Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2006 Issue
Rare and Unusual Americana from Michael Ginsberg Books
Liver-Eating Johnson may not have consumed as much of the delicacy as is now imagined.
There isn't much you can say about this item by Ann Saunders, so here's the title: Narrative of the Shipwreck and Sufferings of Miss Ann Saunders, who was a Passenger on Board the Ship Francis Mary, which Foundered at Sea on the 5th Feb, 1826, on Her Passage from New Brunswick to Liverpool...One of Six Survivors...Subsisting 22 Days on the Dead Bodies...One of Whom was a Young Man to Whom She was Soon to be Joined in Marriage... The Frances (not "Francis") Mary was carrying a load of lumber when a terrible storm rendered her unmanageable. Only six survivors, who lived off the remains of their starved shipmates, remained when they were found a month later. Item 239. $475.
Here is an 1821 review of pestilence, its history, cause and prevention: A History of the Present Systems of Medicine and Chirurgery...Viewed in Connection with...Physiology, Pathology, Nosology... Well there are at least two words in this title for which I do not know the meaning. "Chirurgery" is an archaic word for "surgery." "Nosology" is not the study of nasal passages as I expected, but relates to the classification of diseases. Peter Donaldson's book probably won't provide much help in curing diseases today, but it might help you expand your vocabulary. Item 67. $450.
Item 137 is an imaginary Epistle from the Marquis de Lafayette to General Washington, attributed to Anne Bannerman and published in 1800. In it, Lafayette describes the horrors of his stay at the Olmutz prison in Austria. Undoubtedly, Lafayette could have written such a letter, except that he was not permitted communications during his four-year stay. Lafayette had hightailed it out of France when that country's revolution turned so radical that even reformers such as he were sent to the guillotine. Unfortunately, Austria proved a bad escape route, as that country viewed Lafayette as anti-monarchal. Were it not for pressure from America, it is not clear what might have happened to the Marquis and his family. He was eventually freed in 1797 when Napoleon's armies swept through Austria. $1,000.
Do you know what was Andrew Jackson's favorite music? Here is the answer, from Henry Dielman: President Jackson's Favourite March and Quick Step... Published shortly after his election, this short piece of sheet music also contains Old Hickory's favorite waltz. Item 66. $450.
You may find Michael Ginsberg Books' listings online at www.ginsbook.com. Their phone number is 781-784-8181.
