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Catalogue 254 New Acquisitions |
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Section VIII: Saint-Mémin to Thomson |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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173. Saint-Mémin, Charles B.J.F. de: [FRAMED COLLECTION OF FIVE PROFILE PORTRAITS]. [Various places, including New York, Philadelphia, & Richmond. 1797-1809]. Five engravings, matted and framed under glass. Four images are circular, with a diameter of approximately 2¼ inches; one image is oval and approximately 2½ x 2 inches. Matting overleaf black with gold trim around each image. Gilt wood frame, 12 x 9¾ inches. Engravings in fine condition. A framed collection of five profile portrait engravings by Charles B.J.F. de Saint-Mémin. The engravings span nearly the entire course of Saint-Mémin’s celebrated career as a portraitist in the U.S., represent at least three of the locations where he worked, and reflect an impressive range of portrait types, from the profile of a young girl to that of a founding father in middle age. Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin was a young, aristocratic military officer when he fled France during the Revolution in 1790. In 1793 he arrived in New York with his father and soon began pursuing a career in the arts. Applying early training he had received in drawing and an eye for precision, Saint-Mémin quickly taught himself the techniques of engraving and printing, and began producing plans and landscapes of New York. In 1796 he co-founded a business creating profile portraits with the aid of a physiognotrace, a recently invented drafting device that allowed portraitists to capture their sitters’ profiles with extreme accuracy. After tracing a subject’s profile with the physiognotrace, Saint-Mémin would complete a portrait in chalk, reduce and copy it to a copper plate using a pantograph, and finally engrave the plate and produce a series of prints. Each patron would receive the original drawing, the plate, and, typically, a dozen engravings. Saint-Mémin’s business was wildly successful, and for fourteen years it sustained him as he traveled through the eastern U.S. capturing the likenesses of many leading American figures of the day. Ellen G. Miles’ extensive work on Saint-Mémin, published by the National Portrait Gallery, describes every aspect of his career and lists nearly a thousand of his known portraits. Of the portraits in the present collection, the earliest is that of Jane Macomb Kennedy, drawn and engraved in New York in 1797. Jane Macomb was born in Detroit in 1776, and in 1794 married Robert Kennedy, a Scottish nobleman born in New Jersey. Ellen Miles devotes a full page to details of Lady Kennedy’s engraving, using it to illustrate Saint-Mémin’s use of the roulette in shading and in executing dark backgrounds. She notes that Saint-Mémin would engrave a background after making an image, rather than using a mezzotinting technique, in which the entire plate is textured before the image is added (pp.72-75). From 1798 to 1803, Saint-Mémin operated in Philadelphia, where Miles notes that he developed his own drawing style of lively, emphatic tones with strong black and white contrasts. Two of the present engravings come from that period, those of "Miss de la Grange" and Theodore Sedgwick. Miss de la Grange, probably no more than seven years old in her portrait, is a fairly uncommon example of a child subject in Saint-Mémin’s work; she poses here in a princess-cut dress and a pearl necklace. Theodore Sedgwick was about fifty-five years old when his profile was made in 1801, the final year of his term as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Sedgwick was one of many prominent American politicians drawn by Saint-Mémin in Philadelphia. The final major phase of Saint-Mémin’s career in the U.S. took place in Richmond and Charleston between 1807 and 1809. In 1808, while working in Richmond, he produced the portrait included here of Charles Everett, a Virginia physician and close friend of James Monroe. The latest portrait in the present collection is that of Frances Cadwalader Erskine, made in Philadelphia or Washington in 1809, one of the few portraits produced during Saint-Mémin’s post-itinerant period. Mrs. Erskine, another American-born wife of a British aristocrat, is depicted here in an unusual oval-shaped engraving. The portrait was made after Saint-Mémin left Charleston in 1809, during or after his journey home to his family in New Jersey. In 1810, Saint-Mémin used the physiognotrace for the last time and returned to France for two years before moving back permanently in 1814. This fine and representative set of Saint-Mémin’s American portraiture comes from the noted collection of Richard Townley Haines Halsey. Halsey, a Princeton graduate and stockbroker by trade, was an intense Americanist. He believed that by promoting the history of American craftsmanship, modern American industry would be better protected against the intrusion of foreign-made goods. Halsey began collecting in the 1890s and continued through the 1920s. His mission to advance modern scholarship in American decorative arts reached its zenith in 1924 with the opening of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Halsey gave liberally of his expertise and his money to the project, the successful completion of which cemented his reputation as America’s leading authority on the