David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has released their Catalogue 193 of Rare Americana. It is heavily weighted with 19th century material, occasionally before or after. They are primarily shorter form material, pamphlets, documents, letters and such. They were generally not meant to last, not to be placed on shelves and preserved for prosperity. As a result, they are rare if not unique. However, what they give us is a contemporary look at the issues of the day, rather than ones made by historians later. It is a fascinating collection of America as it was. Here are a few samples.
The Union cause in the Civil War didn't have unanimous support in the North. There were the Copperheads whose sympathies were with the South, and others who simply didn't see the war as worth the cost. Then there were those who did not want to participate, which brings us to this book. The title is The Draft Riots in New York. July, 1863. The Metropolitan Police: Their Honorable Record, by David M. Barnes. These people may have been content to let the war play out as long as they weren't involved, but when Lincoln instituted a draft, they rioted. This book presents one of the earliest accounts of the riots, clearly written from the perspective of the police. The book was dedicated to the New York Police Department and this copy has a presentation slip which reads “Presented, with their compliments, by the Metropolitan Police of the City of New York.” The rioters first attacked military facilities, but it expanded into attacks on Black people and neighborhoods in New York. Barnes writes that riots were ostensibly in opposition to the draft, “but early took the character of an outbreak for the purposes of pillage, and also of outrage upon the colored population.” The force found itself “occupied in giving information to the negroes in quarters threatened by the mob, and directing them where to find safety.” He notes that they burned the Colored Orphan Asylum and describes in detail the death of “colored victims.” Item 8. Priced at $2,750.
One of these things is not like the others. It won't be hard to identify which with the next item. This is a case of wishful thinking. It is a color lithograph prepared for the 1848 presidential election. Circling around the edges are portraits of the first 11 Presidents, from George Washington to James Knox Polk. In the center is a larger picture of Lewis Cass Democratic Candidate for 12th President. It was not to be. The lithographer was Nathaniel Currier, later noted for his partnership with James Ives. Cass' resume included serving as Governor of and Senator from Michigan, Secretary of War, Ambassador to France, and a Brigadier General. He came close to getting the nomination in 1844 before the convention picked Polk as a compromise between supporters of Cass and former President Martin Van Buren. It would be Van Buren who again was Cass' undoing in the 1848 election. Cass' major opponent in 1848 was Whig Zachary Taylor, a popular war hero from the Mexican War but a man with little government experience and no known platform. However, Van Buren ran against him as the candidate of the newly formed Free Soil Party, and Cass' sympathy for slaveholders damaged him in the North. Additionally, Cass' long record gave opponents lots of fodder for attack while Taylor's record barely existed. The evidently politically agnostic Currier created a similar poster for Taylor and in that one, all 12 are like each other. Item 14. $450.
Here is an example of Cass' long history being used against him. It's another lithograph broadside from 1848 with two pictures. In one, a younger Cass bows to French King Louis Phillipe in his role as Ambassador to France. Bowing to royalty would have been considered degrading to Americans who had thrown off King George not all that long ago. In the second picture, a somewhat older Cass shuns the now older Louis Phillipe, the latter having just been deposed. The idea was to paint Cass as two-faced. The heading of the broadside is Now and Then, or How to Meet an Old Friend with a New Face. Item 15. $2,500.
Probably one of the most damaging slurs you could have inflicted on a man in the 19th century was to say he had Negro blood. Such were the prejudices of the time. This is a handwritten document that used this claim in an attempt to discredit Andrew Jackson, circa 1828. The claim was that Jackson's mother had immigrated to America a few years before Jackson's birth and had taken up with a mulatto slave. A supposed older brother with darker skin was sold as a slave down South while Jackson was put under the care of the court, which gave him the name of his supposed father, after which he was raised by others. It was signed by William Rodgers and separately by “W.B.” These people are unknown. An almost identical story was published in the Burlington (Vermont) Sentinel, along with a denunciation of the claim. Evidently, this rumor had been spread around, though ultimately it had no impact. It was all, as they say, “fake news.” Jackson won the presidency that year. Item 57. $1,500.
Here is one more bitingly sarcastic lithograph broadside. The caption title is Jeff's Last Skedaddle. Off to the Last Ditch. How Jeff in His Extremity Put His Navel Affairs and Ram-Parts Under Petticoat Protection, probably from 1865. There are a couple of double entendres in that title. The Jeff is Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, which were no more. They had just lost the Civil War. A rumor had spread that in attempting to evade capture by Union forces, Davis had dressed up in women's clothing. It was not quite accurate, Davis' wife apparently having given him her coat to keep warm. Nonetheless, it was a great story from the Union perspective, adding a little extra humiliation to the lost cause. In the image, Davis is depicted in a petticoat, carrying a bucket, and running away from two mounted soldiers. Mrs. Davis calls out to the men, “Please Gentlemen don't disturb the Privacy of Ladies before they have time to dress.” Item 32. $2,000.
White grievance over supposed preferences to people of color is nothing new. Item 17 is Speech of Hon. Eugene Casserly, on the Fifteenth Amendment, and the Labor Question, Delivered in San Francisco, California, July 28, 1869. Casserly was upset that the Fifteenth Amendment would prevent the states from withholding “the right of suffrage from the most wretched negro between the Potomac and the Sabine, or from the most depraved coolie of China or Hindoostan.” With this amendment, he claimed, “The favored races are the men of color, whether black or yellow.” It's tough being in the majority. $375.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.
