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186595831Davenport Iowa 1865. Original typographic portrait of Abraham Lincoln composed of his Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1 1863. In near fine condition. Double matted and framed the entire piece measures 26.5 inches by 19 inches. An exceptional piece a rare and desirable piece of Americana. Abraham Lincoln issued the The Emancipation Proclamation or Proclamation 95 on January 1st 1865. The executive order changed the federal legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans from slave to free and made the abolition of slavery an explicit goal of the Union war effort. To ensure emancipation Lincoln pushed for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment and insisted that Reconstruction plans for Southern states require abolition in new state constitutions. Congress passed the 13th Amendment by the necessary two-thirds vote on January 31 1865 and it was ratified by the states on December 6 1865 ending legal slavery. unknown books
1612219257Abraham Ortelius 1612. unbound. very good. Map. Engraving with hand coloring. Image measures 14" x 19.25".<br/><br/> This stunning 1612 map by Abraham Ortelius depicts the Western Hemisphere. At the time it was issued the coastal areas of the New World had been fairly well explored and Europeans were just beginning settlement and colonization. It is notable for depicting Spanish and Portuguese colonies in high detail for these powers were notoriously protective of their geographical surveys.<br><br>This is the first state of the third plate engraved for Ortelius's landmark map of the New World. It is distinguished from the first two plates by the lack of the bulge to the southwest coast of South America. Several other cartographic enhancements are apparent on closer inspections.<br><br>The Solomon Islands are depicted here for the first time since their discovery in 1568 by Alvaro de Mendana. The map identifies several places previously unpublished due to political reasons. These were provided to Ortelius by Haklyut on the basis of recent explorations. The nomenclature in California is also included.<br><br>Perhaps the most notable enhancements on the east coast is the Indian name Wingandkoa and an inlet just above possibly the first depiction of the Chesapeake Bay on a printed map reflecting early English efforts at Colonization in the Outer Banks of the Carolinas. <br><br> Based on Gerard Mercators 1569 World Map this map includes an abundance of cartographic speculation representing the knowledge of the region during the time. The kingdom of Quivira the supposed ancient city of gold in North America. Conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado searched for Quivira for several years to finally find it was no more than American Indian settlement of farming people. Terro del Fueggo first reached by Magellan is here shown to be part of the large speculated continent of Terra Australis that extends westward with the annotation "The southern of Magellanican land as yet unknown".<br><br>Other interesting annotations throughout include "Somewhere here there are islands which according to some have gold" and Patagonia shows a notation that suggests its inhabitants were giants.<br><br>The waters are ornamented with illustrations of ships and a sea monster. In earlier plates the ships are different. A large title cartouche is included in the bottom left. Another scale cartouche appears in the top left. Published in the 1612 or 1608 edition the map is identical in both editions of Ortelius' famous "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" which is historically considered the first modern atlas. Based on the text on verso only 300 copies of this particular edition were ever printed van der Broecke 11. <br><br> Italian text on verso. Minor chipping to edges. Full original margins. Minor wear along original centerfold. <br><br> Abraham Ortelius 1527--1598 a Flemish cartographer and geographer is widely regarded as one of the important and influential cartographers in history. He is known for his "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" which was the first modern atlas.<br/><br/> Abraham Ortelius unknown books
172730277Amsterdam: Michel Charles le Céne 1727. 2 volumes in 1 small folio. 12 1/8 x 7 5/8 inches. Titles printed in red and black. Engraved portrait frontispiece 44 engraved maps plans and views 31 folding 19 in-text engraved illustrations. Contemporary calf spine with raised bands in seven compartments red and green morocco lettering pieces in the second and third the others with a repeat decoration in gilt marbled endpapers and edges.<br/> <br/>A lovely copy of a noted illustrated work on Asia including maps and views of India China and Japan.<br/> <br/>"Johann von Mandelslo was a friend of Adam Olearius and a former page of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Together Mandelslo and Olearius were sent by the Duke on an embassy to the Russian Czar and to the Shah of Persia for the purpose of initiating trade relations with Russia Tartary and Persia. Mandelslo was authorized to leave the embassy in Persia and to continue his travels to the Far East. He went to Surat Agra and Goa in India where he received great kindness from the English merchants and he also visited Ceylon. He gives long accounts of the other parts of the Far East which he did not visit personally. His return was made to England by sea via the Cape of Good Hope which he visited in 1639" Hill. Mandelslo's narrative contains substantial information on the Far East. "Before his death Mandelslo had entrusted his rough notes to Olearius who subsequently published them bound with his numerous official accounts of the embassy" Howgego. Following the first publication Olearius added additional information to subsequent editions. A new edition in French translated by Wicquefort included still more additional material including an account of the travels of Henri de Feynes to China Formosa and Japan. The present edition published in Amsterdam in 1727 is a re-issue of the Van der Aa edition of 1719 published in Leiden; both are celebrated as the best editions being the most complete and with the largest number of illustrations. The plates include views and plans of London Amsterdam Brussels Antwerp Capetown Goa Surat Jedo Tokyo St. Helena Mauritius Madagascar the Canary Islands Java Congo and elsewhere.<br/> <br/>Brunet IV 178; Cordier Japonica 367-368; Cordier Indosinica 883; Cordier Sinica 2076-77; cf. Hill 1073; Howgego M-38; Lust 342. Michel Charles le Céne unknown books
182041461London: Printed for T. N. Longman and O. Rees No. 39 Paternoster-Row 1820. 1st edition thus. 80 volumes in original publishers quarter-bound cloth beige spines over light blue paper-covered boards black lettering printed to front board and paper title labels on spine. 7 volumes period half-bound in black leather spine and edges with gilt & brown lettering and labels to spines over green cloth boards. Boards heavily worn and rubbed edges bumped and spines chipping. Some boards detached. Some volumes with previous owner signature penned to front board B. Fulford. Binding and paper age-toned as one would expect with the ages of the titles with the occasional stain & foxing. Withal a Good original set sold w.a.f. 87 volumes total. 80 of the Cyclopaedia 7 volumes of Plates. 7 volumes of plates b/w engravings. Cyclopaedias: ~ 11-1/4" x 9". Plate Volumes: 11" x 8-3/4" <br/><br/>"I. The Work will be printed in Quarto at the Office of A. Strahan Esq. with New Types cast for the Purpose and on a superfine yellow woven Paper. II. The Work will be comprised in about Twenty Volumes. III. Three sheets stitched in blue paper will be regularly published every Week till the whole be completed price One Shilling. IV. Numerous Plates engraved in a superior stile sic of elegance will be given in the course of the Publication. V. A Part of Half a Volume containing Seventeen Numbers together with the Plates will be regularly published in advance price Eighteen Shillings in boards. VI. A few copies will be printed on a superfine royal woven Paper with proof impressions of the Plates to be sold in Parts of Half Volumes only price One Pound Sixteen Shillings in boards. VII. Number I and Part I was published on Saturday January 2 1802." <br /> <br />"The encyclopaedia was largely Rees' own work and was especially strong in new and well-written biographical articles. The articles on music were written by Dr. Charles Burney and those on botany were mostly written by Sir James Edward Smith the founder of the Linnean Society.Rees's Cyclopaedia is said to have outclassed the Encyclopaedia Britannica of that time and 'remains a monument to the memory of another native of Wales namely dr. Abraham Rees the Encyclopaedist who was a native of Llanbrynmair Montgomeryshire." Cyclopaedia - dot - org. <br /> <br />Dr. Rees' Cyclopaedia is known all over the world and is often hailed as one of the greatest collections of material in the field of Encyclopedias. Printed for T. N. Longman and O. Rees, No. 39 Paternoster-Row hardcover books
1767JC14337London: Printed by T. Jones. and Sold by T. Payne. / Printed by W. Oliver. and Sold by T. Payne and Son. et al 1767-8. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Contemporary specked calf ornate gilt-stamped border on boards gilt-stamped lettering and ornament in spine compartments 5 raised bands; complete set of 9 volumes published and bound as Volume I Parts i-ii Volume II Parts i-iii Volume III Parts i-iv 8vo; pp. xlvi 384; 384; 315; 335; 540 3 blank errata; 403; 432; 462; 505 1 errata. Volumes I-II bound as the first 5 volumes of this set printed by T. Jones 1768 and with the armorial bookplate of Reverend John St. John of Farley; Volume III the last 4 volumes of this set printed by W. Oliver 1767. Bindings just a bit worn with some bumping and very light chipping along spines and edges of boards. Contents somewhat tanned with some faint foxing here and there but overall tight bright clean and unmarked. A nice set of the rare first edition difficult to find in a straight run. <br/><br/> Printed by T. Jones... and Sold by T. Payne... / Printed by W. Oliver... and Sold by T. Payne and Son... [et al] hardcover books