subject. Afterwards he pioneered a course at St. John’s College in Maryland that explored the marriage between American arts and crafts, and American history, which became the model for a similar course taught by John Marshall Phillips at Yale University. Halsey ended his professional career as a research assistant with the Franklin Papers at Yale University. Miles, Saint-Mémin (Washington, 1994) 242, 307, 312, 463, 739. DAB XVI, pp.549-51. $2500. A Large Collection 174. Saint-Mémin, Charles B.J.F. de: PORTRAITS OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS ENGRAVED BY JULIEN FEVRET DE SAINT-MÉMIN 1770 – 1852 [box title]. [Various places, including Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, & Washington, D.C. 1797-1809]. Forty-four engravings. All engraved images except one are circular, with a diameter of approximately 2¼ inches; the engraving of William Bradford is oval and approximately 3 x 2½ inches. Each image is printed on a slightly larger sheet of paper, mounted to 8½ x 11-inch leaves and matted. 20th-century red morocco hinged pull-off case, cover stamped and lettered in gilt. Case lightly worn at edges and front hinge neatly separated, else fine. Most portraits identified in upper left corner of matting in modern ink; some misidentified, most of which have notes with correct identification attached. Minor foxing and/or wear to a few portraits. Small pink stain in lower margin of Frances Cadwalader Erskine portrait, not affecting image. Most portraits in fine or near fine condition. An extraordinary collection of neoclassical profile portraits drawn and engraved by the famed French-American portraitist, Charles B.J.F. de Saint-Mémin. Forty-one prominent Americans of the Federal period are represented (there are several duplicates, see below), including such major figures as George Clinton, William Bradford, Col. William Duane, and Thomas Jefferson, who sat for the artist in 1804. All but one of the portraits are executed in Saint-Mémin’s characteristic profile view and framed in a roundel. The single exception is Saint-Mémin’s unusual oval-shaped engraving of Charles Willson Peale’s front-view portrait of William Bradford. All of the engravings are matted and contained in a gilt morocco case. Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin was a young, aristocratic military officer when he fled France during the Revolution in 1790. In 1793 he arrived in New York with his father and soon began pursuing a career in the arts. Applying early training he had received in drawing and an eye for precision, Saint-Mémin quickly taught himself the techniques of engraving and printing, and began producing plans and landscapes of New York. In 1796 he co-founded a business creating profile portraits with the aid of a physiognotrace, a recently invented drafting device that allowed portraitists to capture their sitters’ profiles with extreme accuracy. After tracing a subject’s profile with the physiognotrace, Saint-Mémin would complete a portrait in chalk, reduce and copy it to a copper plate using a pantograph, and finally engrave the plate and produce a series of prints. Each patron would receive the original drawing, the plate, and, typically, a dozen engravings. Saint-Mémin’s business was wildly successful, and for fourteen years it sustained him as he traveled through the eastern U.S. capturing the likenesses of many leading American figures of the day. Ellen G. Miles’ extensive work on Saint-Mémin, published by the National Portrait Gallery, describes every aspect of his career and lists nearly a thousand of his known portraits. The portraits in the present collection are as follows, listed with Miles’ catalogue number accompanying each sitter’s name: William Barton (42), William Bradford (78), Claude Amable Brasier (81), Jacob Burnet (111), Martha Round Caldwell (127), Mary M. Caldwell (128), George Clinton (174), John Coles III (189), Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn (230), Asbury Dickins (268), William Drayton (275), William Duane (277; two prints: 1802 and after 1808 [with caption, "Col. Wm. Duane"]), Louisa DuPonceau (288), Peter Stephen DuPonceau (289), Catherine M. Dutilh (291), Stephen (Étienne) Dutilh (294), David Montagu Erskine (306), Frances Cadwalader Erskine (307), Walter Franklin (334), Theodore Hunt (429), Thomas Jefferson (446), John Lincklaen (510), James McHenry (539), Neil MacNeal (547), John Mayo II (568), Maria Sophia Kemper Morton (595), Joseph Hopper Nicholson (619), Davis Old (627), Thomas Parke (642), Nathan Read (686), John Reynolds (691), Thomas Bolling Robertson (701), Charles Sterett (788; three copies), St. George Tucker (840), Waggaman (911), Samuel Purviance Walker (915), William Augustine Washington III (924), and William Hill Wells (937). An incredible collection, spanning nearly the entire course of Saint-Mémin’s career as a portraitist, rare in its volume and quality. Miles, Saint-Mémin (Washington, 1994). $19,000. 175. Schoolcraft, Henry R.: NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION THROUGH THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI TO ITASCA LAKE, THE ACTUAL SOURCE OF THIS RIVER; EMBRACING AN EXPLORATORY TRIP THROUGH THE ST. CROIX AND BURNTWOOD (OR BROULE) RIVERS; IN 1832. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1834. 