Rare Book Monthly
Americana From Michael Brown Rare Books
Michael Brown Rare Books' latest Americana catalogue.
By Michael Stillman
Michael Brown Rare Books recently issued its catalogue 34 of Americana. There are no surprises as to the type of material you will find in a catalogue called “Americana.” Other than the material being primarily North Americana, there are no particular limits other than the material being old. There are 275 items in all, and we can only give you a few samples of the breadth of material that is available.
There’s no better place to start then item number 1, Four Letters: Being an Interesting Correspondence between…John Adams, Late President of the United States; and Samuel Adams, Late Governor of Massachusetts… This was an 1802 printing of correspondence between the two cousins and great Revolutionary War-era patriots. John would go on to be president while Sam would have a beer named after him. Which one is better known today? $350.
On February 22, 1832, a great parade was held in Philadelphia honoring the one-hundredth birthday of George Washington. All sorts of tradesmen and associations, such as printers, hatters, cabinet makers and policemen, 122 groups in all, took part in the festivities. The parade was started by “eighteen pioneers,” likely veterans of the Revolution. This large broadside describes the celebration. Item 185. $4,500.
Several items pertain to slavery and the treatment of African-Americans in the 19th century. Item 3 is a letter back home from Sherman Converse, a Massachusetts native who went to North Carolina to teach in 1839. He describes the slaves at the home where he boards, seemingly indifferent to their situation. He describes their having “a negro girl to keep the flies off from the table while we were eating with a bunch of peacock feathers.” A black woman does all of the cooking, and other black people shine his shoes and bring him his horse to go riding. “The white women never cook nor wash nor iron cloaths…” I think maybe this helps us to better understand their antipathy towards abolition. $650.
Item 4 is a collection of six autographed letters from Frederick Douglass to Hannah Fuller of Skaneatles, New York. Fuller was a friend and fellow abolitionist. Some of these letters concern a lecture by another abolitionist, William Wells Brown, and hint at some displeasure in him by Douglass. Douglass predicts that Brown won’t show for his lecture. The letters were written between 1855 and 1857. $75,000. Item 6 is a letter from William Lloyd Garrison to Rev. Samuel May, then forwarded to the aforementioned Miss Fuller, concerning speaking arrangements. $750.
