Intriguing Old English Books From Bernard Shapero Rare Books
English Books and Manuscripts from Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books
By Michael Stillman
Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books has issued a catalogue of "English Books and Manuscripts to 1800." It is a collection of items that is not only old, but most interesting and entertaining as well. Many of the items give us a look at old beliefs and disputes that are most amusing with the benefit of hindsight. Perhaps our serious thoughts today will one day similarly amuse our descendants. Here are a few of the items Shapero Rare Books is offering.
Item 1 offers an unusual set of economic and social proposals from A Lover of His Country in 1673. Some of the proposals from this anonymous Londoner follow. He would ban brandy, chocolate, coffee and tea. However, not for the moral reasons you might expect. He wanted people to drink beer, which used native grown ingredients, instead. He also felt too many people were distracted from their businesses by hanging around coffee houses. Take that, Starbucks! The author wanted to cut down on stagecoaches, because he found riding in them, as opposed to on horseback, "effeminate." He was concerned that this was harming clothing manufacturers. The reasoning here was that when you rode on a horse, dirt and mud would be thrown up on you as you traveled, necessitating that riders bring a change of clothes with them to be worn on arrival. In a stagecoach, you remained clean, requiring only one set of clothes. For the poor, he proposed a form of "workfare." They would be put to work making fishing tackle. Other sections of this book call for a stop to further building in London, that all foreign Protestants be naturalized, and that the gentry be required to live part of the year in the country. This interesting collection of ideas is priced at £2,000 (British pounds, US dollar equivalent of $3,674).
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Intriguing Old English Books From Bernard Shapero Rare Books
Siamese Twins Elisa and Mary Chulkhurst.
Some strange occurrences are recounted in Strange news from Lemaster in Herefordshire, being a true narrative...of a most strange and prodigious opening of the earth in divers places thereabouts. Also, a true relation of several wonderful sights, viz. A hand, an arm and shoulder of the bigness of mans...seen to arise out of the earth and ascend up to the skyes. Beware of anyone who uses the word "true" multiple times in a title. This 1679 pamphlet tells of unusual events witnessed by a Mr. Barnes. Various large limbs, arms and shoulders and such, arose from openings in the ground, as did a flying blue globe and blood-colored saddles, which then ascended to the sky. There was also a loud noise, "as if canons had been discharged," which others in the vicinity also heard. And, for "whoever doubts the truth of this relation," Mr. Barnes offered to show them a copy of a letter he sent to his brother in London recounting these mysterious events. Proof enough for me. One of the rare remaining copies of the account of this "miraculous accident" is offered as item 57. L1,600 (US $2,940).
Item 44 is a 1654 book of proverbs from Thomas Drake, Bibliotheca scholastica instructissima. Or, a treasury of ancient adagies and sententious proverbs... Some of these are still familiar today: "when the cat is away, the mice play;" "it is better late than never;" and "Rome was not built in a day." But how about "an empty purse maketh the face full of wrinkles?" Here is one I can attest to: "the dogge waggest his taile, not for you, but for your bread." I will make no comments on "where there are women, there is much tatling." And what about this one: "a poore mans head is full of bees?" What does that mean? Did poor men, like hippies, wear flowers in their hair? I was stumped, but if you can believe everything you find on Google (and certainly you cannot), it means scatterbrained or dreamy, a precursor to the expression "bees in your bonnet." L400 (US $734).
From the "better late than never" category, here's a funeral invitation for John Moor. Mr. Moor's funeral took place on June 25, 1712. This was a fill-in form, name, date, and location to be entered as required. The invitation begins, "You are desired to Accompany the Corps of _____ with the name handwritten in the blank space. The invitation includes pictures of a skull, crossbones, and skeleton, along with the motto "Remember to Die." I'm sure I will remember, but hopefully not to soon. Item 56. L1,800 (US $3,311).
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Intriguing Old English Books From Bernard Shapero Rare Books
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How do you keep your servants in line? Try giving them this book: The apprentices companion, containing plain and useful directions for servants...how to perform their particular dutys to their masters, so as to please God...With some examples of Gods severe judgments upon such as have taken ill courses. Not only must the servant be wary of his master's wrath for not being properly obedient, but now even God is supposed to be siding with the rich and powerful. Then again, that's an argument that has been passed down for ages, generally by the rich and powerful. This item dates back to 1681 and was written by "Richard Burton," a pseudonym for Nathaniel Crouch. Item 25. L2,500 (US $4,596).
Freemasonry has been controversial for centuries, it having both its defenders and critics. There is little doubt where this anonymous author stands, based on his book's title: Masonry the way to hell, a sermon: wherein is clearly proved...that all who profess these mysteries are in a state of damnation. Item 53, from 1768. L350 (US $643).
Item 14 is an 1814 broadside relating to one of the earliest recorded sets of Siamese Twins. These are Elisa and Mary Chulkhurst, the "Biddenden Maids." Supposedly born in Biddenden, County of Kent, in 1100, the sisters were joined at the shoulders and hips. They supposedly lived for 34 years, and when one died, the other, in response to an offer to separate her, said "as we came together, we will also go together." It's not clear who remembered this quote. However, a tradition lives on in Biddenden, where, according to the bequest of the sisters, every Easter cakes with the image of the twins upon them are distributed to the poor and to strangers. L750 (US $1,380).
Here are a couple of problems we are still confronting two and a half centuries later. Perhaps this item will help. Published by Edmund Gibson in 1743, the title is, An earnest dissuasive from intemperance in meats and drinks. Eating and drinking too much. Some challenges do not go quietly into the night. L250 (US $460).
You may find Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books on the web at www.shapero.com or reach them by phone at +44 (0)20 7493 0876.
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