Rare Americana From Between Two Wars from David Lesser Antiquarian Books
- by Michael Stillman
A bearded Jefferson Davis in drag.
Here's a song you may not know: Liberty's Call or Hurrah for Abe and Andy. That one confused me for a moment before I realized Andy was Andrew Johnson. I had never seen him referred to as “Andy” before. The lyrics for this 1864 campaign tune were written by W.S. Blanchard, the music by L.B. Starkweather. Item 18. $300.
The leaders of the Confederacy did not get much respect in the North once the Civil War ended. Jefferson Davis was particularly ridiculed when it was reported that he tried to escape by wearing women's clothes. He was apparently wearing his wife's coat, but that may have been to keep warm rather than as a disguise. Nonetheless, numerous caricatures were drawn of him in drag. Item 145 is one such drawing, a broadside by John Waeschle printed in 1865. It shows Davis, dressed in a petticoat, attempting to hold off his Union captors with a knife. The disguise doesn't work all that well since Davis did not bother to shave off his beard. $850.
Bonhams, Dec. 18: A Very Fine Composite Atlas Magnificently Illuminated and Heightened with Gold in a Fine Contemporary Hand Throughout. $300,000 - $500,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Saint-Exupéry's Revised Ending for Wind, Sand and Stars. $40,000 - $60,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Edith Wharton's Gold Medal from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1924. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Salinger on the Glass Family and on Detachment. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Fanny Burney's Groundbreaking First Novel. Evelina, Or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Kafka's Earliest Extant Piece of Writing. Autograph Note Signed ("Franz Kafka"). $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Wagner Signed "Ride of the Valkries." $6,000 - $9,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Dickens on the Death of Little Nell. $5,000 - $8,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Sylvia Plath's Copy of Joy of Cooking. $4,000 - $6,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Walt Whitman and Friends: Whitman to James Russell Lowell. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Walt Whitman and Friends: The Genesis of his Lincoln Lectures. $6,000 - $9,000
Sotheby’s Livres et Manuscrits, de Galilée à Warhol 6-18 December 2024
Sotheby’s, Dec. 18: Proust, Marcel. À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, [1920]. 150,000 - 200,000 EUR
Sotheby’s, Dec. 18: Warhol, Andy ─ Sam Francis ─ Walasse Ting ─ Roy Lichtenstein ─ Robert Rauschenberg ─ Jean-Paul Riopelle ─ Pierre Alechinsky ─ etc. [1964]. 120,000 - 150,000 EUR
Sotheby’s, Dec. 18: [Mode] - Maison Goupy. 762 dessins de mode. [1924-1931]. 90,000 - 120,000 EUR
Sotheby’s, Dec. 18: Galilée. Dialogo di Galileo Galilei [1632]. 60,000 - 80,000 EUR
Sotheby’s, Dec. 18: Mongaigne, Michel de. Essais. Paris. [1587]. 32,000 - 45,000 EUR
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Proust, Marcel. <i>À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs,</i> [1920]. 150,000 - 200,000 EUR](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/6b9b602f-e3a8-460d-8256-3cd5b58b2993.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Proust, Marcel. <i>À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs,</i> [1920]. 150,000 - 200,000 EUR")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Warhol, Andy ─ Sam Francis ─ Walasse Ting ─ Roy Lichtenstein ─ Robert Rauschenberg ─ Jean-Paul Riopelle ─ Pierre Alechinsky ─ etc. [1964]. 120,000 - 150,000 EUR](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/c6d05207-4c34-4e62-b66b-fa23228ac686.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Warhol, Andy ─ Sam Francis ─ Walasse Ting ─ Roy Lichtenstein ─ Robert Rauschenberg ─ Jean-Paul Riopelle ─ Pierre Alechinsky ─ etc. [1964]. 120,000 - 150,000 EUR")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> [Mode] - Maison Goupy. 762 dessins de mode. [1924-1931]. 90,000 - 120,000 EUR](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/2f3e987f-6266-444c-ace5-df0445f43333.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> [Mode] - Maison Goupy. 762 dessins de mode. [1924-1931]. 90,000 - 120,000 EUR")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Galilée. Dialogo di Galileo Galilei [1632]. 60,000 - 80,000 EUR](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/e01a21b6-dffc-4f75-a590-17a5bfbbaf26.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Galilée. Dialogo di Galileo Galilei [1632]. 60,000 - 80,000 EUR")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Mongaigne, Michel de. <i>Essais.</i> Paris. [1587]. 32,000 - 45,000 EUR](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/c86bdba5-2961-4805-919c-d361a3df1f41.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 18:</b> Mongaigne, Michel de. <i>Essais.</i> Paris. [1587]. 32,000 - 45,000 EUR")