1.545 Ergebnisse
1864Best.-Nr. 12816N.p. 1864. Lithograph 14.5 x 20.5 inches. Noticeable toning small areas of light discoloration along top margin short closed tear to left edge minor dust-soiling numerous creases and wrinkles. About very good. A dramatic political cartoon issued during the Civil War and satirizing the dangerous influence of those who argue a compromise on slavery or an easy solution to the war. The work was likely issued in the midst of the 1860 but more likely the 1864 presidential election campaign. The central image of the lithograph involves a three-headed snake -- labeled "The People's Party" and emerging from the American "South" personified by a moss-covered swamp -- which is wrapped around the length of a large tree labeled "Slavery." Each snake vocalizes a different misleading message about the issue of slavery and compromise seemingly aligned with political entities such as the Peace Party and the Copperheads. The messages from each snake head read respectively "Extend Slavery over the Northern States and the Rebellion will be over in 60 days;" "Persevere till after election and then we will give you all you ask;" and "'Support the President' - but oppose everything he may do to crush the Rebellion." This latter message indicates the author of the work supported President Lincoln. The North is personified in the background at left by a depiction of the U.S. Capitol Building. The central image of the lithograph carries echoes of the story of the Book of Genesis with the involvement of a deceptive serpent amid the tree of life. The lithograph is signed in the stone at bottom right reading simply "Brooks." Though the work came to us proposing the identify of the artist as Reuben Brooks 1794-1870 we were ultimately unable to confirm this authorship. The lack of an imprint in the lithograph also precludes easy research and identification. In fact the rarity of the lithograph makes it difficult to expound much more about it at all. OCLC reports just a single copy at the Peabody Essex Museum and it is not listed in Weitenkampf or Reilly. Given its rarity and content the present lithograph offers an outstanding opportunity for further research and contextualization. unknown
1864Best.-Nr. 12816N.p. 1864. Lithograph 14.5 x 20.5 inches. Noticeable toning small areas of light discoloration along top margin short closed tear to left edge minor dust-soiling numerous creases and wrinkles. About very good. A dramatic political cartoon issued during the Civil War and satirizing the dangerous influence of those who argue a compromise on slavery or an easy solution to the war. The work was likely issued in the midst of the 1860 but more likely the 1864 presidential election campaign. The central image of the lithograph involves a three-headed snake -- labeled "The People's Party" and emerging from the American "South" personified by a moss-covered swamp -- which is wrapped around the length of a large tree labeled "Slavery." Each snake vocalizes a different misleading message about the issue of slavery and compromise seemingly aligned with political entities such as the Peace Party and the Copperheads. The messages from each snake head read respectively "Extend Slavery over the Northern States and the Rebellion will be over in 60 days;" "Persevere till after election and then we will give you all you ask;" and "'Support the President' - but oppose everything he may do to crush the Rebellion." This latter message indicates the author of the work supported President Lincoln. The North is personified in the background at left by a depiction of the U.S. Capitol Building. The central image of the lithograph carries echoes of the story of the Book of Genesis with the involvement of a deceptive serpent amid the tree of life. The lithograph is signed in the stone at bottom right reading simply "Brooks." Though the work came to us proposing the identify of the artist as Reuben Brooks 1794-1870 we were ultimately unable to confirm this authorship. The lack of an imprint in the lithograph also precludes easy research and identification. In fact the rarity of the lithograph makes it difficult to expound much more about it at all. OCLC reports just a single copy at the Peabody Essex Museum and it is not listed in Weitenkampf or Reilly. Given its rarity and content the present lithograph offers an outstanding opportunity for further research and contextualization. unknown books
1418Best.-Nr. 106697Letter Signed 2 pp. folio letter sheet stampless address leaf. Two full pages of text. Folds with a couple of small tears or holes at folds normal aging and browning; otherwise very good.The letter is by Caroline F.R. Morgan to A.J.Walker in Milton North Carolina. Probably written in another hand but apparently her own verbiage with underlinings for emphasis and corrections. A strong legal statement by the widow Morgan of her rights as administrator of the Estate of her "late lamented husband" and his father responding to a Doctor's claim in a property sale in Milton North Carolina. Stating equivocally that "I administered his estate" with "Double powers of attorney if I may so express myself" and refusing to send a copy of her husband's will which "I consider a foolish request" and "would not do…for only the small amount of property in Milton but not for the whole of Milton."Most slave-owning women in the antebellum South were the widows of slave plantation owners who relied on overseers to manage often distant estates. A very few were more actively involved in the business affairs of the estates they had inherited. In Yalobusha County Mississippi two widows owned plantations with hundreds of slaves. One of these was Sarah Childress Polk of Tennessee widow of the 11th President of the United States. But her slave-holdings were exceeded by those of 42 year-old Caroline Fitz Randolph Morford Morgan of Lynchburg Virginia. Born in New Jersey to the grandson of a Quaker founder of Princeton University she had married a Virginia medical student whose father owned much of the city of Lynchburg as well as having real estate and slave holdings throughout the South. When he died in March 1847 she was left with three children and vast property in which she took an active interest not common "for a woman of her time and station." While she had many charitable interests – she was a charter member of a Female Missionary Society – records indicate that she personally bought and sold slaves both for the Morgavin Plantation in Mississippi and for her Virginia properties owning more than 100 African-American men and women including one "Aunt Sally" aged 104. She remained a widow for two years until she re-married to a younger man a Doctor who had come to Lynchburg to treat her family and slaves during an epidemic of yellow fever. That marriage ended contentiously in the 1850s and by the start of the Civil War she resumed her legal status as an independent woman ahead of her time. Apparently impoverished by the War she died in 1883. gavegarden.org
