of
Oregon. The present manuscript is Harte’s review of the Victor book only.
Bret Harte was a prolific writer and an active book reviewer. In 1868 he became
editor of the Overland Monthly and published “The Luck of Roaring Camp” shortly
thereafter, a story which won Harte national acclaim. For the June 1870 issue
Harte reviewed a pair of books on Oregon, one of them being Mrs. Victor’s book,
subtitled Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains and Oregon. A biography of fur
trader Joe Meek, it was published in 1870 and was quite popular, going through
four more editions by 1881. This is very much a working manuscript by Harte,
with each page containing corrections and additions. He is generally approving of
Victor’s work, writing that she intended the book to be not so much a history of
the Pacific Northwest, but a study of Meek, and that it is better for it:
The reader who may be disappointed in finding the biography of a pioneer,
where he looked for the historic and scientific story of a River somewhat[?]
famed in pioneer history will relieve the author of blame. And it is very possible that the average reader of popular subscription books will get much more
satisfaction out of these pleasantly told reminiscences of pioneer life than in
the same number of pages of carefully collated scientific and historic statistics.
An early Bret Harte manuscript, its interest heightened by being a review of a book
on a Western subject.
STEWART, BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF BRET HARTE IN THE
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS OF CALIFORNIA, 1857-1871, 412.
$3000.
77. Hastings, Sally: POEMS, ON DIFFERENT SUBJECTS. TO
WHICH IS ADDED A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF A FAMILY TOUR TO THE WEST; IN THE YEAR, 1800.... Lancaster. 1808.
220pp. Later cloth, leather label. Browned, else good.
After the section of poetry, Hastings has included a day-by-day account of a journey
from Lancaster over the Alleghenies to Washington, Pennsylvania in October 1800.
There is an account of the Ohio River at Pittsburgh and interesting commentary
on the western frontier at the turn of the century. Early American poetry and an
early account of a female’s overland travel.
HOWES H289. STREETER SALE 834. THOMSON 524. SABIN 30826.
$400.
78. Hastings, Susannah Johnson: A NARRATIVE OF
THE CAPTIVITY OF MRS. JOHNSON. CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF HER SUFFERINGS DURING FOUR YEARS, WITH THE INDIANS AND
FRENCH. Windsor, Vt.: Printed by Alden Spooner, 1807.
144pp. 12mo. Contemporary speckled calf, leather label. Bit
rubbed. Tanned, contemporary ownership inscription on front
fly leaf. Very good.
Second American edition, enlarged with additional statistics on
Indian captives and the texts of several letters. Mrs. Johnson
was captured by the Indians in Vermont in 1754 and held until
1758. One of the classic New England captivities, first published
in Walpole, New Hampshire in 1796.
HOWES J153. AYER 120. VAIL 1123. SABIN 36327.
$2000.
One of the Earliest Books for Emigrants to Texas
79. Holley, Mary Austin: TEXAS. Lexington, Ky.: J. Clarke & Co., 1836.
viii,410pp. plus handcolored folding map. 12mo. Period cloth, original paper
label. A bit worn and stained, else very good. In a black half morocco box.
Provenance: S.V. Pfeuffer, New Braunfels, Texas (inked stamp on title).
This is Mrs. Holley’s second book on Texas, intended as a practical and informative
guide for emigrant’s to the area. Despite the title, which is similar to the author’s
Baltimore 1833 book, this is a completely different work. Jenkins calls this “a much
more important book.” Included herein is a general history of Texas to May 5,
1836; a printing of the Texas and Mexican constitutions; Stephen Austin’s farewell
address of March 7; and specific information regarding settlements, towns, business
and banking matters, transportation and communication facilities, etc. The Hooker
“Map of the State of Coahuila and Texas” was published several times, with revisions to reflect the changing face of Texas. This edition of the map is quite striking,
with the grants colored. There are numerous additions to this map over past issues.
While her earlier book served to promote the enthusiastic interest of prospective emigrants to Texas, in this work Mrs. Holley provides the hard facts of what
they would find there. As Stephen F. Austin’s cousin, she was in a position to
know. Though the 1833 Holley commands a higher price than the 1836, the 1836
is seldom offered on the market and is particularly rare complete with the map.
S.V. Pfeuffer, whose collection stamp is on the titlepage, was one of the most
significant early collectors of Texana. He formed a legendary collection in the late
19th and early 20th centuries.
STREETER TEXAS 1207. RAINES, p.116. HOWES H593. SABIN 32528. GRAFF,
FIFTY TEXAS RARITIES 15. BASIC TEXAS BOOKS 94.
$17,500.
One of Seven Bound in Leather
80. Holley, Mary Austin: TEXAS. OBSERVATIONS, HISTORICAL,
GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE, IN A SERIES OF LETTERS. Austin. 1981. Folio. Crimson morocco, gilt. Fine. In slipcase.
A special limited edition reprint of this classic work, of which Thomas W. Streeter
wrote, “For a long time I have regarded it as one of the Texas classics.” Handsomely
designed by Thomas Whitridge on a folio format, this is one of only seven copies
bound in full leather (notwithstanding the colophon notice that fifteen were so
bound), from a complete edition limited to 300 copies. It is printed in Monotype
Bell on Arches Musee paper. The map, on lighter paper, is tipped in. Ron Tyler
has contributed an introduction. Published by our Overland Press, a youthful
imprint of this firm.
CLARK III:56 (ref ). HOWES H593 (ref ).
$600.
81. Holman, Edna Bourne: SUGGESTIONS FOR MEETINGS. INDIANS [wrapper title]. Boston: Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission
Society, 1901. 59pp. Square 12mo. Original printed wrappers, stapled. Engraved Indian on front wrapper. A bit of light foxing to wrappers. Wrapper
and contents leaf with a small closed tear in foredge. Very good.
A fascinating and rare pamphlet designed to educate members of the Woman’s
American Baptist Home Mission Society on how to conduct missionary meetings
with Indians. The six programs included in the text give information on the history and status of Indians, as well as suggested exercises to follow in preparation
for missionary work. Interesting from a pedagogic and ethnographic standpoint.
OCLC 80464848.
$400.
82. Holmes, Kenneth L., editor: COVERED WAGON WOMEN. DIA-
RIES & LETTERS FROM THE WESTERN TRAILS 1840 – 1890.
Glendale, Ca.: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1983-1993. Eleven volumes. Original teal
publisher’s cloth, spines gilt. Modern bookplate on front pastedowns, else fine.
Extensive reference set published by the Arthur H. Clark Company, covering fifty
years of women’s travels across the Great Plains. $400.
Cuttings and Needlework with No Hands
83. [Honeywell, Martha Ann]: GALLERY OF CU TTINGS AND
NEEDLE-WORK, EXECUTED WITHOUT HANDS, FOR ONE
WEEK ONLY.... [Poughkeepsie, N.Y.]: American Press – 258 Main St., [ca.
1846]. Broadside, 10½ x 8¼ inches. Ornamental border. Several ink stains, one
of them causing small closed splits in the paper. Wrinkling and folds. Good.
A marvelous and rare broadside, touting the talents of the amazing Martha Ann
Honeywell, only three feet tall and born without arms. Miss Honeywell (ca. 17871848) was the most prominent and talented of a small group of armless artists who
could create amazing needlework and cuttings, including complicated embroidery
and silhouettes. She toured around the country and to Europe, fascinating audiences with her talent and agility. From the text:
This interesting and talented Lady, born without arms, has acquired such
extraordinary skill in the use of a common pair of Scissors, that by holding
them in her mouth she is enabled to cut out of Paper the most curious and
difficult designs ever attempted, or perhaps executed in the known world,
such as Scripture Pieces, Likenesses of Distinguished Americans, together
with a great variety of Watch Papers, Landscapes, and even the Lord’s Prayer,
perfectly legible. Not the outlines merely, but resembling engraving. She also
writes the Lord’s Prayer in a space that can be covered with a Five cent piece.
The broadside mentions that “all her elegant work is for sale,” and that the admission of twenty-five cents includes a complimentary profile. OCLC locates different broadsides advertising Ms. Honeywell’s talents at the Library Company of
Philadelphia and the New-York Historical Society, but the present piece appears
to be unique.
OCLC 221649313, 58787306 (ref ).
$1500.
Yachting to the Republic of Texas
84. Houstoun, Matilda C.: TEXAS AND THE GULF OF MEXICO; OR
YACHTING IN THE NEW WORLD. London: John Murray, 1844. Two
volumes. viii,314; viii,360pp., plus 16pp. of publisher’s advertisements at end
of second volume and ten plates (seven lithographs by Day & Haghe [two
portraits and five views], three wood-engraved plates [two signed “SW”]).
Frontispiece in each volume. Original blue-green cloth, expertly rebacked with
original spines laid down. Spines darkened, cloth somewhat soiled and discolored. Foxing confined primarily to plates. Good. In a half morocco clamshell
case.
The author was a wealthy British woman who visited Texas in 1842 on her husband’s private yacht. She visited New Orleans, then sailed along the Gulf Coast,
alternating between Texas and New Orleans. Mrs. Houstoun offers commentary
on the politics and society of the day, including issues such as slavery and a possible civil war. “...She gives us some exceptional insights into Texas of the 1840’s”
– Jenkins. The lithographs are included in Holman and Tyler’s preliminary research
on 19th-century Texas lithography. They include portraits of Gen. Santa Anna
and President Houston and views of the city of Galveston, Funchal in Madeira,
the city of Houston, Havana harbor, and ending with a nighttime view of the
Plaza des Armas in Havana. All are wonderfully executed by the British firm of
Day & Haghe, lithographers to the Crown. The “alpine” Houston view, while
apocryphal, may be the first published view of the city, and the prototype for subsequent views showing the city in the midst of mountains. In addition, there is a
fine wood-engraved vignette view of the “Dolphin Yacht in the Mississippi,” and
two beautifully observed wood-engraved character studies, the first of “Nancy, the
Black Woman” and the second of a “New Orleans black dandy.” One of the more
charming accounts of the Republic of Texas, and other than that of Mrs. Holley,
the only one by a woman.
BASIC TEXAS BOOKS 97. CLARK III:182. HOWES H693, “aa.” RAINES, p.120.
SABIN 33202. STREETER TEXAS 1506. SERVIES 3044 (abridged American ed).
$3250.
85. Howe, Julia Ward: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JU-
LIA WARD HOWE, ACCEPTING A POSITION WITH THE 1884
COTTON EXPOSITION]. Boston. Jan. 22, 1884. [2]pp. plus integral
blank. On a folded quarto sheet. Old fold lines. Near fine.
In this letter author and suffragist Julia Ward Howe accepts a position on a committee at the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exhibition in New Orleans.
She writes:
Dear Mr. [illegible], Your letters, official and personal, came during my absence
from home, and were laid out of sight, so that I did not find them until a day
or two since. I will answer both letters in this by saying that, if it is not too
late, I will take the part assigned me in the [Emerson?] Exhibition.
The position to which she refers is Chief of the Woman’s Department, which she
did fill for the exhibition.
Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) was one of the most important American women
of the 19th century. She lent her name to several causes, including female suffrage
and pacifism, and won permanent renown as the author of the lyrics to the “Battle
Hymn of the Republic” in 1861. She was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. “No movement or ‘Cause’ in which women
were interested could be launched without her. Her courage, her incisiveness and
quickness of repartee, her constructive power, the completeness of her conviction
accompanied by a balance of mind, and a sense of humor that disarmed irritation
made her the greatest of women organizers” – DAB. $500.
Howe Recites “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”
86. Howe, Julia Ward: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JU-
LIA WARD HOWE, DISCUSSING A PUBLIC RECITATION OF
“THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC”]. [N.p., but possibly
Boston]. Jan. 8, 1895. [2]pp. plus integral blank. On a folded quarto sheet.
Old folds. Minor soiling. Very good plus.
Author and suffragist Julia Ward Howe discusses an engagement to recite her most
famous work, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”:
My dear Mrs. [Winthrop?], I must apologize for delay in replying to your
letter of January third, received one day later. I am very sorry that I cannot
possibly remain with you over Sunday. I will gladly tell how I came to write
the Battle Hymn. I think that I should much prefer to recite it before it is
sung. Hoping to reach you in good time on Saturday, believe me.
$1000.
Buffalo Girl, Won’t You Come Out Tonight?
87. [Indian Portrait]: [UNTITLED WATERCOLOR PORTRAIT OF A
YOUNG INDIAN GIRL]. [N.p. ca. 1880]. 8½ x 6¾ inches. Bright and
clean. Mounted on heavy card, 8¼ by 6¾ inches.
An attractive folk portrait of a doe-eyed Indian woman shown seated at the edge
of a sofa. The girl’s hands are folded gently in her lap, and she is shown wearing a
patterned dress adorned with a large bow. It seems likely that the woman depicted
is a half-breed, perhaps the daughter of a trader and an Indian woman. Judging by
the dress and background, the picture was probably done about 1880, most likely
in Canada. $1250.
Rare Kansas Mission Imprint
88. [Ioway and Sac Mission]: Irvin, S.M. [editor]: SOPHIE RUBETI
[wrapper title]. Highland, Ks. 1865. 8pp. Portrait of Sophie Rubeti on front
cover. 16mo. Original pictorial self-wrappers. Leaves a bit frayed at edges.
Very good.
Sophie Rubeti was the daughter of an Indian woman and French Canadian employee
of the American Fur Company who had “sought a home among the western Indians.”
Her parents died in 1851 and she was taken with her two sisters to the Ioway and
Sac mission where she was raised. She became a Presbyterian and died in Highland
at the age of eighteen, leaving her small savings to the benefit of Highland College and to “teach little children about Jesus.” This rare little pamphlet extols her
generosity and solicits further contributions to the fund established by her. The
prefatory note is by S.M. Irvin of Highland, Kansas. Irvin, with William Hamilton,
established the Ioway and Sac Mission Press in 1843. Not in Gilcrease-Hargrett,
but see pages 236-237 for earlier imprints from this press. OCLC locates eight
copies. Scarce.
OCLC 19510085.
$1000.
89. Johnson, Lady Bird: [TYPED LETTER, SIGNED, FROM LADY
BIRD JOHNSON TO MRS. J.L. BARBER, THANKING HER FOR
HER CONCERN OVER LYNDON JOHNSON’S HEALTH]. Washington. Sept. 5, 1955. [1]p. Single horizontal fold, else fine.
Lady Bird Johnson writes to Mrs. J.L. Barber of Palestine, Texas:
Lyndon asked me to write and tell you how very much he appreciated and enjoyed your birthday message and how very sorry he was that you did not have
an opportunity to leave a message when you drove through Johnson City. He
is resting comfortably and relaxing on the ranch making wonderful progress
toward a complete recovery.
Johnson suffered a heart attack in 1955, but recovered within a matter of months.
He served as a senator from Texas from 1949 to 1961, when he was elected vice
$250.
president with John F. Kennedy. One-Armed Transvestite
90. [ Johnson, Sophia]: THE FRIENDLESS ORPHAN, AN AFFECT-
ING NARRATIVE OF THE TRIALS AND AFFLICTIONS OF
SOPHIA JOHNSON, THE EARLY VICTIM OF A CRUEL STEPMOTHER. WHOSE AFFLICTIONS AND SINGULAR ADVENTURES PROBABLY EXCEED THOSE OF ANY OTHER AMERICAN FEMALE LIVING, WHO HAS BEEN DOOMED IN EARLY
LIFE TO DRINK DEEP OF THE CUP OF SORROW. New York:
Printed for the Publisher & Proprietor, S. Johnson, 1841. 24pp. including
frontis. Dbd. Light foxing. About very good.
Johnson was born and raised in rural New York State. She tells of her misfortunes,
a journey from Albany to Buffalo in the guise of a soldier to search for her brother,
undertaken shortly after the outbreak of the War of 1812. She enlisted in the
infantry under Gen. Brown in order to be near her brother, whom she had found
near Buffalo. She took part in a number of battles, including Bridgewater in 1814,
where she was wounded but managed to still conceal her sex. She lost her arm,
and she and her brother did not re-enlist but returned home, where he died within
a year. Fewer than ten copies listed in OCLC.
OCLC 34662843.
$400.
Woman in Kansas in 1856 Writes to the Governor
91. [Kansas]: Hall, Lydia P.: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
LYDIA P. HALL TO GOVERNOR JOHN GEARY OF KANSAS].
[N.p., but probably Lawrence, Ks.]. Nov. 10, 1856. [4]pp. on folded sheet,
docketed: “Novr. 10, 1856, Lydia Hall, Answered.” Accompanied by a modern
typescript of the text. Some dust soiling. Overall good.
A spirited, if somewhat rambling letter to Gov. Geary of Kansas Territory from a
lady in Lawrence. Ms. Hall writes during the turbulent border war period. The
point of the letter appears to revolve around a newspaper account of some incident
in Kansas during the border wars. An excerpt from the letter:
Gov. Geary, Dear Sir,
Once more – for an explanation & apology are your due – & I hope you are
patient. You gave me the title of “Esq.,” hence your letter was not put in my
box & failed to reach me for nearly a week. When told at the office that such
a letter was there, I claimed it at once, as in consequence of my chirography,
a similar mistake has before occurred. Since that time I have usually taken
the precaution in writing strangers – forgotten in this instance – of adding
my name more in full.
