Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2012 Issue

Rare American Material from David Lesser Antiquarian Books

More Rare Americana from David M. Lesser.

More Rare Americana from David M. Lesser.

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has published their catalogue number 123 of Rare Americana. This latest selection includes 150 items, generally shorter form printed documents (and a few in manuscript), most of which relate directly to issues of 18th and 19th century America. A few are indirectly related, such as political debates in England which touched on issues in America. As typical of shorter form work, most items touch on an issue of the moment, rather than a look back in time. They put America just as it was in its earlier days on display. Here are a few samples from the catalogue.

Item 2 is John Adams' Twenty-six letters, upon Interesting Subjects, Respecting the Revolution in America. The letters were written by Adams in Holland in 1780, intended to explain the revolution to the Dutch and obtain financial and other assistance from them. These letters were first printed, but not published in 1786, and then again in 1789 (this issue), as they were offered to subscribers, but not to the general public. In his letters, Adams traces the outbreak of problems between England and the American colonies not to the Sugar and Stamp Acts of 1764-65, but earlier to the Writs of Assistance of 1760. These writs allowed authorities to search people's belongings without cause or redress. Colonists had been smuggling goods from countries other than England as this was cheaper, thereby evading British taxation and control of the trade. While not a major issue through most of the colonies, it stirred notable anger in Adams' Massachusetts, which would become the hotbed of the Revolution as the litany of indignities increased. It is interesting to see the anger building so early, as 1760 marked the winding down of the French and Indian War, where the British and the American colonists worked together to defeat their common enemy, the French. Priced at $6,000.

It would take just over a decade for the dispute to turn into violent confrontation, and by May 29, 1776, when A Sermon Preached Before the...Honorable House of Representatives of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay was delivered, the colonies were on the verge of declaring their independence. Arguing their right to overthrow tyrannical rule that day was Samuel West, an influential Congregationalist minister from Boston. While acknowledging a general need for the people to submit to the rule of government, he goes on to say, “When a people find themselves cruelly oppressed by the parent state, they have an undoubted right to throw off the yoke, and to assert their liberty.” West would go on to help write the Massachusetts constitution and be a delegate from that state to the federal constitutional convention. Item 138. $1,000.

Item 24 is a Review of the Life of Gen. Sam Houston... By D.G. Burnet, First President of Texas, published in 1852. If you think this is a paean to the life of the great Texan, you are totally mistaken. Burnet, who served as the first (interim) President of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and again in 1841, was a bitter enemy of Houston. Burnet negotiated the treaty with Santa Anna after he was captured at San Jacinto, where the Mexican leader agreed to recognize Texas in return for his freedom. Many Texans were unhappy, instead wishing Santa Anna to be executed, and they must have felt even worse when Santa Anna went back on his word. For whatever reason, Burnet and Houston hit it off poorly. Burnet found Houston crude, the latter thought Burnet bossy and argumentative. The relationship worsened over the years, Burnet twice challenging Houston to a duel (Houston wisely declined the invitation). In 1841, the two ran against each other for President of Texas in a campaign filled with personal attacks. Houston won easily. Eventually, Burnet sought his revenge by publishing this book about Houston, which tears the early Texas leader apart. Time did not heal these wounds. $4,500.

Item 63 is William Griggs' The CelebratedMoon Story,Its Origin and Incidents... published in 1852. It recounts a hoax from 1835 that evidently had a lot of people fooled. Richard Adams Locke, writing in the struggling New York Sun, described the discovery of odd life forms inhabiting the moon. There were upright walking beaver-like creatures, small reindeer, horned bears, and the “Vespertilio-homo,” a flying bat-man. Locke gave credence to his story by claiming the discoveries were made by the noted astronomer, Sir John Herschel, using a new high-powered telescope. Herschel knew nothing of the claims. While the stories did nothing to promote accurate journalism, it did wonders for the Sun, whose circulation increased fivefold. $450.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: Dürer (Albrecht) Hierin sind begriffen vier bücher von menschlicher Proportion, 4 parts in 1, first edition, Nuremberg, Hieronymus Andreae for Agnes Dürer, 1528. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, illuminated manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 26 fine hand-painted miniatures, 17th century dark brown morocco, [Lyon], [c. 1475 and later c. 1490-1500]. £25,000 to £35,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Brontë (Emily) The North Wind, watercolour, [1842]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Titanic.- Mudd (Thomas Cupper, one of the youngest victims of the sinking of the Titanic, 1895-1912) Autograph Letter signed on board RMS Titanic to his mother, April 11th 1912. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: [Austen (Jane)] Emma: A Novel, 3 vol., first edition, for John Murray, 1816. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Picasso (Pablo).- Ovid. Les Metamorphoses, one of 95 copies, signed by the artist, Lausanne, Albert Skira, 1931. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: America.- Ogilby (John) America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World..., all maps with vibrant hand-colouring in outline, probably by an early hand, 1671. £15,000 to £25,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Iceland.- Geological exploration.- Bright (Dr. Richard )and Edward Bird. Collection of twenty original drawings from travels in Iceland with Henry Holland and George Mackenzie, watercolours, [1810]. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beckford (William) [Vathek] An Arabian Tale, first (but unauthorised) edition, Lady Caroline Lamb's copy with her signature and notes, 1786. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Baudelaire (Charles) Les Fleurs du Mal, first edition containing the 6 suppressed poems, first issue, contemporary half black morocco, Paris, 1857. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beardsley (Aubrey).- Pope (Alexander) The Rape of the Lock, one of 25 copies on Japanese vellum, Leonard Smithers, 1896. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Douglas (Lord Alfred) Sonnets, first edition, the dedication copy, with signed presentation inscription from the author to his wife Olive Custance, The Academy, 1909. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Crowley (Aleister) The Works..., 3 vol. in 1 (as issued)"Essay Competition" issue on India paper, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1905-07. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Rodin (Auguste).- Mirbeau (Octave) Le Jardin des Supplices, one of 30 copies on chine with an additional suite, bound in dark purple goatskin, Paris, 1902. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Pellar (Hans) Eight original book illustrations for 'Der verliebte Flamingo' [together with] a published copy of the first edition of the book, 1923. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Cretté (Georges, binder).- Louÿs (Pierre) Les Aventures du Roi Pausole, 2 vol., one of 99 copies, with 2 original drawings, superbly bound in blue goatskin, gilt, Paris, 1930. £3,000 to £4,000.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000

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