Catalogue 252
Page One
INDEX
Page 1: A - H
1. (Alaska). KLONDIKE. THE CHICAGO RECORD'S BOOK FOR GOLD SEEKERS. Chicago: Chicago Record Co., 1897. 413pp. + 5 advert. pp. Illustrated. Original pictorial cloth. A brilliant copy in very fine condition. With the original simple printed dust-jacket. $475.00
First edition. A great survival. A mint copy of a book in a stunning pictorial cloth binding depicting an Alaska gold seeker-protected by the original dust-jacket. "Souvenir edition. Presented by the Alaskan Bonanza Mining ...Company, Chicago. To Ella Herstine" stamped in gilt on the front cover. The contents are comprehensive, practical, and very detailed. A wonderful early dust-jacketed book, rare in this condition. Copies we have seen are invariably disappointing on account soiled bindings.
2. (Alaska). Sprague. ALASKA-YUKON PACIFIC EXPOSITION. Seattle June 1 to October 16, 1909. St. Paul, Minn., N.P.R.R., 48pp. Folding transcontinental railroad map, map of Yellowstone in text. Half-tone illustrations. Orig. pictorial wraps. v.g. A prospectus for the forthcoming Alaska exposition and for travel and settlement throughout the Pacific Northwest. Wickersham 2865. Smith 7373. $125.00
3. Balmis, Francisco Xavier de. DEMOSTRACION DE LAS EFICASES VIRTUDES NUEVAMENTE DESCUBIERTAS EN LAS RAICES DE DOS PLANTAS DE NUEVA-ESPANA, ESPECIES DE AGAVE Y DE BEGONIA, para la curacion del vicio venereo y escrofuloso, y de otras graves enfermedades que resisten al uso del mercurio ... Madrid: la viuda de D. Joaquin Ibarra, 1794. (8),347pp., 2 folding flower plates printed in color and colored by hand. Contemporary Spanish tree sheep, spine gilt with leather label, minor wear along edges, still a very good copy. $1500.00
First edition. There was also a 1797 German translation. A very rare text on the therapeutic uses of New World species of two plants, the Agave (the American aloe) and the Begonia, in the treatment of venereal disease and scrofula. Illustrated with two fine folding plates of plants, printed in color and finished by hand. Francisco Xavier Balmis (1753-1819), surgeon to the Spanish court, introduced vaccination into the Spanish colonies in America in 1803, and subsequently into the Canary and Philippine Islands and China. Handsomely printed by the widow of the greatest Spanish printer of the period, Joaquin Ibarra (see Updike II, 54-9). Rare. The NUC locates only microfilm copies made from the copy in the Medina collection. Palau 22739. BM/Nat. Hist. I, p.93. Waring p.208. Guerra, Iconografia medica Mexicana, 833. Medina, Biblioteca Hispano-Americana, 5640.
The first atlas of the Pennsylvania Oil Region
4. Beers, F.W. ATLAS OF THE OIL REGION OF PENNSYLVANIA, from actual surveys under the direction of F.W. Beers, C.E. ... with a few facts relating to petroleum ... by Ivan C. Michels, editor of the Philadelphia Coal Oil Circular ... New York, F.W. Beers et al., 1865. Oblong folio (15.5 x 18 inches). Title leaf, large colored folding map (21 x 29.5 inches), 6 pages of text, followed by 45 leaves containing 36 colored maps printed on rectos only, in addition 17 pages of views (several lithographed) and advertisements (several printed in blue). The paper is in very good condition, with minimal wear along a few edges, title leaf neatly rebacked with a few clean tears expertly repaired. In the original publisher's binding of marbled paper-covered boards expertly and suitably rebacked and recornered in black morocco, endpapers renewed, original gold-on-black glazed paper label mounted on the front cover. In all a very good, complete copy of a perishable and very rare atlas. Housed in a fine cloth folding box. $5500.00
First edition. The first atlas of the Pennsylvania oil region. Rare in any state, copies such as this, complete and in very good condition must be nearly impossible to find. Moreover, this is the copyright deposit copy; on the title page is the oval blind-stamp of the New York copyright office reading "Deposited in the U.S. District Clerk's Office, Southern District, New York" with the date "March 11, 1865" and an accession number "765" in pen and ink; also, an oval ink-stamp reading "Copyright Library May 5, 1865." The individual township and tract maps, as well as the large folding map of Venango County, all of which are colored, contain a wealth of highly detailed information on the ownership and location of oil lands, and in some cases include embryonic business directories printed in the margins. The advertisements for oil properties and the burgeoning oil-related business community are interspersed with numerous engraved (and a few lithographed) views of petroleum firms and wells. The preliminary text contains valuable detailed information on the recent state of various oil farms. In all a remarkable survival, documenting the beginnings of an industry which, far more than the Gold Rush, was to shape the future of America and, for that matter, the world. Phillips p.683. Sabin 4355. Swanson p.32.
5. Beveridge, John. EPISTOLAE FAMILIARES ET ALIA QUAEDAM MISCELLANEA. Familiar epistles, and other miscellaneous pieces, wrote originally in Latin verse ... to which are added several translations into English verse, by different hands ... Phila., printed for the author by William Bradford, 1765. xi,88pp. Contemp. calf gilt, edges little rubbed, front hinge cracked, but firm. A very good copy.
First edition. A collection of original Latin poetry written by a Scottish-American professor in Philadelphia, accompanied by English translations done by his students; many of the pieces, written in America after the author's migration from Scotland, are on American subjects, notably Governor William Shirley and the French and Indian Wars, and are set in such American locales as Florida, the Schuylkil, Maine, Halifax, and Ontario. One poem is addressed to Jonathan Mayhew, who contributed two of the translations; other translations were made by the author's students (among them A. Alexander, Nathaniel Evans, Thomas Coombe, and Stephen Watts) "for their own improvement or amusement." Also included are two poems written originally in English, and two original poems by James Sterling and John Lovell respectively, the latter an epistle in Latin with English translation addressed to the Beveridge upon his sea journey to his plantation in Casco Bay. A Scottish schoolteacher, Beveridge came to New England in 1752 and in 1758 was appointed professor of languages in the College and Academy of Philadelphia. There are two issues with no priority, this being the issue without "college and" on the title. With a list of 310 subscribers among whom are Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, and William Smith. Wegelin 18. Evans 9912. Sabin 5108. Harris Collection p.27. Hilbeburn 2107. $875.00
6. Brady, Mathew B. "PRESIDENT TAYLOR AND HIS CABINET. Published by M.B. Brady, daguerrian artist, from his celebrated daguerreotypes taken at Washington, April 1849. The original portraits are for exhibition with many others at Brady's National Gallery No. 205 Broadway New York." Large lithographed group portrait, 24 x 16", copyrighted by M. Brady, New York, 1849, "printed by Nagel & Weingartner. Drawn on stone by Davignon & Hoffman." With separate(d) title-and-advertising piece (as above) mounted beneath the main print. Expertly and discreetly restored (washed, backed, and matted). $1500.00
A remarkable lithograph group portrait-cum-advertisement, after daguerreotypes by Mathew Brady; a very early example of this genre, and very rare. It precedes Brady's Gallery of illustrious Americans, a folio book published in 1850, consisting of 12 individual lithographed portraits based on Brady daguerreotypes, with text by C. Edwards Lester. Both the book and this portrait are the work of Francis d'Avignon, a lithographer of exceptional ability. His lithograph portraits have been called "among the finest ever produced from daguerreotype originals."-H. Pfister, Facing the light: historic American portrait daguerreotypes, p.22. Executed perhaps in conjunction with the 1850 Gallery, which also contains a portrait of Zachary Taylor, this shows President Taylor in a nearly full standing pose surrounded by the seven members of his cabinet, some sitting, others standing, all with facsimile signatures placed beneath the image. Mounted below and separate from the print itself is a strip 3" in height and nearly the length of the image, containing the full title and advertisement as given above, printed entirely in gilt. This title piece, which has its own ruled border, was separated from the main print when acquired by us; it is not clear just how this was issued, but nothing appears to be missing. The copyright and printer-lithographer information belong to the main print. In poorish condition when we acquired it, this has been conserved and restored, expertly and with remarkable success, to become once again a compelling and highly appealing image.
7. Bunyan, Paul. THE JERUSALEM SINNER SAVED; OR GOOD NEWS TO THE VILEST OF MEN. Amherst (New Hampshire): Samuel Preston, 1798. Small square 8vo. 176pp. Contemporary sheep, minimal wear to corners but a very good copy. Contemporary juvenile inscription, "Andrew Dodge His Book bot ___ price 2 shil" $350.00
Second American edition, and scarce. For a book of this sort an exceptionally good copy. The first American edition was published in Boston in 1733 and is known in but two copies. Of the present edition ESTC locates 8 copies (MWA, DB, DLC, ICN, MH-AH, NhU(imp.), NjP, NN). First published in London in 1688, as Good news for vilest of men. Evans 33474.
A classic early American stage pageant
8. Burk, John (Daly). BUNKER-HILL; OR THE DEATH OF GENERAL WARREN: an historical tragedy. In five acts. New York: printed by T. Greenleaf, 1797. 12mo. 55pp. An uncut copy, stitched (original) as issued, a bit dog-eared. Housed in a fine folding quarter morocco box. $3500.00
First edition. A fine copy in entirely original condition. A rare 18th century original American play by a significant early American playwright. This is the first successful American play on a national patriotic subject, and one of the earliest to put an American battle-scene on the stage (a letter from Burk, found in the 1891 Dunlap Society Reprint, fully describes the staging of this scene). First performed at the Haymarket Theater in Boston, February 17, 1798, it became an immediate popular success. Burk is said to have realized the princely sum of $2000 from its first engagement. Perfectly timed to satisfy the patriotic emotions of the day and the fast-growing need for national myth and pageantry, "it remained popular on such holidays as the Fourth of July for almost fifty years."- DAB. There were further editions, in 1807 and 1817, and retrospective editions in 1891 and 1931.
Burk had just fled to America from Ireland in 1796. While at Trinity College, Dublin, he "belonged to a secret political society which tried to rescue a rebel on his way to execution. Burk took shelter in a bookseller's shop, while his wolf-dog kept the police at bay. Escaping in a woman's apparel, given him by a Miss Daly, whose name he afterward added to his own, he came to America."- Wegelin. The play is dedicated to Aaron Burr; ironically Burk died in a duel, in 1808. He "had an undoubted love for freedom and this was reflected in his plays, however crude. He also appealed to the patriotic emotions of the day, and by making a pageant out of national history, helped our infant drama to identify itself with national life."- DAB (noting a number of Burk's plays, which are considered important for the early development of American drama, also his History of Virginia). Hill 35. Evans 31893. Sabin 9271. Wegelin p.19f.
Original American plays printed before 1800 are very scarce; this important play is rare on the market in any state, let alone in fine original condition. The last auction record for a complete copy was over sixty years ago.
9. Burk, John (Daly). THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA, from its first settlement to the present day. Petersburg (VA): printed for the author, by Dickson & Pescud, 1804-5 and 1816. Four vols., 8vo, contemporary sheep, spines simple gilt, leather labels, light rubbing to joints; some inevitable foxing (attributable to the quality of the paper), little surface damage to one page affecting text but sense clear. Despite these minor imperfections, an excellent set in its original, unrestored uniform binding, complete with the folding table in Vol. III, and a leaf of errata at the end of Vol. IV.