1418Best.-Nr. 106697Letter Signed 2 pp. folio letter sheet stampless address leaf. Two full pages of text. Folds with a couple of small tears or holes at folds normal aging and browning; otherwise very good.The letter is by Caroline F.R. Morgan to A.J.Walker in Milton North Carolina. Probably written in another hand but apparently her own verbiage with underlinings for emphasis and corrections. A strong legal statement by the widow Morgan of her rights as administrator of the Estate of her "late lamented husband" and his father responding to a Doctor's claim in a property sale in Milton North Carolina. Stating equivocally that "I administered his estate" with "Double powers of attorney if I may so express myself" and refusing to send a copy of her husband's will which "I consider a foolish request" and "would not do…for only the small amount of property in Milton but not for the whole of Milton."Most slave-owning women in the antebellum South were the widows of slave plantation owners who relied on overseers to manage often distant estates. A very few were more actively involved in the business affairs of the estates they had inherited. In Yalobusha County Mississippi two widows owned plantations with hundreds of slaves. One of these was Sarah Childress Polk of Tennessee widow of the 11th President of the United States. But her slave-holdings were exceeded by those of 42 year-old Caroline Fitz Randolph Morford Morgan of Lynchburg Virginia. Born in New Jersey to the grandson of a Quaker founder of Princeton University she had married a Virginia medical student whose father owned much of the city of Lynchburg as well as having real estate and slave holdings throughout the South. When he died in March 1847 she was left with three children and vast property in which she took an active interest not common "for a woman of her time and station." While she had many charitable interests – she was a charter member of a Female Missionary Society – records indicate that she personally bought and sold slaves both for the Morgavin Plantation in Mississippi and for her Virginia properties owning more than 100 African-American men and women including one "Aunt Sally" aged 104. She remained a widow for two years until she re-married to a younger man a Doctor who had come to Lynchburg to treat her family and slaves during an epidemic of yellow fever. That marriage ended contentiously in the 1850s and by the start of the Civil War she resumed her legal status as an independent woman ahead of her time. Apparently impoverished by the War she died in 1883. gavegarden.org books
1865Best.-Nr. 1260191865. First Edition. CONSTITUTION. Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia. for the Session of 1864Ñ5. Alexandria: D. Turner 1865. Octavo original front printed wrapper respined renewed rear wrapper original string stitching; pp. 1-3 4-83 1. Housed in a custom chemise and clamshell box. $4500.First edition one of 500 copies of the momentous Journal featuring its February 9 1865 entry on the Alexandria Virginia government's passage of the 13th Amendment mere days after the U.S. Congress the first of the four Unionist southern states to pass the Amendment also featuring the governor's Message noting: ""though we have in inherited from our fathers of the revolution the blessings of a great nation yet they also left to us an inheritance of African slavery which has proved a bitter dreg in our cup of freedom"" a vital record of forces for constitutional change near the end of the Civil War.Soon after the 1860 election amidst southern secession ""the great questions of union or disunion war or peace hung in the balance. Probably the crucial weight on the scale was VirginiaÉ as long as the federal government did not seek to coerce the states Virginia secessionists were unable to achieve a majority. When Lincoln responded with force to the attack on Fort Sumter however the vote in Virginia went in favor of secession."" Subsequently a Virginia convention ""met in Wheeling on May 13 1861É it elected as Governor Francis Pierpont a western Virginian and ardent Unionist and arranged for the creation of a legislature to replace the body sitting in RichmondÉ in July 1861 the new legislature met at the 'Restored Virginia' capital of Wheeling in a special session called by Pierpont."" Against its ""claim to represent a majority of Virginians"" a new state of West Virginia was created in 1863 and Pierpont's government moved to Alexandria to govern areas of Virginia under Union occupation Harrison Lawfulness of the Reconstruction Amendments 380-83.Scholars observe that the 13th Amendment its fellow amendments and Reconstruction as ""both a political process made possible by military successes and constitutional thought grew from wartime as well as post-Appomattox developments"" Hyman and Wiecek Equal Justice 247. This rare first edition of Journal of the House of Delegates substantiates that in documenting passage of the 13th Amendment by Pierpont's Virginia government mere days after the U.S. Congress passed the Amendment on January 31 1865. With that Virginia became the first of the four Unionist southern states that ratified the 13th Amendment. Of those Louisiana followed on February 17 with Arkansas and Tennessee that April. The 13th Amendment is the focus of the Journal's entry for February 9 1865 which states: ""Mr. Brownley called up Senate bill No. 12 entitled 'An Act to ratify the joint resolution of Congress passed January 31 1865 proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.' The bill was read the first and second timeÉ and the rules were suspended and the bill read the third timeÉ and the bill passed."" Also notable herein is the complete printing of Governor Pierpont's opening Message where he notes: ""though we inherited from our fathers of the revolution the blessings of a great nation yet they also left to us an inheritance of African slavery which has proved a bitter dreg in our cup of freedom."" He speaks at length of the rights due people of color and the abolition of laws such as those that prohibit ""negro testimony"" or proscribe a ""different punishmentÉ for persons of African dissent"" from that of ""white persons.""""The legislature met for its second session on December 5 1864É The governor's message was a long and important document and indicated the changes of opinion that the war was bringing about. Pierpont gave his views upon the all-important negro question. He congratulated the constitutional convention which had met in the spring on the abolition of slavery in Virginia and advocated sweeping changes in the laws concerning negroes. The act prescribing different punishments for blacks should he said be altered in accordance with the amended constitution as well as the law for apprenticing them. The law prohibiting the education of negroes should be abolishedÉ His language was on the whole very moderate. He advised the legalizing of the marital relations of negroes and most important the establishment of public schoolsÉ Notwithstanding the governor's advice no acts of great importance passed the legislatureÉ On February 9 1865 the assembly ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It adjourned on March 7"" Eckenrode Political History of Virginia During the Reconstruction. Faint ""U.N.C. Duplicate"" stamp to front wrapper.Text fine; just a bit of faint soiling and a tide line to fragile front wrapper. An excellent copy of this elusive item. unknown
1865Best.-Nr. 1260191865. First Edition. CONSTITUTION. Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia. for the Session of 1864Ñ5. Alexandria: D. Turner 1865. Octavo original front printed wrapper respined renewed rear wrapper original string stitching; pp. 1-3 4-83 1. Housed in a custom chemise and clamshell box. $4500.First edition one of 500 copies of the momentous Journal featuring its February 9 1865 entry on the Alexandria Virginia government's passage of the 13th Amendment mere days after the U.S. Congress the first of the four Unionist southern states to pass the Amendment also featuring the governor's Message noting: ""though we have in inherited from our fathers of the revolution the blessings of a great nation yet they also left to us an inheritance of African slavery which has proved a bitter dreg in our cup of freedom"" a vital record of forces for constitutional change near the end of the Civil War.Soon after the 1860 election amidst southern secession ""the great questions of union or disunion war or peace hung in the balance. Probably the crucial weight on the scale was VirginiaÉ as long as the federal government did not seek to coerce the states Virginia secessionists were unable to achieve a majority. When Lincoln responded with force to the attack on Fort Sumter however the vote in Virginia went in favor of secession."" Subsequently a Virginia convention ""met in Wheeling on May 13 1861É it elected as Governor Francis Pierpont a western Virginian and ardent Unionist and arranged for the creation of a legislature to replace the body sitting in RichmondÉ in July 1861 the new legislature met at the 'Restored Virginia' capital of Wheeling in a special session called by Pierpont."" Against its ""claim to represent a majority of Virginians"" a new state of West Virginia was created in 1863 and Pierpont's government moved to Alexandria to govern areas of Virginia under Union occupation Harrison Lawfulness of the Reconstruction Amendments 380-83.Scholars observe that the 13th Amendment its fellow amendments and Reconstruction as ""both a political process made possible by military successes and constitutional thought grew from wartime as well as post-Appomattox developments"" Hyman and Wiecek Equal Justice 247. This rare first edition of Journal of the House of Delegates substantiates that in documenting passage of the 13th Amendment by Pierpont's Virginia government mere days after the U.S. Congress passed the Amendment on January 31 1865. With that Virginia became the first of the four Unionist southern states that ratified the 13th Amendment. Of those Louisiana followed on February 17 with Arkansas and Tennessee that April. The 13th Amendment is the focus of the Journal's entry for February 9 1865 which states: ""Mr. Brownley called up Senate bill No. 12 entitled 'An Act to ratify the joint resolution of Congress passed January 31 1865 proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.' The bill was read the first and second timeÉ and the rules were suspended and the bill read the third timeÉ and the bill passed."" Also notable herein is the complete printing of Governor Pierpont's opening Message where he notes: ""though we inherited from our fathers of the revolution the blessings of a great nation yet they also left to us an inheritance of African slavery which has proved a bitter dreg in our cup of freedom."" He speaks at length of the rights due people of color and the abolition of laws such as those that prohibit ""negro testimony"" or proscribe a ""different punishmentÉ for persons of African dissent"" from that of ""white persons.""""The legislature met for its second session on December 5 1864É The governor's message was a long and important document and indicated the changes of opinion that the war was bringing about. Pierpont gave his views upon the all-important negro question. He congratulated the constitutional convention which had met in the spring on the abolition of slavery in Virginia and advocated sweeping changes in the laws concerning negroes. The act prescribing different punishments for blacks should he said be altered in accordance with the amended constitution as well as the law for apprenticing them. The law prohibiting the education of negroes should be abolishedÉ His language was on the whole very moderate. He advised the legalizing of the marital relations of negroes and most important the establishment of public schoolsÉ Notwithstanding the governor's advice no acts of great importance passed the legislatureÉ On February 9 1865 the assembly ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It adjourned on March 7"" Eckenrode Political History of Virginia During the Reconstruction. Faint ""U.N.C. Duplicate"" stamp to front wrapper.Text fine; just a bit of faint soiling and a tide line to fragile front wrapper. An excellent copy of this elusive item. unknown books
1830Best.-Nr. PHO-21101830, à Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 3 volumes in-8° et 1 atlas ,1 portrait-frontispice ,5 planches et 1 carte et itinéraire dépliante (900x 650mm). 3 fnch-xii-475pp,426pp,404pp., Très rare et complet- très bel exemplaire sans rousseurs, relié plein cuir orange, imitation écailles, dos lisse avec pièce d’auteur et titre, tomaison (frottements aux pièces). Dans l’Atlas : 5 planches et 1 grande carte repliée par Jomard (Gay. 243 Numa Broc Afrique pp 64-65).
1807Best.-Nr. 182125London: printed by George Eyre and Andrew Strahan 1807. The African Slave Trade. is hereby utterly abolished prohibited and declared to be unlawful First edition of one of the most consequential acts of legislation in world history abolishing the slave trade within the British Empire. The Act the culmination of many years of campaigning by British abolitionists ended two centuries in which Britain took the pre-eminent role in the transatlantic slave traffic. The act paved the way for other European empires to abolish the trade and for Britain to use its navy to intercept slave ships which effectively ended the transatlantic slave trade by the latter half of the century. However the act did not end slavery in the British Empire which did not follow until 1833. Parliamentary acts were issued individually and in collected format printed from the same type. This copy includes the full acts for 1807 comprising the only session of the Third Parliament with the first session of the Fourth the second session was held in 1808 together with the separately published report on vaccination. It was bound for use by the civic authorities of the town of Elgin in Scotland. 3 parts in 1 vol. folio 289 x 181 mm pp. 16 466 1; 14 578 2 blank; 16. Contemporary sprinkled calf twin red and green morocco labels "Town of Elgin Acts of Parliament / 1807" edges speckled blue. Pencilled notation at head of title page. Neatly restored at extremities very minor foxing and finger-soiling to contents. A very good copy. unknown
178011 voll. cartonato azzurro della epoca. 10 voll. in-8. un vol. in-4 Atlas. Ritratto inciso 9 frontespizi incisi 50 mappe 23 tabelle ripiegate.Economics india arabia gulf africa america diderot rigobert bonne maps atlas arabic indian travels slavery colonialism Diderot
1791Best.-Nr. 180598Edinburgh: Printed for J. Robertson 1791. Stepping up the campaign against slavery Second Edinburgh edition of this best-selling report on the colonial slave trade including a version of among the most famous abolitionist images the cross-section depicting the enslaved individuals transported aboard the Brookes. The Abstract is the first abolitionist work to ground its arguments not on biblical appeals or forceful rhetoric but on documented eyewitness accounts. Until 1790 the abolitionist campaign had been channelled through pamphlet and pulpit. After 1790 abolitionists turned to the new technique of mass petition campaigns against Parliament. The Abstract publishes the testimonies of the witnesses called by the petitioners arranging them thematically by chapter. Among others the select committee called planters traders naval officers and doctors. "The abolitionist petition campaign reached an apex during 1791-1792 where an unprecedented 519 abolitionist petitions coming from all over Britain were delivered to Parliament. Some 400000 persons signed these petitions 1 out of every 11 adults with Manchester alone contributing 20000 names from an adult population of about 30000" Fogel p. 212. Octavo pp. iv 128. Large folding plan of a slave ship folding map of the western coast of Africa tables in the text. Original paper wrappers spine lettered in manuscript ink edges uncut. Housed in custom orange cloth box. Contemporary presentation inscription from "Mr. Campbell" to "John White" on the front cover. Rubbing and chipping minor loss to spine and extremities browning and foxing to contents slight offsetting to plates folding plan loose: just about a very good fragile copy. ESTC N29168. William Fogel Without Consent or Contract 1989. hardcover
1763Best.-Nr. 132583London: R. Baldwin 1763. A classic of in the field of colonial and Caribbean literature First edition of the first-named fourth of the second which was first published in Antigua 1750 under the pseudonym of "An Old Planter". John Campbell 1708-1775 was a highly successful historian and miscellaneous author Johnson thought well of him and praised the usefulness of his knowledge also describing him as "the richest author that ever grazed the common of literature" ODNB. The present work was commissioned by Lord Bute to rebut criticism of the Treaty of Paris by demonstrating "the value of colonial holdings in general and of sugar islands in particular" Ragatz. That is was felt to have done its job is perhaps confirmed by Campbell's appointment in 1765 as king's agent to Georgia. Considered by Ragatz to be a "classic of in the field of colonial and Caribbean literature embodying as it does one of the clearest statements of eighteenth-century philosophy regarding the relations that should exist between the metropole and its outlying possessions". This copy has additional material bound in: Bew's map of St Christopher's a 2-page manuscript index and bound at the rear a copy of Martin's practical essay on plantation management. Samuel Martin 1694/5-1776 had been born on Antigua but spent some considerable time thereafter in Britain on his full-time return to the island he found the family estates much run down and "embarked on a rigourous policy of reconstruction. Although he helped to pioneer improvements at most of the key stages in sugar-making and rum distillation his interests focused mainly on the non-manufacturing side of production. He was a firm advocate of crop rotation followed by marling in order to improve soil fertility. He was also instrumental in developing more effective systems of drainage and utilising windmills rather than animals for crushing the cane. By the standards of his contemporaries Martin was an enlightened slave owner. He advocated the provision of adequate supplies of food clothing shelter and medical facilities for slaves and ground for the cultivation of their own food" ODNB. His methods made him Antigua's leading and most progressive planter and during his own lifetime he certainly "succeeded in making sugar production a moderately profitable enterprise on his own estates". Both titles are moderately well-represented institutionally but neither appear with any great frequency at auction just a handful of copies of Campbell in the last fifty years and no copy of the Essay upon Plantership in any edition has passed through the rooms since 1951. Two works bound in a single vol. octavo 196 x 120 mm. Both bound without half-titles. 4 folding maps to the first-named 3 as called for; Caribbee Islands and Guyanna coloured in outline; The Harbour of Calivenie. Island of Grenada. Drawn by John Powell Topographer; and Plan of Fort Royal in the Island of Grenada and additionally a map of St. Christophers by J. Bew dated 1782 coloured. Contemporary streaked calf flat spine ruled gilt red morocco label single gilt rule to board edges Dahlia marbled endpapers. A little rubbed particularly on the joints label chipped no loss of lettering corners through small patch of insect damage to the lower board pastedowns lifting at the lower corners front free endpaper torn without loss slight erosion at the lower corner of the text-block for the first thirty pages or so mild worming to the fore-margin pp. 39-176 some small splits and closed tears to the maps no losses; overall very good. Campbell: ESTC T65879; Ragatz p. 284; Kress 6081; Sabin 10232. Martin: ESTC T81835; Sabin 44920 hardcover
1866Best.-Nr. 4747Havana: July 10 1866. Good. 3pp. on a bifolium. Separated at fold. Some wear to edge of first leaf cause some minor loss to text. A few scattered tape repairs and reattachments. Some offsetting. A colonial Spanish manuscript slave manifest for the steamship Cristobal Colon carrying dozens of enslaved Africans from Bailen to Partido del Cano both in Cuba. The text at the head reads as follows: "Nomina de los Africano bozales que conducten el vapor Cristobol Colon embarcado hoy a las siete de la mañana por el muelle de Bailen con destino al Partido del Cano unos de la propridad de D. José Rafael Diaz y otros de D. José Garcia y por encargo de sus dueños los custodia D. Juan Antonio Sanchez Bustamante y este individuo tiene biencia annal del Partido de Consolacion del Sur." Bailen is on the southern coast of Cuba north of the Isle of Pines; "El Cano" seems to have been a plantation outside of Havana while Consolacion del Sur is coastal town in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. The manifest lists 133 "Africanos bozales" that is slaves who could not speak Spanish in two or three columns separated between men "varones" and women "hembras" - their assigned names are given generally of Christian origin but with some range e.g "Ciforiana" "Liborio" and "Dionisia." Their ages are given one as young as nine several in their late thirties but most in their teens to early thirties. An additional leaf signed from Manila and dated July 10 1866 notes that although 133 people were sent only 115 survived the journey and lists the names of those who perished. July 10
1866Best.-Nr. 4747Havana: July 10 1866. Good. 3pp. on a bifolium. Separated at fold. Some wear to edge of first leaf cause some minor loss to text. A few scattered tape repairs and reattachments. Some offsetting. A colonial Spanish manuscript slave manifest for the steamship Cristobal Colon carrying dozens of enslaved Africans from Bailen to Partido del Cano both in Cuba. The text at the head reads as follows: "Nomina de los Africano bozales que conducten el vapor Cristobol Colon embarcado hoy a las siete de la mañana por el muelle de Bailen con destino al Partido del Cano unos de la propridad de D. José Rafael Diaz y otros de D. José Garcia y por encargo de sus dueños los custodia D. Juan Antonio Sanchez Bustamante y este individuo tiene biencia annal del Partido de Consolacion del Sur." Bailen is on the southern coast of Cuba north of the Isle of Pines; "El Cano" seems to have been a plantation outside of Havana while Consolacion del Sur is coastal town in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. The manifest lists 133 "Africanos bozales" that is slaves who could not speak Spanish in two or three columns separated between men "varones" and women "hembras" - their assigned names are given generally of Christian origin but with some range e.g "Ciforiana" "Liborio" and "Dionisia." Their ages are given one as young as nine several in their late thirties but most in their teens to early thirties. An additional leaf signed from Manila and dated July 10 1866 notes that although 133 people were sent only 115 survived the journey and lists the names of those who perished. July 10 books
1791Best.-Nr. 44994Paris, Moreau de Saint-Méry, Ponce, Phelipeau, 1791. Grand in-folio (48 x 34 cm), titre et 30 planches gravées, cartonnage bleu de l'époque.