Thanks for the promptness of your reply & the spirit of courtesy that pervaded
it, but then, to be called “Esq.” & upon the strength of that, to be addressed
as a politician – isn’t it funny? The title spares me, but the same letter to my
recognised self would have been received as proof that you had mistaken me
for a “strong minded woman” or a “woman’s rights” advocate in the technical
sense of those terms – & in either case, a politician. And I must say it would
have been – as your letter certainly is not – very annoying...
...My only object in sending you the newspaper slip – by the way, not an
editorial opinion, but a report published, I am told in the official organ of the
party of the writer, who witnessed & heard what he professed to narrate – was
to ascertain whether as a historical account it is sufficiently true in its details, to
be relied on. And that you may understand my reasons, without the shadow of
a suspicion, I will tell you – what otherwise I would have kept to myself – not
by way of eliciting any information you do not choose to give but simply in
justification of the motive, even if the act were censurable. During the summer
I commenced gathering up a few of the items of interest connected with life
in Kansas as I have experienced & witnessed it for a year & a half, nearly. An
attack of fever prostrated me early in Sept. & I have not since resumed my
labors, any more then to be possessing myself of such facts as come within my
reach. The paper sent you was the only version I had then seen of a transaction
too important to be omitted, & devoid of confidence in the writer, any farther
than it was for his interest to be truthful & having no means of knowing how
far this might be, I adopted what seemed to me the only fair & honorable
course, before making use of the report. If I erred, I trust to your clemency
for pardon – confident that it will not be withheld.
...We at Lawrence are a hospitable & wholehearted people, though a combination of untoward circumstances may eclipse sometimes the exhibition of
our best qualities.
$1000.
Bloody Kansas
92. [Kansas-Nebraska Act]: LIBERTY, THE FAIR MAID OF KANSAS
– IN THE HANDS OF THE BORDER RUFFIANS. [Philadelphia:
John L. Magee, 1856]. Uncolored lithograph, 14 x 19½ inches. Toned, with
irregular further darkening in the margins, not affecting image. Upper margin
with several small tears, one repaired with tape on verso. About good overall.
Matted.
A powerful American political print, brutally satirizing the Democratic leaders who
crafted and passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, one of the most controversial
and divisive pieces of legislation of the antebellum era. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
provided for the eventual admission of those two territories as states, and left the
question of whether slavery would be allowed to local popular sovereignty, thereby
nullifying the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The main
result of the legislation was to further divide the country into anti-slavery “freesoilers” (mostly in the north and represented by the emerging Republican party) and
pro-slavery southerners and westerners (represented by the Democrats). Another
result was the migration into Kansas (mostly from Missouri) of so-called “border
ruffians” who would vote in Kansas elections in a pro-slavery manner, which they
hoped would eventually bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state. Violence
inevitably followed as “border ruffians” and “free-soilers” fought it out in Kansas
in a sort of civil war.
This print, which appeared during the presidential campaign of 1856, shows
a weak and defenseless Lady Liberty, draped in an American flag, menaced by an
array of Democratic politicians and begging for mercy. President Franklin Pierce,
dressed in the buckskins of a border ruffian, holds a rifle, with a pistol, knife,
tomahawk, and scalp in his belt. He leers at Liberty and assures her that he will
protect her in the manner shown “over the left.” The left rear of the print shows
the home of a settler being burned by ruffians as a helpless, mad widow looks on.
Senator Lewis Cass, a longtime supporter of “popular sovereignty,” also exhibits
bad intentions toward Liberty. On the far right, Senator Stephen Douglas, architect of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, is shown scalping a farmer. On the left James
Buchanan, the Democrats’ choice to succeed Pierce, and Secretary of State William
Marcy empty the pockets of another victim. Other scenes in the background show
an attack on an emigrant train, attacks on defenseless men, and the shooting of a
helpless woman. The implication of the print is clear: the Democratic leaders who
passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act were not only responsible for the environment that
led to the crimes being committed in Kansas, they were accomplices themselves.
Reilly calls this print “a bitter indictment of the Democratic administration’s
responsibility for violence and bloodshed in Kansas in the wake of the 1854 KansasNebraska Act.” Nevins and Weitenkampf call it “a savage cartoon...[that] caused
many previously moderate Northerners to face the slavery issue with new determination.” Reilly and others attribute the print to John Magee of Philadelphia,
based on stylistic and topical similarities with other prints done by Magee in the
period. OCLC locates a total of only seven copies. A powerful print, addressing
the most important issue of the day.
REILLY, AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINTS, 1856-9. WEITENKAMPF, p.115. MURRELL, p.190; figure 191. NEVINS & WEITENKAMPF, pp.78-79. OCLC 191119979,
299946494, 8631862.
$2500.
93. [Keller, Helen]: Thomson, Polly: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED
(“HELEN AND POLLY”), FROM HELEN KELLER AND POLLY
THOMSON TO REGGIE ALLEN]. Sydney, Australia. July 7, 1948. Pen
and ink on three photo postcards of Australia. With envelope. Fine. In a box.
Polly Thomson was hired in 1914 to keep house for Helen Keller, and she eventually became Keller’s life-long companion. She writes to Reggie Allen of her travels
with Helen. $250.
94. Kennedy, Jacqueline: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
JACKIE KENNEDY TO EVELYN PEYTON GORDON, AT THE
START OF HER TENURE AS FIRST LADY ]. Washington. Dec. 7,
[1960]. [3]pp. plus original envelope, also signed. Old folds. Envelope with
some wear and soiling. Near fine. In a half morocco and cloth clamshell case,
spine gilt.
An interesting letter written by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to newspaper columnist Evelyn Peyton Gordon of the Washington Daily News, just a month after
her husband’s election to the presidency. In this letter Kennedy provides insight
into her expectations and her hopes for her life as First Lady. She is remarkably
candid about her expectation that the press will publish inaccurate information, her
desire to preserve some privacy for her children, and her concern that her family’s
new position not disrupt the lives of their friends. She writes:
It is so nice to read things written by someone with such great common sense.
I am thinking of your column tonight about my fox hunting in Virginia. You
are most correct – my greatest wish is not to disrupt that peaceful community,
and spoil it for my many friends who live there, and for my own children. That
is why I chose it – because it is such a private place.
Her son, John Jr., was born just days earlier on Nov. 25, and Kennedy notes that
she will not be well enough to ride or hunt before the season ends in March. She
explains that her purpose in renting a house in Virginia is not to hunt but rather
“just to be in the country with my children & occasionally go riding.” She also
clarifies she has only one horse, which she shares with a friend, not “a stable full of
thoroughbred hunters.” In closing she adds: “This letter is just for you so please
don’t quote any of it – though of course the facts you may use if you ever wish, in
$3000.
your words.” 95. Kennedy, Jacqueline: [TYPED LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
FOR WALTER NEIL LETSON, SIGNED BY JACQUELINE KENNEDY ]. Palm Beach, Fl. Dec. 17, 1961. [1]p. Fine. In a green half morocco
and cloth clamshell case, spine gilt.
Letter of recommendation, signed by Jacqueline
Kennedy as First Lady, expressing “my high regard for Mr. Walter Neil Letson.” Letson was an
architect who oversaw renovation on the White
House. She writes:
I am delighted to have an opportunity to express my high regard for Mr. Walter
Neil Letson, and to present this letter on his behalf. From the earliest days of
President Kennedy’s Administration, Mr. Letson has been involved in plans
for the restoration of The White House. His contributions to this project have
been both valuable and productive. His interest and enthusiasm have been
sources of pleasure to his colleagues. His knowledge and good taste as well as
his consideration for everyone with whom he worked have all served to make
this association an extremely satisfactory one for me. For these reasons I am
pleased to write these few words.
$1000.
96. [Kennedy, John F.]: [PHOTOGRAPH OF PRESIDENT AND MRS.
KENNEDY, INSCRIBED BY HER SOON AFTER THE ASSASSINATION, TO JFK’S PHYSICIAN, DR. JANET G. TRAVELL].
[Mexico? February 1964]. 10 x 8 inches, mounted. Very good. In a folio
morocco backed cloth box, ribbon tie.
Inscribed on the photo: “For Dr. Travell-with deepest appreciation for everything /
With affection / Jacqueline Kennedy.” Dr. Janet G. Travell (1901-97) was a New
York physician and medical researcher. She was appointed the personal physician
to President John F. Kennedy in 1961. She graduated from Wellesley College
and Cornell University Medical College. She was the first female doctor to be
the personal physician to a sitting United States president and retained that post
until March 1965. Her specialty was treating muscular pain. Kennedy’s injuries
from WWII were the beginnings of his back pain problems. She helped him so
much in the late 1950s, he chose her as his personal physician while he was in the
White House.
The photo is accompanied by small typed note on White House stationery
signed by Travell which explains that this photo was taken when the Kennedys
$4800.
were in Mexico at the end of June 1962. 97. Kinney, Hannah: A REVIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF
THE LAST TEN YEARS IN THE LIFE OF MRS. HANNAH
KINNEY: TOGETHER WITH SOME COMMENTS UPON THE
LATE TRIAL. Boston. 1841. 87pp. Modern boards backed in blue cloth.
Corners bumped. Bookplate on front pastedown. Minor toning and foxing.
Very good.
Narrative written by Hannah Kinney, who was accused of murdering her husband
in Massachusetts in 1840. “Mrs. Kinney’s behavior and sense of guilt helped to
bring her to trial, but she was acquitted” – McDade.
AMERICAN IMPRINTS 41-2924. McDADE 561.
$300.
98. Knox, Henry: [CONTEMPORARY MANUSCRIPT COPY OF A
LETTER FROM HENRY KNOX TO THE WIDOW McNEILL].
New York. Jan. 13, 1788. [2]pp. plus integral address leaf. In a secretarial
hand. Folio. Address leaf laid into a frame of later paper. Old fold lines. Loss
from wax seal on address leaf, neatly repaired with later paper. Minor soiling.
Very good.
Retained copy, entirely in a secretarial hand, of a letter from Secretary of War Henry
Knox to Mary McNeill, the widow of a former soldier. Hector McNeill (1728-85)
was raised to the rank of captain in the Continental Navy in 1776. His command
of the frigate Boston was relieved in 1778, however, as he had difficulty in getting
along with his fellow officers and his superior, Captain John Manley. He and Manley
were both court-martialed in 1778, but while Manley was acquitted, McNeill was
dismissed from the service. Later he was involved with several Massachusetts privateers and was lost at sea in 1785. A considerable correspondence exists between
Henry Knox and the Widow McNeill, who was left without resources after her
husband’s death. Mrs. McNeill had prepared a report on sums due to her husband,
but Knox had determined that Captain McNeill had overcharged the Treasury and
credited to himself more than he ought, a total of $2091.54. “Accordingly yesterday
I took out the certificate for the above sum...which bears an interest annually of
better than 120 dollars, for 10 years past which is upwards of 1200 dollars interest.” Not finding anyone to carry this certificate personally to her, he enclosed it
“in a letter of this tenor and date to my friend General Henry Jackson who will
wait upon you with it, and receive from you duplicate receipts for the sum. I most
sincerely wish that its present value was equal to the sum expressed, or that I could
point out any mode to enhance its worth – but alas! it is not. Hope says it will be
better in future – but no precise time can be affixed when it will be so.” $1100.
The Little Eskimo Lady
99. [Krarer, Olof ]: [BROADSHEET PROGRAM AND TWO CABI-
NET CARD PHOTOGRAPHS OF MISS OLOF KRARER, “THE
LITTLE ESQUIMAUX LADY ”]. Illinois. 1890/1893. 4pp. on a folded
folio sheet, accompanied by two cabinet card photographs, 6½ x 4¼ inches.
Old folds, some chipping and wear to program. About very good. Cabinet
cards near fine.
Promotional items for Miss Olof Krarer, “The Little Esquimaux Lady,” an Icelandic
dwarf who toured and lectured about her supposed life as a Greenland Eskimo.
The program, which indicates that Krarer will speak at the Presbyterian Church
in Richland, Michigan on Friday evening, April 18, 1890, gives testimonials about
her talk, as well as biographical information about the lecturer:
Miss Krarer was born and lived in her native country, Greenland, until 15
years of age, when she left home with a party of shipwrecked sailors, and after
traveling one thousand miles over frozen seas at last reached Iceland. She
remained in Iceland about ten years, when she left there with her father and
finally reached Manitoba. Many friends becoming greatly interested in her
welfare induced her to study the English language, which she has done to great
advantage during the past six years, and now speaks it fluently. The story of
her life, as she tells it, is more thrilling than any fairy tale.
Indeed, as she told it, her life was a fairy tale. Krarer (1858-1935), an Icelandic
native, emigrated to the United States at the age of nineteen. Unable to find any
work beyond the circus sideshow, she reinvented herself as a Greenland Eskimo and
took to the lecture circuit, where she told outlandish (and incorrect) tales of life
as a Greenland native. Her talk was extremely popular, and she toured for many
years, delighting audiences across the country. The two cabinet cards, printed in
Ottawa, Illinois, show her in “native dress” (i.e. a white furry suit) and in the latest Victorian fashion. Both the cards and program note that she is “40 inches in
$1500.
height, and weighs 120 pounds.” A Cross-Dresser Narrative
100. Krats, Cordelia: THE REMARKABLE NARRATIVE OF CORDE-
LIA KRATS; OR THE FEMALE WANDERER! Written by Herself.
Boston. 1846. 24pp. Original printed front wrapper present, rear wrapper
lacking. Slight wear. Else very good.
Probably fictional, but full of peculiar stuff. Krats was the daughter of a “rich
farmer” who thinks she is too high class for her heart throb, Edwin. She runs off
to be with Edwin anyway, is separated by false stratagems planted by her parents,
barely escapes white slavery and murder, dresses as a man and goes to sea, visiting
New Orleans and Europe, and returns to find that her snooty parents have lost all
their money and Edwin has made a fortune. All ends happily. Supposed dates
are 1816-18. There is a fine woodcut of Cordelia “as she appeared in male habili$300.
ments.” A False Boston Imprint During the Revolution:
Lafayette’s Farewell to His Wife
101. [Lafayette, Marquis de]: LE TRIOMPHE DU BEAU SEXE, OU
EPITRE DE M. LE MQUIS DE LA FAYETTE A SON EPOUSE.
DU CAMP DU GENERAL WAGINSTON [sic], EN QUARTIER
D’HIVER A LANCASTER, LE 22 JANVIER 1778. Boston [i.e. Paris]:
De l’Imprimerie du Congres, 1778. 37,[9]pp. 19th-century half calf and green
paper boards, corners tipped in vellum, spine richly gilt. Very clean internally.
Near fine.
A rare and interesting poem, carrying a false Boston imprint, and supposedly penned
by the Marquis de Lafayette while wintering with George Washington and the
Continental Army in January 1778. The poem, a sort of farewell from Lafayette
to his wife, contains allegorical references to the struggle of the colonies for liberty,
while the notes mention this struggle specifically. Although the imprint is “Boston,”
the piece was almost certainly printed in Paris, and the types and ornaments used
seem distinctively French. Other evidence leading us to believe that it was not
printed in America: George Washington’s name is badly misspelled on the titlepage;
he was quartered at Valley Forge, not at Lancaster, in January 1778; and the title
says it was printed in Boston, “by the press of the Continental Congress,” though
the Congress was actually sitting at York, Pennsylvania (not far from Lancaster)
at the time. “In a pamphlet published in Paris, 1790, by Jean-Baptiste Poupart de
Beaubourg, entitled ‘Mes onze ducats d’Amsterdam,’ etc., etc., the author states
that he is also the author of Lafayette’s touching adieux to his wife...” (Letter from
Louis Gottschalk to Lawrence C. Wroth, in the John Carter Brown Library’s bibliographical file, as quoted on OCLC)
The catalogue of the Roderick Terry sale in 1934 calls this “an excessively rare
pamphlet.” We are able to locate only six copies, at the New-York Historical Society,
Yale, Cornell, Lafayette College, the John Carter Brown Library (which has the
Terry copy, as well as an issue with forty-three pages), and the Library of Congress
(located there by Echeverria & Wilkie). Rare and quite interesting.
JACKSON, LAFAYETTE BIBLIOGRAPHY, p.201. SABIN 96990. ECHEVERRIA &
WILKIE, 778/65. TERRY SALE (PART 2) 176. OCLC 34161985, 36140004.
$10,000.
102. Laurencin, Marie: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
MARIE LAURENCIN TO “MON CHER PAUL”]. Biot, [France].
[n.d., probably summer 1936]. [2]pp. Fine. In a red cloth chemise.
Laurencin visits her neighbor on the Riviera, Somerset Maugham, in preparation
for painting Maugham’s portrait. Maugham owned four Laurencin paintings and
had them displayed in his dining room. Laurencin’s letter reads, in part: “Hier
après-midi visite à Somerset Maugham – quelle jolie maison et la salle à manger
toute Laurencin – blanche avec Tableaux.” Morgan notes of the portrait: “It was
not a good likeness. She had made Maugham look like a fawn-eyed romantic rather
than a hardworking writer in his sixties.”
Morgan, Maugham: A Biography, p.394.
$750.
103. [Law, Thomas]: THOUGHTS ON INSTINCTIVE IMPULSES.
Philadelphia: Printed by Jane Aitken, 1810. 90pp. Dbd. Contemporary presentation inscription on titlepage. Light scattered foxing; faint dampstain in
the lower outer corner of most leaves, not affecting text. Very good.