18345037Half brown morocco; ruled raised bands marbled boards. Mouradgea d'Ohsson was a Swedish historian and diplomat of Armenian descent. This important work is a large expansion of his 1824 publication which was the first serious study of Genghis Khan. Kenneth Meyer Setton A History of the Crusades notes "among the general histories of the Mongols d'Ohsson remains unequaled. Avowedly or tacitly most later works rely on it." Two folding genealogical charts; large 1824 folding map of Asia in the thirteenth century to rear of volume four. Previous owner's bookplates removed from front pastedowns. A nice wide-margined set many pages yet uncut in a sound period binding.; lxviii452; 651; 6241; 774.; 8vo 22 x 15 cm; All shipments through USPS insured Priority Mail. Freres van Cleff hardcover books
186425614<p>The second in a series of four racist political cartoons published in 1864 by Bromley & Company which was closely affiliated with the Copperhead New York <i>World</i> newspaper. These prints sought to undermine Abraham Lincoln's chances for reelection by branding him as a "miscegenationist" and playing on white fears of "race-mixing." The cartoon scene pictures several interracial couples enjoying a day at the park eating ice cream discussing wedding plans and a woman's upcoming lecture. Two African American families have white employees a carriage driver and footmen and a babysitter.</p><p>The only other example traced at auction brought $7800 in 2010.</p> <b>ABRAHAM LINCOLN. RACISM.</b>Print. "Miscegenation or the Millennium of Abolitionism." Political Cartoon. New York: Bromley & Co. 1864. 1 p. 20¾ x 13â… in.<p><br /></p><p>American politics had long played on fears of sexual relationships between races. A powerful new word for "race-mixing" was coined in an anonymous December 1863 pamphlet entitled <i>Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races Applied to the American White Man and Negro</i> published in New York. Purporting to advocate the virtues of the "blending of the white and black races on this continent" it was a literary forgery prepared by <i>The World</i> managing editor David Goodman Croly and reporter George Wakeman. The authors were unsuccessful in their attempt to trick President Lincoln into endorsing the work.</p><p>At the far left of the image Abraham Lincoln declares "<i>I shall be proud to number among my intimate friends any member of the Squash family especially the little Squashes.</i>" The African American woman to whom he is speaking replies "<i>I'se 'quainted wid Missus Linkum I is washed far her 'fore de hebenly Miscegenation times was cum. Dont do nuffin now but gallevant 'round wid de white gem'men! he-ah! he-ah! he-ah!</i>"</p><p>Senator Charles Sumner says "<i>Mr. President! Allow me the honor of introducing my very dear friend Miss Dinah Arabella Aramintha Squash.</i>" A white carriage driver complains in the background "<i>Gla-a-ang there 240t! White driver white footmen niggers inside my heys! I wanted a situation when I took this one</i>" while a black man in the carriage tells his companion "<i>Phillis de_ah dars Sumner. We must not cut him if he is walking.</i>" A black woman at a table tells a white man with her "<i>Ah! Horace its-its-its-bully 'specially de cream</i>" and he replies "<i>Ah! my dear Miss Snowball we have at last reached our political and social Paradise. Isn't it extatic</i>"</p><p>To the right are two couples embracing each a white woman and an African American man. The first white women tells her partner "<i>Oh! You dear creature. I am so agitated! Go and ask Pa</i>" to which he replies "<i>Lubly Julia Anna name de day when Brodder Beecher shall make us one!</i>" The second white woman says "<i>Adolphus now you'll be sure to come to my lecture to morrow night won't you</i>" to which he answers "<i>I'll be there Honey on de front seat sure!</i>" In the background are various immigrant minorities viewing the scene. One exclaims "<i>Most hextwadinary! Aw neva witnessed the like in all me life if I did dem me!</i>" and another adds "<i>Mine Got vat a guntry vat a beebles!</i>" An Irish girl complains "<i>And is it to drag nagur babies that I left old Ireland Bad luck to me.</i>"</p><p>Manton Marble the editor of <i>The World</i> collaborated with printmaker Bromley & Company to issue a series of four anti-Lincoln "Political Caricatures." The present example was the No. 2 in that series. No. 1 was "The Grave of the Union or Major Jack Downing's Dream"; No. 3 "The Abolition Catastrophe Or the November Smash-up"; and No. 4 "The Miscegenation Ball."</p><p>Republicans responded by trying to turn the "miscegenation" charge against the Democrats. A Republican print "The Political "Siamese" Twins: The Offspring of Chicago Miscegenation" pictures McClellan and Pendleton joined together despite their very different ideas on ending the war.</p><p>Although Abraham Lincoln won New York states' electoral votes in 1860 Stephen Douglas had carried New York City and its environs. Financial elites fearing that civil war would ruin business and recent immigrants fearing competition with free black labor supported Douglas. Lincoln's unpopularity in New York City during the Civil War was a factor in the deadly 1863 Draft Riots.</p><p>In 1864 Lincoln again won the states' electoral votes while New York City favored his Democratic opponent McClellan. In fact Lincoln's majority dropped from 50136 votes in 1860 to only 7373 votes in 1864 with approximately 50000 more total votes cast than in 1860.</p><p>Bromley and Company continued to sell the caricatures after the election as this January 1865 advertisement from an Ohio newspaper makes clear. Another advertisement assured purchasers that the set of four prints available for $1 were "sent on wooden rollers to insure safe carriage."</p><p><b><i>The World</i></b> 1860-1931 a daily independent newspaper was published in New York City. Alexander Cummings founded it as a religious Republican outlet in 1860. August Belmont and others purchased it in 1862 changing the editorial focus. With editor Manton Marble 1834-1917 <i>The World</i> soon became the country's leading Democratic newspaper. In 1864 Union authorities shut down <i>The World</i>and another paper for three days after they published forged documents purportedly written by Lincoln that were really part of a hoax to manipulate the price of gold. The paper actively supported George B. McClellan against Lincoln in 1864.</p><p><b>Condition</b></p><p>Fine for exhibit despite flaws. Cropped with loss of "Political Caricature No. 2" from top edge and part of printed pricing information from bottom edge publisher's name rubbed out from the copyright statement lacking ½" from lower left corners a few short tape repairs by the edges a 2" closed tear through the second dialogue bubble along the top edge and a 3" closed tear parallel to the right edge. Mount remnants on verso.</p> books
180037722London 1800. Hand-coloured and colour-printed mezzotint engraving by Dunkerton. The most strikingly beautiful flower plates ever to be printed in England.<br/> <br/>"The plant shown in this picture Selenicereus grandiflorus L. Britton & Rose. is also known as the Moon Cactus from the moon-like appearance of the fully open flower. Thornton also says that. it was sometimes called the `Torch Thistle' as it `exhibits to the observer a figure equally grotesque as terrific with flowers possessing actually the blazing appearance of a torch.' The plant is a native of Jamaica and Cuba. This picture is one of the most arresting in the collection. The plant itself is of interest not only for its large and beautiful flowers but as a representative of those which growing in a hot and dry environment open their flowers at night for pollination by night-flying insects pollinators being scarce in such climates during the heat of the day. This has a curious effect where public botanic gardens are concerned since these are shut at night to visitors who thus never see the plant in full bloom." Ronald King. The Temple of Flora by Robert Thornton. 1981 p.74. Thornton's Temple of Flora is the greatest English colour-plate flower book. ".Thornton inherited a competent fortune and trained as a doctor. He appears to have had considerable success in practice and was appointed both physician to the Marylebone Dispensary and lecturer in medical botany at Guy's and St. Thomas's hospitals. But quite early in his career he embarked on his. great work. What Redouté produced under the patronage of L'Héritier Marie Antoinette the Empress Josephine Charles X and the Duchesse de Berry Thornton set out to do alone. Numerous important artists were engaged. twenty-eight paintings of flowers commissioned from Abraham Pether known as `Moonlight Pether' Philip Reinagle . Sydenham Edwards and Peter Henderson. The result. involved Thornton in desperate financial straits. In an attempt to extricate himself he organized the Royal Botanic Lottery under the patronage of the Prince Regent. it is easy to raise one's eyebrows at Thornton's unworldly and injudicious approach to publishing. But he produced. one of the loveliest books in the world" Alan Thomas Great Books and Book Collecting pp.142-144 First state of plate A. unknown books
