Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2006 Issue

Crime and Punishment

Had Mr. Williams lived he would undoubtedly have written more books.

Had Mr. Williams lived he would undoubtedly have written more books.


Was Stanley Tookie Williams guilty? I have no idea. Is the system fair to all citizens? No. Was this a basis for Governor Schwarzenegger to commute Mr. Williams' term to life in prison? Absolutely. It would be nice if comic book characters really had great courage. To those of us who read the adage that "truth is stranger than fiction" may be close to the mark. It's interesting to note that the Governor's native country Austria does not employ the death penalty and if he governed there he could not have confirmed a death sentence. Mr. Schwarzenegger is after all only a politician. We needed a statesman.

Running keyword searches in the AED I found the terms, death, murder, hanging, execution and McDade [reference to capital cases before 1900] that offer few conclusive observations. The 19th century appears to have been more violent than earlier centuries and war periods the most violent. Lincoln is well known for commuting the sentences of many condemned. He clearly considered history and circumstance. Were he a judge in America today in most states his hands would be tied. We remember his courage and intelligence but today we would limit his power to exercise judgment.

Lest it go unnoted Tookie Williams is probably a unique figure in American letters. Before he went to prison the only thing he may have written were bad checks. In prison, in time, he became a different man, an author of nine books about his experiences and perspective with his co-author and editor Barbara Becnel. He was five times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

For anyone who wonders if serious crime is a recent phenomena I ran keyword searches in the AED by various periods and found, as it says in Ecclesiates "there is nothing new under the sun."
Death Murder Hanging Execution McDade
1493 to 1600: 350 121062 0
1601 to 1700:1307 8611190 0
1701 to 1725:77263 67610
1726 to 1750:701 49971 1
1751 to 1775:972161102021
1776 to 1790:5277321117 3
1791 to 1800:131413817148 5
1801 to 1810: 42213117613
1811 to 1820: 469 198 4 70 5
1821 to 1830: 403 31610 63 9
1831 to 1840: 346 16415104 19
1841 to 1850: 627 2491267 20
1851 to 1860: 611 19928150 15
1861 to 1870: 905 22030143 11
1871 to 1880: 260 11662 61 17
1881 to 1890: 305 79 42 68 3
1891 to 1900: 359 69 38 20 6

Rare Book Monthly

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    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
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    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
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    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
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    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
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