Printed by one of the most prominent American women printers, Jane Aitken, the
daughter of Revolutionary-era printer Robert Aitken. An unusual meditation on
desire, will, and the moral principle in human nature, supported by an interesting
variety of literary passages. The anonymous author and compiler was Thomas Law
(1759-1834), a British-born economist who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1790s
“out of admiration for American institutions and reverence for [George] Washington, with whom he soon became acquainted” (DNB). Law was best known for his
strong advocacy of a United States national currency, a subject on which he wrote,
lectured, and petitioned to Congress during the 1820s. Thoughts..., an impressively
readable work for an author better known for his financial writings, was followed by
Second Thoughts on Instinctive Impulses in 1813, which found an admirer in Thomas
Jefferson. In 1814, Jefferson wrote in a long letter to Law saying that he read
Second Thoughts “with great satisfaction” and found that it “contained exactly my
own creed on the foundation of morality in man.” The present copy is inscribed,
presumably by the author, to “Edmund Law Esqr.,” who is likely the author’s son
from his mistress in India. A scarce title, with Shaw & Shoemaker and OCLC
together locating eight copies.
SHAW & SHOEMAKER 20531. DNB XI, pp.676-77. Thomas Jefferson, [Letter to
Thomas Law, June 13, 1814], http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl230.htm.
$1250.
Southern Judiaca
104. [Levy, Samuel Yates]: THE ITALIAN BRIDE. A PLAY – IN FIVE
ACTS. Savannah: John M. Cooper & Co., 1856. 132pp. 12mo. Contemporary
red morocco and marbled boards, rebacked to style. Boards and extremities
rubbed. First few blank leaves cracking in the margin. Contemporary inscriptions on fly leaf and titlepage. Minor soiling. About very good.
A love story, set in Venice and featuring the daughter of a wealthy merchant and
her betrothed, a poor young man, but from a noble family. “Written for Miss Eliza
Logan, and published for private distribution.” This copy bears a presentation
inscription from Henrietta Cohen, sister of the author.
DE RENNE II, p.579.
$750.
105. [Lewis, Hannah]: NARRATIVE OF THE CAP TIVITY AND
SUFFERINGS OF MRS. HANNAH LEWIS, AND HER THREE
CHILDREN, WHO WERE TAKEN PRISONERS BY THE INDIANS, NEAR ST. LOUIS, ON THE 25th MAY, 1815.... Boston: Printed
by H. Trumbull, 1817. 24pp. Folding colored frontis. 12mo. Original plain
wrappers. Wrappers torn and edgeworn. Closed tear in frontispiece with no
loss. Horizontal closed tear in pp.13-20 with no loss of text. Very good, untrimmed. In a half morocco and cloth box.
A riveting, possibly fanciful, captivity narrative. Though identified as St. Louis,
Buck supposes that the action probably took place in Illinois. Later editions
identify the captors as members of the Sac and Fox tribes. The partially colored
frontispiece shows a weeping Mrs. Lewis being taken into captivity. She and her
eldest son escaped in April 1817, leaving her other two children behind. Howes
calls for another 1817 edition; but Ayer, Field, and Sabin do not identify anything
earlier than this self-styled “second edition.”
AYER 184. FIELD 924. HOWES L311, “aa.” BUCK 90. SABIN 40808.
$3750.
Wonderful Association Copy with Original Photographs
106. London, Charmian: OUR HAWAII. New York. 1917. 345pp. plus 4pp.
of advertisments. Plates. Map. Original cloth, rebacked with original backstrip
laid down. Titlepage defective. Good. Tipped in are eighteen original photographs of Charmian.
A presentation copy inscribed by
Charmian: “In sweet recollection
of wonderful friendship between
Vladimir and Charodeyka – you
and me.” This book describes the
life of Jack London and his wife,
Charmian, in Hawaii from 1907
to 1915. A fine association copy,
enhanced by a number of original
photographs of Charmian, including a portrait inscribed: “To Sam
From Charmian.” On page 278 there is a lovely reference to Russian-born American
Vladimir and his wife, describing how he once virtually singled-handedly saved the
entire crew of the barquentine Klikitat off Maui. He adopted the name of his ship,
“Sam Johnson,” as Americans could not cope with his Russian name, and his wife
became “Pearl.” Of the few presentation copies of this book to appear at auction,
this copy has by far the most touching inscription, and no others are enhanced by
so many original photographs. The photographs range from tomboyish outdoor
snapshots of Charmian to more lady-like studio portraits. $1200.
107. Macaulay, Catharine: AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF ENG-
LAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND, ON THE PRESENT IMPORTANT CRISIS OF AFFAIRS. Printed by R. Cruttwell, in Bath: For
Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, London, 1775. 29,[1]pp. Modern
blue paper wrappers. Light scattered foxing. Very good. In a blue half morocco
and cloth folder.
The first of four British editions published in 1775. Macaulay, a prominent British
historian and controversialist, was an early and staunch defender of the American
cause. In this pamphlet she criticizes the Quebec Act and the taxation of the colonies, while also criticizing her fellow Britons for acquiescing in the Stamp Act, the
Boston Port Act, and other oppressive measures. She ends with a rousing call to
her countrymen to defend their interests, and those of their brethren in America,
against governmental oppression. On its publication this work was called “a masterly
specimen of accurate reasoning, and municipal information: predictions so cooly and
sedately delivered evince a deep insight into political science, a profound knowledge
of history and of human kind, not to say a degree of divine illumination, and well
worth the serious consideration of every Briton who wishes for the prosperity of
his country” (Monthly Review). Catharine Macaulay, known as the “Republican
Virago,” was called “the woman of the greatest abilities that this country has ever
produced” by Mary Wollstonecraft (quoted in DNB). She visited the United States
in the 1780s and carried on a correspondence with George Washington.
HOWES M15. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 75-94a. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 169a. SABIN 42944. ESTC T20462.
$3000.
108. Madison, James: Madison, Dolley: [ JAMES MADISON’S RE-
TAINED COP Y, WRIT TEN ALMOST COMPLETELY IN
DOLLEY MADISON’S HAND, OF A LETTER TO PRESIDENT
JAMES MONROE, REGARDING THE FINANCIAL CLAIMS OF
JAMES LEANDER CATHCART FOR HIS SERVICES TO THE
UNITED STATES, AND HIS BEING PASSED OVER FOR CERTAIN POSITIONS]. [Montpelier, Va.]. Dec. 23, 1823. [1]p. manuscript
letter on a quarto sheet. Backed on tissue, repairing vertical and horizontal
splits. Stain at upper edge. Very good. In a half morocco box.
Former President James Madison writes to current President James Monroe, regarding the dire financial situation of James Cathcart, who had long served in the
diplomatic corps of the United States, as consul to Tripoli, and other posts in the
Barbary states, Portugal, and Spain. Madison appeals to Monroe to see if government employment can be found for Cathcart, in order to alleviate the financial
circumstances of his family.
The letter is written almost entirely in Dolley Madison’s hand, though there
are three additional words and two instances of corrections that are written by
James Madison himself. It is not uncommon to find Madison’s file copies of his
letters in the hand of Dolley Madison or of a secretary. This is especially the case
as Madison grew older and his rheumatism worsened. This letter is known to the
Papers of James Madison project at the University of Virginia, though it has not
yet been published by them. The copy sent to Monroe, which is written entirely
in Madison’s hand, is in the Library of Congress.
Madison writes President Monroe:
A most distressing picture has been presented to me of the condition of Mr.
Cathcart & his numerous family in the hope that as his official services which
have had such a termination were rendered whilst the administration was in
my hands, I might be induced to say something in his behalf. It is impossible
to learn his actual distress & alarming prospects without sympathy; but aware
as I am that I can add nothing to your knowledge of his case & that your kind
feelings receive from it every proper impulse, I fear that I risk impropriety,
even in what I yield to the appeal made to mine.
He seems to think he had hard fare in being overlooked in several instances,
where vacancies have been filled by competitors without some of his pretensions,
& no wise in need of what he is craveing [sic] for a starving family. Regarding
these jealousies as the offspring & evidence of his great distress they may be
some apology for expressing a hope that some occasion compatible with the
public interest & the just claims of others may ere long justify a rescue of the
individual in question from the cloud which overwhelms him.”
James Leander Cathcart (1767-1843) began his adventures early, immigrating to
America from Ireland as a child, and at the age of twelve joining the crew of an
American privateer in the Revolutionary War. Captured by the British, Cathcart
was held for three years on prison ships in Wallabout Bay before escaping and
joining the merchant service. In 1785, Barbary pirates captured the schooner
Maria, on which Cathcart was sailing, and took him and twenty others as slaves to
Algiers, where Cathcart spent the next eleven years in bondage. During his captivity, however, Cathcart’s good fortune, cleverness, and facility for language (he had
learned Spanish and French from fellow prisoners in Wallabout Bay and quickly
picked up Arabic and Turkish in Algiers) eventually brought him into relatively
comfortable circumstances and positions of responsibility, including that of chief
Christian secretary to the Dey and Regency of Algiers in 1792. In that capacity,
Cathcart helped the United States envoy Joseph Donaldson negotiate with the Dey
for peace and release of the American prisoners, which was finally secured in 1796.
In 1796, on a ship he purchased with earnings from his various clerkships, Cathcart
sailed to Philadelphia with the rest of the surviving crew of the Maria, dispatches
of U.S. consul Joel Barlow, and a letter from the Dey to President Washington.
The following year Cathcart was appointed consul at Tripoli, and in 1798 he was
named special diplomatic agent to Tunis, where he traveled with William Eaton to
negotiate with the new Pasha. It was at Cathcart’s suggestion that Eaton espoused
the cause of the exiled Pasha during the First Barbary War, leading to Eaton’s
famous adventure from Tripoli to Tunis. Cathcart continued to receive consular
appointments to the different Barbary states, but having incurred the ire of their
various rulers, he was no longer received by them and was reassigned to Madeira in
1807 and Cadiz in 1815. From 1818 to 1820, Cathcart served as naval agent for
the protection of live oak timber in Florida, and his final years were spent working
for the U.S. Treasury in Washington.
In 1820, Cathcart formally applied for compensation for his past diplomatic
services to the United States, most of them having been supervised by James Madison as Secretary of State (1801-9) or as president (1809-17). It is no doubt due to
this relationship that Cathcart appealed to Madison, which prompted the present
letter from Madison to President James Monroe. $2500.
109. Martineau, Harriet: SOCIETY IN AMERICA. London. 1837. Three
volumes. xix,364; vi,369; vi,365pp. Modern three-quarter calf and marbled
boards, spines gilt, leather labels. Internally clean. Near fine.
Well-know British writer Harriet Martineau went to the United States in 1834
and stayed for two years. This work is the synthesis of her experiences, discussing
American life in broad strokes of government, economy, civilization, and religion,
with many sub-headings. There is significant commentary on the South and critique
of slavery. Widely read and discussed at the time, her book is an important view
of the U.S. in the Age of Jackson.
HOWES M350.
$450.
110. Mathews, Mary M.: TEN YEARS IN NEVADA OR, LIFE ON THE
PACIFIC COAST. Buffalo. 1880. 343pp. plus portraits. Frontis. Original
gilt cloth. Some fraying at spine extremities, else very good.
The author spent ten years in Nevada and California. She left home for “the land
of gold” in 1869 and travelled through Chicago, Omaha, and Reno before reaching
California. Her narrative includes chapters about Indians and the mines, especially
Virginia City and Comstock. An unusual western narrative by a woman. “The
author and son rode the new transcontinental train through northern Nevada to
Reno, where a waiting stage took them to Virginia City....The author’s ten years
in Nevada were filled with hardship, though there were happy moments and many
unusual experiences...a hardnosed, prejudiced acerbic account written in a narrow,
authoritative style” – Paher. Not in Graff or Cowan.
PAHER 1249. HOWES M417, “aa.”
$500.
111. Matthews, Sallie R.: INTERWOVEN. A PIONEER CHRONICLE.
El Paso: Carl Hertzog, 1958. xiv,[4],226,[3]pp. including illustrations by Buck
Schiwetz Frontispiece portrait. Half title. Original half orange cloth and patterned cloth, gilt-stamped spine and cover. Contemporary ownership signature
on half title, else fine.
One of 1500 copies of the limited edition, designed and printed by Carl Hertzog.
“One of the best portraits of ranch life from a woman’s point of view” – Six Score.
“Tells more about daily life on the frontier than any comparable narrative....A good
history of a large part of the cattle frontier from the 1860’s to modern times [and]
The most beautiful specimen of [Hertzog’s] work” – Greene.
SIX SCORE 78. BASIC TEXAS BOOKS 139. FIFTY BEST BOOKS ON TEXAS 12.
HOWES M426. LOWMAN 105. DYKES HIGHSPOTS 90.
$400.
An Extremely Rare Personal Narrative of Valley Forge
112. [Maxwell, Priscilla]: THE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT: SOME REC-
OLLECTIONS OF THE LATE COL. HUGH MAXWELL, OF
MASSACHUSETTS. COLLECTED AND PRESERVED BY A
DAUGHTER. New York. 1833. 139pp. 16mo. Contemporary half morocco
and marbled boards, spine gilt. Extremities lightly worn. Contemporary presentation inscription by the author on front fly leaf. Light scattered foxing.
Very good. In a red morocco slipcase.
A biographical sketch of Hugh Maxwell, a western Massachusetts farmer who served in the American Revolution, written
by his daughter. Maxwell’s account is a rare and important
piece of work, recording the hardships of the common soldier in the Continental Army. Hugh Maxwell wintered at
Valley Forge, and his daughter writes: “Badly armed, worse
clad, and in many instances bare-footed, they often marked
their footsteps with blood on the frozen ground.” She also
recounts the role that women played in the campaign, and
the difficulties they faced. Scarce, with fewer than ten copies
listed on OCLC. Only one sale record appears on Americana
Exchange, an auction in 1972 (possibly this copy). This
is a particularly desirable copy, in a contemporary binding
and inscribed by the author: “William Ware from his Aunt
Priscilla Maxwell.”
AMERICAN IMPRINTS 20066. SABIN 47048.
$3500.
A Scene of Native American Life in the Rocky Mountains
113. [Miller, Alfred Jacob]: FEMALE INDIANS TOILET [manuscript
caption title]. [New Orleans. 1837]. Watercolor, 8½ x 11¼ inches, made up
of pencil on buff paper, with gray and brown washes, heightened with white.
Fine. Matted and attractively framed.
An attractive Alfred Jacob Miller watercolor showing a pair of Indian women bathing. Though unidentified beyond the caption, they are very likely members of the
Snake Indian tribe, whom Miller encountered on an expedition to Wyoming in 1837.
Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-74) was one of the earliest and most important artists
who produced paintings of American Indians based on his firsthand experience on
the frontier. In this, he was a contemporary of Karl Bodmer and George Catlin –
an artist who travelled the American West in the 1830s and created paintings of
North American Indians based on his own observations and experiences. Miller is
significant for travelling further west than either Bodmer or Catlin, reaching the
Rocky Mountains in 1837.
This image depicts a pair of Indian women in a wooded area, clad from the
waist down, as they kneel beside a river and bathe themselves. Miller has rendered
it in subdued earth tones, and the women themselves seem to be a part of the lush
natural landscape. The outline of another group of Indians is visible in the background. Miller often featured Indian maidens in his art, and the present work is an
outstanding example of the Anglo-American male gaze turned toward two Native
American women, here in a state of semi-nudity.
Born in Baltimore, Miller studied painting in Europe in his early twenties. He
returned to Baltimore in 1834 and opened a studio, exhibiting paintings in Baltimore
and Boston shortly thereafter. In 1836, Miller moved to New Orleans and opened
a studio there. The following year he met Scottish baronet Sir William Drummond
Stewart, retired from the British army, and agreed to join his expedition to the Rocky
Mountains as the company’s artist. “Miller was not driven by the fierce desire for
posterity that motivated Catlin, but he would see more than both Catlin and Bodmer, for Stewart was en route to the annual rendezvous of fur trappers and traders,
which [Stewart] had attended for the past four seasons” – Tyler. Captain Stewart
had met Karl Bodmer and his patron, Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, in St.
Louis a few years earlier, and was inspired by the details of their western journeys.
Stewart, Miller, and their party began in St. Louis, completed their outfitting in
Westport, and then travelled along what would become known as the Oregon Trail
through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The ultimate destination of Stewart’s group was the annual rendezvous of trappers and traders which,
in 1837, took place at Horse Creek, a tributary of the Green River in present-day
Wyoming. It was there that Miller first encountered the Snake Indians, who staged
a grand entry to the rendezvous in Stewart’s honor.
Miller made dozens of sketches during the course of the three-week rendezvous,
which he turned into finished watercolors and oil paintings when he returned to
New Orleans in late 1837. Miller exhibited several of his western paintings in
Baltimore and New York in 1838 and 1839. A large group of the watercolors
that Miller produced in New Orleans in late 1837, the present work among them,
were meant for Captain Stewart’s personal collection. Miller travelled to Murthly
Castle in Scotland in 1840 to present his paintings to Stewart and to paint further
works for him. The present watercolor was part of “a fresh and lively group of pen,
wash, and watercolor sketches that Stewart kept in a ‘richly bound portfolio’ in the
drawing room” (Tyler).
Provenance: This watercolor was part of the portfolio given to Sir William
Drummond Stewart by Alfred Jacob Miller about 1840. It descended in the Stewart
family at Murthly Castle until it appeared at auction at Chapman’s in Edinburgh,
June 16-17, 1871, where it was purchased by Bonamy Mansell Power. It descended
through the Power family until it was consigned to auction at Parke Bernet Galleries in New York on May 6, 1966, where the album was broken up and sold as
a series of watercolor drawings by Miller, “the property of Major G.H. Power of
Great Yarmouth, England.” This watercolor was acquired at that sale by Carl and
Elizabeth Dentzel, becoming part of their collection. It was sold to the previous
owner in 1996 by the Gerald Peters Gallery.
