Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2006 Issue
Early American Broadsides from William Reese
Geologist George Featherstonhaugh attacks Rufus Eaton in this broadside.
Item 168 is a most significant item for collectors of Mexicana. It is an 1810 wanted poster for three leaders of Mexico's first attempt to overthrow Spanish rule. Among those sought was Father Miguel Hidalgo, who led a large band of peasants in an uprising that achieved some victories in the beginning. However, their success was short lived. The Spanish beat back the rebels, captured Father Hidalgo, and executed him. His head was placed on a pole as a warning to others. It didn't work. A decade later, a second rebellion would succeed in winning independence for Mexico. Offered for Father Hidalgo was a reward of 100,000 pesos. $5,000.
Moving on from Old Mexico to New Mexico, item 118 is the first New Mexican imprint. Headed Lista de los Ciudadanos que Deberan Componer los Jurados... it is a list of 90 men called for jury duty for cases involving libel. The date was 1834, the land was still a province of Mexico, and it was printed shortly after the first press was carried overland from the United States to Santa Fe. $7,500.
Item 19 is a warning Notice from the "Committee of Prosecution" of Bridgehampton, New York, dated April 19, 1858. Citizens are warned they will be prosecuted if they allow their cattle, sheep, or horses to roam freely on highways or cleared, open land. Residents of this town in the Hamptons of Long Island should take notice, as it is possible this law was never removed from the books. $600.
Item 22 is a "farewell address" by Parson William Brownlow, a remarkable though not well-remembered man. Brownlow lived most of his life in Tennessee, working as a Methodist minister and newspaper publisher of the Knoxville Whig. He was reportedly a passionate, even extreme speaker, from fire and brimstone religious lectures to uncompromising political views. However, the one overriding principle which guided his every thought was preservation of the Union. He supported slavery, and even traveled to Philadelphia shortly before the Civil War to defend it in a debate. Nevertheless, preservation of the Union was his top priority, and as early as the 1830s, he foresaw the possibility that this issue would split the nation. Though approving of slavery, he would gladly have accepted abolition rather than the destruction of the Union. His pro-Union stance was not a popular position in Tennessee once that state seceded, and his vehemently anti-Confederate editorials after that secession got him in deep trouble. On Oct 24, 1861, printed in Philadelphia was the broadside offered as item 22: A Patriotic Chapter in the History of the Great Rebellion. Parson Brownlow's Farewell Address, in View of His Imprisonment by the Rebels. Parson Brownlow spent several months in Confederate prisons before being allowed to cross Union lines. He returned to Knoxville and publishing in 1863, after the city was captured by Union forces. After the war, he served as Governor of, and later Senator from, Tennessee. $400.