1759Best.-Nr. ST19900Philadelphia and Germantown: Benjamin. Franklin and David. Hall or Christopher Sower 1759-60. 192 x 130 mm. 7 1/2 x 5". 1 p.l. collection title 47 1 71 4 76-168 iv 5-43 1 55 1 64 16 pp. Contemporary blind-ruled sheep nicely rebacked to style raised bands. Verso of front flyleaf inscribed in ink in the recipient's hand: "This Book is the Gift of Mr. Anthony Benezett sic to William Anderson October 14th 1760"; front pastedown with ink inscription: "The holy Book To Be Read"; title page with signature of William Anderson dated 1760; front flyleaf and both free endpapers with additional 19th century owner inscriptions. Miller 730; Smith Friends' Books I p. 240. For "Observations": Sabin 4676; Evans 8542. Boards a little dried and scuffed with a couple of small stains text variably toned because of colonial paper quality perhaps a fifth of the text rather browned dampstaining in the upper margin in the middle part of the volume mostly unobtrusive but darker and extending downward on a few leaves. The texts in the kind of problematic condition expected with early American imprints but the binding much better than is normally seen. This is a presentation copy of an important published collection of Quaker texts that includes four works printed by Benjamin Franklin as well as an early significant abolitionist tract that delivers a powerful condemnation of the slave trade. The collection title page lists nine tracts in total six of which were issued with separate title pages comprising: "An Extract from the Spirit of Prayer" by W. Law; "A Discourse on Mistakes concerning Religion" by Thomas Hartley; "Christ's Spirit or a Christian's Strength" "The Stumbling Stone" "The Doctrine of Baptism" and "The Trial of Spirits" all by William Dell; "The Liberty of Flesh and Spirit Distinguished" by J. Rutty; and "Observations on Enslaving Importing and Purchasing of Negroes &c." followed by "The Uncertainty of a Death-bed Repentance" both by Anthony Benezet. Miller asserts that "the first fifth sixth and seventh had previously been printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall all in Caslon type. The remainder had been printed by Christopher Saur who owned no Caslon letter." The volume title also in Calson type is attributed to the press of Franklin and Hall for the same reason. According to Miller Anthony Benezet put together this collection of Quaker material in the spring of 1760 in an edition of 500 copies with the hope of reaching those living "in ye back Parts of Maryland Virginia & N. Carolina . . . and Connecticut." First printed in 1759 Benezet's forceful denunciation of the slave trade is notable for using eyewitness accounts from people actually involved with the trade recounting the horrific practices and conditions that were realities of the system. Citing various lines of scripture Benezet argues that slavery runs contrary to Christian teachings and Mosaic law and that those who purchase and keep slaves bear as much guilt as the traders themselves. Born in France to Huguenot parents Benezet 1713-84 was a Quaker abolitionist educator and writer who became one of the earliest and most outspoken advocates against slavery in colonial America. He emigrated to Philadelphia by way of Rotterdam and London in 1731 where he founded Pennsylvania's first secondary school for girls and later opened one of the first schools to welcome black students. ANB says that "Although Benezet is recognized as the most prolific antislavery propagandist of the eighteenth century throughout his lifetime he supported and wrote about a wide variety of causes and topics including assistance for Acadian refugees temperance peace fair treatment of Native Americans religion educational reform and poor relief." His wife Joyce Benezet d. 1786 née Marriott was a preacher in the faith herself. According to Waldstreicher Franklin maintained a "lifelong friendship with Quaker politicians merchants and scientists. . . . He admired Quakerism because of its affirmation of simplicity frugality anti-slavery and humanitarianism." Franklin also saw the possibility of profit in printing for the considerable Quaker population of his colony. Hall 1714-72 came to Philadelphia from London in 1744 to work for Franklin and became a partner in the firm in 1748. As a considerable mark of his regard for Hall Franklin drew up a contract whereby his partner would over an 18-year period buy him out. It is a further sign of Franklin's regard for Hall that the printer is buried beside Franklin and his wife. As to contemporaneous provenance we can speculate with some degree of certainty that our William Anderson was the person of that name who was a Quaker preacher from Haverford near Philadelphia. His wife Margaret--like Benezet's wife Joyce--was also a preacher and these two husband-and-wife teams are dealt with in Rebecca Larson's "Daughter of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad 1700-1775" 1999 Appendix 2. . B[enjamin]. Franklin and D[avid]. Hall or Christopher Sower unknown
1759Best.-Nr. ST19900Philadelphia and Germantown: Benjamin. Franklin and David. Hall or Christopher Sower 1759-60. 192 x 130 mm. 7 1/2 x 5". 1 p.l. collection title 47 1 71 4 76-168 iv 5-43 1 55 1 64 16 pp. Contemporary blind-ruled sheep nicely rebacked to style raised bands. Verso of front flyleaf inscribed in ink in the recipient's hand: "This Book is the Gift of Mr. Anthony Benezett sic to William Anderson October 14th 1760"; front pastedown with ink inscription: "The holy Book To Be Read"; title page with signature of William Anderson dated 1760; front flyleaf and both free endpapers with additional 19th century owner inscriptions. Miller 730; Smith Friends' Books I p. 240. For "Observations": Sabin 4676; Evans 8542. Boards a little dried and scuffed with a couple of small stains text variably toned because of colonial paper quality perhaps a fifth of the text rather browned dampstaining in the upper margin in the middle part of the volume mostly unobtrusive but darker and extending downward on a few leaves. The texts in the kind of problematic condition expected with early American imprints but the binding much better than is normally seen. This is a presentation copy of an important published collection of Quaker texts that includes four works printed by Benjamin Franklin as well as an early significant abolitionist tract that delivers a powerful condemnation of the slave trade. The collection title page lists nine tracts in total six of which were issued with separate title pages comprising: "An Extract from the Spirit of Prayer" by