A lovely and early watercolor of American Indian women by the important
artist, Alfred Jacob Miller, based on his travels in the West.
TYLER, ALFRED JACOB MILLER 473A (“unlocated”).
$62,500.
Whore House Card
114. [Mississippi]: [Bordellos]: [BUSINESS CARD ADVERTISING
AN ESTABLISHMENT WHICH PARTICULARLY CATERS TO
TRAVELING GENTLEMEN]. Cleveland, Ms. [ca. 1910?]. Single card,
2 x 3¾ inches. Minor soiling and creasing. Very good.
A business card for the Gordin House in Cleveland, Mississippi, Mrs. S.S. Floyd,
proprietress. The card indicates: “Special attention paid to traveling men.” Patrons
can stay for a mere two dollars per day. In all likelihood, the advertised establishment was, in fact, a whorehouse. Cleveland, Mississippi, established in 1887 and
named for President Grover Cleveland, is a small town in the Mississippi Delta.
$200.
115. [Moor, Ann]: AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY AB-
STINENCE OF ANN MOOR, OF TUTBURY, STAFFORDSHIRE,
(ENG). WHO HAS FOR MORE THAN THREE YEARS LIVED
ENTIRELY WITHOUT FOOD; GIVING THE PARTICULARS
OF HER LIFE, TO THE PRESENT TIME, AN ACCOUNT OF
THE INVESTIGATION INSTITUTED ON THE OCCASION,
AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE LETTERS OF SOME MEDICAL MEN WHO ATTENDED. Boston. 1811. 36pp. Gathered signatures, stitched as issued. Uniformly browned. Very good.
“The second American from the second London edition.” Many protestations of
accuracy are made, and the lady’s lack of appetite is attributed to an inability to swallow. The reader may have the same problem with the story, but an interesting case.
AUSTIN 11. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 22141.
$375.
With Fine American Color Plates
116. Munson, Laura Gordon: FLOWERS FROM MY GARDEN.
SKETCHED AND PAINTED FROM NATURE...WITH AN INTRODUCTORY POEM BY MRS. L.H. SIGOURNEY. New York:
Anson D. F. Randolf, 1864. Eighteen handcolored lithographic plates, each
accompanied by a poem on a separate text leaf. Large quarto. Original tan
morocco, stamped in blind and gilt, neatly rebacked with original backstrip
laid down, raised bands, a.e.g. Extremities rubbed. An occasional fox mark,
but the plates are generally clean and very bright. Overall very good. In a
cloth clamshell case.
Fine colored lithographs of flowers, with poetry by Hooper, May, Hunt, Longfellow,
Mrs. Hale, and Felicia Hemans. OCLC locates seven copies of this scarce title.
BENNETT, p.81. McGRATH, p.209. OCLC 4063649.
$5500.
117. [Nebollo, Angel Ngio]: [DISCOURSE ON THE CIVIL CODE RESPECTING ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN]. [N.p., but possibly Santa
Cruz]. March 13, 1846. [26]pp. Gathered signatures, stitched. Two signatures
loose, one page torn without loss of text, light fold lines. Overall neat and
clean. Very good.
A two-part discussion of laws relating to illegitimate, or “natural,” children. The
first part discusses the recognized legal inferiority between natural and legitimate
children, with the basic slant that illegitimate children should not have to suffer
for the indiscretions of their parents. The second part covers adjustments to the
law in cases where the father has recognized the child. The latter portions of the
document discuss the related issues of poverty relief and education. Good evidence
of social reform south of the border. $500.
118. [New York Hydropathic and Physiological School]: CATALOGUE
OF THE NEW YORK HYDROPATHIC & PHYSIOLOGICAL
SCHOOL, FOR 1854-5. New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1855. 48pp. Original printed wrappers. Front wrapper soiled and stained. Rear wrapper water
damaged, affecting text; upper left corner missing. Dampstains throughout.
A fair copy.
This catalogue includes the opening address of the third term by Mrs. Lydia F.
Fowler, M.D.; an essay delivered at the school by Mrs. Mary C. Vaughan entitled
“Woman as Reformer”; a list of courses offered; and the prospectus for the school.
The purpose of the school was “not only to qualify male and female practitioners
of the Healing Art, but also to educate and send into the field of human progress,
competent Health-reform Teachers and Lecturers.” The members of the faculty,
current students, and graduates of the preceding terms are listed, and the catalogue
concludes with a series of advertisements for various medical institutions and practitioners. A rare copy of this publication related to American popular medicine
and health reform. Not in Atwater, and OCLC only records a single copy, at the
New York State Library.
OCLC 36887447.
$400.
119. Nicholl, Edith M.: OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCH WOMAN IN
NEW MEXICO. Cincinnati. 1901. [6],260pp. Original green cloth. Some
bleach spots on covers, binding a bit cocked. Title-leaf mounted on silk. Overall a good copy.
First American edition, after the first British edition printed in London in 1898.
A scarce account of an English woman’s quest for good health and happiness raising alfalfa and other crops in southern New Mexico. Includes chapters on “the
Mexican in New Mexico,” the climate and soil, irrigation, mineral resources, and
“Politics and Sectionalism.” The author has a rather mixed opinion of the Mexican
labor she hired to work on her farm, stating that most Mexicans are honest yet fail
to pick up after themselves. As evidence, she quotes a typical Mexican worker on
her ranch: “Sometimes I feel like working and sometimes I don’t.”
HOWES N140. ADAMS SIX-GUNS 1610.
$450.
120. Oviedo y Herrera, Luis Antonio de: VIDA DE STA. ROSA DE
SANTA MARIA, NATURAL DE LIMA, Y PATRONA DEL PERU.
POEMA HEROYCO. Madrid. 1711 [i.e. 1712]. [80],484pp. plus one plate.
Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, lettered on spine. Some light dampstaining. Very good. In a marbled paper slipcase.
Heroic poem detailing the life of Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first Catholic
saint of the Americas. Rose was born in Lima as Isabel Flores de Oliva. She was
canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first saint from the Western Hemisphere.
European Americana records a date of 1712, as the Licencia on leaf 17 has a date of
January 6, 1712. The engraved plate shows Saint Rose in her position as patron
saint of Peru. Only a handful of copies on OCLC.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 712/166. PALAU 207753. SABIN 58003. MEDINA
(BHA) 2170. OCLC 3420933, 83125585.
$3500.
A Primary Document in the Penn-Lord Baltimore Dispute
Over the Pennsylvania-Maryland Boundary
121. [Pennsylvania-Mar yland Boundar y Dispute]: [MANUSCRIP T
AGREEMENT BETWEEN HANNAH PENN AND LORD BALTIMORE, SIGNED BY BOTH PARTIES, REGARDING THE
BOUNDARY DISPU TE BETWEEN PENNSYLVANIA AND
MARYLAND]. London. Feb. 17, 1723. [2]pp. plus integral docketing leaf.
Folio. Old fold lines. Minor soiling. Very good plus. In a half morocco box.
A highly important original manuscript agreement between Hannah Penn and Lord
Baltimore, according a brief peace in the dispute over the boundary line between
the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The document is signed by Mrs. Penn;
Charles Calvert, Fifth Lord Baltimore; Penn’s agent, James Logan; and various
witnesses and counsel for both sides.
This document records one of the attempts to settle the long-standing dispute,
and was intended to provide stability in the area for a period of eighteen months,
pending a permanent solution between the Penns and the Lords Baltimore. “Hannah
Penn had inherited the Pennsylvania proprietorship upon her husband’s death in
1718, and proceeded to mortgage it to Joshua Gee, ‘Merchant,’ and Henry Gouldney,
‘Linnendraper’ (whose name is mis-spelled ‘Goldney’ in the text). Despite the increasing population in the disputed colonial territories, little profit was forthcoming,
either to Hannah and her mortgages or to Charles Lord Baltimore, who had taken
over the Maryland proprietorship upon the death of the Fourth Lord Baltimore:
‘while settlers agreed to purchase lands in the disputed areas, they would not pay
the proprietors for them until the boundaries were determined’ (Wainwright [T],
pp.254-255)” – Chew. As with any contract, several original manuscript copies of
this document were produced; the copy sold in the Chew sale at Christie’s in 1982
is identical to the copy offered here.
The document reads:
Whereas there are disputes depending between the respective proprietors of the
provinces of Maryland and Pensilvania touching the limits or boundarys of the
sd. provinces where they are contiguous to each other. And whereas both parties are at this time sincerly [sic] inclined to enter into a treaty in order to take
such methods as may be advisable for the final determining ye sd. controversy
by agreeing upon such lines or other marks of direction to be settled as may
remain for a perpetual boundary between ye two provinces.
It is therefore mutually agreed between the Right Honble. Charles Lord
Baltemore proprietor and governour of Maryland & Hannah Penn widow and
executrix of Wm. Penn Esq. late proprietor & governour of Pensilvania. And
Joshua Gee of London, Merchant, and Henry Goldney of London, Linnendraper,
in behalf of themselves & the mortgagees of the province of Pensilvania that
for avoiding of all manner of contention or differences between the inhabitants
of the sd. provinces, no person or persons shall be disturbed or molested in
their possessions on either side, nor any lands be surveyed, taken up, or granted
in either of the sd. provinces near the boundary, which have been claimed or
pretended to on either side.
This agreement to continue for ye space of eightteen [sic] months from the
date hereof. In which time tis hoped the boundarys will be determined and
settled. And it is mutually agreed on by the said partys, that proclamations be
issued out in the said provinces signifying this agreement for the better, quieting
the people. And the Lieutenant Governours and other proper officers of the
respective provinces for the time being are directed and enjoyned to conform
themselves agreeable hereunto; and to issue out proclamations accordingly upon
the receipt hereof. In witness whereof the partyes above named have hereunto
set their hands this 17th day of February 1723.
It is signed by “Baltemore,” J. Clement, Charles Lowe, James Logan, Hannah Penn,
Joshua Gee, and Henry Gouldney. Though this agreement may have provided a
temporary respite for the issue, it did not, in the end, move the two parties any
further toward a permanent accord.
From the time of William Penn’s original grant of Pennsylvania in 1682, he
was at loggerheads with the Lords Baltimore over the boundary lines between the
colonies. The present document was one of the sporadic efforts to resolve the
problem before 1732, when both sides put forward maps of their own as guides.
Baltimore insisted on the use of his map, and the Penns, who were under great
money pressure and eager for an agreement, acceded, as they did to a number of
Baltimore’s demands. The settlement was unpopular in Maryland, when it finally
reached America in 1733, and Lord Baltimore soon discovered another problem: his
map was inaccurate, and the mislocation of Cape Henelopen gave the Penns more
land than he had thought. As a result, he tried to nullify the agreement, which led
to a lawsuit in Chancery Court in London, charging fraud. The Penns, naturally,
replied that it was based on Baltimore’s map, not theirs. From this lawsuit, which
was wrangled over for the next sixteen years, came a string of printed documents,
all now very rare, in which the parties set out their arguments. Finally, in 1750 the
Penns won the case, with costs, and the surveying could again proceed. A number
of abortive attempts were made to survey the boundary, before the two sides finally
employed Mason and Dixon to make the final survey in 1763-68.
The present manuscript is thus one of the first documents in the protracted
negotiations over the boundary which were only finally resolved forty-five years
later. A wonderful and important piece of this long-running dispute, vital to the
history of both Maryland and Pennsylvania.
CHEW FAMILY SALE 6 (another original manuscript copy).
$27,500.
122. [Peru]: [PRINTED PERUVIAN DOWRY CONTRACT, COMPLETED IN MANUSCRIPT]. [N.p., but possibly Lima]. 1809. [2]pp. on
a folded folio sheet. Old fold lines. Some light soiling, but generally very good.
The dowry contract of Juana Ximenez, which states that she would receive 500 pesos
if she either married or chose a religious life. A notation on the verso indicates
that she married Don Rafael Basabe, and also states the Archicofradia paid them
the 500 pesos in cash, of which the couple acknowledges receipt. An interesting
$400.
look into dowry practices in early 19th-century Peru. 123. Pierce, Jane: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM FIRST
LADY JANE PIERCE TO HER SISTER MARY, FOLLOWING
THE DEATH OF HER SON]. Washington. Sept. 1, 1853. 4pp. on
mourning stationery. Old fold lines. Some light wear. Very good. In a large
blue half morocco and cloth clamshell case, spine gilt.
Jane Pierce (1806-63), wife of President Franklin Pierce, hated life in Washington,
D.C. and opposed her husband’s decision to run for president. The deaths of her
three children (the most recent in relation to this letter being eleven-year-old Benny
on Jan. 6, 1853) she took as a sign that God was displeased with her husband’s
political ambitions. She never recovered from this loss, and withdrawing to the
White House living quarters, she became a virtual hermit, writing letters to her dead
son. In the present letter, to her eldest sister, Mary Appleton Aiken, she comments
on Mary’s family life, and on the sympathetic notes she has received from friends:
I had rather a pleasant call from Mr. Sunderland a few evenings since, & Mr.
Pierce happened to be at leisure to see him. I see no strangers during the day,
but after eight in the evening, any friend or acquaintance who wishes to see
me enough to call....Two applications for money to build churches are lying
by me, to be answered today or tomorrow. Poor widows &c &c come very
often and letters asking for offices or help continually. One should be rich
and be in this place.”
$900.
Tales of Buccaneering in the New World
124. [Pirates]: NOUVELLES DE L’AMERIQUE, OU LE MERCURE
AMERIQUAIN. OU SONT CONTENÜES TROIS HISTORIES
VERITABLES ARRIVÉES DE NOSTRE TEMPS. Cologne [actually
Amsterdam]: Jean L’Ingenu [i.e. Holland], 1678. 248pp. [bound with:] de la
Roche-Guilhen, Anne: ALMANZAIDE NOUVELLE.... Paris: Claude
Barbin [i.e. Holland], 1676. 96pp. 12mo. Contemporary plain paper boards,
spine renewed to style. Light wear to extremities. Very good.
Evidently the first edition of this scarce work, offering three fictional tales on the
theme of buccaneering and piracy in the Americas: “Histoire de Don Diego da
Rivera,” “Histoire de Mont-Val,” and “Le destin de l’homme, ou les aventures de
Don Bartelimi de la Cueba, Portugais.” Significantly, these fictional tales of piracy appear in the same year and place as the greatest classic on Caribbean pirates,
Alexander Esquemeling’s De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, translated into English in
1684 as The Bucaniers of America. The tales here are drawn from Esquemeling and
illustrate the endless appeal of piracy tales.
Bound afterwards is an early edition (1676) of the novel, Almanzaide..., first
printed in 1674. Set in Morocco, this was the first of approximately twenty popular
romances produced by the female novelist, Anne de la Roche-Guilhen (1644-1710).
Another edition was printed in 1678 at Rouen.
Perhaps the earliest pirate fiction, drawn from the first edition of the greatest
classic in the genre.
SABIN 56094.
$4250.
125. Porter, Sarah: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED BY SARAH
PORTER, REGRETFULLY DECLINING A WEDDING INVITATION DUE TO PRESSING CONCERNS AT HER SCHOOL].
Farmington, Ct. May 15, 1888. [3]pp. on a folded quarto sheet. Old fold
lines. Near fine.
Sarah Porter, founder of Miss Porter’s School for Girls, writes to a friend (and
possibly former student), regretfully declining an invitation to her wedding. She
notes that affairs at the school will keep her far too busy to make the journey. Sarah
Porter (1813-1900) founded her school in Farmington, Connecticut in 1843, set-
ting it up as an institution at which girls could receive a well-rounded academic
education. She writes, in part:
My dear Mary, I thank you heartily that you have desired me as one of your
wedding guests and I should be very happy in being with you at this so happy
moment of your life. I could not easily under any circumstances easily leave
school for so long a time as a journey to [Newton?] would require – but, now
Mr. Brandt’s wretched health renders him unable to teach, and his classes fall
daily into my care, so that my place is daily here. Your own and your brother’s
wedding at once will not only doubly crown the day, but give promise to multiplied successive anniversaries....
$500.
By Jefferson’s Granddaughter
126. Randolph, Cornelia Jefferson: THE PARLOR GARDENER: A
TREATISE ON THE HOUSE CULTURE OF ORNAMENTAL
PLANTS. Boston. [1861]. 158pp. plus eleven plates. Original brown publisher’s cloth, embossed in gilt and blind. Head of spine and corners a bit
bumped. Minor soiling. Else near fine.
This work, showing the various ways one can garden in the comfort of one’s home,
was written by Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (1799-1871), granddaughter of Thomas
Jefferson. Randolph spent many childhood hours in Jefferson’s company at Poplar
Forest and practiced her drawing skills by creating renderings of the buildings at
the University of Virginia. She is buried at Monticello. A lovely little book.
$750.
127. Randolph, Mary: THE VIRGINIA HOUSEWIFE: OR, METHOD-
ICAL COOK...METHOD IS THE SOUL OF MANAGEMENT.
Philadelphia: Published by E.H. Butler & Co., 1860. 180pp. plus [12]pp. of
advertisements. Original half cloth and marbled paper boards, spine gilt. Spine
a bit sunned. Contemporary gift inscription on front free endpaper, binder’s
ticket (“Waters Baltimore”) on rear pastedown. Lightly tanned, but very clean
internally. Very good.
