Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2022 Issue

The Sewage System Is a Deception and More from Garrett Scott, Bookseller

Deceptive sewers and more.

Garrett Scott, Bookseller, has released their Catalog 44 with the unusual, undoubtedly unique title, The Sewage System is a Deception. What? Whose sewage system is a deception? If you don't already know, Scott's catalogues generally feature some odd items and this one is no exception. If your collection tilts to the unusual, you won't find a better source. More about the sewage system later. Here are a few samples from this selection.

 

We begin with an item you may guess to be unusual based on its title, Truth Advocated or the Apocalyptic Beast and Mystic Babylon, Clearly Delineated, for the Serious Consideration of Christians Universally, and Unbelievers of Every Description. It was published in 1812 from upstate New York, early in the career of preacher, former teacher, Theophilus Ransom Gates, later known as “Theophilus the Battle-Axe.” Gates came from Connecticut, later spent time in Amenia, New York, Maryland, Philadelphia, and finally in rural Pennsylvania. In those days, as in these, “truth” was sometimes defined in unusual ways, more like its antonym, and it is doubtful the book got too much serious consideration from Christians. Unbelievers remained unbelievers. It contains some of his prophesies. This was from his time in New York, from which he moved on, and later spent time in jail in Philadelphia. It would not be until years later that Gates found his winning formula. In 1837, he published his claim that people should, as quoted from Jeremiah, become “Battle Axes” for the Lord, hence his moniker. In his view, Christ had advocated throwing out all the rules that constrained our behavior. Along with removing the rules, he advocated removing clothing. He set up a commune a few miles from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where free love and nudity were promoted. Marriage was considered a binding that made both husbands and wives miserable. He attracted a couple dozen followers to what was known as “Free Love Valley.” He remained there for the rest of his life (why would he leave?), which was 1846. The community managed to hang on for another decade before disbanding. Item 2. Priced at $450.

 

Next is a five-year run of The Plowshare. An Exemplification of Spelling Reform, from 1872-1877. This publication is not well-remembered today but it must have had a following as it lasted for 40 years. The publisher was Henry M. Parkhurst, who from 1848-1854 was Chief Official Court Reporter for The U.S. Senate. Parkhurst covered many topics, such as currency reform and human population, but stenography was an important part. More importantly, it was his form of spelling that he used in stenography that was high on his list. He believed in phonetic spelling, using an alphabet where every character has its own unique sound. It was certainly easier for people who have trouble spelling or remembering how to spell words with letter combinations like “through” or “knife.” He made use of his spelling in the publication. It contains a two-page promotion for Stephen Pearl Andrews' Wun Alfabet for dhe Hol Wurld. Parkhurst would gain more fame, or notoriety, five years later when he advocated for the sexual practice called “Dianism.” This consists basically of what young men used to refer to as not “going all the way.” Item 12. $150.

 

If you would like more of Henry Parkhurst, here are some of his earlier thoughts. This is The Plowshare and the American Reporter, together with Cosmopolitan, from 1852-1853. This is not the same as today's Cosmo, in fact, they had little in common. Parkhurst herein reports on spirit manifestations in Boston. Item 11. $150.

 

Here is the item about deceptive sewers. The title is The Home Doctor: A Guide to Health, by Dr. Bourne, of San Francisco. It was published in 1878 so the advice might be somewhat out of date. His specialty was hydropathic therapy, or the “water-cure.” Hydrotherapy spread like, not fire, perhaps, but like a flood in mid-nineteenth century America. It evolved from hot springs and mineral baths to a cure that could be practiced at home in a bath tub or in a doctor's office. It might use hot water, cold water, water with added ingredients, whatever the particularly physician recommended. There was great belief in the healing power of water in those days. But there was one place that Dr. Bourne did not believe water belonged and that was in your commode. He informed his readers, “In cities where water closets are placed in the houses connected with the sewers or a vault, they are but ventilators to fill the house with poisonous gas...” He felt that “no trap or hindrance to the admission of foul gas has been, or probably can be invented...” Instead, he says, “Earth closets are the only salvation for cities.” I guess that is something like a toilet that drops into dirt, which doesn't sound all that sanitary, or perhaps a litter box. Item 6. $500.

 

This is a very old bible, the most popular English language one in the second half of the 16th century. It is The Bible. Translated According to the Ebrew and Greeke, a 1608 edition. It is more commonly known as the Geneva Bible for where it was translated, or the Breeches Bible for the unusual word used for what Adam and Eve created from fig leaves when they realized they were naked. It was first published in 1560 and was favored by Calvin, Cromwell, and the Puritans. Naturally, it was a Protestant translation as biblical translators picked terms most consistent with their own preconceptions. However, King James I was not happy with it nor some of the annotations which he interpreted might be unfavorable to his monarchy, so he commissioned a replacement and soon made new printing of the Breeches Bible illegal. The replacement was the King James Bible, first published in 1611, and still in use by Protestants today. This copy is bound with (as published) Robert Herrey's Two Right Profitable and Fruitfull Concordances... Item 1. $3,500.

 

Garrett Scott, Bookseller, may be reached at 734-730-0643 or garrett@bibliophagist.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions