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500 Years of Books from Helen Kahn Rare Books Five Hundred Years of Books from Helen Kahn By Michael Stillman Helen R. Kahn Rare Books is offering a new catalogue of "Five Hundred Years of Books." Actually, that's a bit of an understatement since some go back more than five centuries, but we prefer understatement to hyperbole any day. Naturally, you can expect to find a variety of themes when you have books published in six different centuries all together. That you will find in this latest catalogue, including at least a few items that will undoubtedly be of interest to you. These are some samples. Here's an example of one of those books that is more than five hundred years old. It is Aurelii Augustini de Ciuitate Dei, written by St. Augustine. Old as it is, it is not contemporary with St. Augustine, who died a millennium before the press was invented. Still, it is almost as old as printed material gets, having been published within a quarter century of Gutenberg's Bible. Augustine wrote "The City of God" from 413-427. It begins with descriptions of the tragedies that have befallen Rome and works its way to a description of two cities, one of earth, one of God. Both are on earth, and neither is a literal city, but rather communities of people, the City of God being of those people who will merit salvation. This edition was published by Mathias Moravus in Naples in 1477. Moravus did most of his printing in Naples where he operated from 1475 until 1491 and is considered one of the best printers of the fifteenth century. Item 6. $14,000. Fast forward a millennium and a half from Augustine's time and you find Darwin. Item 29 is a first edition, first issue of his The Descent of Man...from 1871. This edition marked Darwin's first printed use of the word "evolution." The concept caused great controversy in its time, and in some places, still does today. $6,250. So what would St. Augustine and Charles Darwin have said to each other had they met? Perhaps Darwin might have noted how well Augustine looked for someone 1,500 years old, but other than that, who knows? Not even George Lyttelton in his Dialogues of the Dead attempts to answer that question. However, he does present some theoretical conversations between other equally unlikely suspects. Fernando Cortez speaks with William Penn, Mercury speaks to a "North-American Savage" (you can guess who the "savages" were in this Englishman's view), Alexander the Great converses with Charles XII of Sweden, and Plutarch speaks (negotiates?) with a "modern bookseller." Author Lyttelton was a learned man and former Member of Parliament, but Kahn cautions, "he was well-liked and wrote fairly prolifically but not very creatively." However, he was quite popular in his time, three editions being published in its first year of 1760 and several in later years. This one is a second edition. Item 64. $400.
500 Years of Books from Helen Kahn Rare Books A page from Darwin's The Descent of Man. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dickens had it right. The French Revolution was a glorious battle for freedom that quickly devolved into chaos and killing. A couple of pamphlets offered in this catalogue picture that sad deterioration. Item 44 is titled Convention Nationale. Report du Ministre de l'Interieur a la Convention nationale, du 30 Septembre 1792... This pamphlet speaks of the difficulties in maintaining law and order in Paris after the insurrection of August 10, 1792, which overthrew the monarchy. It was written by Jean Marie Roland de la Platiere. Roland, primarily through his wife's influence, had just been restored to the position of Minister of the Interior, from which the King had earlier dismissed him. However, in the excesses of the Revolution, Roland would be accused of being a monarchist within a year and forced to flee to the countryside. His wife was not so fortunate. She was captured and guillotined, her last words being said to be, "O liberty, how they have played with you." On learning of his wife's death, M. Roland committed suicide. $200. Another such pamphlet comes from Henri Baptiste (Abbe) Gregoire. This is a 1793 pamphlet about vandalism in Paris during the Revolution and how it was destroying public monuments and buildings, as well as leading to the looting of works of art and other national treasures. The Abbe Gregoire was a most remarkable man of the Revolution. He remained loyal and dedicated to the Church and yet was strongly supportive of the republican aims of the Revolution. Few who strongly supported the Church believed in the revolutionary ideals of liberty, while few in the Revolution trusted the authority of the Church. Ultimately, it would cost him his standing with both sides, but his strong and unwavering principles would lead him through times when it looked like he too would be executed, and later through rejection by authorities of his Church. He would survive both the Revolution and Napoleonic era, dying in 1831 at age 81. As this pamphlet implies, the Abbe was also a great proponent of historic preservation. The title is Convention Nationale. Instruction publique. Report sur les destructions operees par le Vandalisme... Item 42. $250. Now you are invited into the homes of some of the most renowned authors of the 19th century. The book is Homes of American Authors; comprising Anecdotical Personal, and descriptive Sketches, of various writers. This is a D. Appleton edition from 1857. The book includes images of the homes, biographies, and other "anecdotical" information about celebrated writers such as Audubon, Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Hawthorne and Longfellow. Item 3. $450.
500 Years of Books from Helen Kahn Rare Books none Speaking of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, here's a book written by his grandfather, General Peleg Wadsworth. The title is A Story About a Little Good Boy: How he became a great man and had little good boys of his own. General Wadsworth was born in Duxbury, a part of Massachusetts that is still part of Massachusetts. He joined the patriot cause early and rose to general during the Revolution. At one point he was captured by the British, but managed a daring escape by carving a hole in the ceiling of his cell. Wadsworth went on to serve as a Federalist congressman from Massachusetts for 14 years, later retiring to that part of Massachusetts which is now Maine. His home in Portland is known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and is now a museum. This autobiography was written by the general around the turn of the 19th century, but was not published until the turn of the next, 1903, by a descendent. The poet Longfellow was son of Wadsworth's first of eleven children, daughter Zilpah. Now you know Longfellow's mother's first name. Item 112. $125. Here is the 1719 version of Court TV. It's A Compleat Collection of State-Tryals; and Proceedings upon Impeachments for High Treason, and other Crimes and Misdemeanours... This is four volumes of crime, some perpetrated against, some by, the British state, during the years 1407-1710. You can read about the heresy or treason trials of such figures as Thomas More, Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Walter Raleigh, Charles I, William Penn, and Captain Kidd (he for piracy). Item 58. $2,500. Helen R. Kahn Rare Books may be found on the internet at www.hrkahnbooks.com and reached by phone at 514-844-5344.