Later edition of the first southern cookbook, originally issued in Washington in
1824. With directions for cooking meats, vegetables, making sauces and cordials,
and pickling. Mrs. Randolph states in the preface: “The government of a family,
bears a Lilliputian resemblance to the government of a nation.” She hopes to help
fledgling housewives, remembering the difficulties she had “from the want of books
sufficiently clear and concise, to impart knowledge to a Tyro.”
LOWENSTEIN 831. CAGLE & STAFFORD 629 (note).
$750.
Narrative of an Important American Revolutionary Figure
128. Riedesel, Friedrich, and Friederike Charlotte: DIE BERUFS-REI-
SE NACH AMERICA. BRIEFE DER GENERALIN VON RIEDESEL AUF DIESER REISE UND WAHREND IHRES SECHSJAHRIGEN AUFENTHALTS IN AMERICA ZUR ZEIT DES
DORTIGEN KRIEGES IN DEN JAHREN 1776 BIS 1783 NACH
DEUTSCHLAND GESCHRIEBEN. Berlin. 1800. x,352pp. Engraved
title vignette. Contemporary three-quarter calf and marbled boards, ornate
gilt spine. Lightly rubbed. Modern bookplate on front pastedown. Very good.
The first published edition, preceded only by a privately printed edition for the family,
with a different title, issued the same year. Although bibliographers often attribute
this book to both Riedesels, it was in fact written by Mrs. Riedesel. Mr. Riedesel
was in command of the German troops sent to Canada in February 1776 to aid the
British. His wife joined him there in the spring of 1777 and accompanied him on
the campaign under Burgoyne which went south into New York that fall, ending in
the defeat and surrender of all of Burgoyne’s forces at Saratoga on Oct. 17, 1777.
The Riedesels were then captives of the Americans (although under loose parole),
first at Cambridge and then in Virginia, when the captive army was moved there
in late 1778. Life was quite pleasant there, and the prisoners became friendly with
Thomas Jefferson. Later they spent time in York, Pennsylvania, Bethlehem, New
York, and Canada, before finally returning to Europe in 1783. “Mme Riedesel’s
narrative and descriptions are written with impressive directness and simplicity;
there is a quality of genuineness about them that bespeaks her sterling character
and the honesty of her record” – Clark.
HOWES R284. CLARK I:295. SABIN 71300.
$1500.
129. Roosevelt, Eleanor: [TYPED LETTER, SIGNED, FROM ELEA-
NOR ROOSEVELT TO KEN W. PURDY, EDITOR OF Parade].
New York. April 28, 1947. [1]p. on personal letterhead. Quarto. Docketing
in upper right corner, two holes punched in left margin, else fine. In a folding case.
Mrs. Roosevelt writes as Honorary President of the United States Committee for
the Care of European Children to the editor of Parade for an article, “Haven in
America,” published in the April 27, 1944 issue.
Parade’s article and accompanying photographs made clear to every reader,
the priceless value of the Committee’s program to those most tragic victims
of World War II – the orphaned children. In addition, it indicated their high
potential value to America as future citizens of our nation....
The Committee gave war-orphaned children in Allied occupied countries a chance
to immigrate to the United States, offering them a path to U.S. citizenship.
$1250.
130. Roosevelt, Eleanor: [TYPED LETTER, SIGNED (“ELEANOR”),
FROM ELEANOR ROOSEVELT TO HENRY STEWARD HOOKER (“FRIEND HARRY”), CONCERNING HER APPOINTMENT
AS A DELEGATE TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
UNITED NATIONS]. Hyde Park, Duchess Co., N.Y. July 17, 1948. [1]
p. on stationery of Val-Kill Cottage, Hyde Park. Fine. In a quarto half morocco and cloth clamshell box.
This note is addressed to Henry S. Hooker, who was Roosevelt’s longtime friend
and attorney (and FDR’s law partner). Written a few years after FDR’s death in
1945, the former first lady was still politically active, as this letter illustrates:
I have just been officially notified that I am to be again appointed as a delegate
to the General Assembly of the United Nations which meets in Paris. I shall
have to sail on September 13th. In view of this, could you and Nancy come
up here on September 4th to stay over Labor Day? I would like to have a
birthday party for you and Elliott before I leave! [stroke of exclamation point
drawn in with pen] Affectionately, [signed] Eleanor.
Hooker had a late September birthday, as did her son.
Blanche Wiesen Cook, Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1 (1992).
$1250.
131. Roosevelt, Franklin D.: [TYPED LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT AS PRESIDENT TO BETTY PARKER
OF THE CAMPOBELLO LIBRARY, NEW BRUNSWICK]. Washington, D.C. Aug. 13, 1937. [1]p. on White House letterhead. Quarto. Fine.
In a quarto folding cloth case, leather label.
FDR writes in response to Mrs. Parker’s invitation to the celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Campobello Library. Reading, in part:
How I would love to be with you all at the banquet and relive the days when
I was at Campobello and when the Library was also in its youth. I think it
unnecessary for me to tell you how sorry I am that my Mother is not with
you....Your celebration is especially rare and significant for I do not know
where else there exists a library where the librarian has continuously looked
after its welfare from the day of its origin, in 1887, to its maturity now fifty
years later....If you have the opportunity, do remember me to all my old friends
at Campobello and tell them that I hope it will not be many summers before
I can be with you all again.
Campobello Island in New Brunswick was the summer retreat of Sara and James
Roosevelt and their family. FDR spent most summers there from the age of one,
eventually acquiring his own thirty-four-room home on the island. It was there,
in August of 1921, that he contracted the illness that left him paralyzed from the
waist down. $1750.
The Most Famous New England Indian Captivity
132. Rowlandson, Mary: A NARRATIVE OF THE CAPTIVITY, SUF-
FERINGS AND REMOVES OF MRS. MARY ROWLANDSON,
WHO WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY THE INDIANS WITH SEVERAL OTHERS AND TREATED IN THE MOST BARBAROUS
AND CRUEL MANNER BY THOSE VILE SAVAGES. WITH
MANY OTHER REMARKABLE EVENTS DURING HER TRAVELS. Boston: John Boyle, 1773. 40pp. plus preliminary advertisement leaf.
20th-century red half morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt. Extremities
rubbed. Bookplate on front pastedown. Some light dampstaining and foxing.
Still, a very good copy.
The Frank T. Siebert copy of this famous captivity narrative, with his pencil notes
on the front fly leaf. A desirable copy of this work, in an 18th-century edition. No
copies are known of the first American edition, published in 1682, and only two of
the second American edition which followed shortly thereafter. “The Rowlandson
captivity is the first and perhaps the most famous of all Indian captivities. Tyler...
comments that ‘there is no more graphic or more exquisite literary memorial’” –
Streeter. “One of the earliest narratives of Indian captivities, and possibly one of
the most authentic. The relation of the manners and peculiarities of the Indians
of New England, in 1675, by one so observant and scrupulous in her statements,
has more than ordinary interest and value. The original edition is very rarely found
complete” – Field.
Rowlandson was captured in February 1675 and spent eleven weeks among the
Indians before being ransomed. Her simple and compelling account has become one
of the most famous American frontier narratives, a classic of the Indian captivity
genre and of early New England.
EVANS 12988. AYER 238 (1st ed). SIEBERT SALE 438 (this copy). VAIL 620. HOWES
R478. SABIN 73583.
$10,000.
133. [Rundell, Maria Eliza]: A NEW SYSTEM OF DOMESTIC COOK-
ERY FORMED UPON PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMY, AND
ADAPTED TO THE USE OF PRIVATE FAMILIES. Philadelphia:
Benjamin C. Buzby, 1810. 22,263pp. 16mo. Half calf and marbled boards,
gilt-stamped spine. Rubbed. Slight foxing, private blindstamp on titlepage.
Very good.
Third American edition. A cornucopia of domestic engineering advice, Rundell’s
book was in continuous publication until 1844.
LOWENSTEIN 49A. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 21244.
$400.
Dr. Rush Consoles a Friend Whose Wife Has Died
in the Yellow Fever Epidemic:
“We live among the dead, and in a valley of human bones.”
134. Rush, Benjamin: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM BEN-
JAMIN RUSH TO ELISHA BOUDINOT, CONDOLING BOUDINOT ON THE LOSS OF HIS WIFE]. Philadelphia. Sept. 8, 1797. [2]
pp., plus integral address leaf. Folio. Old fold lines. Reinforced with tissue at
some folds. Tear in blank leaf from wax seal. Lightly soiled. Very good. In a
half morocco clamshell case, spine gilt.
A warm letter written by Dr. Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia physician and signer of
the Declaration of Independence, to fellow patriot Elisha Boudinot, expressing his
condolences upon the loss of Boudinot’s wife. Boudinot (1749-1819) was an early
supporter of the Revolution, and was active in New Jersey political and social circles,
interacting with many of the important men of the era. He had eleven children with
his first wife, Catherine Smith, to whom this letter refers. She died in the terrible
yellow fever epidemic of 1797. Boudinot remarried the year following her death.
Benjamin Rush was a delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the
Declaration of Independence; he later served as surgeon general for the Middle
Department of the Continental Army, though he resigned in outrage over the disorganization and corruption in army hospitals. Rush established several medical
facilities in Philadelphia, including the College of Physicians in 1787. “Writing
prolifically over nearly half a century, Rush was the first American physician to
become widely known at home and abroad. More than any other physician, Rush
established the reputation of Philadelphia as a center for medical training....His
drive to understand mental illness and render the treatment of mental patients more
humane earned Rush the title ‘father of American psychiatry’” – ANB.
Rush’s letter conveys his sympathies as well as Christian hope for life beyond
the grave. It reads, in part:
My dear sir, Permit me to join in the general sympathy your late bereavement has excited in the breasts of all your friends....Yes, my dear friend, we
live among the dead, and in a valley of human bones. Every newspaper we
pick up is an obituary of departed friends, or fellow citizens. At the present
awful moment, the passing hearse, the shut up houses, and the silent streets of
our city, all proclaim that we are made of the dust, & that we are doomed to
return to it. But let us not complain as those who have no hope. The grave
shall ere long be robbed of its prey. Even Hell itself shall give up its prisoners.
The conquests, & grace of Jesus Christ extend to the utmost limits of fire &
misery, & all, all shall in due time be made to partake of the benefits of his
infinite atonement. P.S. The fever encreases, but it is confined chiefly to one
part of the city. I have hitherto been preserved, except from a light attack of
it, which confined me but one day.
In fact, Rush had stayed in Philadelphia to treat those sick with the fever, and was
lucky to survive. Later his political opponent, William Cobbett, accused Rush of
using his treatments to kill off Federalists. Rush successfully sued Cobbett for libel,
driving him out of the United States. $5500.
A Signer Loses His Umbrella
135. Rush, Benjamin: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
BENJAMIN RUSH TO HIS WIFE]. Philadelphia. Sept. 1, 1803. [2]pp.
Quarto. Old folds. Light soiling. Top half of left edge repaired with newer
paper. About very good. In a blue half morocco and cloth clamshell case, spine
gilt, red leather labels.
A familiarly chatty letter written by Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia signer of the
Declaration of Independence, to his wife, Julia, who is away from home, relating
the latest news and gossip from Philadelphia. He mentions Julia’s “little farm,”
writing of improvements to be made there:
Marcus is now employed in planting strawberries. He shall attend to your
directions. Your flowers & fruit trees seem to languish for your eye & hand.
I have engaged a surveyor to go out & run the line which is to add an acre
or two to your little farm. In the course of the stream which issues from the
spring, thro’ the wood, there is a pleasant & shaded spot on which I shall direct
a covered bath to be made. It will furnish ice in winter, and a bath in summer.
He continues with some news of family and neighbors, writing:
I have passed another busy day – two hours of it were pleasantly spent at Mr.
Wister’s at Germantown in the company of three of the best informed ladies of
Philada. Young Mr. Wister relapsed a few days ago, but is now I hope mending.
Capt. [ John] Barry is better, but not well. My country patient at Frankford is out
of danger. I visited him yesterday – probably for the last time....John unkindly
took my umbrella with him & left me a note to buy another for myself. I have
not time to do so, nor do I know where to borrow one. From the want of it I
have suffered from the rain this evening. To him it was an article of dress; to
me it was a necessity of health. I never expect to see it again.
The Captain Barry referred to is the famous naval officer considered as second
only to John Paul Jones.
Rush closes the letter with a post script about a party given by the governor,
attended by Jerome Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon: “Governor McKean gave a
splendid tea party this evening in honor of Jerome Bonaparte. Miss Eliza Smith
who attended it, says he is a modest, thoughtful well behaved young man.” Jerome
Bonaparte was a lad of eighteen who was deeply in love with Elizabeth Patterson of
Maryland. They waited until December 1803 to be married, when Jerome would have
passed his nineteenth birthday. The marriage was dissolved by Napoleon in 1805.
Benjamin Rush was a delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the
Declaration of Independence; later he served as surgeon general for the Middle
Department of the Continental Army, though he resigned in outrage over the
disorganization and corruption in army hospitals. He established several medical
facilities in Philadelphia, including the College of Physicians in 1787. “Writing
prolifically over nearly half a century, Rush was the first American physician to
become widely known at home and abroad. More than any other physician, Rush
established the reputation of Philadelphia as a center for medical training....His
drive to understand mental illness and render the treatment of mental patients more
humane earned Rush the title ‘father of American psychiatry’” – ANB. $3750.
136. St. Clair, Arthur: A NARRATIVE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE INDIANS...WAS CONDUCTED...TOGETHER WITH HIS OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATEMENTS OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR, AND THE QUARTER
MASTER GENERAL...AND THE REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEES APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO THE CAUSES OF
THE FAILURE THEREOF.... Philadelphia: Printed by Jane Aitken, 1812.
xix,[1],[26],273pp. With the extended list of subscribers not found in all copies. Half title. Original plain paper boards, rebacked with paper spine in an
antique style. Boards a bit soiled and edgeworn. Old institutional ink stamp
on titlepage. Scattered foxing. About very good, untrimmed.
This copy bears a manuscript inscription on the front board: “The Hon. T.L. Halsey.”
Thomas Lloyd Halsey, Jr. of Providence, Rhode Island is listed among the subscribers to the work. Halsey was U.S. Consul to Buenos Aires from 1812 to 1819.
General St. Clair’s self-defense against the charges and investigation which followed the defeat and slaughter by the Ohio Indians of eight hundred soldiers under
St. Clair’s command. “All of St. Clair’s voluminous defense is rendered nugatory
and futile by the passionate ejaculations of Washington, when Major Denny called
him from a dinner-party, to announce the defeat. Overcome with surprise and
indignation, Washington cursed the beaten general with exceeding fervor, adding, ‘Did not my last words warn him against a surprise’” – Field. Printed by the
daughter of Robert Aitken, printer of the first American Bible.
HOWES S24, “aa.” FIELD 1349. SABIN 75020. EBERSTADT 115:892. THOMSON
1012. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 26682.
$1500.
137. Saint-Mémin, Charles B.J.F. de: [FRAMED COLLECTION OF
FIVE PROFILE PORTRAITS]. [Various places, including New York,
Philadelphia, & Richmond. 1797-1809]. Five engravings, matted and framed
under glass. Four images are circular, with a diameter of approximately 2¼
inches; one image is oval and approximately 2½ x 2 inches. Matting overleaf
black with gold trim around each image. Gilt wood frame, 12 x 9¾ inches.
Engravings in fine condition.
A framed collection of five profile portrait engravings by Charles B.J.F. de SaintMémin. The engravings span nearly the entire course of Saint-Mémin’s celebrated
career as a portraitist in the U.S., represent at least three of the locations where
he worked, and reflect an impressive range of portrait types, from the profile of a
young girl to that of a founding father in middle age.
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin was a young, aristocratic military
officer when he fled France during the Revolution in 1790. In 1793 he arrived in
New York with his father and soon began pursuing a career in the arts. Applying
early training he had received in drawing and an eye for precision, Saint-Mémin
quickly taught himself the techniques of engraving and printing, and began producing plans and landscapes of New York. In 1796 he co-founded a business creating
profile portraits with the aid of a physiognotrace, a recently invented drafting device
that allowed portraitists to capture their sitters’ profiles with extreme accuracy. After
tracing a subject’s profile with the physiognotrace, Saint-Mémin would complete
a portrait in chalk, reduce and copy it to a copper plate using a pantograph, and
finally engrave the plate and produce a series of prints. Each patron would receive
the original drawing, the plate, and, typically, a dozen engravings. Saint-Mémin’s
business was wildly successful, and for fourteen years it sustained him as he traveled through the eastern U.S. capturing the likenesses of many leading American
figures of the day. Ellen G. Miles’ extensive work on Saint-Mémin, published by
the National Portrait Gallery, describes every aspect of his career and lists nearly a
thousand of his known portraits.
Of the portraits in the present collection, the earliest is that of Jane Macomb
Kennedy, drawn and engraved in New York in 1797. Jane Macomb was born in
Detroit in 1776, and in 1794 married Robert Kennedy, a Scottish nobleman born in
New Jersey. Ellen Miles devotes a full page to details of Lady Kennedy’s engraving,
using it to illustrate Saint-Mémin’s use of the roulette in shading and in executing
dark backgrounds. She notes that Saint-Mémin would engrave a background after
making an image, rather than using a mezzotinting technique, in which the entire
plate is textured before the image is added (pp.72-75).