307pp. plus five maps (two folding). Three-quarter calf and contemporary marbled boards, corners in contemporary calf, rebacked in period style, gilt-lettered spine. Moderate to heavy foxing to front matter. Old library label on front pastedown. Maps with moderate foxing. Good. This copy in a special library binding, with the following in gilt on the front board: "The Society of Writers to the Signet." One of the author’s several trips in the Old Northwest, this expedition was especially important in that during the journey the party discovered what proved to be the actual source of the Mississippi. The text includes numerous observations on the Indians of the area, and a Chippewa vocabulary. WAGNER-CAMP 50a:1. HOWES S187. GRAFF 3698. FIELD 1367. SABIN 77863. $850. Vast Compilation on the American Indian 176. Schoolcraft, Henry R.: HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION RESPECTING THE HISTORY, CONDITION, AND PROSPECTS OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE UNITED STATES.... Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1851-1857. Six thick folio volumes. Numerous plates and maps, many tinted or in color. Uniformly bound in half green morocco, raised bands, and marbled boards, stamped in gilt. Light tideline throughout sixth volume. Other volumes clean and neat internally. Fourth and sixth volumes with presentation inscriptions from the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs on front endpapers. A very good set in a handsome modern binding. The first edition of one of the most important and massive works concerning the American Indian, a foundation stone of ethnological studies in America, and by far the most extensive single work on the American Indian issued in the 19th century. Schoolcraft, the general editor, was commissioner of Indian Affairs for many years, and in an unparalleled position to assemble the data presented herein. Field, while criticizing the general layout of the work, says it contains "a vast mass of really valuable material. It has indeed performed a very important service for Indian history, in collecting and preserving an immense amount of historical data. Vocabularies of Indian languages, grammatical analyses, legends of various tribes, biographies of chiefs and warriors, narratives of captivities, histories of Indian wars, emigrations and theories of their origin, are all related and blended...a very large number of beautiful steel engravings, representative of some phase of Indian life and customs, are contained in the work...." In fact, the volumes contain some 336 illustrations, many of them steel engravings after artist Seth Eastman, most of which do not appear elsewhere. "No two people will probably agree which plates, among several hundred, are to be regarded as colored because the use of tinting is very skillful and most varied. The editor feels that only about 70, more than half in the first volume, are truly colored plates but he freely admits that the effect of coloring (as distinct from specific color) is very general throughout, though the black and white illustrations probably outnumber the others. It is said that the comparatively numerous colored plates of the first volume are all to be found, in colored state, in only a few copies" – Bennett. The copy in hand would appear to be one of the latter few. Only about fourteen illustrations (consisting of maps and some plates) in the first volume of this set have no color or tint. There are many plates (and some maps in the second through sixth volumes) which have been handsomely and expertly colored (often by hand, some partially so) throughout the set, but most frequently in the first volume. HOWES S183, "b." FIELD, p.353. SABIN 77849. BENNETT, p.95 SERVIES 3691. $20,000. Rare Tour of Reverend Scott 177. Scott, James L.: A JOURNAL OF A MISSIONARY TOUR THROUGH PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, IOWA, WISKONSIN [sic], AND MICHIGAN.... Providence: Published by the Author, 1843. 203pp. Original gilt cloth, stamped in blind. Head and toe of spine bit frayed. Corners bit worn. Contemporary ink inscription on front free endpaper. Overall still quite nice, just about very good. This scarce work has long been considered an excellent description of the country traversed, especially in the West. "One of the best descriptions of the Old Northwest, early for Iowa and Wisconsin settlements" – Streeter. HOWES S226. BUCK 374. GRAFF 3711. THOMSON 1030. STREETER SALE 1341. $850. 178. Scudder, Samuel Hubbard: THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NEW ENGLAND. Cambridge: Published by the Author, 1889. Three volumes. [1],xxiv,766pp. plus color frontispiece portrait; [1],x, [1],[767]-1774pp. plus folding map and tinted frontispiece portrait; [1],vi, [1],[1775]-1958pp. plus eighty-nine plates (ten in color), each with corresponding text leaf, two color folding maps, one color map with corresponding text leaf, and engraved frontispiece portrait. Quarto. Later cloth, spines gilt. Cloth lightly worn. Preliminary leaf in first volume chipped in margin, not affecting text. Woodcut butterfly bookplate of Ernest L. Bell on front pastedown of each volume. A very good set. Scudder produced this privately printed work in an elaborate fashion. It is one of the most important books about butterflies produced in the U.S. in the 19th century. The work illustrates the rapidly changing world of illustration technology, with finely executed chromolithographs by Thomas Sinclair and Julius Bien of Philadelphia, as well as more precise images in black and white using gelatin process photographs, photogravures, and electrotypes. BENNETT, p.96. McGRATH, pp.46, 148. REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 106. $2500. Three Rare Sources 179. [Seminole War]: [GROUP OF THREE RARE PAMPHLETS ON THE SEMINOLE WAR, SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING THE CONDUCT OF UNITED STATES TROOPS AND GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON, THE EXECUTION OF ARBUTHNOT AND AMBRISTER, AND THE ACTIONS OF PRESIDENT MONROE]. [Washington. 