Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2010 Issue
19th Century American West from the William Reese Co.
Seeing is believing: Lumbering in the redwood forests.
Item 67 is a collection of documents regarding the winding down of number two of the two great early western enterprises, the North West Company. Number one was the Hudson's Bay Company, founded in 1670, which came to dominate the fur trade in western Canada and what is now the U.S. Northwest. In 1783, a group of Canadian businessmen formed the North West Company to take on Hudson's Bay. There developed a fierce rivalry in the early 19th century between the two, as the North West Company successfully battled toe-to-toe with its older rival. However, by the teens, heavy trapping made furs harder to find, and the North West Company found itself on precarious footing. In 1821, it was forced into a merger with its rival, whereby its name disappeared. Meanwhile, conditions continued to deteriorate for the firm which had held a controlling interest in the North West Company and effectively ran it, McTavish, McGillivrays and Company. Finally, this firm went into bankruptcy in 1825. Offered is a collection of documents from the bankruptcy, including an explanation as to why the operator of that once great company had failed. $37,500.
Item 25 is a rare work used to promote redwood logging in California in 1884. The title is Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests, by Edgar Cherry. It promotes the superior quality of redwood, and explains the processes used to fell the giant trees. It also contains numerous photographs, and Reese notes that they vary from copy to copy so that no two copies of this book are identical. The author noted that the size of the trees might not be believable to easterners, "...but with photographic views, which cannot lie, argument as to truthfulness is unnecessary." These were the days before Photoshop. $13,500.
The William Reese Company may be reached at 203-789-8081 or amorder@reeseco.com. Their website is www.reeseco.com.