From 1798 to 1803, Saint-Mémin operated in Philadelphia, where Miles notes
that he developed his own drawing style of lively, emphatic tones with strong black
and white contrasts. Two of the present engravings come from that period, those
of “Miss de la Grange” and Theodore Sedgwick. Miss de la Grange, probably no
more than seven years old in her portrait, is a fairly uncommon example of a child
subject in Saint-Mémin’s work; she poses here in a princess-cut dress and a pearl
necklace. Theodore Sedgwick was about fifty-five years old when his profile was
made in 1801, the final year of his term as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Sedgwick was one of many prominent American politicians drawn by Saint-Mémin
in Philadelphia.
The final major phase of Saint-Mémin’s career in the U.S. took place in Richmond
and Charleston between 1807 and 1809. In 1808, while working in Richmond, he
produced the portrait included here of Charles Everett, a Virginia physician and
close friend of James Monroe. The latest portrait in the present collection is that
of Frances Cadwalader Erskine, made in Philadelphia or Washington in 1809, one
of the few portraits produced during Saint-Mémin’s post-itinerant period. Mrs.
Erskine, another American-born wife of a British aristocrat, is depicted here in
an unusual oval-shaped engraving. The portrait was made after Saint-Mémin left
Charleston in 1809, during or after his journey home to his family in New Jersey.
In 1810, Saint-Mémin used the physiognotrace for the last time and returned to
France for two years before moving back permanently in 1814.
This fine and representative set of Saint-Mémin’s American portraiture comes
from the noted collection of Richard Townley Haines Halsey. Halsey, a Princeton
graduate and stockbroker by trade, was an intense Americanist. He believed that
by promoting the history of American craftsmanship, modern American industry
would be better protected against the intrusion of foreign-made goods. Halsey
began collecting in the 1890s and continued through the 1920s. His mission to
advance modern scholarship in American decorative arts reached its zenith in 1924
with the opening of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Halsey gave liberally of his expertise and his money to the project, the successful
completion of which cemented his reputation as America’s leading authority on the
subject. Afterwards he pioneered a course at St. John’s College in Maryland that
explored the marriage between American arts and crafts, and American history,
which became the model for a similar course taught by John Marshall Phillips at
Yale University. Halsey ended his professional career as a research assistant with
the Franklin Papers at Yale University.
Miles, Saint-Mémin (Washington, 1994) 242, 307, 312, 463, 739. DAB XVI, pp.549-51.
$2500.
A Prussian Princess in the Confederacy
138. Salm-Salm, Agnes, Princess: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED,
FROM PRINCESS AGNES SALM-SALM, REPORTING HER
ADVENTURES DURING THE CIVIL WAR]. Camp Aldie, Va. Nov.
16, 1862. [3]pp. on a folded folio sheet. Quarto. Old fold lines, slight separation at some folds. Later magazine clipping tipped onto final leaf. Quite
clean. Very good.
Letter written by adventuress and military heroine Princess Agnes Salm-Salm.
Agnes LeClerc Joy arrived in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1861, where she met
and captured the heart of Prussian Prince Felix zu Salm-Salm, whom she married
in August 1862. “The energetic bride immediately took charge of her husband’s
career and succeeded in obtaining his appointment as colonel in the Eighth, later
the Sixty-eighth, New York Infantry Regiment and eventually his commission
as brigadier general. Spirited and adventuresome but soon taking interest in the
plight of wounded soldiers, Agnes accompanied her husband on his tours of duty
in Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia, where Felix Salm-Salm was appointed military
governor of Atlanta in 1865” – ANB. She was subsequently involved in both the
war in Mexico and the Franco-Prussian War. Agnes writes, in part:
My dear friend, When I had the pleasure of seeing you, I promised to write
and tell how I was getting on and all my adventures. To day week I left
Washington to join my husband accompanied by Col. Corwin a friend of ours
and a guide. It was a very cold and rather a long ride to Gen. [Franz] Sigel’s
headquarters which we found at Greenville. My husband’s regiment had left
in the morning for Aldie which is twenty miles in advance. So we had to stop
in a farmhouse where we were fortunate enough to procure quarters for the
night, provided with a pass to Gen. Stobel’s headquarters near Hopeville Gap.
We reached it at noon and proceeded after a short rest to Aldi, through the
wood, having heard that some of White’s cavalry are roving about there and
around to my husband’s armies.
She goes on to discuss accommodations at the camp, being relocated by various
officers who desired her farmhouse room for their headquarters or lodging, and
finally ending up sharing a tent with her husband, “where the indignant soldiers
had made some arrangements on hearing that I was turned out. Well, now I am
here gypsying in a tent, but I must say I like it very well, because I am always with
my lord and master. Just now the whole cavalry, some artillery and one regiment
of infantry are advancing toward Middelburg where the rebels are in force. We
expect every moment a fight.”
An interesting letter written by this colorful woman. A later magazine clipping
about her life has been tipped to the final leaf. $850.
139. Santa Maria, Francisco Xavier Antonio
de: VIDA PRODIGIOSA DE LA VENERABLE VIRGEN JUANA DE JESUS DE LA
T ERC ER A O R D EN D E P EN I T EN C I A
DE NUESTRO SERAPHICO PADRE SAN
FRANCISCO. Lima: En Calle del Tigre, por Francisco Sobrino y Bados, 1756. [50],410,[7]pp. with
numerous errors in pagination. Lacks frontispiece
portrait. Small quarto. Contemporary vellum, faintly
lettered on spine. A few small tears along foredge of
binding. Light soiling on titlepage. Light dampstaining and scattered foxing throughout. Good.
Biography of Juana de Jesus (1652-1703), a Franciscan
nun and native of Quito, Ecuador. Only three copies
on OCLC, at Cornell University, Indiana University,
and the John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1099. VARGAS UGARTE 1708. PALAU 298150 (note). OCLC 64092118, 51980284. $1800.
140. Seaver, James E.: A NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF MRS. MARY
JEMISON, WHO WAS TAKEN BY THE INDIANS, IN THE
YEAR 1755, WHEN ONLY ABOUT TWELVE YEARS OF AGE,
AND HAS CONTINUED TO RESIDE AMONGST THEM TO
THE PRESENT TIME.... Howden: Printed for P. Parkin..., 1826. 180pp.
12mo. 20th-century dark green morocco, gilt. Several scuffs to front board,
corners rubbed. Two bookplates on front pastedown. Light foxing and soiling.
Contemporary ownership inscriptions on rear fly leaf. Very good.
The Frank Cutter Deering copy of the rare second and first British edition of “one
of the most authentic and interesting of captivity narratives,” according to Howes
and Streeter. Jemison was captured by the Senecas in 1758 at the age of twelve, the
rest of her family having been massacred. She was initially taken from near Fort
Pitt to eastern Ohio, but after the French and Indian War the tribe moved north
to western New York state. There are long accounts of the Revolutionary War in
upstate New York, as well as incidents of later frontier fights through the War of
1812, and Mrs. Jemison’s life in the area around Buffalo from the Revolutionary
period to 1823. Frederick Strecker, the bibliographer of the Jemison narrative,
notes that “considerable of the history of the settlers of western New York, has its
source in the Jemison narrative.” Jemison’s account was recorded when she was
seventy-seven years old by Dr. James Seaver, who transcribed and arranged for
the publication of her memoirs. Jemison lived with the Senecas until her death
at ninety, having married several times, and continuing to live with the tribe even
after the Revolution when she was free to return to white society.
By far the best bibliographical account of the Jemison narrative is given by
Strecker in The Colophon, No. 7 (1931), “My First Year as a Jemisonian,” in which
he lists some twenty-three editions of the narrative published between 1824 and
1929; the present edition he describes as “rare.”
HOWES S263. CHURCH 1334. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 3541. SABIN 78678.
FIELD 1380. AYER 249.
$1250.
The Daughter of John Tyler Recalls Dolley Madison
141. Semple, Letitia Tyler: [Tyler, John]: [TWO AUTOGRAPH LET-
TERS, SIGNED, FROM LETITIA TYLER SEMPLE TO MRS.
EDWARD G. McCOLLEN OF PHILADELPHIA]. Washington, D.C.
Nov. 2 & 7, 1893. 6; [2]pp. on four sheets of stationery. Very good. With two
engraved portraits. In a half morocco box.
Letitia Semple (1821-1910), the daughter of President John Tyler, responds to her
correspondent’s inquiry regarding an article by Sally Robins, whom Semple knew
at the “Eclectic Institute” during her tenure there as principal:
...My acquaintance began with Mrs. Madison when she reached the age of sixty
and I was twenty. For many years she had been the friend of my Father – the
late President John Tyler. She was often a guest in the Presidential mansion
& object of reverential and respectful consideration of the family. Through the
bad management of her son (Madison Todd) she was reduced almost to absolute
poverty. Being ill on one occasion, Dr. Thomas the President’s physician, was
called, and having made his visit he came directly to the White House to tell
my father of the poverty [underlined] of her position. Full of solicitude for
her – her immediate wants were supplied & the President sent a message to
Congress, recommending the purchase of the “Papers” of Mr. Madison.
A bill was passed giving Mrs. Madison $20,000 for the valuable collections
& she spent the rest of her life in comfort. My last communication from her
was a note of invitation to spend an evening with herself & niece when I was
passing through this city during President Pierce’s administration. I never saw
her again but when she died myself & many other Va. ladies wore a badge of
mourning for thirty days. – I give you this recollection of that much deserving
& highly esteemed Lady in proof of my desire to accommodate your request....
P.S. My eyes are almost without light. I live in semi darkness.
In her second note Semple marvels at the interest some people have in her: “Why
the literary world should be so interested in me as to seek me out & publish accounts of me is more than I can understand...now when old age & its infirmities
are my companions....” $1250.
Extra-Illustrated
142. Seward, Anna: MONODY ON MAJOR ANDRE. TO WHICH ARE
ADDED LETTERS ADDRESSED TO HER BY MAJOR ANDRE,
IN THE YEAR 1769. Lichfield. 1781. vi,47pp., extra-illustrated with nine
plates. Lacks the half title. Quarto. Modern paneled calf, boards and spine
gilt, leather labels. Extremities lightly rubbed, boards lightly scuffed. Bright
and clean internally. Very good.
An extra-illustrated copy of the second edition, after the first of the same year,
of this tribute to the unfortunate André. This edition includes verses “To Miss
Seward” by W. Hayley. The added plates include portraits of the principal players
in the story, including Major André, George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and
the author, as well as a print of the capture of André and of the elaborate funeral
monument. Also tipped in is a copy of the satirical cartoon, “The Loss of Eden
and Eden Lost,” published in London in 1785, which mocks the easy treachery of
Benedict Arnold.
SABIN 79478. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 81-65b. ESTC T41383.
$2500.
With Many Early Boston Engravings
143. Smellie, William: AN ABRIDGEMENT OF THE PRACTICE OF
MIDWIFERY: AND A SET OF ANATOMICAL TABLES WITH
EXPLANATIONS. Collected from the works of the celebrated, W.
Smellie, M.D. Boston: J. Norman, [1786]. [2],56pp. plus thirty-nine plates.
Antique-style three-quarter calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, leather label.
Some offsetting from plates. Light foxing. Very good.
First American edition. Originally published in London in 1752 as A Treatise
on the Theory and Practice of Midwifery, this work is the first illustrated medical
book published in North America and the first book on obstetrics published in
the United States. “Smellie contributed more to the fundamentals of obstetrics
than virtually any individual. In his Treatise, he described more accurately than
any previous writer the mechanism of parturition....He was the first to lay down
safe rules regarding the use of forceps, and personally introduced the steel-lock,
the curved, and the double forceps...” – G&M. The thirty-nine engraved plates by
John Norman, copied from the originals, are quite clean, and graphically illustrate
the obstetric processes described.
EVANS 19992. ESTC W8606. AUSTIN 1754. WELLCOME V, p.127. HEIRS OF
HIPPOCRATES 824. G&M 6154.
$3250.
Rare Southern Indian Captivity
144. Smith, Mary: AN AFFECTING NARRATIVE OF THE CAPTIVI-
TY & SUFFERINGS OF MRS. MARY SMITH, WHO, WITH HER
HUSBAND AND THREE DAUGHTERS WERE TAKEN PRISONERS BY THE INDIANS IN AUGUST LAST (1814) AND...WAS
FORTUNATELY RESCUED FROM THE MERCILESS HANDS
OF SAVAGES BY A DETACHED PARTY OF THE ARMY OF
THE BRAVE GENERAL JACKSON, LATE COMMANDING AT
NEW-ORLEANS. Providence: Printed for L. Scott, [1816?]. 24pp. Folding
woodcut frontispiece with light contemporary coloring. Original plain blue
wrappers, resewn. Wrappers a bit chipped and torn. Some light foxing on
frontispiece. Scattered foxing throughout. Contemporary ownership inscription
on last page. Still, a fresh, very good copy in original state, untrimmed. In a
half morocco clamshell case.
Mrs. Smith and her family were taken captive by the Chickasaws near the Yazoo
in 1814. Her husband was used for tomahawk throwing practice and her three
daughters were burned in front of her. She was saved from a similar fate by the
raid of a company of Tennessee troops. This captivity tale was first published in
Providence in 1815. The narrative was apparently a bestseller for its day, as at
least seven editions appeared by 1818, all of which are rare today. The printer,
Scott, produced several twenty-four-page and thirty-two-page editions with a new
woodcut frontispiece and variant titlepages; some include the text about the murder
of thirty people after Mrs. Smith escaped. The present edition was printed after
Jackson’s defeat of the British at the Battle of New Orleans on Jan. 8, 1815, as
reflected in the title.
Very rare. Sabin cites only two copies, of which one is imperfect. Not in Ayer.
HOWES S638, “b.” SABIN 83539.
$12,500.
145. [Southern, Kate]: THE SAD CASE OF MRS. KATE SOUTHERN!
THE BEAUTIFUL, VIRTUOUS GEORGIA WIFE, WHO, BEING
MADDENED TO INSANITY BY THE OUTRAGEOUS TAUNTS
OF A BAD WOMAN WHO HAD ENTICED HER HUSBAND
AWAY, KILLED HER. Philadelphia. [1878]. 60pp. Illus. Original pictorial
wrappers. Badly chipped along edges, paper browned and brittle. A fair copy.
Sensational murder fiction of the jealous wife genre.
WRIGHT III:4736.
$200.
146. Stone, Lucy: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM LUCY
STONE TO MRS. PITMAN, REGARDING THE HEALTH OF
HER MOTHER]. Dorchester. Jan. 6, 1885. [1]p. on a folded quarto sheet.
Old fold lines. Very good plus.
Lucy Stone writes to Mrs. Pitman regarding her mother’s health and involvement in
meetings, possibly suffrage related. Stone was a prominent suffragist, abolitionist,
and women’s rights activist. She writes:
I looked all day yesterday for the comfort of your face at no. 5, as I thought
your mother might send a message in reply to mine. I am very sorry to hear
how poorly she is, and I trust she may be better soon. I did not expect she
would pay Mrs. Cloflin, and I thought we might owe her a balance if the collections had not covered the expense, as I understood they had not. It was
very good of her to take charge of the meetings. Only think! what might be
done if others who are well felt the same spirit to do what they could. With
kind love to your Mother and to you. Yours truly Lucy Stone.
$2000.
Pioneering California Feminism
147. Stow, Marietta Lois: PROBATE CONFISCATION AND THE
UNJUST LAWS WHICH GOVERN WOMEN. San Francisco: Bacon
and Company, [1876]. [4],258pp. Lithographic frontispiece portrait. 12mo.
Original red cloth, stamped in gilt and blind. Light shelf wear. Contemporary
ownership signature on front free endpaper. Very clean internally. Very good.
An important early work concerning women’s rights, focusing on probate law and
practice in California and the legal status of women, especially widows. A very
readable account of the injustices experienced by women at the time.
COWAN, p.620.
$500.
148. Strahorn, Carrie Adell: Russell, Charles M. (illustrator): FIFTEEN
THOUSAND MILES BY STAGE. New York & London: G.P. Putnam’s
Sons; The Knickerbocker Press, 1911. Photogravure frontispiece portrait, color
plates after Russell, numerous photographic illustrations. Publisher’s green
cloth, upper cover with a pictorial onlay after a Charles Russell painting, lettered in gilt. Very good.
“In the pages of this volume, I have endeavored to give a picture of the Old West, to
tell of the efforts which a Westward marching population made to establish homes
on the borderline of civilization and beyond, enduring hardships and privations with
the courage of heroes” – Preface. The color plates after Russell comprise (titles
after the quotes printed on the tissue guards facing each plate): “As Cochrane and
Pard Leaped into their Saddles Cochrane Shot the Indian”; “The Stage Ahead of
Us Had Been Attacked by the Indians and Burned”; “That Night in Blackfoot was
a Terror”; “When the Elk was Believed Dead it Jumped Up and Sprang at Them.”
GRAFF 3999. HOWES S1054. ADAMS HERD 2180. YOST 25.
$450.
149. [Texas Slavery]: [MANUSCRIP T DEED OF EMANCIPATION
FOR A TEXAS SLAVE WOMAN AND HER FIVE CHILDREN,
GIVEN THEIR FREEDOM MONTHS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION]. Austin. March 26, 1835.
[4]pp., with most of the text on the first two pages, signatures on p.[3], and
manuscript docketing on p.[4]. Folio. Central vertical fold and three horizontal
folds. Old tape repairs at edges of two horizontal folds and along the vertical
fold. A bit soiled. On the whole, very good.