1819]. Paginations and descriptions given below. A group of three rare pamphlets regarding the conduct of Andrew Jackson, United States troops, and President Monroe during the Seminole War in Florida in the late 1810s. The pamphlets raise interesting questions about the conduct of American troops during wartime, the treatment of prisoners of war, and the ability of the President to wage a military campaign without the explicit assent of the Congress. They form part of a debate on Constitutional prerogatives and standards of conduct during wartime that persists to this day. The pamphlets are as follow: 1) [Lacock, Abner]: Report. Mr. Lacock, from the Committee Appointed in Pursuance to the Resolution of the Senate...That Said Committee Inquire Relative to the Advance of the United States’ Troops into West Florida...[caption title]. 40pp. [with pages 9-16 duplicated]. Dbd. Tanned, scattered heavy foxing. First two and final two leaves lightly chipped around edges. About good. A rare United States Senate report on the conduct of American troops in Florida during the Seminole War. The report, attributed to Abner Lacock, a Democratic Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, condemns the actions of the U.S. troops and of Gen. Andrew Jackson, especially in the matter of the summary executions of two British citizens, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister. Jackson’s actions are derided as being "a departure from that mild and humane system towards prisoners, which, in all our conflicts with savage or civilized nations, has heretofore been considered, not only honorable to the national character, but conformable to the dictates of sound policy...Humanity shudders at the idea of a cold blooded execution of prisoners disarmed, and in the power of the conqueror." The report accuses Jackson of illegally raising forces and of seizing power without proper authority. It provides the facts relating to the troubles with the Seminole Indians in Georgia and Florida, and includes the text of letters from several of the military and civilian leaders involved in the affair, including Jackson and Secretary of War John Calhoun. The report also strongly condemns the actions of President Monroe, accusing him of waging war without Congressional approval. OCLC locates a total of three copies of this issue, at the College of Charleston, William & Mary, and the Portland (Maine) Public Library; and Servies adds a fourth copy at the State Library of Florida. Servies also notes a 50pp. issue (see their entry 1010). Rare and interesting. SERVIES 989. SABIN 79069. HOWES S282. OCLC 29040892, 27448454. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 49789 (50pp. issue). 2) [Lacock, Abner]: In Senate of the United States. March 3, 1819. Mr. Lacock...Communicated the Following Additional Testimony...[caption title]. [Washington. 1819]. 5pp. Modern paper wrappers. Small tear in foredge of each leaf, not affecting text. Very good. Lacock provides additional information on the conduct of U.S. troops, including the testimony of Robert Butler, adjutant general of the Southern Division of the Army of the United States. OCLC and American Imprints together locate only four copies, at the University of Florida, Boston Athenaeum, Library of Congress, and Princeton. SERVIES 1011. OCLC 1633525. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 49790. 3) [Easter, Richard J.?]: Strictures on Mr. Lacock’s Report, in the Senate of the U. States, on the Seminole War [caption title]. 21pp. Dbd. Contemporary inscription on the first page: "Gen. J. Floyd, St. Marys Geo. with the respects of R.J. Easter." Tanned. Very good, untrimmed. We presume Richard J. Easter to be the author of this pamphlet, based on the inscription on the first page, and his role in two 1826 titles listed in Servies (see their items 1294 and 1296). The recipient of this pamphlet, Gen. John Floyd, moved to Georgia in 1791 and made a fortune building boats at the mouth of the Satilla River, near the Florida border. He fought in the Creek War as a brigadier general in the Georgia militia, and served in the Georgia legislature. This rare pamphlet criticizes Lacock’s review of the conduct of U.S. troops during the Seminole War. It calls Lacock’s report "unjustifiable in temper, argument, and statements. Its temper is harsh and vindictive, its arguments are childishly weak, and its statements are, in many instances, grossly and unaccountably erroneous." This rebuttal defends Jackson and the Army, criticizes the Indians for starting the conflict, and absolves President Monroe and Secretary of War Calhoun of any wrongdoing. OCLC, American Imprints, and Servies together locate a total of eight copies. Rare. SERVIES 1002. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 49519. OCLC 7506508. An important group of rare pamphlets on the Seminole War and Florida, addressing fundamental questions of Constitutional and military principles. $2750. An Important Collection 180. [Seminole War]: DEBATE, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, ON THE SEMINOLE WAR, IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1819. Washington. 