First edition, complete with the final volume. An important account of Virginia history, by an Irish immigrant who became an important American playwright (best known for the successful patriotic play Bunker Hill; or the death of General Warren, 1796); Burk also became an enthusiastic Jeffersonian. The fourth volume, published after Burk's death (in 1808, in a duel), covers the years 1775-1781 and was written by Skelton Jones and Louis Girardin, supposedly with the aid of Thomas Jefferson, to whom it is dedicated; for this volume the printer was M.W. Dunnavant. "The lengthy appendices are of the highest historical importance."- Eberstadt. Volume four has a reputation for rarity because it appeared eleven years after the third volume and because many copies are said to have been destroyed in a fire; in our experience it is usually present. Sabin 9273. Howes B971. An appealing set in an attractive, unrestored original binding (usually found in disappointing condition). $2250.00
10. (Canada). (Riel, Louis) THE STORY OF LOUIS RIEL THE REBEL CHIEF. Whitby, J.S. Robertson & Brothers, 1885. 192pp. Frontis., plates, illus. in text. Orig. publ. cloth stamped in gilt and black, a little staining to front cover, light marginal stain, otherwise a very good copy of a fragile book. First edition ? The NUC lists only a Toronto imprint with the same date and pagination. Peel 805 does not list this imprint. This is the most complete issue, with the inserted trial of Riel comprising pp. 177-192. The BLC, which has only a 1970 facsimile, attributes this fictionalized biography to Joseph Edmund Collins. $200.00
11. (Canadian Broadside Verse). Tryon, Levi. LINES COMPOSED ON THE SHIP-WRECK OF THE SCHOONER ASP, commanded by Captain Prosser, driven on the bar, near the mouth of Salmon River, (Lake Ontario)-12th October, 1820. ... Tune-The cruel mother-in-law. Broadside, 12 x 11 inches, untrimmed, verse consisting of 16 eight-line stanzas in triple column. n.p. (Canada, 1820). In fine condition. $650.00
An unrecorded piece of Canadian verse on a shipwreck which occurred en route from Queenstown to Kingston. Written to the tune "The cruel mother-in-law." The ship sunk in storm on Lake Ontario on 12 October, 1820. The names of the victims-both passengers and crew, are given, and there is a curious allusion at the end: "By Salmon river's side,/ Those drowned lie-/ Besmeared with sand and blood,/ W**d can't deny:-/ No sermon, nor a prayer,/ From W**d, who had the care,/ The truth we do declare/ To his disgrace." The author appears to be one of the survivors as he writes consistently in the first person "we." Presumably this was printed in Canada. No mention of this wreck in Huntress. Unrecorded in the standard sources.
12. Chevalier, Michel. SIX ALS's, various dates, 1839-1850, 8vo and 4to, addressed to Samuel B. Ruggles of New York. Altogether 22pp, written in French in a neat, smallish hand. With an ALS in English from Emile Chevalier, brother of Michel, also to Ruggles, 1p. A few folds neatly repaired, but in very good condition.
A significant professional correspondence between two principal figures in the development of public works-especially railroads-in America and France. Chevalier, engineer-economist and Saint-Simonian, played an important role in French and American railroad development. As a visitor to America he enjoys a reputation equal to that of Tocqueville and Beaumont. His travels in this country during the 1830's, undertaken, on behalf of the French government, to report on public works, culminated in the Histoire et description des voies de communication aux Etats Unis ..., a magisterial survey of American public works published in 1840, as well as Lettres sur l'Amerique du nord, 1836. Samuel B. Ruggles (1800-1881) played a crucial role in the development of public works in New York state, as commissioner of canals 1839-1858 and as entrepreneur in the building of the New York & Erie Railroad. With a single exception (a substantial letter of 15 May 1848, on the 1848 Revolutions in Europe), these letters (two written in 1839, the rest in 1848-1850) are devoted entirely to railroad and public works development in America and France. They constitute an exchange of information about French and American projects, public policy, finances, and so forth. Several important engineers figure prominently: Moncure Robinson, leading American civil engineer educated in France, famed for his bridge over the James River, which Chevalier noticed in the Histoire; William Henry Aspinwall (1807-1875), entrepreneur and founder of the Pacific Railroad & Panama Steamship Company; and Michel's brother, Emile Chevalier, an engineer who worked in America during this period; in one of the letters (undated) Chevalier recommends his brother's services to Ruggles. Several of the letters also deal with the matter of remuneration to Chevalier, presumably for efforts on behalf of American interests. There are references to railroads in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsyvlania. In all, a significant documentation of Franco-American cooperation and mutual influence in railroad development. See DAB for Ruggles, Robinson, and Aspinwall. See Palgrave and New Palgrave for Chevalier. $900.00
13. (Dakota Prayer Book). ENGLISH AND DAKOTA SERVICE BOOK: being parts of the Book of Common Prayer set forth for use in the missionary jurisdiction of Niobrara. Published by the Indian Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church (N.Y., John F. Trow, printer), 1875. 2 p.l., 135pp. Orig. sheep stamped in gilt, neatly rebacked in cloth. Fine. $450.00
First edition. With a certificate of approval on the verso of the title page signed by Bishop Hare, "Yankton Agency, Dakota, 1875." Translated by S.D. Hinman and J.W. Cook. Pilling, Siouan Languages, p.37.
14. Eckfeldt, Jacob R. and William E. Du Bois. NEW VARIEITES OF GOLD AND SILVER COINS, counterfeit coins, and bullion; with mint values. Second edition, rearranged, with numerous additions. To which is added, a brief account of the collection of coins belonging to the Mint (in fact this comprises more than half the text). Second edition enlarged ... N.Y., Putnam, 1852. (6),72pp., 5 plates + banking ads. Original publisher's cloth stamped in gilt, minor wear to tips of spine, otherwise a fine, bright copy. $475.00
Second edition, much revised and enlarged, compensating somewhat for the fact that the first edition of 1850 contained actual gold samples. Of particular value for the recent gold discoveries in California, with 5 plates of gold coins producued in the U.S., including many California coins struck by private firms. Also detailed textual information on California coinage and detailed analyses of California ores. The authors were the official assayers at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Cowan p.191 "written principally for use of Californians." Of some counterfeiting interest as well.
15. Fages, Pedro. A HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, AND NATURAL DESCRIPTION OF CALIFORNIA, by Pedro Fages, Soldier of Spain (1775). Newly translated into English from the original Spanish by Herbert Ingram Priestley ... librarian of the Bancroft Library. Berkeley: Univ. of Ca. Press, 1937. xi,83pp., fldg. plate. Orig. cloth, dust-jacket. Fine. First edition. $65.00
16. (Fur-trade). Mackenzie, Alexander. TABLEAU HISTORIQUE ET POLITIQUE DU COMMERCE DES PELLETERIES DANS LE CANADA, depuis 1608 jusqu'a nos jours. Contenant beaucoup de details sur les nations sauvages qui l'habitent ... avec un vocabulaire ... traduit de l'anglais par J. Castera ... Paris, Dentu, 1807. 4, 310pp, 1 leaf, engraved frontis. portrait of the author, complete with half-title. Contemporary calf, covers with gilt border, spine richly gilt, leather label; inconspicuous wear to crown of spine, still a fine, fresh, and most attractive copy.