A very interesting pre-revolutionary Texas document, being a manuscript deed of
emancipation for a slave woman and her children. By this deed John McAllen, “a
resident settler of this colony...for the faithful services of his Negro slave Celia and
her long tried fidelity and assiduous and tender care of his person and interests,
moved by his spontaneous will, and informed and instructed in his rights in the
best form the law permits he raises, quits renounces and abdicates totally all right
property and dominion whatever which he has had and has in person labor and
services of the above named Celia and the issue of her body.” Celia’s five children
are also freed: Henry (about eight years old), Dolly (about six), Rankin (a son,
about five), Yarboro (another son, about three), and George (just four months old).
The text goes on to list the rights which Celia could henceforth legally exercise,
concluding with that she could “generally...do whatever a free man might lawfully
do.” There are, however, strings attached. Though much of the document describes
the rights over Celia and her children that McAllen hereafter renounces, it notes
that he could revoke the manumission “in case of the ingratitude of the said Celia
and her children; and if he should at any time reclaim the emancipation, he wishes
not be heard either judicially or extrajudicially.” The document is written in a
secretarial hand and signed by Judge George Ewing in his own hand at the end. It
is further signed by Celia with a “+” symbol, and also signed by John McAllen and
several witnesses, including G.A. Powell, James Baird, John Evans, and J. Bricker.
Manuscript evidence recording the emancipation of slaves in Texas at such an early
date is rare.
Sold
150. Tuttle, Lucina: THE CLAIRVOYANT’S FAMILY PHYSICIAN,
CONTAINING A COURSE FOR ALL THE DISEASES PRESENT
IN THIS COUNTRY. WITH AN INTRODUCTION. BY MRS.
LUCINA TUTTLE, OF BYRON, GENESEE COUNTY, N.Y. New
York & Rochester: Fowlers & Wells, & D.M. Dewey 1850. 216pp. plus 4pp.
of advertisements. Original patterned brown cloth, spine gilt. Spine ends and
corners lightly worn. Neat ink ownership stamp on front and rear pastedowns
and a few text leaves. Scattered light foxing. Overall, very good.
An odd little volume. The bulk of this work is a fairly standard domestic folk
medicine guide, divided into sections of diseases and their remedies; instructions
for making syrups, pills, and ointments; and a catalogue of medicinal plants. The
uniqueness of the book lies in its preface, introduction, and testimonials, in which
the reader learns the strange story of Mrs. Tuttle and her clairvoyant states and
treatment of afflictions. $400.
150. Valdes, Joseph Eugenio: VIDA ADMIRABLE Y PENITENTE DE
LA V.M. SOR SEBASTIANA JOSEPHA DE LA SS. TRINIDAD,
RELIGIOSA DE CORO, Y VELO NEGRO EN EL RELIGIOSISSIMO CONVENTO DE SEÑORAS RELIGIOSAS CLARISAS DE
SAN JUAN DE LA PENITENCIA DE ESTA CIUDAD DE MEXICO. Mexico. 1765. [8],396,[4]pp. plus plate. Latter half of book misbound
but complete. Small quarto. Later vellum, spine gilt. Final leaf with some
marginal loss, repaired, with minor loss of text. Title with some tears and
toning. Internally clean. Very good.
Extensive biography of the Mexican nun, Sebastiana Josepha, which includes an
engraved illustration of her kneeling in prayer before the baby Jesus.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 5022.
$1500.
Item 152.
A European Vision of America
152. Vauthier, Jules-Antoine: L’AMERIQUE [caption title]. Paris: Chez Tessari, [n.d., ca. 1820]. Colored stipple engraving, 45 x 33 cm. Some minor dust
soiling in margins. Overall a very nice image with good coloring. Archivally
matted, protected with mylar.
An attractive allegorical rendition of America in the form of an American Indian
woman in fanciful indigenous costume. She is shown from the waist up, wears
a headdress and has one breast exposed. The image is captioned as “dessiné par
Vauthier,” which refers to the noteworthy artist, Jules Antoine Vauthier. The image was engraved by Bertrand. A neo-classical vision of America in the form of
$1500.
an Indian queen, beautifully colored by hand. A Virginian in Europe
1 5 3 . V irginian [pseudony m]: THE AMERICAN WANDERER ,
THROUGH VARIOUS PARTS OF EUROPE, IN A SERIES OF
LETTERS TO A LADY, (INTERSPERSED WITH A VARIETY
OF INTERESTING ANECDOTES). By a Virginian. London. 1783.
xvi,422pp. Contemporary calf, stamped in blind and gilt, with original spine
expertly laid down. Internally clean. Very good.
The author, styling himself a Virginian, writes of his European travels during 177677. He seems to have paid particular attention to French and British ladies, even
noting such delicate things as French ladies’ legs and feet. He likes Paris palaces
better than those in London, and seems to be a Francophile through and through,
citing the French predilection for learned men. Scarce.
SABIN 1258. SMITH, AMERICAN TRAVELLERS ABROAD A34.
$550.
First Major Historical Work by an American Woman
154. Warren, Mercy Otis: HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS AND
TERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. INTERSPERSED WITH BIOGRAPHICAL, POLITICAL AND MORAL
OBSERVATIONS. Boston: Printed by Manning and Loring, for E. Larkin,
1805. Three volumes. xii,447; vii,412; vi,475pp. Antique-style calf, spines gilt,
leather labels. Moderate foxing and toning. Second volume with older institutional stamps on titlepage and one leaf of text; final blank repaired with tissue
in upper corner. Very good.
This excellent account of the events of the Revolution was written by a woman
intimate with those prominent in the Revolutionary councils of Massachusetts.
Throughout the Revolutionary period, historian, poet, and dramatist Mercy Otis
Warren actively corresponded on political matters with numerous leaders including
Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and especially John Adams, who became her literary mentor in those early
years of unrest. In 1805 her literary career culminated with the publication of The
History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. The book’s
sharp criticisms of Adams – that his passions and prejudices often debilitated his
judgment and that he had demonstrated a distinct leaning toward monarchy during his sojourn in England – led to a heated correspondence and a breach in their
friendship in 1807. After nearly five years Elbridge Gerry managed to effect a
reconciliation between Mercy and Abigail and John. Mrs. Warren was the sister
of the firebrand polemicist, James Otis, and the wife of James Warren, president
of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and a Paymaster General during the
Revolution. Thomas Jefferson ordered sets of the book for himself and his cabinet
when it was published, during his administration.
Howes describes this book as the first important historical work by an American woman. “Her history is interesting both for the expert knowledge it reveals
of public affairs and for its lively and penetrating commentary upon the leading
figures of the day, more especially for the caustic analysis of character and motives
among the ‘malignant party’ who opposed American freedom” – DAB.
HOWES W122, “aa.” SABIN 101484. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 9687. DAB XIX,
p.484.$5500.
Remarkable Profile Portraits
of George and Martha Washington
155. [Washington, George]: [Washington, Martha]: [EGLOMISE SIL-
HOUETTE PROFILE PORTRAITS OF GEORGE AND MARTHA WASHINGTON ON GLASS]. [N.p., but United States. ca. 1830].
12 x 16 inches, framed to 17 x 21 inches. Black paint on glass. Some light
wear to frame. Very good.
Pair of facing profile silhouette portraits, with Martha Washington on the left and
George Washington on the right, framed in bordered ovals of worked design. The
portraits are painted on the back of a glass panel in eglomise style. The figures
are approximately six inches in height and appear to be after the famous portraits
of the couple painted by James Sharples in 1798. James Sharples (1751-1811)
was born in England and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1779. Twice
widowed, Sharples married again in 1787, taking as his third wife Ellen Wallace,
who had been his pupil. The Sharples came to the United States about 1793 and
worked in Philadelphia and New York until 1801. James did pastel portraits,
which he is said to have executed in about two hours. Ellen Sharples sometimes
produced copies of these for clients who wished more than a single example. The
Sharples family returned to England in 1801, where James and Ellen continued
their work, but they returned once again to New York in 1809. James died there
in 1811, whereupon Ellen and the children returned to England for the last time.
It was probably in 1797 at Mount Vernon that James achieved his long-standing
ambition of portraying George Washington, finally retired to private life after his
second term as president. His painting shows the elderly Washington in profile,
somberly dressed, a man aged beyond his years by the weight of his responsibilities. The resulting portrait proved to be so popular that both James and Ellen are
said to have copied the image regularly in response to the demand. Portraits of
the President and First Lady remained popular, as evidenced by this later pair of
$4500.
silhouettes after Sharples’ original works. Where to Bury Our Nation’s Founder:
His Grieving Widow Writes President Adams
156. [Washington, Martha]: [Washington, George]: Lear, Tobias: [TWO
LETTERS WRITTEN BY TOBIAS LEAR TO PRESIDENT JOHN
ADAMS, ONE AS A DRAF T FOR MARTHA WASHINGTON,
REGARDING GEORGE AND MARTHA WASHINGTON’S POSSIBLE BURIAL IN THE CAPITOL]. Mount Vernon. Dec. 31, 1799 &
Jan. 1, 1800. [3]pp. total. Quarto. Old fold lines. Each letter with a later paper
strip on right margin of verso (evidently where each was once tipped into an
album). Fine. In a blue half morocco and cloth box, with two cloth chemises.
Two remarkable letters in the hand of Tobias Lear, George Washington’s personal
secretary at the end of his life and executor of his estate, written to President John
Adams concerning George Washington’s final resting place. The first is the draft
of a letter from Martha Washington, evidently composed by Lear, while the second
is a letter from Lear to Adams.
Washington died at Mount Vernon on Dec. 14, 1799 after a brief illness, and
was buried there on the 18th. It was not until the following day that news reached
Congress, sitting in Philadelphia. A movement was immediately begun to propose
that Washington be buried in the yet-to-be built new Capitol building in the District of Columbia, and on Dec. 23, John Marshall reported several resolutions from
both the House and Senate requesting this to President Adams. It fell to Adams to
make the delicate request to the grieving widow, which he did in a letter of Dec. 24,
probably received by her on the 28th or 29th. Washington’s will, however, requested
that he be buried at his beloved Mount Vernon. Martha Washington wished to be
buried with her husband when her time came, and was concerned about the prospect for that eventuality if the General’s body was interred in the Capitol building.
Not surprisingly, as these documents reveal, Martha Washington turned to Tobias Lear to assist her in drafting a reply. Lear (1762-1816) is best known for the
time he spent as General Washington’s personal secretary (1786-93 and 1798-99).
He formed a close relationship with Washington and his family – he was married
successively to two of Washington’s nieces. Upon Washington’s death, Lear was the
executor of Washington’s estate and spent nearly two years sorting out the General’s
affairs. He was someone Martha Washington could trust to address the difficult
question put to her, balancing her husband’s stated wishes, the will of the country as
expressed by Adams, and her own feelings as a grieving spouse. The second letter
is Lear’s retained copy of an accompanying explanatory letter from Lear to Adams,
elaborating on the sentiments expressed in Mrs. Washington’s letter.
The first document, a letter to President Adams dated Dec. 31, 1799, was likely
written by Lear, and revised in consultation with Mrs. Washington; it is a working
draft with numerous deletions and corrections, and various phrases crossed out in
favor of others. It conveys her profound sense of loss, even while it expresses her
gratitude for all the “tributes of respect & veneration” which Adams and others
have paid to her husband’s memory. Though she seems reluctant, she implies that
perhaps Washington would have wanted to be buried in the Capitol as a final act
of public service. Items which have been struck out in the manuscript are here
indicated in brackets:
Sir, While I feel with [the] keenest anguish, the late dispensation of Divine
Providence, I cannot be insensible to the [respectful] mournful [and respectful] tributes of respect & veneration which are paid to the memory of my dear
deceased Husband. And as his best services and anxious wishes were always
[employed in promotion] devoted to the welfare and happiness of his country;
[it affords] to know that they were truly appreciated and gratefully remembered
affords me [the higher service of consolation] no inconsiderable consolation.
Taught by the great example, which I have so long had before me, never to
oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request
made by Congress, which you have had the goodness to transmit to me. And
in doing this, I need not, – I cannot say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I
make to a sense of public duty. With [grateful unfeigned thanks for] grateful
acknowledgements and unfeigned thanks for the personal respect and evidence
of condolence expressed by Congress and yourself [and with unfeigned thanks
for your expression of condolence] I remain, very respectfully, Sir, yr. mo. obd.
most hu. sr. M. Washington.
Lear’s accompanying letter to Adams, here present in his retained draft, is dated
Jan. 1, 1800. It emphasizes that Mrs. Washington’s greatest concern is that she be
interred with her husband. Lear feels confident that this is possible and reiterates
his assurances to President Adams:
Sir, I have received, by the hands of Mr. Shaw, the letter which you did me
the honor to write on the 24th of December; and have communicated to the
Family at this place, your kind assurances of regard and sympathy; for which
they request you will accept their grateful and respectful acknowledgements.
For the feelings which you have had the goodness to express for my loss, I
am truly grateful; and it shall be the pride of my life to shew that I was not
unworthy of the confidence and affection of my revered and beloved friend.
After a severe struggle, Mrs. Washington has yielded to the request made by
Congress, as you will find from her letter. Having passed upwards of forty
years with the Partner of her Heart, it required more than common fortitude
to consent to an act which, possibly, might deprive her of almost the only
consolation she has had since his decease – namely, that her remains would be
deposited in the same tomb with his. Knowing her feelings on this occasion,
I have ventured to give her the firmest assurance of my belief that the removal
of the General’s body would not deprive her of this consolation, which is so
dear to a mind afflicted like hers. And I trust I shall not be disappointed in
this belief. My best respects attend Mrs. Adams, with the sincerest wish that
you both enjoy many returns of this day, with as much health and uninterrupted
happiness as can fall the lot of Mortals. With the highest respect, I have the
honor Tobias Lear.
Adams and Congress did indeed accept the principle that Martha Washington
could be buried with her husband in the Capitol, and plans proceeded for a mausoleum in the form of a pyramid, with a base one hundred feet square. In the fall
of 1800 the House passed a bill appropriating $200,000 for the project, but the
idea had now become a political football between mainly northern Federalists who
favored the idea, and Republicans who paid lip service to honoring Washington
but questioned both the expense and the glorification of one individual, no matter
how revered. The appropriation finally squeaked through the Senate by one vote
in March 1801. The new Jefferson administration then proceeded to do nothing
about it, and the project died. Not definitely, however. The idea was revived at
various points, especially around the centenary of Washington’s birth in 1832, when
there was again a spirited debate and discussions with the Washington family. The
matter was finally settled once and for all by the interment of Washington in the
new tomb at Mount Vernon in 1837.
A remarkable pair of letters, from those closest to George Washington, immediately after his death, deciding the final resting place of our first president and
Founding Father.
Kenneth R. Bowling, ed., Establishing Congress (Columbus, 2005). See the excellent essay by
Rubil Morales-Vazquez, “Redeeming a Sacred Pledge: The Plans to Bury George Washington
in the Nation’s Capitol,” pp.148-89.
$85,000.
157. Whiting, Kate B.: DIARY OF KATE B. WHITING FROM JANU-
ARY 23rd TO APRIL 6th 1898 INCLUDING THE TRIP TO THE
ORIENT [typescript title]. [Cambridge, Ma.? 1898]. 177pp. typescript.
Illustrated with 136 photographs. Autograph letter from the author laid in.
Original green cloth, gilt. Extremities lightly worn. Inscribed by the author
on the front fly leaf. Minor age toning, but generally quite clean and fresh
internally. Very good.
An apparently unpublished travel narrative by an American woman, with extensive
commentary on the regions visited and their inhabitants and customs, illustrated
at length with original photographs. Whiting’s narrative begins with a train trip
to New York to board an Atlantic steamer for the voyage to Spain and a Mediterranean cruise. Traveling with her husband and two sons, Whiting describes a rough
crossing with much “mal de mer,” but with a pleasant interlude in the Madeira
Islands before landing at Gibraltar to begin a tour of the southern Spanish coast.
The group begins their Mediterranean cruise with a visit to Granada, where they
tour the Alhambra; they then proceed to Algiers, Tunis, and Cairo, taking a jaunt
to the pyramids and a cruise up the Nile. From Egypt they travel to Jerusalem
and Bethlehem, Beirut, Baalbeck, Constantinople, Athens, Palermo, Pompeii,
Monaco, and Genoa. Throughout the trip Whiting comments at length on the
people encountered, tourist sites, customs, dress, local living conditions, etc., all the
while carrying on a breakneck social schedule of luncheons, dinners, dances, and
various cultural activities and outings. Adding significantly to the interest of the
diary, Whiting has illustrated the volume with original photographs which capture
scenes and people she is recording in print. Thus we can actually see Whiting and
her group at the pyramids and the Sphinx, her guides, local women covered head
to toe in exotic but discreet Muslim garb, ostriches, boats on the Nile, camels, the
marketplace in Jerusalem, mosques, palaces, monuments and temples, and other
fascinating sights.
The volume is inscribed: “To her appreciative friend / Mary Hunsiker / from
the author.” The autograph letter laid in, dated 1928, informs a relative that she
will receive the diary upon the demise of the original recipient. OCLC does not
appear to list any published works by Whiting. A detailed, rich view of society
from all walks of life around the Mediterranean rim, written by a well educated,
upper class American woman in her sixties. $3500.