1819. [2],591pp. 12mo. Original marbled boards backed by modern cloth, with original cloth backstrip laid down. Boards worn at corners. Bookplate on front pastedown, early ownership signature of "D.H. Estes" at top of titlepage. Lightly tanned, old dampstaining on first fifty and final fifty pages. Good. Lengthy extracts from speeches of a number of representatives concerning the Seminole Wars. In 1818 the activities of Andrew Jackson routed the Seminoles, and on Feb. 19, 1819, apparently following these debates, the Adams-Onìs Treaty was signed which ceded East Florida to the United States. There was considerable difference regarding Jackson’s aggressive tactics, especially over the execution in Florida of two British citizens, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister, and that controversy is one of the issues debated here. Speeches by more than thirty House members are included, among them the lengthy remarks of Speaker of the House Henry Clay. A variety of subjects are discussed, including the political, military, and territorial aspects of the Seminole War. All the speakers, however, concur on the exceptional nature of the United States. This is not a government document, but a privately printed effort. SABIN 19092, 79067. HOWES S280. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 49748. SERVIES 1007. $900. Daguerreotypes of a White Family 181. [Slave Daguerreotype]: [A PAIR OF DAGUERREOTYPE IMAGES, ONE SHOWING A FEMALE SLAVE HOLDING A YOUNG WHITE CHILD, THE OTHER IMAGE SHOWING THE CHILD’S PARENTS]. [Np, but either Maryland or Texas. ca. 1850]. Pair of 1/6th plate daguerreotypes in what was once a hinged leather case, now separated. The images of the parents and the infant with a rose hue added to their cheeks. Original clasps present on the case. Iridescent blue sheen around the outer border of the images. A few small spots in the image area, not affecting the figures of the slave and the child. In very good condition. A striking and important pair of daguerreotypes of the Harrison family of the Maryland Eastern Shore and Texas, with an exceptionally noteworthy image of their female slave holding their infant child. An identifying inscription in the hand of Patty Belle Tilghman, a descendant, identifies the family as Jonathan Perry Harrison; his wife, Caroline Denny Harrison; and their infant son, Bradford. The slave is named Ellen Sherwood and identified as the child’s nurse. While it is possible that Ellen Sherwood was a free Black, the Harrison and Denny families were wealthy and prominent slave-owning families, and would have been loathe to the idea of emancipation. Ellen Sherwood holds young Bradford in her lap, and wears what appears to be a muslin dress with a high collar. She has a soft, Mona Lisa-type smile on her face, giving us a sense of her personality and raising strong feelings of curiosity about the quality of her life. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, who appear to be in their thirties, are shown sitting next to each other. She wears a fine dark silk dress with a lace collar, and he is dressed in a suit with a richly embroidered vest. The Harrison family were from Talbot County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and moved to Texas in the 1850s, lured by the prospects of ranching and farming opportunities. Jonathan Harrison served with the 1st Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. This pair of images came from a family estate in Annapolis; therefore, we believe that is most likely that the daguerreotypes were made in Maryland, before the family moved to Texas. Four similar daguerreotype images, showing female slaves and the young white children they cared for, were sold at Christie’s in 2001 as part of the Jackie Napoleon Wilson collection of African Americans in early photographs. The one from that group most closely resembling this image, showing a slave gently holding a white child, brought $19,975. Daguerreotype images of slaves, especially of female slaves holding their young charges, are very rare, and offer great historical insight into Black-white relations and family structures in antebellum America. A very important pair of images. $12,500. A New York Mezzotint 182. [Slavery]: IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES AUG. 1st 1838 [caption title]. [New York. nd, but ca. 1838]. Mezzotint engraving, the sheet measuring 18¼ x 14½, the plate mark measuring 14 x 10 inches. Matted. A few tears at the edges, some closed tears (repaired on verso), wrinkled – all of these defects in the margins, and none of them evident under the mat. A striking American aquatint, showing the jubilation felt in the West Indies upon the final abolition of slavery on Aug. 1, 1838. The image was engraved by Stephen Gimber, after an original painting by Alexander Rippingille. Dominating the image is a joyous former slave, dressed only with a sheet around his midsection, his arms raised in celebration. He stands on the lash formerly used to control him. On the right side of the image are two black males, one of whom is digging a hole into which the other throws his former shackles. On the left is a seated woman, holding a young child up in the air. Beside her on a bench is a thick book, and tacked to a palm tree on the right of the image is a copy of the emancipation notice. A