18602444New York: New York Tribune 1860. First edition. Original wrappers. Very Good. FIRST EDITION of Lincoln's historic Cooper Union Address delivered on February 27 1860 at the Cooper Institute in New York. The speech is largely credited to having launched Lincoln's Presidential bid. In the fall of 1859 James A. Briggs who served on the lecture committee of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn invited presidential candidate hopeful Abraham Lincoln to speak to a New York audience on any subject of his choosing. Lincoln accepted the invitation choosing to speak of the current political climate in America. William O. Stoddard an Illinois journalist who worked for President Lincoln during his administration noted that "No previous effort of his life cost him so much hard work as did that Cooper Institute speech" and that the resulting speech "was a masterly review of the history of the slavery question from the foundation of the government with a clear bold statesmanlike presentation of the then present attitude of parties and of sections. It exhibited a careful research a thorough knowledge and understanding of political movements and developments that staggered even the most laborious and painstaking students. It showed a grasp a breadth a mental training and a depth of penetration which compelled the admiration of critical scholars" Stoddard Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. <br /> <br /> "Horace Greeley had rushed out the speech in pamphlet form as 'Tribune Tract' Number 4 under the headline: National Politics. Speech of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois Delivered at the Cooper Institute Monday Feb. 27 1860. The pamphlet was ready March 6 while Lincoln was still traveling through Connecticut. When he returned to New York he found it already available to the public. <br /> <br /> "Greeley marketed the eleven-page Tribune edition aggressively. As a bonus the publication included Wisconsin Republican senator James Doolittle's February 24 speech attaching 'the new doctrine of judicial infallibility' as did Lincoln's address at Cooper Union just three days later and also like Cooper Union railing agains 'the headstrong zeal pursued by the other party to force slavery into Territories'.<br /> <br /> "It was as if Republicans were now speaking with one voice: identifying with the founders attacking the Dred Scott decision rebuking John Brown and drawing their own 'dividing line' on slavery extension. Lincoln did not say it alone; but he said it best. 'Mr. Lincoln's is probably the most systematic and complete defense yet made of the Republican position with regard to Slavery' the Tribune declared in its initial advertisement for the reprints. 'We believe no speech has yet been made better calculated to win the intelligent minds over to our standard. Will the friends of the Cause everywhere aid us to circulate it'<br /> <br /> "The answer was yes. The Tribune Tract edition proved enormously popular going through at least five additional editions. Lincoln's New York oration was enjoying a new and sustained life in pamphlet form and was being purchased individually and in bulk alike by admirers and groups across the North.<br /> <br /> "The Cooper Union address tested whether Lincoln's appeal could extend from the podium to the page and from the rollicking campaigns of the rural West to the urban East. Cooper Union held the promise of transforming Lincoln from a regional phenomenon to a national figure. Lincoln knew it and rose to the occasion." Harold Holzer Lincoln at the Copper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President.<br /> <br /> New York: New York Tribune Tribune Tracts No. 4 1860. Octavo original wrappers; custom box. Lincoln's speech comprises pages 1-11 out of a total of 16 pages. With New York Tribune ads and subscription terms on rear wrapper. Only a spot of soiling in the bottom margin of the rear wrapper creeping lightly into preceding leaves. A beautiful copy in a remarkable state of preservation. RARE. New York Tribune unknown books
18841562Various places in South Africa Botswana 1884. Overall very good. 295pp. plus five additional letters totaling 60pp. altogether more than 38000 words. Composed mostly on small octavo sheets. Some wear to edges of initial and final few leaves slightly affecting text. Light even tanning. Written in a consistent legible script. An extensive and outstanding manuscript account of travel and exploration in southern Africa during late 1883 and early 1884 by Abraham Anscher a Polish Jewish immigrant to Chicago. The manuscript is composed in the form of a letter addressed to Edith Delia Rogalski but really comprises a travelogue or diary with entries written from September 1883 to mid-January 1884. Five additional letters accompany this account addressed to Edith's later husband Israel Jackson Roe; her parents Samuel and Sarah Rogalski; and her brother Benny. <br/><br/>Anscher's descriptions of his experiences in Africa cover a wide variety of topics including big game hunting; interactions with local indigenous peoples and their rulers; encounters with white missionaries traders and other hunters; ethnographic botanical geological and zoological observations and much more. His account is by turns dramatic and amusing interspersed with personal recollections of family and home cultural and religious notes his addressee was also a Polish-speaking Jewish immigrant to Chicago and reminiscences of earlier adventures in Colorado Utah the California gold fields and elsewhere.<br/><br/>Little can be readily discerned of the details of Anscher's biography beyond the pages of this manuscript. He was born in Mariampol then a part of Poland and today in Lithuania but clearly came to the United States at an early age and was well-educated. He was an adventurer at heart and spent several years in the West perhaps in the U.S. Army for part of this time and partly as a solo fortune seeker. At some point during the mid- to late-1870s he decided to take his adventuring talents to South Africa in order to satisfy his own wanderlust and to create a business of organizing guided African exploration and hunting. The stakes of his chosen profession are mentioned several times throughout his narrative such as when a party member dies of an unspecified illness "My lot is a very hard one just now and my position as promoter and chief adventurer is anything but enviable". From the additional letters present it is apparent that the young Ms. Rogalski was a former love interest of Anscher who spurned his affections and became engaged to a mutual friend. Indeed a letter here addressed to the fiancé offers an apology for presumption of writing to Edith in such a lengthy and cordial manner; at one time all of the individuals addressed by Anscher were a part of the same immigrant community in Chicago.<br/><br/>This absorbing account follows a lengthy excursion organized and led by Anscher across the Transvaal through Bechuanaland Matabeleland and beyond to a settlement he calls Tatti probably Francistown on the Tati River traveling through parts of modern-day South Africa and Botswana. They contain many details of great interest and his vignettes are well-written and dramatically delivered. An immense boa constrictor drops out of the treetops strangling a springbok before his eyes. He finds a five-year-old girl with a broken leg the only survivor of a village massacre; he sets her leg nurses her for a month and eventually conveys her to a missionary station. A young zebra joins the traveling party incurring the jealousy of the team's dogs. A large lizard is trained to sleep in a tent but only after his teeth are removed for safety. <br/><br/>His missive begins in medias res with his party already underway in South Africa near the Orange River in what he calls the "Tarka bush" during mid-September 1883. Anscher decides having missed his last opportunity to send mail "Now to put myself on guard against mischance and not be like the traditional foolish virgins who did not keep their lamps properly trimmed.to have a so-called running letter always open and ready" for his recipient. The group first traveled northeast near and along the Orange allowing Anscher to wax discursive concerning the river's wildlife:<br/><br/>"The wanderings of the river sometimes flowed through immense chasms over hung with stupendous precipices and then like a translucent lake with beautiful towering mimosas and willows reflected from its bosom and a rich variety of fine plumage though without a song; wild geese ducks snipes flamingoes in perfect security feeding on the banks beneath the green shade or basking in the sun's rays on the verdant islands far from the fowler's snare. The swallows also mounting aloft or skimming the surface of the mirror of the stream; while the ravens with their hoarse note might be seen seeking their daily food among the watery tribe or cawing on the bending tops of the weeping willows."<br/><br/>The party leaves the river and skirts the southern edge of the Kalahari to reach Lattakoo modern-day Dithakong a traditional departure point for excursions deeper into the interior of Africa during the 19th century. Thence they headed north again stopping often to hunt for food and sport:<br/><br/>"When on the Kama plains I went one night accompanied by Tytler and Winsloe and one native to a pool of water about two miles from camp. We did not wait more than about half an hour when we heard loud lapping at the water. The natives told me 'Ronimala ' be silent 'There is a lion.' Our next visitors were two buffaloes but we did not fire lest we attract the attention of the lions. Next came three giraffes and one we knocked over on the spot and wounded another but who got away. I have seen plenty of game in my time. I saw and hunted antelope and elk on the Laramie plains and in the Meek Mountains in America before the Union Pacific RR was built. I saw quite enough of buffalo in the Smokey Hills and Montana as well as south of the Green Horn Mountains between California and Arizona but such a variety of game big game and in such number as I saw some years ago in the Transvaal & Swaziland and hereabouts now I never saw anywhere."<br/><br/>As the excursion proceeds further into the interior their encounters with native tribes increases and Anscher observes them keenly and reports with a detailed if somewhat jaded 19th-century eye:<br/><br/>"The town of Kalabeg is already in the Matabele country. Of course they have no religion of any kind for there is no such thing as natural religion. Men acquire knowledge good or bad from instruction of men with more fertile brains. This holds good all the world over. The rainmakers here hold the position of prophets and divines of the so-called civilized countries. These rainmakers who are also the doctors and sextons have great influence over the minds of the people and are held in great estimation by them superior to that of their king who is likewise compelled to yield to the dictates of this personage the rainmaker. Nothing can exceed the freaks of fancy and the adroitness with which the rainmaker can awe the public mind and lead thousands captive at his will. Each tribe has one or more of them and they generally come from other countries for a prophet is seldom honored in his own country."