W. Law; "A Discourse on Mistakes concerning Religion" by Thomas Hartley; "Christ's Spirit or a Christian's Strength" "The Stumbling Stone" "The Doctrine of Baptism" and "The Trial of Spirits" all by William Dell; "The Liberty of Flesh and Spirit Distinguished" by J. Rutty; and "Observations on Enslaving Importing and Purchasing of Negroes &c." followed by "The Uncertainty of a Death-bed Repentance" both by Anthony Benezet. Miller asserts that "the first fifth sixth and seventh had previously been printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall all in Caslon type. The remainder had been printed by Christopher Saur who owned no Caslon letter." The volume title also in Calson type is attributed to the press of Franklin and Hall for the same reason. According to Miller Anthony Benezet put together this collection of Quaker material in the spring of 1760 in an edition of 500 copies with the hope of reaching those living "in ye back Parts of Maryland Virginia & N. Carolina . . . and Connecticut." First printed in 1759 Benezet's forceful denunciation of the slave trade is notable for using eyewitness accounts from people actually involved with the trade recounting the horrific practices and conditions that were realities of the system. Citing various lines of scripture Benezet argues that slavery runs contrary to Christian teachings and Mosaic law and that those who purchase and keep slaves bear as much guilt as the traders themselves. Born in France to Huguenot parents Benezet 1713-84 was a Quaker abolitionist educator and writer who became one of the earliest and most outspoken advocates against slavery in colonial America. He emigrated to Philadelphia by way of Rotterdam and London in 1731 where he founded Pennsylvania's first secondary school for girls and later opened one of the first schools to welcome black students. ANB says that "Although Benezet is recognized as the most prolific antislavery propagandist of the eighteenth century throughout his lifetime he supported and wrote about a wide variety of causes and topics including assistance for Acadian refugees temperance peace fair treatment of Native Americans religion educational reform and poor relief." His wife Joyce Benezet d. 1786 née Marriott was a preacher in the faith herself. According to Waldstreicher Franklin maintained a "lifelong friendship with Quaker politicians merchants and scientists. . . . He admired Quakerism because of its affirmation of simplicity frugality anti-slavery and humanitarianism." Franklin also saw the possibility of profit in printing for the considerable Quaker population of his colony. Hall 1714-72 came to Philadelphia from London in 1744 to work for Franklin and became a partner in the firm in 1748. As a considerable mark of his regard for Hall Franklin drew up a contract whereby his partner would over an 18-year period buy him out. It is a further sign of Franklin's regard for Hall that the printer is buried beside Franklin and his wife. As to contemporaneous provenance we can speculate with some degree of certainty that our William Anderson was the person of that name who was a Quaker preacher from Haverford near Philadelphia. His wife Margaret--like Benezet's wife Joyce--was also a preacher and these two husband-and-wife teams are dealt with in Rebecca Larson's "Daughter of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad 1700-1775" 1999 Appendix 2. . B[enjamin]. Franklin and D[avid]. Hall or Christopher Sower unknown books
1801Best.-Nr. 58147ELOQUENT ARGUMENT FOR ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE BY A WEST INDIES SLAVE OWNER - WITH A DESCRIPTION OF SUGAR PLANTATIONS Full title: 'Letters on the Cultivation of the Otaheite Cane; the Manufacture of Sugar and Rum; the Saving of Molasses; the Care and Preservation of Stock; with the Attention and Anxiety which is due to Negroes. To these Topics are added a few other Particulars analogous to the Subject of the Letters; and also Speech on the Slave Trade the most important Feature in West Indian Cultivation.' first edition 8vo. xvi 248 248 1 blank 249-290 291-301 prospectus with detailed contents for book on Leeward Islands 1 blankpp large folding table at p.247 modern quarter rich tan calf spine panelled by raised bands with the panels richly gilt tooled red morocco title label marbled sides scattered foxing some light old water staining to lower and fore margins most noticeable in gatherings B and L and never obtrusive else a nice copy in a very handsome binding. SABIN 9850 Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 18156.4 Rare Books Hub records none at auction. Clement Caines d. 1817-1822 trained as a barrister in London inherited his family's sugar plantations in St. Kitts around 1778 and became the largest slave owner in the island. In the General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in 1798 he advocated the abolition of the slave trade better treatment for enslaved workers and an end to the slave trade. He wrote extensively on the desirability of humane treatment for plantation slaves and the abolition of the slave trade as well as political topics including his support for the Embargo. The first part of this book effectively a detailed description the workings of a West Indian sugar cane plantation benefits from Caines's first hand experience of the topic. The second part p.249-288 contains his 'Speech on the Slave Trade' delivered to the General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in March 1798 which was discussing a resolution that the abolition of slave trade 'would be oppressive to the British planter destructive to the sugar colonies and consequently to the British Revenue and of no benefit to the Africans themselves'. Caines unambiguously stated "the slave-trade ought to be abolished. It ought to be abolished immediately. It ought immediately to be abolished for the sake and benefit of the planter". Caines argued that the slave trade was injurious not only to the slaves but to their owners. Having observed the death rates from exposure overwork and disease involved in forest clearing he bluntly stated that slave labour "cements with blood the walls of every sugar-work that is raised where forests grew". He stated that his business had "never been delegated to others. The slaves who were committed to my care performed their work under my own eyes. My time was passed with them and my attention devoted to them and their condition. I could not fail then to become acquainted with their wants and sufferings - to remark their sickness disability and premature decay: - the diseases