group of freed slaves celebrates on a beach in the background. Rippingille apparently painted his work some time in 1834, when slaves in the British Empire were nominally emancipated. A few copies of this mezzotint, also engraved by Gimber, are known to exist which commemorate that event. This version of the print celebrates the date in 1838, when slaves were freed from the system of indentured servitude that replaced slavery in the West Indies. Stauffer, who calls Stephen Gimber "a good portrait engraver in stipple and mezzotint," notes that Gimber was born in England and learned to engrave there. He was working in New York as early as 1830 and stayed there until about 1842, when he moved to Philadelphia and worked as an engraver and lithographer. This print was produced at the behest of the American Anti-Slavery Office in New York, and distributed by them. This engraving is quite rare; we can locate a copy at the Library of Congress and The New York Public Library. No copies are located on OCLC. STAUFFER, pp.99-100. $5000. 183. Smith, Robert H.: AN ADDRESS TO THE CITIZENS OF ALABAMA, ON THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA...AT TEMPERANCE HALL, ON THE 30th OF MARCH, 1861. Mobile: Mobile Daily Register Print, 1861. 24pp. Original printed wrappers. Wrappers soiled and stained, worn around the edges (especially rear wrapper). Text leaves worn around edges. Good. This copy was apparently sent through the mail as is, without an envelope, as the rear wrapper contains an inked Mobile postmark and carries the address of "Charles H. Pitts, Esq., Baltimore, Md." In April 1861, Pitts was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from Baltimore, at a time when Maryland was considering whether or not to secede from the Union. The allegiance of Maryland, a then-undecided border state that surrounded Washington, D.C. on three sides, was crucially important to the Confederacy. This pamphlet likely reached Pitts’ hands in late April, just about the time riots between Union troops and Maryland secessionists were erupting in Baltimore, and as the House of Delegates was voting not to secede (on April 29). An early Confederate imprint by noted Alabama lawyer Robert H. Smith, explaining the provisions of the Confederate Constitution that he himself played a role in crafting. In the 1850s, Smith was a Whig and opposed the pro-secession forces of William L. Yancey and others. When Alabama seceded from the Union, Smith accepted the decision and served the Confederacy loyally. He was elected to the provisional Confederate Congress in 1861 and served on the committee that framed the permanent constitution, taking an active part in the debates. He also served on the naval affairs and judiciary committees. Smith gave this talk less than a month after Lincoln’s inauguration, and it was published in early April 1861, likely before the attack on Fort Sumter. Smith relates the history of the debates involved in crafting the constitution, discusses its provisions and explains its legislative safeguards, and defends slavery as an American institution. An important document in Confederate legal history, here in a significant association. HOWES S658, "aa." PARRISH & WILLINGHAM 5861. CRANDALL 2844. SABIN 83870. DAB XVII, p.339. $750. 184. Sullivan, James: THE HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT OF MAINE. Boston: Printed by I. Thomas and E.T. Andrews..., 1795. vii, 421pp. plus folding frontispiece map. Contemporary sheep, spine gilt, leather label. Joints worn, front board and front free endpaper detached. 19th-century inscription on titlepage. Map moderately foxed and soiled, clean five-inch tear neatly repaired. A nice, unsophisticated copy. In a half morocco slipcase. The first general history of Maine, which the DAB calls "still valuable," including material about the native Indians, early settlement, government, and the American Revolution. The author was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1807 and played an important role in government in the Northeast during the Federalist period. "A Map of the District of Maine, Drawn from the latest Surveys and other best Authorities by Osgood Carleton" has an inset entitled "A Map of those parts of the Country most famous for being harassed by the Indians, on and long after their first settlement...." HOWES S1122, "aa". DAB XVIII, pp.190-91. SABIN 93499. $3750. 185. Sully, Thomas: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED BY THOMAS SULLY, TO GEORGE HARVEY, RELATING TO HARVEY’S SCENES OF THE PRIMITIVE FORESTS OF AMERICA]. Philadelphia. Oct. 1, 1840. [1]p. Quarto. Vertical fold. Left margin slightly frayed, faint stain in lower right corner, far from text. Else near fine. Manuscript letter by the great American portraitist, Thomas Sully, to George Harvey, encouraging Harvey in his publication of what would become his best-known American work, Harvey’s Scenes of the Primitive Forests of America, at the Four Periods of the Year (1841). George Harvey (1806-76) was an accomplished Scottish-born watercolor painter who lived in the United States at various points between 1820 and 1847. In 1835 he built a home on the Hudson near his friend, Washington Irving, whose home, "Sunnyside," Harvey had helped to design. During this time Harvey began work on the Primitive Forests portfolio. Who Was Who in American Art notes that Harvey had hoped to have forty of his "atmospheric views" of the Hudson River Valley engraved and