First separate edition in French of this scarce account of the Canadian fur-trade, comprising the introduction to Mackenziee's Voyages. This text is taken from the French translation of the entire work, with original notes by the translator, published by Dentu in 1802. It also includes an Algonquin and Chippewa vocabulary. Sabin 43417, point out the value of the many added notes. NUC lists numerous copies of the 1802 Voyages but only four of the Tableau (DLC, ICU, CtY, CaBViPA). Not in TPL or Dionne. (cf.TPL 4782 for the French Voyages.) An appealing copy of a very uncommon book. $750.00
17. Gesner, George Weltden. A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON COAL, PETROLEUM, AND OTHER DISTILLED OILS. Second edition, revised and enlarged. New York Bailliere Bros., 1865. 181pp. Lithograph frontis. and numerous illus. in text. Original publisher's cloth lettered in gilt. A fine bright copy. $500.00
First published in 1861 by Abraham Gesner, a pioneer in petroleum technology, and here very substantially revised and updated by his son to take into account recent developments in American petroleum production and technology (including California and Canada). Both editions are indispensable early accounts of the beginnings of the American petroleum industry, each the work of a pioneer in the field. Abraham Gesner, a Canadian geologist, made and named the first kerosene in 1846 and in 1854 established the first commercial kerosene plant in the United States. His son G.W. Gesner was a leading petroleum chemist and engineer who contributed to both mining and refining technology. Very specific and detailed, with numerous illustrations "from original plans used by the author in the erection of petroleum ... apparatus," this work covering all aspects of the young but thriving industry was intended for both the general public and professional reader. Williamson, American petroleum industry I, pp.44-48, 274. Swanson p.104f citing this edition. A very fine copy of an early American petroleum book-one of the first to serve both a popular and scientific interest; with a fine lithograph frontis. view of Oil Creek, Pa.
Horace Greeley's first newspaper
18. Greeley, Horace. THE JEFFERSONIAN. Vol. I #1-52, February 17, 1838 - February 9, 1839. Albany, N.Y. 4to. 52 issues consecutively paginated, 416pp. Bound in contemporary leather backed boards. In very good condition. $750.00
Horace Greeley's first newspaper, a complete file of all published, and, not least, a valuable source for the Jacksonian banking controversy. This paper was founded by Greeley at the behest of Thurlow Weed, William Seward, and other leading New York Whigs as a campaign weekly devoted to the fight against the Independent Treasury Bill-Jackson's attempt to divorce government finance from the banking system, a measure which, its opponents argued, would impair the money supply and lead to commercial crises. In 1840 this bill, the capstone of Jackson's war on the Bank, was finally enacted into law, but not without a fight. That opposition is nowhere better illustrated than in this weekly with its preponderance of articles on the banking controversy; these consist of both original editorial contributions and material gleaned from a variety of otherwise inaccessible sources. Also covered are such related banking issues as the Small-Bills Question and the General Banking Law of New York State, and other issues as well: internal improvements, education, etc. This also marks the beginning of one of the great careers in American journalism. The Jeffersonian led to the establishment two years later of Greeley's New York Tribune, which "set a new standard in American journalism" (DAB) and served as a national pulpit for its editor. cf.Schlesinger, Arthur, The age of Jackson, p.285. In all, an important newspaper, rarely seen on the market, complete or otherwise.
19. Hall, Frederic. THE HISTORY OF SAN JOSE AND SURROUNDINGS, with biographical sketches of early settlers. With a map and engravings on stone. San Francisco, A.L. Bancroft, 1871. xv,537pp. Four plates (three lithos, one engraving) of views, and large folding map of Pueblo Lands in 1866. Original publisher's cloth lettered in gilt. Slight chipping to crown of spine, otherwise a fine copy. $500.00
First edition. An important history with much discussion throughout of land titles and land disputes, including the Pueblo Lands; also significant material on the missions, California Independence, the discovery of gold, the New Almaden Mine, outlaws, and more. Copies in nice condition are uncommon. Cowan p.256 "Historically valuable." Rocq 14036. Howes H-63. The lithos are by the Bancroft Company.
Loyal greetings from an infant seminary
20.
(Harvard College) PIETAS ET GRATULATIO. Collegii Cantabrigiensis apud Novanglus. Bostoni - Massachusettensium. Typis J. Green & J. Russell, 1761. 4to. xiv, (2), 106pp., errata leaf. Recent full calf antique, raised bands, red leather label. An attractive copy.