among their men the sterility of their women and the death among their children". He directly challenged his hearers for their calculation "that a hardy African can be purchased for less than a Creole infant can be reared" and their consequent failure to provide adequate housing for mothers and children. He reports that about a quarter of newly arrived slaves on discovering their situation "pine and droop linger rather than live and shortly sink into the grave". Only an end to the importation of new slaves could disrupt the planters' callous calculation that they could "run our Negroes for two or three years" in the certainty that they could be then be replaced. Caines's familiarity with the actuality of slave life and his eloquent and direct illustration of it give this work an especial power. Interestingly in 1811 Caines wrote to both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sending copies of his publications vide https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-03-02-0394 . Printed for Messrs Robinson hardcover
1791Best.-Nr. 140945477Printed at the Joint Expence of the Glasgow and Edinburgh Societies instituted for the Abolition of the Slave Trade: Edinburgh 1791. First Edinburgh Edition. Very Good. Rare first Edinburgh edition published same year as the London edition of eye-witness testimony on the horrors of the British slave trade containing a very early engraving of the famous large folding plate of slaves packed into the hold of the slave-ship Brookes. The famous engraving is one of the most powerful and influential images in the history of social justice and the fight to abolish slavery. It served as a gruesome test of the Britain's "humane" Slave Trade Act of 1788 also known as Dolben's Act which limited the number of enslaved people that British slave ships could transport based on the ships' tons burthen. Very Good. Small 8vo bound in somewhat recent quarter calf and marbled boards with light fading to the spine. Folding frontispiece map of the west coast of Africa in with 2 x 0.5" loss along one edge neatly restored. Large folding woodcut 16.25 x 15.5" of a slave ship based on the engraving W. Elford published in a pamphlet in London in 1789 is excellent and bright with several repairs made to the verso mending tears. The print now an iconic symbol of the Middle Passage was so visually arresting that William Wilbeforce created a scale model of the Brookes making it a central part of his presentation before the House of Commons. His abolition bill did not garner enough support to pass and it was not until 1807 that England succeeded in abolishing slavery. Edinburgh unknown books
1845Best.-Nr. 42820850A unique survival. This important collection of largely identified photographs documents the home and family of Dr. Sidney Smith and those he enslaved at Gravel Hill his South Carolina plantation. The collection includes an extraordinary daguerreotype depicting Dr. Smith his two daughters and his brother posed together with two enslaved African American men. This is one of the earliest known images—if not the very earliest photograph—of an identified plantation owner posing with enslaved African Americans. The photographs : 1. Quarter plate daguerreotype 4 x 3 1/8 in. of Gravel Hill Plantation near Robertville St. Peter's Parish Beaufort District South Carolina. Ca. mid-to-late 1840s. Manuscript notation on passe-partout mat "Grandfather Sidney Smith Gravel Hill S.C." The image shows the plantation house with various figures engaged in an unidentified activity with a horse tied to a picket fence. The two girls in white may be Sidney Smith's daughters Arabella b. 1832 and Julia b. 1837 and the others may be enslaved African American children. An enslaved African American subject stands on the steps in the background. In the foreground are two figures with an unknown object perhaps a dog cart or a bone-shaker bicycle. In front of the house is a heavily-vined grape arbor presumably connected with Smith's efforts in viniculture. 2. A quarter plate tintype copy of the above daguerreotype. 3. Sixth plate daguerreotype of Sidney Smith his daughters Arabella and Julia his brother James Laurens Smith and two unidentified African American men almost certainly enslaved men. Ca. mid-1840s-1850. One of the girls is blurred because she is hold a struggling dog. Accompanied by the envelope in which the daguerreotype was discovered with penciled notation about the subjects as well as a tentative date of "1850 or thereabout." 4. Sixth plate daguerreotype of Smith's daughters Arabella and Julia pointing to a book and an unidentified object. Ca. mid-1840s-1850. 5. Sixth plate daguerreotype of Sidney Smith. Ca. 1845. Smith appears to be wearing a mourning band on his coat suggesting that the image was made following the death of his first wife Eliza in March 1845. 6. Sixth plate tintype copy of the above portrait. 7. Sixth plate tintype portrait of Maria King Smith second wife of Sidney Smith with an infant possibly William King Smith. A period copy image. 8. Sixth plate ambrotype of William King Smith son of Sidney and Maria Smith possibly as a cadet. Ca 1850s. 9. Quarter plate ambrotype of Sarah Smith sister of Sidney and James Laurens Smith aunt to Arabella and Julia. Ca 1850s-1860s. 10. Sixth plate ambrotype of Rosa Nicholes sister of Maria Smith with "Eddie" Postell possibly the Edward Postell who was killed in action in 1863 at Fort Wagner. Ca 1850s. Dr. Sidney Smith Sidney Smith was born in 1805 in or near Beaufort SC the son of William Smith a man of moderate wealth and Elizabeth Wilson Smith of Philadelphia reportedly a Quaker. Sidney was sent to Yale College and subsequently studied medicine in Ohio. His younger brother James Laurens Smith b. 1809 studied law but he apparently never practiced devoting himself instead to agriculture. Sidney Smith married Eliza Lawton in 1829. The two had several children including daughters Arabella and Julia. Smith was apparently practicing medicine in the vicinity of Robertville South Carolina as well as trying his hand at being a planter. In 1831 he appears in the Lawton Family Papers as having been paid two dollars for "expirating a Fungus Tumor from the head of Little Negro Shiloh" Inabinett 1963. His name appears in several land transactions in the upper St. Peter's Parish in Beaufort District where he experimented with various crops. Smith's experiments with wine received wide-ranging coverage in the press. A notice in the Boston Daily Atlas of 28 December 1844 printed a report from a Savannah newspaper: "This editor of the Savannah