<br/><br/>Arriving in Shoshong in what is now central Botswana Anscher meets some missionaries and witnesses a tribal gathering which leads him to remember the religious theories of a familial acquaintance back home:<br/><br/>"Was present at a Pitsoh or native congress this forenoon held by the natives about some tribe affairs. About 12000 natives present and wound up the proceedings with a war dance. As these tribes are considered by some religious enthusiasts to be of the lost tribes of Israel not your own but ours and as your uncle once spoke to me about them while at Chicago I would therefore request you to kindly tell him to disabuse his mind on this point and that the only peg whereon the so-called lost tribe maniacs hang their argument in favor of their hobby is that the natives practice a certain custom which history attributes to our father Abraham. But this ceremony takes place instead of at the age of 7 days old when they are about fourteen years old and even when older. But they have no tradition as to why it is done. If this simple custom entitles them to be call Jews why for my part they are quite welcome to the honor. But this is about all there is to build the theory on." <br/><br/>Despite his occasionally sarcastic and somewhat disparaging demeanor toward the natives he encounters Anchser seems overall to have a decent connection with them at a personal level and to understand a basic sense of shared humanity. In one particularly poignant episode Anscher meets a mother and father who have walked 300 miles to ransom their two teenaged sons enslaved by a local chief: <br/><br/>"Neither the man's looks nor ornaments excited the smallest emotion in the bosom of the chief and when he was solicited by one who felt something of a father's love to pity the old man who had walked so far and brought his all to purchase his own children he at last replied with a sneer that one of the boys died last year and for the other he wants an ox at least. 'But I have not even a goat' pleaded the old man 'the Matabele have taken all I had and destroyed my hut.' A sigh it was a heavy sigh burst from his bosom one dead and the other not permitted to see anymore. The chief walked off while the man sat leaning his head on the palm of his hand and his eye fixed on the ground apparently lost to everything but his grief. On taking up his trinkets to retire I told him to keep up a good heart that I would try to get him his boy. He started at the sound of my voice kneeled before me and laid down his trinket saying 'take all this but get me back my boy.' I got him his boy for a colored blanket and 1 lb. of tobacco."<br/><br/>When sad and homesick Anscher recalls his time in Chicago and in the West but it is often insufficient comfort. After departing Shoshong for Tatti Anscher must leave his group to "pioneer" a trail to the settlement:<br/><br/>"On the evening of my first day's journey I had to off-saddle a term used here on a waterless plain picketed my horse and went to bed minus my supper or dinner. I awoke suddenly by something touching me on my forehead like the cold nose of a dog but I could see nothing in the dark except my horse who was laying down poor fellow. After this occurrence I could sleep no longer. My head was hot my lips parched and had no taste even for a cigarette. I daresay some of you have experienced waiting for a train early in the morning in some out of the way small RR station where moments appear like days. Well waiting there is not a patch to lying in the dark in Africa's solitude waiting for daylight to come. I tried to divert my mind and think of anything but water but I could not do it! I tried to cool myself by thinking of Chicago in the month of Feb. but that only led me to snow and from snow to water. One may as well try Ovid's 'Remedia Amoris' to cure him from hankering after the girl he loves as to try Chicago in my case as a remedy when thirsty." <br/><br/>The difficulties of obtaining food and water establishing safe camp and finding routes through minimally charted territory evident in this final passage are an ever-present theme of the expedition but Anscher eventually guided his group to their destination where they intended to stay for a month or two before heading further north to Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. The final entries describe life at the settlement and how a Portuguese colonial explorer and administrator Alexandre de Serpo Pinto whom they met in camp would be entrusted with the present manuscript as he traveled to Namaqualand on the west coast of Africa in the hopes that it would eventually find its way aboard a ship bound for America. Pinto was a fascinating figure in his own right -- he explored the interior of Africa for Portugal in the 1860s and 1870s and after this meeting with our author became the Portuguese Consul in Zanzibar.<br/><br/>Anscher's trail goes somewhat cold after January 1884 when he relinquished control of this massive "running letter." An additional fragment of a later letter to Edith Rogalski included here forwarded via a mining acquaintance in Kimberly contains a few tantalizing details of his onward expedition including an attack on their party near Victoria Falls by a group of slavers led by "an American Negro." He was also working on a journal and taking photographs which are mentioned several times throughout this account but the survival of this other material as well as the ultimate conclusion of this expedition are not known. A wonderful unpublished account of African exploration by a seemingly unlikely and apparently otherwise unknown American character. A complete transcription of the manuscript is available upon request. unknown books
18843195451884. 295pp. plus five additional letters totaling 60pp. altogether more than 38000 words. Composed mostly on small octavo sheets. Some wear to edges of initial and final few leaves slightly affecting text. Light even tanning. Written in a consistent legible script. Overall very good. 295pp. plus five additional letters totaling 60pp. altogether more than 38000 words. Composed mostly on small octavo sheets. An extensive and outstanding manuscript account of travel and exploration in southern Africa during late 1883 and early 1884 by Abraham Anscher a Polish Jewish immigrant to Chicago. The manuscript is composed in the form of a letter addressed to Edith Delia Rogalski but really comprises a travelogue or diary with entries written from September 1883 to mid-January 1884. Five additional letters accompany this account addressed to Edith's later husband Israel Jackson Roe; her parents Samuel and Sarah Rogalski; and her brother Benny. <br/> <br/>Anscher's descriptions of his experiences in Africa cover a wide variety of topics including big game hunting; interactions with local indigenous peoples and their rulers; encounters with white missionaries traders and other hunters; ethnographic botanical geological and zoological observations and much more. His account is by turns dramatic and amusing interspersed with personal recollections of family and home cultural and religious notes his addressee was also a Polish-speaking Jewish immigrant to Chicago and reminiscences of earlier adventures in Colorado Utah the California gold fields and elsewhere.<br/> <br/>Little can be readily discerned of the details of Anscher's biography beyond the pages of this manuscript. He was born in Mariampol then a part of Poland and today in Lithuania but clearly came to the United States at an early age and was well-educated. He was an adventurer at heart and spent several years in the West perhaps in the U.S. Army for part of this time and partly as a solo fortune seeker. At some point during the mid- to late-1870s he decided to take his adventuring talents to South Africa in order to satisfy his own wanderlust and to create a business of organizing guided African exploration and hunting. The stakes of his chosen profession are mentioned several times throughout his narrative such as when a party member dies of an unspecified illness "My lot is a very hard one just now and my position as promoter and chief adventurer is anything but enviable". From the additional letters present it is apparent that the young Ms. Rogalski was a former love interest of Anscher who spurned his affections and became engaged to a mutual friend. Indeed a letter here addressed to the fiancé offers an apology for the presumption of writing to Edith in such a lengthy and cordial manner; at one time all of the individuals addressed by Anscher were a part of the same immigrant community in Chicago.<br/> <br/>This absorbing account follows a lengthy excursion organized and led by Anscher across the Transvaal through Bechuanaland Matabeleland and beyond to a settlement he calls Tatti probably Francistown on the Tati River traveling through parts of modern-day South Africa and Botswana. They contain many details of great interest and his vignettes are well-written and dramatically delivered. An immense boa constrictor drops out of the treetops strangling a springbok before his eyes. He finds a five-year-old girl with a broken leg the only survivor of a village massacre; he sets her leg nurses her for a month and eventually conveys her to a missionary station. A young zebra joins the traveling party incurring the jealousy of the team's dogs. A large lizard is trained to sleep in a tent but only after his teeth are removed for safety. <br/> <br/>His missive begins in medias res with his party already underway in South Africa near the Orange River in what he calls the "Tarka bush" during mid-September 1883. Anscher decides having missed his last opportunity to send mail "Now to put myself on guard against mischance and not be like the traditional foolish virgins who did not keep their lamps properly trimmed.to have a so-called running letter always open and ready" for his recipient. The group first traveled northeast near and along the Orange allowing Anscher to wax discursive concerning the river's wildlife:<br/> <br/>"The wanderings of the river sometimes flowed through immense chasms over hung with stupendous precipices and then like a translucent lake with beautiful towering mimosas and willows reflected from its bosom and a rich variety of fine plumage though without a song; wild geese ducks snipes flamingoes in perfect security feeding on the banks beneath the green shade or basking in the sun's rays on the verdant islands far from the fowler's snare. The swallows also mounting aloft or skimming the surface of the mirror of the stream; while the ravens with their hoarse note might be seen seeking their daily food among the watery tribe or cawing on the bending tops of the weeping willows."