published by subscription, but "[a]lthough he rigorously sought patronage and backing for his project, the expense was quite high, and only 250 of four views, under the title The Seasons, were ultimately published." Sully’s letter reads as follows: "Dear Sir After a careful inspection of your Portfolio of Views in the United States which you propose to publish, I am of opinion that they contain the essential requisites of excellence: accuracy of delineation, with tasteful execution. Should your success in their publication prove equal to their merit, you will have reason to be satisfied with public encouragement. Very respectfully Your Ob Sevt. Thos Sully." A wonderful letter relating to the publication of one of the great rarities, and classics, of American color plate books. Who Was Who in American Art II, pp.1483-84. DNB IX, pp.85-86. $1000. 186. Swineford, Alfred P.: SWINEFORD’S HISTORY OF THE LAKE SUPERIOR IRON DISTRICT ITS MINES AND FURNACES. SECOND EDITION. CONTAINING REPORT FOR 1870. [bound with:] APPENDIX TO SWINEFORD’S HISTORY...BEING A REVIEW OF ITS MINES AND FURNACES FOR 1871. [bound with:] APPENDIX...1872. [bound with:] APPENDIX...1873. [bound with:] HISTORY AND REVIEW OF THE COPPER, IRON, SILVER, SLATE AND OTHER MATERIAL INTERESTS OF THE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR. [bound with:] [PORTION OF UPPER PENINSULA-AREA ALMANAC FOR 1877]. [bound with:] STATE OF MICHIGAN. MINING LAW OF 1877. Mar-quette, Mi.: Mining Journal, 1871-1877. 98; 33; 71; [1],80pp., including diagrams; [2],288pp. including one plate, plus frontispiece and eight additional plates; [26]; [1],14,[1]pp. Modern half morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt. Early ink inscription of F.L. Lasier on titlepage. Internally near fine. An important compendium of uncommon works relating to the early era of mining in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Alfred P. Swineford (1836-1909), author of several of the texts, represented the Marquette District in the Michigan state House in the early 1870s. He subsequently moved to Alaska, where he served as inspector general of the U.S. Land Office and territorial governor. Swineford was trained in his youth as a printer and would remain involved in the field throughout his life, co-founding The Mining Journal of Marquette in 1873 and later publishing similar periodicals in Alaska. Swineford’s History... and the accompanying appendices cover a wealth of information regarding the mining region of Lake Superior’s south shore, providing a detailed survey of mining, geology, commerce, and industry in the area. History and Review... expands this subject matter to the region’s social history and contains ten plates depicting towns and mines. The present volume also contains the eight-page appendix to this work, not included in Streeter’s Michigan bibliography. STREETER MICHIGAN 6447 (History and Review...); 6449 (Swineford’s History...); 6450 (Appendix...for 1871-73). $1250. One of the Great American Atlases 187. Tanner, Henry S.: A NEW AMERICAN ATLAS CONTAINING MAPS OF THE SEVERAL STATES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION. Philadelphia: H.S. Tanner, 1823. Letterpress half title, 1p. index, and 18pp. text. Engraved titlepage with vignette of the "First Landing of Columbus in the New World," twenty-two fine handcolored double-page engraved maps. Folio, 22 5/8 x 15 3/4 inches. Contemporary red half morocco, the flat spine divided into six compartments by double fillets, lettered in the second, the other compartments with repeat decoration of a single cen-trally placed square arabesque tool. Very good. A fine copy of the first collected edition of "the most distinguished atlas published in the United States during the engraving period" (Ristow), published at the start of the "Golden Age of American Cartography" (Ristow). Tanner’s New American Atlas... contained the most accomplished series of maps of America that had yet appeared in an atlas. Of the greatest significance were the maps of American states. With the exception of the maps of New York State and Florida, these showed two or more states on each double-page map sheet. These maps were drawn up using a careful combination of original surveys and the best existing published sources. The evident high cost of production meant that the publishers took the decision to issue the maps in five separate parts which were published from 1819 to 1823. A second revised edition appeared in 1825. The maps, all of which are carefully handcolored, include a world map, four maps of continents, a map of South America on two sheets, a map of North America on four sheets, and eleven double-page maps of the various states. Contemporary reviews were favorable: the New American Atlas "is decidedly one of the most splendid works of the kind ever executed in this country" (United States Gazette, September 1823). Never "has either America or Europe, produced a geographical description of the several States of the Union, so honorable to the Arts, and so creditable to the nation as Tanner’s American Atlas" (National Advocate, Aug. 25, 1824). The most enthusiastic report came from scholar Jared Sparks, who wrote in the April 1824 issue of the North American Review: "as an American Atlas, we believe Mr. Tanner’s work to hold a rank far above any other, which has been published." HOWES T29. PHILLIPS ATLASES 1374. SABIN 94319. Ristow, "Henry S. Tanner" in American Maps and Map Makers, chapter 13, pp.154, 191-206. $85,000. 