Republican has samples of eight kinds of wine made by Dr. Sidney Smith of Robertville Beaufort District S.C. They are pure juice of the grape without the addition of any spirits whatever. One of the specimens is from the vintage of 1833 another from that of '38 and the other six from that of the present year. They differ in flavor according to the species of grape from which they were expressed … Dr. S. has on hand some 800 gallons of those wines which he finds useful for all medicinal and culinary purposes." Smith's first wife Eliza died in 1845 at the age of 37 possibly explaining her absence from the group portrait. In 1846 Smith married Maria Ann King with whom he would have two children who survived into adulthood William King Smith b. 1846 and Walter Watson Smith b. 1849. By 1850 Smith and most of his family had left Gravel Hill and relocated to Marietta Georgia where he acquired another plantation Rockford near Marietta. By this time Smith had acquired 74 slaves according to the 1850 Slave Schedules of the United States Census. He continued to run Gravel Hill as an absentee owner from Georgia. In 1853 Smith sold Gravel Hill then comprising 700 acres and his other plantation properties in the Robertville area to John Goldwire Lawton in 1853 according to genealogical records at the Heritage Library Foundation. Smith's Gravel Hill home appears to have been on the site of present-day Gravel Hill Plantation the ca. 1910 hunting preserve near Robertville on the National Register of Historic Places. The elaborately decorated center-hall plan home as well as the town of Robertville was burned by W.T. Sherman's troops in 1865. After the war the land was sold to Northern buyers. Newer structures were apparently built on the foundations of the original Gravel Hill around 1910 when it was refashioned as a gentleman's hunting plantation. Dr. Smith and his wife Maria died in 1856. Their sons Walter and William became wards of Smith's brother James who himself apparently died in 1865. Walter Smith was a student at the Georgia Military Institute when it closed at the time of W. T. Sherman's approach in 1864. At the age of 14 he and the other cadets were sent to guard the river crossings in the approaches to Atlanta. With his brother William Walter served in Confederate units until the end of the Civil War. Sidney Smith's sister Sarah known as "Aunt Sarah" to Walter and William Smith wrote vivid letters describing the evacuation of Marietta and her flight to Atlanta. While no documentary evidence of the Smith family's views on slavery has been found Susan E. Geoffrey claims in her academic paper "A Southern Family in Transition 1830-1865" that Sidney and his siblings were "reasonably humane to their slaves according to the standards of their society." Geoffrey adds that Sidney's sisters Sarah and Hannah developed an interest in educating their brothers' enslaved children. Dexter's biographical sketch of Smith notes that Smith "opposed strenuously the act of nullification in South Carolina and by his personal efforts retarded the action of that State." Smith's brother James provided in his 1853 will that every tenth! child born into slavery in the estate should at age eighteen be granted freedom to be facilitated by the Colonization Society. The photographers The photographers of these images are unidentified but it appears that Smith himself may have made two of the daguerreotypes. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History vol. 7 1913 notes of Smith: "He was a man of unusual mental gifts an earnest student and devoted to the community and mankind. When the art of the daguerreotype was first introduced he was a pioneer in cultivating it in the South." Based on his interest in the "art of the daguerreotype" it is possible that Smith created the daguerreotypes himself perhaps with the aid of an assistant so he could be included in certain images most notably the group portrait. The informal group portrait shows a relaxed family posing together. Smith appears to have moved into the frame at the last moment after setting up the shot. Likewise the subjects in the Gravel Hill daguerreotype are in casual poses as if they are in a Daguerreian snapshot of the family rather than formally arranged portraits. Dating The approximate dating of the featured images has been determined based on the estimated ages of Smith's daughters Arabella and Julia who are pictured in two or perhaps three of the daguerreotypes. Arabella b. 1832 and Julia b. 1837 appear to be around the ages of twelve/thirteen and eight/nine respectively. The girls appear together in a sixth plate daguerreotype portrait and in the sixth plate group portrait of Dr. Sidney Smith his brother and two unidentified African American men almost certainly enslaved subjects. The sisters may also be the two girls in white dresses on the steps of the house in the quarter plate daguerreotype. This dates those daguerreotypes to the mid-1840s and no later than 1850 thus making them among the very earliest photographs of a slave-holding antebellum plantation. A rare opportunity It is evident that Dr. Sidney Smith wanted to use the new art of photography to create a visual record of his plantation home at Gravel Hill and of his family and the enslaved individuals who worked for him. The daguerreotypes offered here most notably the group portrait of Smith with his brother daughters and two Black men are unique in depicting enslaved subjects posed together with their owner especially in a relatively informal setting. We are not aware of comparable images dating from the mid-to-late 1840s. This exceptional collection of photographs from an identified family in the antebellum South is worthy of further research. References Dexter Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Notices of Graduates of Yale College 1913 Geoffrey Susan E. "A Southern Family in Transition 1830-1865" 1982 Accessed online through the Heritage Library History and Research Center in Hilton Head SC September-October 2024. Background on the Smith family is derived from this academic paper although the research center's copy is incomplete lacking numerous footnotes and bibliography. Some but not all of Geoffrey's sources have been located in the William King Smith Papers Wilson Special Collections Library UNC Chapel Hill. 1845-1850 four daguerreotypes and ca. 1855-1860 three ambrotypes plus three early tintype copy images. 10 items.
2004Best.-Nr. ESCLAVA3333254913Nantes, Les Anneaux de la Mémoire / UNESCO, 2004, 16 x 24, 293 pages sous couverture illustrée. Quelques illustrations en noir.