<br/> <br/>The party leaves the river and skirts the southern edge of the Kalahari to reach Lattakoo modern-day Dithakong a traditional departure point for excursions deeper into the interior of Africa during the 19th century. Thence they headed north again stopping often to hunt for food and sport:<br/> <br/>"When on the Kama plains I went one night accompanied by Tytler and Winsloe and one native to a pool of water about two miles from camp. We did not wait more than about half an hour when we heard loud lapping at the water. The natives told me 'Ronimala ' be silent 'There is a lion." Our next visitors were two buffaloes but we did not fire lest we attract the attention of the lions. Next came three giraffes and one we knocked over on the spot and wounded another but who got away. I have seen plenty of game in my time. I saw and hunted antelope and elk on the Laramie plains and in the Meek Mountains in America before the Union Pacific RR was built. I saw quite enough of buffalo in the Smokey Hills and Montana as well as south of the Green Horn Mountains between California and Arizona but such a variety of game big game and in such number as I saw some years ago in the Transvaal & Swaziland and hereabouts now I never saw anywhere."<br/> <br/>As the excursion proceeds further into the interior their encounters with native tribes increases and Anscher observes them keenly and reports with a detailed if somewhat jaded 19th-century eye:<br/> <br/>"The town of Kalabeg is already in the Matabele country. Of course they have no religion of any kind for there is no such thing as natural religion. Men acquire knowledge good or bad from instruction of men with more fertile brains. This holds good all the world over. The rainmakers here hold the position of prophets and divines of the so-called civilized countries. These rainmakers who are also the doctors and sextons have great influence over the minds of the people and are held in great estimation by them superior to that of their king who is likewise compelled to yield to the dictates of this personage the rainmaker. Nothing can exceed the freaks of fancy and the adroitness with which the rainmaker can awe the public mind and lead thousands captive at his will. Each tribe has one or more of them and they generally come from other countries for a prophet is seldom honored in his own country."<br/> <br/>Arriving in Shoshong in what is now central Botswana Anscher meets some missionaries and witnesses a tribal gathering which leads him to remember the religious theories of a familial acquaintance back home:<br/> <br/>"Was present at a Pitsoh or native congress this forenoon held by the natives about some tribe affairs. About 12000 natives present and wound up the proceedings with a war dance. As these tribes are considered by some religious enthusiasts to be of the lost tribes of Israel not your own but ours and as your uncle once spoke to me about them while at Chicago I would therefore request you to kindly tell him to disabuse his mind on this point and that the only peg whereon the so-called lost tribe maniacs hang their argument in favor of their hobby is that the natives practice a certain custom which history attributes to our father Abraham. But this ceremony takes place instead of at the age of 7 days old when they are about fourteen years old and even when older. But they have no tradition as to why it is done. If this simple custom entitles them to be call Jews why for my part they are quite welcome to the honor. But this is about all there is to build the theory on." <br/> <br/>Despite his occasionally sarcastic and somewhat disparaging demeanor toward the natives he encounters Anchser seems overall to have a decent connection with them at a personal level and to understand a basic sense of shared humanity. In one particularly poignant episode Anscher meets a mother and father who have walked 300 miles to ransom their two teenaged sons enslaved by a local chief: <br/> <br/>"Neither the man's looks nor ornaments excited the smallest emotion in the bosom of the chief and when he was solicited by one who felt something of a father's love to pity the old man who had walked so far and brought his all to purchase his own children he at last replied with a sneer that one of the boys died last year and for the other he wants an ox at least. 'But I have not even a goat' pleaded the old man 'the Matabele have taken all I had and destroyed my hut.' A sigh it was a heavy sigh burst from his bosom one dead and the other not permitted to see anymore. The chief walked off while the man sat leaning his head on the palm of his hand and his eye fixed on the ground apparently lost to everything but his grief. On taking up his trinkets to retire I told him to keep up a good heart that I would try to get him his boy. He started at the sound of my voice kneeled before me and laid down his trinket saying 'take all this but get me back my boy.' I got him his boy for a colored blanket and 1 lb. of tobacco."<br/> <br/>When sad and homesick Anscher recalls his time in Chicago and in the West but it is often insufficient comfort. After departing Shoshong for Tatti Anscher must leave his group to "pioneer" a trail to the settlement:<br/> <br/>"On the evening of my first day's journey I had to off-saddle a term used here on a waterless plain picketed my horse and went to bed minus my supper or dinner. I awoke suddenly by something touching me on my forehead like the cold nose of a dog but I could see nothing in the dark except my horse who was laying down poor fellow. After this occurrence I could sleep no longer. My head was hot my lips parched and had no taste even for a cigarette. I daresay some of you have experienced waiting for a train early in the morning in some out of the way small RR station where moments appear like days. Well waiting there is not a patch to lying in the dark in Africa's solitude waiting for daylight to come. I tried to divert my mind and think of anything but water but I could not do it! I tried to cool myself by thinking of Chicago in the month of Feb. but that only led me to snow and from snow to water. One may as well try Ovid's 'Remedia Amoris' to cure him from hankering after the girl he loves as to try Chicago in my case as a remedy when thirsty." <br/> <br/>The difficulties of obtaining food and water establishing safe camp and finding routes through minimally charted territory evident in this final passage are an ever-present theme of the expedition but Anscher eventually guided his group to their destination where they intended to stay for a month or two before heading further north to Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. The final entries describe life at the settlement and how a Portuguese colonial explorer and administrator Alexandre de Serpo Pinto whom they met in camp would be entrusted with the present manuscript as he traveled to Namaqualand on the west coast of Africa in the hopes that it would eventually find its way aboard a ship bound for America. Pinto was a fascinating figure in his own right -- he explored the interior of Africa for Portugal in the 1860s and 1870s and after this meeting with our author became the Portuguese Consul in Zanzibar.<br/> <br/>Anscher's trail goes somewhat cold after January 1884 when he relinquished control of this massive "running letter." An additional fragment of a later letter to Edith Rogalski included here forwarded via a mining acquaintance in Kimberly contains a few tantalizing details of his onward expedition including an attack on their party near Victoria Falls by a group of slavers led by "an American Negro." He was also working on a journal and taking photographs which are mentioned several times throughout this account but the survival of this other material as well as the ultimate conclusion of this expedition are not known. A wonderful unpublished account of African exploration by a seemingly unlikely and apparently otherwise unknown American character. unknown books
18641142051864. Rare Civil War era military endorsement signed by Abraham Lincoln as President. Two pages the appointment is dated July 26th 1864 addressed to Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton and contains a request from J.M. Francis of Hudson County New Jersey that Edward Z. Laurence be appointed Secretary of Subsistence in the Volunteer Army of the United States. The request is approved and endorsed at the conclusion by Lincoln "Let the appointment be made if his service can be made useful A. Lincoln Aug. 17 1864." Framed. The entire piece measures 27 inches by 9.5 inches. In very good condition with a bold inscription from Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through its Civil War and in doing so preserved the Union of the United States of America abolished slavery and strengthened the federal government. Lincoln began constructing his cabinet on election night and sought to create a cabinet that would unite the Republican party. His eventual cabinet would include his primary rivals for the Republican nomination and although his appointees held differing views on economic issues all were opposed to the expansion of slavery into the territories of the United States. The most senior cabinet post of Secretary of State was appointed to William Seward who had recently failed to win the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and Lincoln's choice for Secretary of the Treasury was Ohio Senator Salmon P. Chase Seward's primary political rival and the leader of a radical faction of the Republican party that sought the immediate abolition of slavery. unknown books
