Rare and Significant Americana from David Lesser Antiquarian Books
Catalogue 99 of Rare Americana from David Lesser.
By Michael Stillman
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has reached number 99 in their series of catalogues of Rare Americana. As usual, it is filled with the odd and unusual, along with many items relating to important events in American history. Lesser's catalogues are a must for the Americana collector as they always are filled with the unexpected, be it politics, religion, science, commerce, travel, or anything else relating to early America. Here are some examples.
Pastor Charles Turner left few words unsaid in A Sermon Preached Before His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq; Governor...May 26th, 1773. Turner speaks unequivocally of the colonists' "unalienable right" to determine their own government. He excoriates British rule, concluding, "How distressing the thought of being slaves, how charming that of being free!" Governor Hutchinson, an unrepentant British loyalist, must have been squirming in his seat through this sermon. He would be run from the colony the following year by revolutionary colonials who despised him. Item 129. Priced at $850.
The Arthur Hodge case was one of the most egregious of slavery cases, though this one occurred on the British West Indian island of Tortola. Hodge flogged his slave, Prosper, for two days, and then left him to die a slow and painful death over the next week and a half, without medical assistance or food. Prosper's initial crime was "causing a mango to fall off of a tree." The case was so shocking that, in an instance of great rarity, this slave owner was executed for killing his slave. The details of this case, which helped lead to the end of slavery in the British West Indies, are presented in Papers Relating to the West Indies...in Reference to the Trial and Execution of Arthur Hodge... Item 53. $750.
Polly Davis experienced the torments of Hell and the joys of Heaven, all without dying. A sickly New Hampshire woman in 1792, suffering convulsions, she saw visions of Hell, with damned souls moaning in eternal agony. She next saw Heaven and all its beauty, and then was returned to mortal life with God's command that she warn others. However, first she had to endure 16 more days of sickness, whereupon she was visited by an angel, and her sickness cured. In case you have doubts, it is all related here in A Faithful Narrative of the Wonderful Dealings of God, Towards Polly Davis...by Eden Burroughs. Item 10. $650.
The issue of slavery was such an irreconcilable divide that it not only split a nation, it even split many of its churches. Long before the Civil War, the Methodist Episcopal Church broke into northern and southern churches. Item 6 is a reflection of that schism, published in 1848: Brief Appeal to Public Opinion...Affecting the Rights and Interests of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Evidently, the new southern church was not pleased with the division of property granted by the old church. Item 6. $275.
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Rare and Significant Americana from David Lesser Antiquarian Books
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Criminal trials and forensics are certainly the rage these days. Here is a very early forensic book: Blood Stains in Criminal Trials by Dr. Andrew Fleming. This 1861 book discusses chemical analysis of bloodstains and its application to criminal trials. Item 35. $150.
Item 52 pertains to an obscure international situation that occurred during the Washington administration. Unrest on the French Island of Hispaniola, home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, plus a British invasion had sent French vessels scurrying for safety. Many pulled into American ports for shelter. However, these boats were then subject to normal duties meant for commercial shipping. Sparing the French vessels these fees required an act of Congress, which is what this is -- Third Congress of the United States...An Act for the Remission of the Duties Arising on the Tonnage of Sundry French Vessels which have Taken Refuge in the Ports of the United States. This act was passed and signed by President Washington in 1794. $500.
Item 45 is a masterful reply from Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson and his supporters were in a heated rivalry with Hamilton, and they thought they caught him in some questionable financial conduct. They believed they could embarrass him by showing funds he had borrowed as Treasury Secretary in Europe were not appropriated to pay off European debts as required. They had Jefferson supporter Representative William Branch Giles make a demand from Congress for a full accounting. Hamilton responded with this Communications from the Secretary of the Treasury to the House of Representatives. This response provided a detailed accounting, even more than requested. Hamilton then really sinks the dagger in his inquisitors by asking, "Is it not truly a matter of regret, that so formal an explanation on such a point, should have been made requisite? Could no personal enquiry have superseded the necessity of publicly calling the attention of the House of Representatives to an appearance, in truth, so little significant?" $4,500.
Item 46, published in the following year (1794), is the Report of the Committee Appointed to Examine into the State of the Treasury Department... This Congressional report exonerates Hamilton of any inappropriate actions. $2,500.
They had some very different ideas in the early days of the Republic as to who should pay taxes to support the government. Back then, they felt wealthy people should contribute more. In this 1800 Report of the Committee of Ways and Means, on the Subject of Further Revenue... various ideas are considered. The committee concludes the logical source is to place additional taxes on wines which "indeed are now highly taxed; but being a mere luxury, which is consumed solely by people in affluent or easy circumstances, they appear to be a very proper object of revenue." Item 132. $450.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be visited online at www.lesserbooks.com, telephone 203-389-8111.
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