500 Years of Books from Helen Kahn Rare Books

Five Hundred Years of Books from Helen Kahn

By Michael Stillman

Helen R. Kahn Rare Books is offering a new catalogue of "Five Hundred Years of Books." Actually, that's a bit of an understatement since some go back more than five centuries, but we prefer understatement to hyperbole any day. Naturally, you can expect to find a variety of themes when you have books published in six different centuries all together. That you will find in this latest catalogue, including at least a few items that will undoubtedly be of interest to you. These are some samples.

Here's an example of one of those books that is more than five hundred years old. It is Aurelii Augustini de Ciuitate Dei, written by St. Augustine. Old as it is, it is not contemporary with St. Augustine, who died a millennium before the press was invented. Still, it is almost as old as printed material gets, having been published within a quarter century of Gutenberg's Bible. Augustine wrote "The City of God" from 413-427. It begins with descriptions of the tragedies that have befallen Rome and works its way to a description of two cities, one of earth, one of God. Both are on earth, and neither is a literal city, but rather communities of people, the City of God being of those people who will merit salvation. This edition was published by Mathias Moravus in Naples in 1477. Moravus did most of his printing in Naples where he operated from 1475 until 1491 and is considered one of the best printers of the fifteenth century. Item 6. $14,000.

Fast forward a millennium and a half from Augustine's time and you find Darwin. Item 29 is a first edition, first issue of his The Descent of Man...from 1871. This edition marked Darwin's first printed use of the word "evolution." The concept caused great controversy in its time, and in some places, still does today. $6,250.

So what would St. Augustine and Charles Darwin have said to each other had they met? Perhaps Darwin might have noted how well Augustine looked for someone 1,500 years old, but other than that, who knows? Not even George Lyttelton in his Dialogues of the Dead attempts to answer that question. However, he does present some theoretical conversations between other equally unlikely suspects. Fernando Cortez speaks with William Penn, Mercury speaks to a "North-American Savage" (you can guess who the "savages" were in this Englishman's view), Alexander the Great converses with Charles XII of Sweden, and Plutarch speaks (negotiates?) with a "modern bookseller." Author Lyttelton was a learned man and former Member of Parliament, but Kahn cautions, "he was well-liked and wrote fairly prolifically but not very creatively." However, he was quite popular in his time, three editions being published in its first year of 1760 and several in later years. This one is a second edition. Item 64. $400.