17183173London: W. Pearson 1718. First edition. Very Good. Small folio 240 x 200 mm. Collates 4 xiv 175 1 blank: complete with an engraved vignette on title-page numerous engraved head and tail pieces and initials and an engraved vignette headpiece on page 1. With a dedication to Sir Isaac Newton. Contemporary speckled calf rebacked to style. Boards double-ruled in gilt. Spine with a red morocco label lettered and ruled in gilt. All edges speckled brown. Some minor soiling to final two pages. Some light toning from glue on endpaper edges. Previous owner's armorial bookplate on front pastedown. Overall a very good copy. <br/><br/>Abraham De Moivre was a mathematician and a close friend of Sir Isaac Newton to whom he dedicated the first edition of this work. "His work on the theory of probability surpasses anything done by any other mathematician except Laplace" Cajori. "De Moivre's representation of the solutions of the then current problems of games of chance tended to be more general than those of Montmort. In addition he developed a series of algebraic and analytic tools for the theory of probability like a 'new algebra' for the solution of the problem of coincidences which foreshadowed Boolean algebra the method of generating functions or the theory of recurrent series for the solution of differential equations. In the Doctrine de Moivre offered an introduction which contains the main concepts such as probability condition probability expectation dependent and independent events the multiplication rule and the binomial distribution" DNB. Very Good. W. Pearson unknown books
1864WRCAM55254N.p. perhaps Virginia 1864. 3pp. on a single folded sheet. with: OATH OF ALLEGIANCE. N.p. perhaps Harper's Ferry Va. 1864. Single sheet 3 x 7 3/4 inches. The OATH affixed to a partial manuscript ledger report recording lost military stores for an unidentified unit in 1863 which is itself glued to the verso of the last blank page of the Amnesty Proclamation. Minor toning light foxing some wrinkling. Overall very good. In a cloth chemise and green half morocco and cloth slipcase spine gilt. An exceedingly rare separate printing - perhaps by a military field press - of President Abraham Lincoln's December 1863 presidential proclamation offering amnesty to citizens of the Confederacy providing they take an oath that they "will abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves" i.e. the Emancipation Proclamation. When the number of persons in any state taking the oath reached ten percent of the number of voters in 1860 this group of loyal voters could form a state government that could be recognized by the President. The Amnesty Proclamation was issued with President Lincoln's third Annual Message to Congress i.e. State of the Union Address on December 8 1863. It was appended per the language in the title here to the official printing of that address but also printed separately. <br> <br> The present printing almost certainly executed in the weeks after Lincoln's State of the Union was likely hastily composed from the text of the official printing of the proclamation. The work carries no imprint information of any kind and bears the hallmarks of a military field press printing. <br> <br> Toward the close of 1863 with the Confederate Army in full retreat discussions in Congress centered on how to restore the Southern states to the Union. "The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is past" announced Lincoln. Now it was the duty of Congress to ensure that all citizens in the South regardless of race were guaranteed the equal protection of the law. A number of competing proposals emerged from deliberations but in the end during his message to Congress on Dec. 8 1863 Lincoln declared reconstruction of the South a wholly executive responsibility and "offered 'full pardon.with restoration of all rights of property except as to slaves' to all rebels who would take an oath of future loyalty to the Constitution and pledge to obey acts of Congress and presidential proclamations relating to slavery" Donald p.471. <br> <br> Those excluded from taking the oath were the highest ranking members of the Confederacy - government officials judges military and naval officers above the rank of army colonel or navy lieutenant former congressmen and "all who have engaged in treating colored persons or white persons otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war." Lincoln further encouraged the southern states to make provisions "in relation to the freed people of such State which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom provide for their education and which may yet be consistent as a temporary arrangement with their present condition as a laboring landless and homeless class." <br> <br> "Lincoln indicated that this was only one plan for reconstructing the rebel South and while it was the best he could think of for now he would gladly consider others and possibly adopt them. He might even modify his own classes of pardons if that seemed warrantable. Afterward almost everybody but die-hard Democrats seemed happy with the plan" Oates p.371. <br> <br> The proclamation is accompanied by a partially-printed OATH OF ALLEGIANCE dated 1864 and datelined Harper's Ferry Virginia. The oath requires the taker to "solemnly swear that I will support protect and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States against all enemies." It is signed in type by Henry A. Urban Lieutenant and A.D.C. Aide-de-Camp. The oath is printed with a blank space for the name of the person taking the oath and the date. There is also a space for people who know the oath-taker and "certify on honor that we know Mr. blank to be a true and loyal man to the Federal Government." The OATH is affixed to a partial manuscript ledger report recording lost military stores for an unidentified unit in 1863 <br> <br> This printing of the Amnesty Proclamation is just as interesting as the government broadside printing or the first pamphlet printing as this edition would have also been used in the field by Union troops encountering Confederate rebels. The composition of the beginning of the seventh paragraph is consistent with the first pamphlet printing of the Amnesty Proclamation Monaghan 191 and not the broadside printing. The text here begins "Therefore I Abraham Lincoln."; in the broadside printing the "Therefore" is present at the end of the preceding paragraph. The simple and somewhat loose execution of the composition seen here is consistent with field press printings as is the lack of an imprint of any kind. Perhaps this simple production was intended for Union troops to literally hand to Confederate soldiers to read. The presence of the portion of the ledger and the Oath of Allegiance lends credence to the notion that this edition of the Amnesty Proclamation was produced for use by the military. <br> <br> This printing of the Amnesty Proclamation is not in Monaghan OCLC nor in any reference work we could find. In fact we could find no other three-page editions of the Amnesty Proclamation at all. Surely printed in small numbers to begin with it is perhaps a unique surviving example. MONAGHAN 191 ref. SABIN 41162 note. David Herbert Donald: LINCOLN New York. 1995 p.471. Stephen B. Oates: WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE: A LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN New York. 1977 p.371. hardcover books
1865WRCAM53482Washington D.C. 1865. Broadside 13 x 8 1/4 inches. Faint dust-soiling minor edge wear with a few short marginal tears repaired on verso. Very good. A rare first broadside printing announcing two of President Lincoln's three final proclamations "Closing Certain Ports" and "Port of Key West to Remain Open" both issued on April 11 1865. President Lincoln issued these proclamations just three days before he was cut down by assassin John Wilkes Booth. Both proclamations are signed in type by Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward. <br> <br> The first proclamation "Closing Certain Ports" shut down a large number of Confederate ports all listed on the proclamation and indicates that "all rights of importation warehousing and other privileges shall in respect to the ports aforesaid cease until they have again been opened by order of the President; and if while said ports are closed any ship or vessel from beyond the United States or having on board any articles subject to duties shall attempt to enter any such port the same together with its tackle apparel furniture and cargo shall be forfeited to the United States." It was President Lincoln's 126th proclamation. <br> <br> The second proclamation "Port of Key West to Remain Open" was issued to amend the previous proclamation. It states that "the port of Key West in the state of Florida was inadvertently included among those which are not open to commerce" and declares that "said port of Key West is and shall remain open to foreign and domestic commerce." It was President Lincoln's 127th proclamation. <br> <br> These two documents constitute the antepenultimate and penultimate proclamations issued by President Lincoln; his last entitled "Claiming Equality of Rights with All Maritime Nations" was promulgated the same day. An important pair of proclamations among the last acts of the Great Emancipator before his untimely demise. unknown books
109638Rare Civil War era endorsement signed by Abraham Lincoln as President. Dated March 14 1864 the endorsement reads "Submitted to the Sec. of War & Gen. Meade. A. <span class="match">Lincoln</span> March 14 1864." In fine condition. On March 14 1864 Lincoln issued an order for the draft of 200000 men to support the Union effort. Only two days prior General Ulysses S. Grant assumed command of the Union armies. Matted and framed with and engraved portrait of Lincoln and gold biographical plaque. The endorsement measures 3.25 inches by 2.75 inches. The entire piece measures 22.75 inches by 19 inches. Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through its Civil War and in doing so preserved the Union of the United States of America abolished slavery and strengthened the federal government. In his Address at the Sanitary Fair in Baltimore Maryland in April of 1861 Lincoln stated: "The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty and the American people just now are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men and the product of other men's labor. Here are two not only different but incompatible things called by the same name liberty. And it follows that each of the things is by the respective parties called by two different and incompatible names.liberty and tyranny. unknown books