A distinguished poetical offering from the President and Fellows of Harvard College, the first of its kind in America, intended as a celebration of the accession of George III. The dedicatory preface, probably written by Governor Bernard, anticipates a new era of royal patronage for learning in America. Other contributors include Benjamin Church, Stephen Sewall, James Bowdoin, and President Holyoke. Of the thirty-one poems comprising the volume, thirteen are in English, fifteen are in Latin, and two are in Greek; these employ a font of Greek type presented to Harvard College in 1726 by Thomas Hollis and represent the earliest extensive Greek printing in America. The work is also important as an fine example of colonial American typography in emulation of British models. Evans called it "the handsomest specimen of the printer's art produced in the American colonies." This copy is the final of four states, printed on ordinary paper, according the BSA Papers, Vol. 39, p.321. Wegelin 711. Harris Collection, p.202. Evans 8877, with an extensive note on attributions. Wroth, The colonial printer, p.94f. $1250.00
21. Haupt, Herman. REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL HERMAN HAUPT ... Chief of the Bureau of United States Military Roads in the Civil War ... giving hitherto unpublished official orders, personal narratives of important military operations, and inteviews with President Lincoln, Secretary Stanton ... with notes and personal sketch by Frank Abial Flower. Illustrated from photographs of actual operations in the field. (Wright & Joys, Co., printers, Milwaukee, Wis.), 1901. 331pp., illus. Orig. cloth gilt, slight rubbing to spine ends, otherwise fine.
First and only edition of an important Civil War memoir printed for private distribution by subscription in a limited autograph edition, this being copy no. 66, signed by the author on an insert leaf. Nevins calls this "An extremely valuable source on Union transportational problems." Haupt (1817-1905) headed the Bureau of Military Roads during the War. Prior to the War he was a leading railroad engineer, involved with railroad projects throughout the Northeast; after the War he played a major role in the development of western railroads, especially the Northern Pacific. See DAB. Illustrated with (retouched) photographs taken in the field. Howes H 304. $350.00
22. (Hawaii). Sanders, Elizabeth Elkins. REMARKS ON THE "TOUR AROUND HAWAII," BY THE MISSIONARIES MSSRS. ELLIS, THURSTON, BISHOP, AND GOODRICH IN 1823. Salem: printed for the author, 1848. iv,42pp. Orig. stiff printed paper wraps. Small inoffensive stamp on cover notwithstanding, in fine condition. $375.00
First edition. An unusual anti-missionary tract pertaining to Hawaii, written, in her 87th year, by a remarkable Salem author, reformer, and philanthropist. In fact, a wonderful example of an eighteenth century mind based on rationalism, deism, and the concept of "noble savage" at odds with a later generation "dominated by expansionist fervor (and) evangelical zeal."-Notable American Women. Mrs. Sanders (1762-1851) wrote on the plight of the American Indian, and authored several anti-missionary tracts which "though one-sided and uncritical in their use of sources, ... are clearly the work of a wide-ranging and vigorous mind. All of Mrs. Sanders' writing is characterized by a trenchant, sometimes sarcastic, prose style."-N.A.W. "As a stanch Unitarian, Mrs. Sanders was especially indignant with those who carried `the appalling dogmas of Calvinism' to virtuous and happy Polynesians."-DAB. Also a target here is the missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson, a favorite whipping-boy of the author. Mrs. Sanders was an early enthusiast of Herman Melville, whose Typee (1846) she defended for revealing the " `scandalous and wicked transactions' of missionaries in the Sandwich Islands."-DAB. NUC locates 5 copies. Sabin 76380.
23. Horsemanden, Daniel. DOCUMENT SIGNED, as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of New York, attesting that Philip Livingston and three others have been duly qualified by himself to act as trustees of the estate of Abraham Depeyster, "late Treasurer." Dated New York, 12 April 1768, and signed by Horsemanden. 18.5 x 11 cm. In fine condition. $300.00
Horsemanden played a prominent role in colonial New York law and politics; trained at the bar in England, he rose eventually to the position of chief justice of the province of New York, the last individual to hold that post. Horseman also played a patriotic role in the beginning of the American Revolution, but he is best remembered as the author of A journal of the proceedings in the detection of the conspiracy formed by some white people in connection with Negro and other slaves, 1744. DAB.
Page 1: A - H