500 Years of Books from Helen Kahn Rare Books

A page from Darwin's The Descent of Man.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dickens had it right. The French Revolution was a glorious battle for freedom that quickly devolved into chaos and killing. A couple of pamphlets offered in this catalogue picture that sad deterioration. Item 44 is titled Convention Nationale. Report du Ministre de l'Interieur a la Convention nationale, du 30 Septembre 1792... This pamphlet speaks of the difficulties in maintaining law and order in Paris after the insurrection of August 10, 1792, which overthrew the monarchy. It was written by Jean Marie Roland de la Platiere. Roland, primarily through his wife's influence, had just been restored to the position of Minister of the Interior, from which the King had earlier dismissed him. However, in the excesses of the Revolution, Roland would be accused of being a monarchist within a year and forced to flee to the countryside. His wife was not so fortunate. She was captured and guillotined, her last words being said to be, "O liberty, how they have played with you." On learning of his wife's death, M. Roland committed suicide. $200.

Another such pamphlet comes from Henri Baptiste (Abbe) Gregoire. This is a 1793 pamphlet about vandalism in Paris during the Revolution and how it was destroying public monuments and buildings, as well as leading to the looting of works of art and other national treasures. The Abbe Gregoire was a most remarkable man of the Revolution. He remained loyal and dedicated to the Church and yet was strongly supportive of the republican aims of the Revolution. Few who strongly supported the Church believed in the revolutionary ideals of liberty, while few in the Revolution trusted the authority of the Church. Ultimately, it would cost him his standing with both sides, but his strong and unwavering principles would lead him through times when it looked like he too would be executed, and later through rejection by authorities of his Church. He would survive both the Revolution and Napoleonic era, dying in 1831 at age 81. As this pamphlet implies, the Abbe was also a great proponent of historic preservation. The title is Convention Nationale. Instruction publique. Report sur les destructions operees par le Vandalisme... Item 42. $250.

Now you are invited into the homes of some of the most renowned authors of the 19th century. The book is Homes of American Authors; comprising Anecdotical Personal, and descriptive Sketches, of various writers. This is a D. Appleton edition from 1857. The book includes images of the homes, biographies, and other "anecdotical" information about celebrated writers such as Audubon, Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Hawthorne and Longfellow. Item 3. $450.

500 Years of Books from Helen Kahn Rare Books

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Speaking of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, here's a book written by his grandfather, General Peleg Wadsworth. The title is A Story About a Little Good Boy: How he became a great man and had little good boys of his own. General Wadsworth was born in Duxbury, a part of Massachusetts that is still part of Massachusetts. He joined the patriot cause early and rose to general during the Revolution. At one point he was captured by the British, but managed a daring escape by carving a hole in the ceiling of his cell. Wadsworth went on to serve as a Federalist congressman from Massachusetts for 14 years, later retiring to that part of Massachusetts which is now Maine. His home in Portland is known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and is now a museum. This autobiography was written by the general around the turn of the 19th century, but was not published until the turn of the next, 1903, by a descendent. The poet Longfellow was son of Wadsworth's first of eleven children, daughter Zilpah. Now you know Longfellow's mother's first name. Item 112. $125.

Here is the 1719 version of Court TV. It's A Compleat Collection of State-Tryals; and Proceedings upon Impeachments for High Treason, and other Crimes and Misdemeanours... This is four volumes of crime, some perpetrated against, some by, the British state, during the years 1407-1710. You can read about the heresy or treason trials of such figures as Thomas More, Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Walter Raleigh, Charles I, William Penn, and Captain Kidd (he for piracy). Item 58. $2,500.

Helen R. Kahn Rare Books may be found on the internet at www.hrkahnbooks.com and reached by phone at 514-844-5344.