158. Willard, Frances: [AUTOGRAPH NOTE, SIGNED, BY FRAN-
CES WILLARD, DISCUSSING AN UPCOMING SPEAKING ARRANGEMENT]. Cairo, Il. May 14, 1879. [2]pp. on a single slip of paper,
5½ x 3½ inches. Faint creases, minor wear. Very good plus.
Frances Willard writes to Mr. Bowen concerning an upcoming speaking engagement
and the arrangements to be made. Willard was prominent in both the suffrage and
temperance movements, and was influential in the passage of the 18th and 19th
amendments (prohibition and votes for women, respectively). She also helped found
the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in 1874. Willard’s platform of “Home
Protection” as the premise behind suffrage was designed to appeal to women everywhere. She held that if a woman had the right to vote, she could better protect
her home and family and improve society. She writes:
Mr. Bowen, “Home Protection” will be my subject. “Evanston” Illinois will be
my address for though absent, letters will be promptly forwarded. Will arrive
July 3d. If there is no objection, I will bring my secretary, Miss Anna Gordon,
daughter of I.M. Gordon, former treasurer of A.B.C.F.M. Anticipating a
pleasant trip, I am yours sincerely, Frances Willard.
$650.
159. Willard, Frances: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
FRANCES WILLARD TO DR. ALICE B. STOCKHAM, REGARDING STOCKHAM’S NEW BOOK]. Evanston, Il. July 31, 1884.
[2]pp. on a single sheet of Woman’s National Christian Temperance Union
stationery. Old fold lines. Minor wear. Contemporary manuscript notation at
top of sheet. Very good plus.
Willard thanks Dr. Stockham for sending along a copy of Stockham’s book on
childbirth and women’s health:
Dear friend, Do not think me unappreciative of your kindness, but I am always
so pre-occupied that I have time but to “dip” into any book, no matter how
excellent. I have thought yours of this class so far as I had opportunity & could
judge. My sister brought me one, loaned by you (when I was ill) of unique &
most interesting character. I doubt not she has read it more at length than I,
as I had to leave home when barely up again. This hasty line is to assure you
of my appreciation of your kindness in sending the book.
$1500.
160. Willard, Frances: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM
FRANCES WILLARD TO MRS. WALLACE, POLITELY SOLICITING FUNDS]. Evanston, Il. Feb. 8, 1886. [1]p. on Woman’s National
Christian Temperance Union stationery. With the original envelope. Old fold
lines. Minor wear. Near fine.
Willard writes to Mrs. Wallace, indicating that she has asked Dr. Bushnell to “call
on you and hoped you might help us out on current expenses. She has come by
my request, wholly on faith and I want to make that ‘materialize’ in the form of
$900.
‘current expenses.’” 161. Williams, Ellen: THREE YEARS AND A HALF IN THE ARMY;
OR, HISTORY OF THE SECOND COLORADOS. New York: Published for the Author by Fowler & Wells Company, 1885. 178pp. Original
gilt-stamped red cloth. A very good, tight copy. Lacks the frontispiece portrait.
A quite rare privately printed personal account by a the wife of a bugler, about the
Civil War campaigns on the Plains and in the Rockies, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, including a unit roster for the Second Colorado Cavalry on
pages 161-176. Many of the men of the Second Colorado had been miners before
the war. Mrs. Williams gives an interesting view of the little-known southwestern
campaigns.
DORNBUSCH (Colorado) 166. EBERSTADT 138:171. HOWES W452, “aa.” GRAFF
4676.$1750.
162. Willson, Minnie Moore: THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. Philadelphia: American Printing House, 1896. 126pp. Cloth. Very good.
Mrs. Willson’s account of the Seminoles and their culture, based on firsthand
experience. Contains a history of the Seminoles, as well as cultural norms and an
introduction to the language.
SERVIES 11576.
$400.
163. Wilson, D.: THE LIFE OF JANE McCREA, WITH AN ACCOUNT
OF BURGOYNE’S EXPEDITION IN 1777. New York. 1853. 155pp.
plus eighteen extra illustrations, and advertisement. Modern black morocco,
gilt-lettered spine, gilt inner dentelles, t.e.g. Internally clean. Very good.
One of the most famous sidelights of the Revolution was Jane McCrea’s murder,
which galvanized American resistance to the British in upper New York state and
contributed directly to Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga. The incident strained relations between Burgoyne’s army and its Indian allies, who were forbidden by him to
plunder as a result of the incident. Much of this work concerns Burgoyne’s activities
during the war. The many extra illustrations show various notables scenes, including
the dramatic capture of Jane McCrea. An engaging history.
FIELD 1683. GEPHART 6226.
$500.
164. Wilson, Mrs. Augustus: PARSONS’ MEMORIAL AND HISTOR-
ICAL LIBRARY MAGAZINE...OPENING SESSIONS OF THE
FIRST NATIONAL CATTLE GROWERS’ CONVENTION.... St.
Louis. 1885. xiii,[1],409pp. printed in double columns. Illus. Frontis. Quarto.
Original gilt pictorial pebbled purple cloth, spine gilt. Cloth faded, worn at
spine ends and corners, a few nicks on spine. Library bookplate on front
pastedown. Internally clean and tightly bound. Overall, about very good.
A very important meeting, at the height of the cattle boom. This publication
reprints on pages 290-334 part of the proceedings Mrs. Wilson recorded more
fully in Memorial Sketch of the First National Convention of Cattlemen. That work
is exceedingly rare, so the Parsons’ Magazine is the first really obtainable printing.
HOWES W516. ADAMS HERD 2536. SIX SCORE 115 (note).
$600.
Memories of Early Newport
165. [ Wormely, Katherine Prescott]: NEWPORT IN THE FIF TIES
[manuscript title]. [Newport, R.I. 1908]. 43pp. written on recto only of 8½
x 11-inch ruled paper. Held together in upper left corner with a brass fastener.
First leaf very lightly soiled; several small holes, affecting two words of text
near bottom. Verso of last leaf with some ink stains. Otherwise quite bright
and clean. Very good.
This anonymous manuscript was written in 1908, in response to a characterization
of old Newport that had appeared in Henry James’ The American Scene in 1907.
James wrote of the old inhabitants as a priggish and pretentious lot. The writer,
Miss Katherine Prescott Wormely, unearths an old manuscript from the Fifties to
disprove James’ assertions. She first states her purpose, then quotes at length the
offending passages from The American Scene. Then, relying on the old manuscript,
she names two dozen of the old families, describes their origins and accomplishments, and goes into detail about how they passed their time – including the patriotic Civil War contributions of this group, the formation of the “first (known)
Woman’s Club in America” and a dramatic club. After a description of the scenic
highlights of Newport in the Fifties, she demonstrates the intellectual capability
of her group by citing several examples of an intricate word game, and by quoting
at length several poems, essays, and other literary efforts, including a particularly
charming and revealing effort entitled “Unprotected Female of Newport.” As of
1908 the author notes, “all (but one) have passed away.” But this lone survivor
has left us a poignant, charming, and highly detailed picture of the social scene in
Newport in the 1850s. Probably a second or later draft, very neatly and legibly
executed, but with portions of the text crossed out and corrected, notes appended
and some corrections tipped in. A similar manuscript is in the Redwood Library
in Newport. $2500.
Leading American Utopian Journal
166. Wright, Frances; Robert Dale Owen; [et al] [editors]: THE FREE
ENQUIRER. VOLUME I. New York. Oct. 28, 1828 – Oct. 21, 1829.
[4],416pp. printed in three-column format. Comprised of fifty-two weekly
numbers, continuously paginated. Quarto. Contemporary three-quarter calf
and blue boards, spine gilt, leather label. Extremities rubbed. Contemporary
bookplate of Joseph H. Smith on front pastedown. Lightly foxed; minor dampstaining at top edge. Very good.
This periodical continues the work begun by the New Harmony Gazette, recording
the utopian projects and ideas of Robert Dale Owen and others associated with the
New Harmony community in Indiana. After three years of publication in Indiana,
the New Harmony Gazette was moved to New York and renamed The Free Enquirer
in October 1828, surviving until 1835. In the first issue of this new series, Owen
remarks on the move to New York: “If free enquiry be impracticable in New York,
it must be so everywhere, while, should it successfully elicit truth here, the same
would spread far and wide....” This first volume of the renamed publication was
co-edited by Owen, feminist Frances (“Fanny”) Wright, and Robert L. Jennings.
Although the New Harmony community lasted only two years under Owen’s lead-
ership, the present volume reflects the continued feverish activity of those involved
with the community, with more essays on a wide variety of controversial subjects,
including the abolition of slavery, religious freedom, Fanny Wright and Robert
Owen on women’s rights, agriculture, a new social system, gymnastics, equalization
of property, cooperative associations, popular education, and the like.
SABIN 25708.
$2250.
167. Wynkoop, Helen Truman: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED,
FROM STAGE ACTRESS HELEN TRUMAN WYNKOOP, MENTIONING THE EVENING PRESIDENT LINCOLN WAS ASSASSINATED]. Los Angeles. June 20, 1916. [2]pp. on a folded sheet. With
a photograph of the author. Old fold lines. Very minor soiling. Photograph
mounted on cardboard; typed label at bottom of image. Very good.
Stage actress Helen Truman, later Mrs. J.T. Wynkoop, who was among the actors on
stage at Ford’s Theater the evening that President Lincoln was assassinated, writes
following an article published about her in the Los Angeles Times, which discussed
her life and that evening. She writes, to Mr. A. I. Mudd:
Dear Sir, Yours of June 12 enclosing program of Apl. 14th 1865 received,
and thank you very much for sending me one: I did keep several of them, at
that time, but they were destroyed when I lost all my papers and wardrobes
in the fire at the Halliday Street Theatre in Baltimore some years later. But
one which I had in New York which I gave to Col. T. Alston Brown, when he
was writing his “History of the American Stage.” I enclose a photo of myself
taken about three years ago. When I was first on the stage I appeared under
the name of Helen Truman, but as I grew more prominent I took my own of
Helen Coleman. I knew that several men of that company that night claimed
at times to be the only survivors, and I knew them all personally, and I knew
they did not mean it. But when I read an article in the “Times” here that
Jenny Gourly thought she was the only survivor, I thought I had better say
I was still alive and the “Los Angeles Times” sent reporters to interview me,
and printed an article which I am sending you by this mail. If there is any
further information you may desire to know, I will gladly answer any questions
regarding that time.
$750.
F requently C ited R eferences
Abbey – Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770 – 1860... London. 1956-57. 2 vols.
Adams Herd – Adams, Ramon F.: The Rampaging Herd.... Norman. [1959].
Adams Six-Guns – Adams, Ramon F.: ...Six-Guns and Saddle Leather...New Edition... [Norman. 1969].
American Controversy – Adams, Thomas R: The American Controversy.... Providence/N.Y.
1980. 2 vols.
AII (State) – American Imprints Inventory. These were compiled for many early imprints by
state as a WPA program in the 1930s, and remain basic references.
American Independence – Adams, Thomas R.: American Independence.... New Haven: Reese
Co. 1980.
Bell – The James Ford Bell Library...Catalogue. Boston. 1981.
Borba de Moraes – Borba de Moraes, Rubens: Bibliographia Brasilian...1504 to 1900.... Rio
de Janeiro. 1983. 2 vols. Revised and enlarged edition.
Church – Church, Elijah D. A Catalogue of...a Part of the Library of E.D. Church. N.Y. 1907.
5 vols.
Clark – Clark, Thomas D.: Travels in the Old South.... Norman. [1956]. 3 vols.
Clark, New South – Clark, Thomas D.: Travels in the New South.... Norman. 1962. 2 vols.
Cowan – Cowan, Robert E. and Robert G.: A Bibliography of the History of California.... S.F.
1933. 2nd edition.
DAB – Dictionary of American Biography.... N.Y. 1928-37. 21 vols.
De Renne – Catalogue of the Wymberley Jones De Renne Georgia Library.... Wormsloe. 1931. 3 vols.
Decker – Peter Decker’s Catalogues of Americana...22 [- 50], 1944 [- 1963].... Austin. 1979. 3 vols.
DNB – Dictionary of National Biography.... London. 1908-12. 24 vols.
Eberstadt – The Annotated Eberstadt Catalogs of Americana.... N.Y. 1965. 4 vols.
European Americana – European Americana...1493 – 1750. N.Y. & New Canaan. 1980- . 6 vols.
Evans – Evans, Charles: American Bibliography...[American imprints before 1801]. Chicago.
1903-34/55. 14 vols.
Field – Field, Thomas W.: An Essay Towards an Indian Bibliography.... New Haven: Reese
Co., 1991.
Gephart – Gephart, Ronald M.: Revolutionary America.... Washington. 1984. 2 vols.
Graff – Storm, Colton: A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection.... Chicago. 1968.
Grolier American 100 – One Hundred Influential American Books.... N.Y. 1947.
Hill – The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages.... New Haven & Sydney. 2004.
Howes – Howes, Wright: U.S.iana (1650 – 1950).... New York. 1962. 2nd edition.
In Tall Cotton – Harwell, Richard B.: In Tall Cotton The 200 Most Important Confederate
Books.... Austin. 1978.
JCB – Bibliotheca Americana A Catalogue of Books...in the Library of John Carter Brown....
Providence. 1919. 5 vols.
Jenkins – Jenkins, John H.: Basic Texas Books.... Austin. [1988].
Jones – Adventures in Americana...a Selection of Books from the Library of Herschel V. Jones....
N.Y. 1928/38. 3 vols. incl. checklist.
Kress – The Kress Library of Business and Economics Catalogue.... Boston. [1940/67]. 5 vols.
Kurutz – Kurutz, Gary: The California Gold Rush...1848-1853. S.F. 1997.
Lada-Mocarski – Lada-Mocarski, Valerian: Bibliography of Books on Alaska.... New Haven. 1969.
Lande – The Lawrence Lande Collection of Canadiana.... Montreal. 1965/71. 2 vols.
Low - Low, Susanne M.: A Guide to Audubon’s B irds of A meric a .... New Haven & New
York. 2002.
Meisel – Meisel, Max: A Bibliography of American Natural History.... N.Y. 1967. 3 vols.
Monaghan – Monaghan, Frank: French Travellers in the United States.... N.Y. 1933.
NUC – The National Union Catalogue. Mansell. 1968-81. 752 vols.
Palau – Palau y Dulcet, Antonio: Manual del librero Hispano-Americano.... Barcelona. 1948-90.
28 vols. plus 7 vols. index and addenda vol.
Parrish & Willingham – Parrish, T. Michael, and Robert M. Willingham, Jr.: Confederate
Imprints.... Austin. [1987].
Phillips Atlases – Phillips, Philip L.: A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress....
Washington. 1909-20/1958-74. 8 vols. incl. vols. 5-8 by Clara Le Gear.
Pilling – Pilling, James C.: Proof-Sheets...American Indian Languages. Washington. 1885.
Reese, Stamped with a National Character – Reese, William S., Stamped with a National
Character: Nineteenth Century American Color Plate Books. An Exhibition. New York. 1999.
Rink – Rink, Evald: Technical Americana.... Millwood, N.Y. [1981].
Rittenhouse – Rittenhouse, Jack D.: The Santa Fe Trail. Albuquerque. [1971].
Rosenbach – The Collected Catalogues of Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach.... New York. [1967]. 10 vols.
Sabin – Sabin, Joseph: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America.... N.Y. 1868-1936. 29 vols.
Schwartz & Ehrenberg – Schwartz, Seymour I., and Ralph E. Ehrenberg: The Mapping of
America. N.Y. [1980].
Servies – Servies, James A.: A Bibliography of Florida.... Pensacola. 1993.
Shaw & Shoemaker – Shaw, Ralph R., and Richard H. Shoemaker: Americana Bibliography....
[continued as:] ...American Imprints.... N.Y. 1958-97. 45 vols.
Shipton & Mooney – Shipton, Clifford K., and James E. Mooney: National Index of American
Imprints...the Short-Title Evans.... [ Worcester]. 1969. 2 vols.
Six-Score – Reese, William S.: Six Score the 120 Best Books on the Range Cattle Industry. New
Haven: Reese Co., 1989.
Spear – Spear, Dorothea N.: Bibliography of American Directories.... Worcester. 1961.
Streeter Sale – The Celebrated Collection of Americana formed by the Late Thomas Winthrop
Streeter.... N.Y. 1966-70. 8 vols.
Streeter Texas – Streeter, Thomas W.: Bibliography of Texas.... Cambridge. 1955-60. 5 vols.
Taxonomic Literature – Stafleu, Frans A., and Richard S. Cowan: Taxonomic Literature....
Utrecht. 1976-88. 7 vols.
Tourville – Tourville, Elsie A.: Alaska, A Bibliography.... Boston. 1974.
TPL – Staton, Frances M., and Marie Tremaine: A Bibliography of Canadiana...in the Public
Library of Toronto.... Toronto. 1934-85. 3 vols.
Vail – Vail, R.W.G.: The Voice of the Old Frontier. Philadelphia. 1949.
Wagner-Camp – Wagner, Henry R., and Charles L. Camp (ed. by Robert Becker): The Plains
& the Rockies...Fourth Edition.... S.F. 1982.
Wagner – Wagner, Henry R.: The Spanish Southwest.... N.Y. 1967. 2 vols. 2nd edition.
Wheat Gold Rush – Wheat, Carl I.: Books of the California Gold Rush.... S.F. 1949.
Wheat Transmississippi – Wheat, Carl I.: 1540 – 1861 Mapping the Transmississippi West....
S.F. 1957-63. 6 vols.
Zamorano 80 – The Zamorano 80.... Los Angeles. 1945.