186421191.99<p>President Lincoln endorses a manuscript petition from border-state Unionists seeking the establishment of a permanent military post at Hickman Kentucky. "<i>Submitted to the Sec. of War who is requested to see the bearer. A Lincoln.</i>"</p> <b>ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</b>Autograph Endorsement Signed as President ca. December 1864 on a manuscript petition with two endorsements from Brigadier General Solomon Meredith. 2 pp. 7 x 9â…› in.<p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Complete Transcript</b></p><p> <i>Hickman Ky Decr. 6th 1864</i></p><p><i>To the Honr. Abraham Lincoln.</i></p><p><i>President of the United States</i></p><p> <i>Sir</i></p><p> <i>We after an interview with our mutual Friend Brig Genl Meredith commanding the Western district of Kentucky have concluded to commission and empower our friend and fellow citizen Parson N.N. Cowgill to represent our interest before your august presence!</i></p><p> <i>We are suffering from the invatian of the Enemy upon us every day and have no power to repell them we ask of you to instruct our commander Brig Genl Meredith to make a permanant military post at this place</i></p><p> <i>We don't ask it for our protection exclusively but for the great benefit it will be to the Federal Army; We have a district of Country composing some 6 or 8 counties in area about two hundred miles! It being varied in its products offers every inducement to the Federal government to have it protected and let all of its resources be brought forward to</i> 2 <i>sustain our army. Our worthey and truly Union friend Parson N.N. Cowgill can give you a correct topography of our place and country. We would ask of you to extend our most appreciable Commander's district to the Hatchie River as this point is the natural outlet for all the cotton and tobacco raised in that section of the Country!</i></p><p> <i>We trust in Divine Providence you may be awakened to our great necessities and grant us the humble request we have made of you!</i></p><p> <i>Very Respectfully yours.</i></p><p> <i>Many Citizens of Loyalty</i></p><p>on verso in hand of Solomon Meredith: <i>I strongly recomend that a military post may be established at Hickman Ky. by the Secy of War. S Meredith Brig. Genl.</i></p><p><i>Head Qrs Dist of Westn Ky Paducah Ky. Dec 9th 1864</i></p><p><i>I am personally acquainted with Parson NN Cowgill and know him to be an honest patriotic and loyal man. The petition of which he is the bearer asking that Hickman be made a permanent military post I would most earnestly recommend to be granted knowing as I do that it will be of great benefit to the Union cause in this state. The Citizens of Hickman and Fulton Co gave a decided majority for the Union ticker at the late election which gives them a very powerful argument if not a claim for the protection of the government they serve. The government will be benefitted equally with the citizens by adopting the course proposed and the benefit both receive will be so much taken from the enemy who now occupy in little squads of guerrillas the whole country in that vicinity and run off every thing of value to their army which the can lay hands on. S Meridith Brig Genl.</i></p><p>on verso in hand of President Lincoln: <i>Submitted to the / Sec. of War who is / requested to see the / bearer. / A Lincoln</i></p><p><b>Historical Background</b></p><p>Border-state loyalists implore President Lincoln to establish a permanent military post at Hickman. Because of daily raids by rebel forces which the Unionists have no power to repel the citizens of Hickman file their request with the endorsement of General Solomon Meredith commander of the District of Western Kentucky based in Paducah. Meredith who had led the "Iron Brigade" was transferred to a desk command because of a bad shrapnel wound suffered at Gettysburg.</p><p>The town of Hickman is located in extreme southwestern Kentucky near the Mississippi River. Though Unionist in orientation it was a center of cotton cultivation. Even after the Confederate Army of Tennessee commanded by Braxton Bragg retreated from Kentucky in October 1862 the state was beset by guerrilla warfare for the remainder of the conflict. There were famous raids conducted by Confederate cavalrymen John Hunt Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest. President Lincoln declared martial law in August 1864 suspending the writ of habeas corpus to empower Union commanders such as Meredith unilaterally to arrest Confederate spies sympathizers and bandits.</p> books
18636046011863. "A. Lincoln" in black ink Washington DC May 12 1863 being 7 lines on the verso of the second leaf of an autograph letter to Lincoln from Robert Chester Buffalo May 9 1863 2 pages; 7 7/8" x 12 3/4" on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper neatly reinforced at folds. Lincoln deals with an officer seeking "An Honorable Discharge & to Avoid a Dishonorable One." Robert Chester who identifies himself as "late Capt. 17th Infantry US Army" petitions the President: "I would most respectfully request a suspension of Special Orders No. 201 Extract 4 by which I am dismissed the service of the United States. The reasons for such request are that my case has not been properly submitted to Your Excellency. I would respectfully ask that the order my be suspended until a Court of Inquiry or Court Martial; can be convened when I may have the opportunity to defend myself." Chester's appeal is joined by ten other prominent citizens of Buffalo including her postmaster one the justices of the city's Superior Court and three Union officers hailing from the Bison City. Lincoln forwarded Chester's petition to Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt directing him to "please examine & report on this case. The officer only seeks an honorable discharge & to avoid a dishonorable one." Nothing further on the case is recorded and Holt - influenced perhaps by the President's none-too-subtle insinuation - evidently found no merit to Chester's claim. See "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln" ed. Basler Supplement: 187. Signed by Authors. No Binding. Very Good/No Jacket. unknown books
1861690201861. Military commission signed by Abraham Lincoln Washington August 1861. Folio on vellum with vignettes. Light wear along the folds. Countersigned by Simon Cameron. Matted and framed. Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through its Civil War and in doing so preserved the Union of the United States of America abolished slavery and strengthened the federal government. hardcover books
1863601017in black ink as President Washington D.C. December 23 1863. Six lines plus signature and date on verso of the integral blank of an Autograph Letter Signed from General John M. Schofield Washington D.C. December 23 1863. Octavo. 2 pages. Fine fresh example dark and clean. In his letter Schofield addresses his commander in chief deferentially: "Mr. President I desire simply to ask you if I may be absent from Washington a few days pending the settlement of my affairs I wish to spend Christmas day with my relatives at West Point. If there is any reason for my remaining here of course I do not wish to go." On verso Lincoln writes: "Not the slightest objection to Gen. Schofield's visiting West Point so that he be in call by Telegraph." This letter serves as an interesting footnote to the long-simmering problem in Missouri where Schofield had been in command. A slave state Missouri had seethed with pro and anti-slavery conflicts and was terrorized by armed bands of southern sympathizers. Schofield and the provisional governor had engaged in bitter jurisdictional quarrels until all factions finally united to criticize Schofield for his "high-handed" administration and demand his removal. In early December 1863 a congressman who had visited Missouri told Lincoln first hand of Schofield's increasing difficulties prompting the President on December 11 to telegraph a simple order to Schofield: "Please come see me at once." After his White House interview Lincoln recommended that Schofield be promoted to major general transferred and Rosecrans appointed to take his place. Lincoln's recommendation was quickly approved by the Senate. Schofield 1831-1906 Graduated West Point 1853. In Missouri at the outbreak of the Civil War he became chief of staff to Gen. Nathaniel Lyon and served until Lyon’s death at the battle of Wilson's Creek August 1861. Promoted brigadier-general of volunteers in November he was engaged in field operations in Missouri and later commanded the Department of the Missouri as major-general. Assuming command of XXIII Corps in February 1864 he took part in Sherman's Atlanta campaign as one of the three army commanders and badly shattered Hool's confederate force at the fierce battle of Franlklin Tenn. Moving the XXIII Corps to the mouth of the Cape Fear river He occupied Wilmington N.C. and effected a junction with Sherman at Goldsboro March 23 1865 for the final moves against Gen. J.E. Johnston. In the spring of 1868 served briefly as U.S. secretary of war. Promoted major-general regular army 1869 he commanded several departments successively and made the recommendations that led to the acquisition of Pearl Harbor Hawaii as a naval base. Superintendent at West Point 1876-81. Lincoln 1809-65 16th President of the United States 1861-65 and one of the most important figures in American history. Signed by Authors. F. Soft cover. unknown books