188. Taylor, Robert W.: A CLINICAL ATLAS OF VENEREAL SKIN DISEASES INCLUDING DIAGNOSIS, PROGNOSIS, & TREATMENT. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co., 1889. Two volumes bound in one. 427pp. plus fifty-eight chromolithographed plates. Large folio. Modern three-quarter cloth over boards, black leather label, gilt. Some minor age-toning and occasional dampstains in margins. Minor dampstains on endpapers. Final four leaves of text (index) dampstained, final two leaves with small holes (affecting a few letters). Otherwise, remarkably clean and fresh internally. A very good copy. First edition of this striking medical atlas illustrating in great detail numerous types of venereal and skin diseases. The work was originally issued in eight individual parts in 1888 and 1889. Taylor was professor of genitourinary and venereal diseases at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York and a well-known dermatologist. "The starkly realistic color plates, together with a lucid text, make the work of the finest atlases of its kind" – Eimas. A remarkable example of late 19th-century color printing, not in Bennett or McGrath. EIMAS, HEIRS TO HIPPOCRATES 2043. $750. 189. Tenesles, Nicola, and Joseph Barratt: THE INDIAN OF NEW-ENGLAND, AND THE NORTH-EASTERN PROVINCES; A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF AN INDIAN HUNTER, ANCIENT TRADITIONS RELATING TO THE ETCHEMIN TRIBE.... Middletown, Ct.: Charles H. Pelton, 1851. 24pp. 12mo. Original wrappers, stitched. Wrappers separated at spine. Fine, untrimmed and unopened. This copy is from the library of noted Americana collector Frank Siebert. According to the titlepage, this work is "derived from Nicola Tenesles. By a citizen of Middletown, Conn." That citizen signed the preface with the initials, "J.B.," and scholarship credits Barratt as being "J.B." He provides a brief biography of Tenesles, who at the time of composition was fifty-seven years old and a native speaker of Etchemin (i.e. Passamaquoddy) and Micmac. In addition to explanations of society and social customs, Tenesles tells of the Etchemins’ "modes of life, fishing, hunting, &c.," and gives "vocabularies in the Indian and English, giving the names of the animals, birds, and fish; the most complete that has been given for New-England, in the languages of the Etchemin and Micmacs...." Pages 15-23 contain a "Key to the Indian language of New-England," which had appeared as a separate publication the previous year. That edition of 500 was quickly exhausted, and so this new work, incorporating and expanding on the earlier one, was published. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 274. PILLING, ALGONQUIAN, p.34. AYER INDIAN LINGUISTICS (PASAMAQUODDY) 2. FIELD 86. HOWES B168. SIEBERT SALE 80. $750. 190. Thomas, G.F., ed: APPLETONS’ ILLUSTRATED RAILWAY AND STEAM NAVIGATION GUIDE.... New York: D. Appleton & Co., October 1860. 276pp. including numerous in-text maps and illustrations, and frontispiece folding map with advertisements in panels on verso. Original printed wrappers, printed label. Orange "Condensed Time Tables" notice affixed to front wrapper. Slight chipping and small tear at head of spine. Heavy toning on rear wrapper. Overall very good. Comprehensive traveler’s guide containing time tables, seventy-five maps of railroad centers, and descriptions of towns and cities along the routes, all extending west beyond the Mississippi to Minnesota, Missouri, Louisiana, et al. The detailed frontispiece railway map, measuring 19 by 20 inches, extends to lower Canada and includes an inset of the "railways of Texas;" the verso of the map leaf contains a smaller map of the Central Illinois Railway region and numerous advertisements. $1250. The Ohio Country 191. [Thomson, Charles]: AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES OF THE ALIENATION OF THE DELAWARE AND SHAWANESE INDIANS FROM THE BRITISH INTEREST, AND INTO THE MEASURES TAKEN FOR RECOVERING THEIR FRIENDSHIP...TOGETHER WITH THE REMARKABLE JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN FREDERIC POST...WITH NOTES BY THE EDITOR EXPLAINING SUNDRY INDIAN CUSTOMS, &c. WRITTEN IN PENNSYLVANIA. London: Printed for J. Wilkie, 1759. 184pp. plus folding map. Modern calf, leather label. Folding map, neatly backed; loss to a few letters of explanatory text, but not affecting image. Occasional stains and light browning. A very good copy. A work of the greatest importance for the history of the French and Indian War. Thomson argues that the arrogance and greed of the colonial government of Pennsylvania caused the rupture between the Pennsylvania Indians and the British, and temporarily forced the natives to the French side of the fight in the Ohio country. "Apparently printed at Benjamin Franklin’s expense as part of his campaign to discredit the Proprietary government of Pennsylvania" – Streeter. "It was one of the most important works on relations with the Indians that had been published up to that time" – Graff. Christian Post, a Moravian missionary, travelled to the Ohio country in 1758 to negotiate with the Indians, and won them back to the British side. His journal of that trip makes up the second part of this book. The map shows Pennsylvania, with various important western points located. HOWES T210, "b." GRAFF 4139. CHURCH 1029. FIELD 1548. VAIL 535. JONES 498. STREETER SALE 966. SABIN 95562. THOMSON 1145. $18,500. |
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