David Lesser and David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books have reached a major milestone, their Catalogue No. 200 of Rare Americana. It's a long journey to get to 200, but Lesser recounts that he issued his first catalogue in 1989. That's 200 printed catalogues, not 200 easy to create e-catalogues . Lesser started out as a lawyer, but while debating legal issues and conducting research was enjoyable, he found the clash of unhappy people unpleasant. He looked for something else and a vacation with a handful of Bill Reese's catalogues proved an inspiration. The rest, as they say, is history. Here are a few selections from Lesser's catalogue #200.
San Francisco had its massive earthquake in 1906. A year later, there was another violent event, this one man-made. It was the San Francisco Streetcar Strike of 1907. On May 5, the the streetcar workers went on strike. They demanded their pay be raised from $2.50 to $3.00 per day and their working hours reduced from 10 to 8. Their employer, United Railroads, a private company, refused. They determined to crush the union that represented the workers. The URR brought in strikebreakers, scabs if you will, to operate the cars. It all turned violent, 131 people being killed, another 1,000 or so injured. Many were transit riders, some struck during battles between union workers and company security. As was typical in the day, the local government and police came of the aid of the company, not the workers. Item 101 is a broadside printed during the strike on behalf of the strikers. It is headed Street Car Situation, and ends with admonition “Stay Off The Cars.” It says “the street car strike can be settled in a very short time if the people are in earnest. All that is necessary is for everybody to keep off the cars with the firm determination that they will not ride until Mr. P. Calhoun accepts the arbitration which was offered by the general committee.” URR President Patrick Calhoun had no interest in arbitration; he wanted victory. He outlasted the workers, as more and more of the strikers returned to work until the strike effectively came to an end. Priced at $450.
This bond is worth more than the paper it's printed on, but not its face value. One of the worst investments you could have made during the Civil War was in Confederate bonds. This one was “worth” $10,000, which was a lot of money in 1862. It was payable on January 1, 1872, but by then there was no more Confederacy. On top of that, the 14th Amendment made it unconstitutional to repay these debts. The bonds did continue to trade for years thereafter for a few pennies on the dollar in the hopes the federal government would change its mind, but that never happened. However, as we will see here, they have regained a small portion of their value today as collectibles. This bond is signed by Confederate states Treasurer E. C. Elmore and Registrar of the Treasury Robert Tyler. He was the son (one of 15 children) of President John Tyler, the only U.S. President to support the Confederacy. Item 25. $250.
Losing your money wasn't the only risk that came with supporting the Confederacy. Confiscation acts in 1861 and 1862 gave the federal government the power to seize land from those who had taken up arms against the Union. Josiah Buck was such a man. Buck was a Virginian (in that part of the state now West Virginia) who went to war to fight for the South. While he was gone, the federal government seized his land. Item 26 is a manuscript document signed by Col. John Campbell of the 54th Tennessee regiment of volunteers authorizing John Culp, “a loyal citizen,” to work the land seized by the government. Buck is described as “committing the heinous crime of treason.” Culp was required to maintain the property and give the government one-fourth of certain crops and one-half of others until he was removed from the land by “some competent legal authority.” Buck was a particularly unfortunate Confederate as only a small amount of Confederate land was actually seized. Most that was not sold was returned after the war, so while we don't know whether Buck ever got his farm back, there is a good chance he did. $875.
Here is a first-hand account of the Old West by Mary Katherine Jackson English, Prairie Sketches or Fugitive Recollections of an Army Girl of 1899 (maybe actually 1889?). Mrs. English recounts adventures, sights, climate, topography and people around Wyoming and vicinity, notably various Indian tribes. She dedicates her book to the Bishop of Wyoming, “whose untiring efforts in behalf of my Indian friends have won from me much gratitude.” Obviously, she was unusual for her time and place in speaking fondly of Indians. Item 42. $950.
While slavery was prevalent through the West Indies and America, Britain was a leader in the slave trade. Slaves were being transported to their American colonies on British ships. A slave revolt in Haiti in 1791, finally leading to independence in 1804, made the British reconsider. They banned the trade in 1807, America a year later, though slavery itself remained legal in each for several more decades. However, some British communities were more forward-thinking, even before the Haitian revolt. This is a copy of Votes of the House of Commons from February 26, 1788. It includes “A Petition of the Aldermen, Burgesses, and Inhabitants of the Town of Wokingham...representing the present State of the African Slave Trade as being contrary to the Principles of Justice, Humanity, good Policy, and Religion; and submitting the same to the Consideration of the House.” In today's parlance, you might say the people of Wokingham were “woke.” Item 91. $125.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.