3499Several woodcut diagrams in the text. 6 p.l. 250 pp. one leaf of errata. Large 4to cont. calf two corners a bit worn double gilt fillet round sides spine gilt morocco lettering piece on spine. London: J. Tonson & J. Watts 1730. bound with: -. Drop-title: Miscellaneis Analyticis Supplementum. 22 pp. one leaf of errata. N.p.: n.d. First edition of the de Moivre's "most important book" D.N.B. here bound with the rare Supplementum which is very often missing. The Miscellanea Analytica is the successor to The Doctrine of Chances and contains the first formulation of "De Moivre's Theorem" the formula for determining a normal approximation to a binomial distribution. This became "the most fruitful single instrument of discovery used in probability theory and statistics for the next two centuries."-D.S.B. IX pp. 452-53. The Supplementum was published by de Moivre to answer criticisms made by James Stirling after the appearance of the Miscellanea. A very nice copy from the library of Haskell F. Norman with his bookplate. ❧ Stigler The History of Statistics pp. 70-77. unknown books
2989Engraved vignette on title and engraved head- & tailpieces. 2 p.l. xiv 175 pp. Large 4to cont. mottled calf expertly rebacked & recornered by Aquarius spine richly gilt red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: W. Pearson for the Author 1718. First edition and a fine copy of this classic on the theory of probability; it is dedicated to Isaac Newton who was a personal friend of the author. "His work on the theory of probability surpasses anything done by any other mathematician except P.S. Laplace. His principal contributions are his investigations respecting the Duration of Play his Theory of Recurring Series and his extension of the value of Daniel Bernoulli's theorem by the aid of Stirling's theorem."-Cajori A History of Mathematics p. 230. Nice copy. ❧ Babson 181-"He was among the intimate friends of Newton to whom this book is dedicated. It is the second book devoted entirely to the theory of probability and a classic on the subject." Stigler The History of Statistics pp. 70-85. Tomash M 114. unknown books
1732004823Amsterdam 1732 or 1733. The panorama or concertina was made we believe in 1732 or 1733 or close to that date. The silver "shraubthaler" or outer casing we assume was made separately at a later date but not long afterward. <br /><br /> books
1863WRCAM55251Washington 1863. 20pp. Original printed wrappers. Light toning. A near fine copy in wonderful condition. In a cloth chemise and green half morocco and cloth slipcase spine gilt. The rare pamphlet printing of Lincoln's December 8 1863 proclamation read before Congress the next day offering amnesty to citizens of the Confederacy providing they take an oath that they "will abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves" i.e. the Emancipation Proclamation. When the number of persons in any state taking the oath reached ten percent of the number of voters in 1860 this group of loyal voters could form a state government that could be recognized by the President. The Amnesty Proclamation was issued with President Lincoln's third Annual Message to Congress i.e. State of the Union Address on December 8 1863; the State of the Union Address follows the Amnesty Proclamation here. <br> <br> Toward the close of 1863 with the Confederate Army in full retreat discussions in Congress centered on how to restore the southern states to the Union. "The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is past" announced Lincoln. Now it was the duty of Congress to ensure that all citizens in the South regardless of race were guaranteed the equal protection of the law. A number of competing proposals emerged from deliberations but in the end during his message to Congress on December 8 1863 Lincoln declared reconstruction of the South a wholly executive responsibility and "offered 'full pardon.with restoration of all rights of property except as to slaves' to all rebels who would take an oath of future loyalty to the Constitution and pledge to obey acts of Congress and presidential proclamations relating to slavery" Donald p.471. <br> <br> Those excluded from taking the oath were the highest ranking members of the Confederacy - government officials judges military and naval officers above the rank of army colonel or navy lieutenant former congressmen and "all who have engaged in treating colored persons or white persons otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war." Lincoln further encouraged the southern states to make provisions "in relation to the freed people of such State which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom provide for their education and which may yet be consistent as a temporary arrangement with their present condition as a laboring landless and homeless class." <br> <br> "Lincoln indicated that this was only one plan for reconstructing the rebel South and while it was the best he could think of for now he would gladly consider others and possibly adopt them. He might even modify his own classes of pardons if that seemed warrantable.Afterward almost everybody but die-hard Democrats seemed happy with the plan" Oates p.371. <br> <br> A lovely copy of Lincoln's hugely important Amnesty Proclamation. MONAGHAN 191. SABIN 41162 note. David Herbert Donald LINCOLN New York 1995 p.471. Stephen B. Oates WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE: A LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN New York 1977 p.371. hardcover books
1865WRCAM55213N.p. but almost certainly Springfield Il 1865. Broadside 12 x 9 inches. Printed in three columns edged with a printed black border. Old folds center vertical fold with some separation. Moderate staining. Still very good. Framed. Likely a proof copy of the exceedingly rare broadside announcing the funeral procession for President Abraham Lincoln in Springfield in early May 1865. Struck down by assassin John Wilkes Booth on April 15 1865 Lincoln's body lay in state in the White House on April 18 and a ceremonial funeral service took place in Washington D.C. around noon on April 19. Two days later President Lincoln's casket was loaded on a funeral train headed for Springfield Illinois stopping at Baltimore Harrisburg Philadelphia New York City Albany Buffalo Cleveland Columbus Indianapolis Michigan City and Chicago before arriving in Lincoln's adopted hometown early on the morning of May 3. At this time Springfield's population numbered around 15000 but Lincoln's funeral train pulled into a town swollen with over 100000 visiting mourners. Immediately upon arrival Lincoln's coffin was transferred by hearse to Representatives' Hall inside the Illinois Old State Capitol. For the next twenty-four hours from about ten o'clock in the morning on May 3 to the same time the next day about 75000 mourners were allowed to pass by the open coffin of the slain president to pay last respects. <br> <br> According to the present broadside President Lincoln's funeral procession left the Old State Capitol "on Thursday the 4th Inst. at 10 o'clock a.m. precisely." The funeral party of over 10000 people then turned right on 7th Street to pass by the Lincoln family home and then right up Cook Street to proceed past the Governor's Mansion before heading north to Oak Ridge Cemetery. <br> <br> This broadside printing of the order of the procession for Lincoln's Springfield funeral was probably printed the afternoon of May 3 or possibly even the morning of May 4 the day of the funeral. Surrounded by a heavy black band the broadside lists all the persons and units involved in the procession along with their places and the rules for the day. The entire procession was divided into eight divisions with Gen. Joseph Hooker acting as Marshal in Chief. The first three divisions of the military escort represented all the elements of the Army and Navy. After them came the attending clergy and Lincoln's attending physicians. Next was the casket itself the only wheeled vehicle in the procession with the pall bearers to each side followed by Lincoln's horse and then the immediate family. Three more military divisions followed interspersed with government officials ambassadors and state officials followed by delegations from Springfield and other Illinois towns. Next were representatives of various organizations delegations from colleges lawyers doctors and the press Masons Odd Fellows and firemen all interspersed with two more military divisions. The final segment of the funeral procession was designated for "Citizens at large" and "Colored Persons." <br> <br> The broadside gives directions for locations for the forming up of each group. Only marshals were allowed to be on horseback; all others walked. Bands were under the direction of the Committee on Music. Other particular directions follow including regulations for the colors of the various scarves worn by the marshals. The text of the document ends with directions to keep the streets through which the procession passes "clear from sidewalk to sidewalk." <br> <br> This broadside must have been widely distributed to assist the mourners in Springfield but like all such ephemeral pieces few copies have survived. OCLC locates only six at Indiana University the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Library the Boston Athenaeum the Chapin Library at Williams College the John Hay Library at Brown University and the Library Company of Philadelphia. The latter location also attributes the place of printing to Springfield. There is also a copy at the Library of Congress and a copy formerly owned by noted collector James Copley and previously sold by this firm. <br> <br> The present copy is likely an early printer's proof of the broadside as it lacks the first three letters of the word "FUNERAL" in the title. The Library of Congress copy is also likely a proof with its variant title omitting the words "ORDER OF." Both copies also lack the letter "e" in "Order" in the first sentence of text. These errors speak to the haste and stress under which this broadside was surely produced perhaps the day before or the very morning of the day when America's greatest president the Savior of the Union and Illinois' favorite son was laid to rest in a city teeming with seven times its own population in attendance. <br> <br> A remarkable and moving document reflecting a moment of national grief perhaps only approached by the John F. Kennedy funeral and memorializing the day when America's first assassinated president was solemnly committed to the earth. OCLC 5023077 79462381. unknown books