Rare Book Monthly
Further Addicted: The Continuing Adventures Of An AE “Wants List” Junkie
Step 7 and Step 8
Finally, with the last title I investigate, I hit total pay dirt – though like the above, pay dirt that I just can’t afford right now. It is a key work in the female abolitionist movement, a copy of Angelina Ward Grimke’s pamphlet An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, printed in New York in 1836 by “The Anti-Slavery Examiner,” Vol. 1, No.2. From this point on I must offer credit to Priscilla Juvelis, Inc., whose bibliographic description on abe.com is so thorough that I verge on plagiarizing if I do not acknowledge it in my recounting of her description of this book here.
Angelina Ward Grimke came from a wealthy Charleston, South Carolina family and she and her sister Sarah were two of the most significant women in the anti-slavery fight in America. Early in life they freed their slaves and sold their land in the South, moving North to join in the abolitionist fight. Though both sisters are hugely important in the history of female anti-slavery activism, Angelina was the first to join in the fight, moving North to join with William Lloyd Garrison and to become a seminal figure in the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society.
This 1836 pamphlet is very early for a U.S. abolitionist work and it is in fact the first pamphlet by Angelina Ward Grimke, though certainly not her last. (In fact, Juvelis’ description points out that this “key pamphlet, her first….is a key document in the history of the abolition movement and women’s rights movement” and she further points out that this pamphlet so incensed Southern readers that Southern postmasters were known to have destroyed many copies of it, making the fact that this copy is the third of possibly four printings somewhat unimportant due to its presumed scarcity in any state.) The historic significance of this pamphlet for my collection also makes its condition – described as “self-wrappers, removed from larger volume Library, very good with a bit of browning to the paper and some soiling to the first page, housed in a custom cloth case” – seem downright desirable.
I want this pamphlet. I want it a lot. To own it would be to own a key cornerstone piece in my growing collection. However, the only thing stopping me is the price, which I must stress is quite reasonable for what is being offered, especially considering its significance, its very good condition, and its place in history: $900. I want this. I need this. I have to have it. I take my credit card out of my wallet, debate, and then put it back in again. I decide to just keep saving my pennies and pray that one of you readers doesn’t take advantage of the information I have so generously imparted here to scoop Grimke's pamphlet up for yourselves. To do this would be awfully mean to your ÆM Managing Editor, although in the book world as in all things fair trade rules.
Buyer (and dealer) beware: you now have the Æ's MatchMaker at your disposal for instantaneous international comparison book shopping. Use this powerful tool wisely, and use it well: it really is a treasure trove at your disposal, and one that you don’t even have to leave home to utilize.
