The 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop has issued their Catalogue 198, Magnificent Books, Manuscripts & Photographs. If anything, “magnificent” is an understatement for these works. It's easy to contain names like Lincoln, Shakespeare, Darwin, Whitman, Franklin and Freud, but these are special items, some even personal to the named person. This is a catalogue for collectors who have reached the top echelon of collecting. These are a few selections.
Anne Frank became a symbol of both the horrors of the Holocaust and the brave attempts to survive it. She, along with her father, mother, older sister, and four other Jews hid in the “secret annex” above a business in Amsterdam. They were hidden and supplied with food by a few of Anne's father, Otto's, trusted employees. They survived there in close quarters from 1942-1944 until the Nazis learned of their whereabouts. They were all taken to concentration camps, with only Otto Frank surviving. Miep Gies, one of Otto Frank's former employees who helped shelter them gathered Anne's papers together and preserved them, returning them to Otto after the war. Otto Frank had them published in 1947, the title (later known in English as “Diary of a Young Girl”) is Het Achterhuis (Dutch for “The Secret Annex”). Offered is a copy of this Dutch edition with an important association. It was signed by Miep Gies and two others still unknown (Wil and Greet). It is also inscribed “Amsterdam 13 Juli 1947.” Gies is notable for her moral courage under great danger and is honored as one of the Righteous Among the Nations at the Yad Veshem memorial in Israel. Priced at $45,000.
When America's constitutional convention wrote the document on which its government was founded, its adoption by the states was anything but assured. The Constitution needed some eloquent supporters to make its case. Into that void stepped James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Writing anonymously, they penned a series of essays, which were combined into one book, The Federalist, published in 1788. The Constitution was supported by America's most important and highly respected figure, George Washington, but Washington refrained from taking sides publicly. He did not want it to appear that he, rather than the people, controlled the future of the nation. Behind the scenes, however, he wanted the case to be made in the hopes the people would share his support for the new Constitution. Washington made his sentiments known in a letter to Dr. David Stuart. Stuart had married the widow of Martha Washington's son, John Parke Custis. Stuart became an intimate advisor to Washington on personal matters. He also unofficially represented Washington's interests in the Virginia legislature and as a Virginia representative to the constitutional convention. In his letter, Washington had warned Stuart that the Constitution would have its very vocal opponents, those who would appeal to passions designed to raise fears rather than good judgment. Those were people who wished “to see the states divided into several confederacies.” Washington urged Stuart to see if he could find a publisher willing to publish the essays that became The Federalist in their newspaper. Washington also wrote, “Altho I am acquainted with some of the writers who are concerned in this work, I am not at liberty to disclose their names, nor would I have it known that they are sent by me to you for promulgation.” The 19th Century Shop is offering a copy of the first edition of The Federalist that was owned by Dr. Stuart. It is signed by Stuart and dated “June 10, 1788.” $550,000.
There have been a few scientific discoveries of monumental importance, Copernicus' heliocentric universe, Newton's laws of motion, Einstein's relativity. Maybe even more significant is Darwin's theory of evolution. The others taught us about the universe, while the latter taught us about ourselves, who we are and where we came from. Charles Darwin reached his conclusion that species evolved through a process of natural selection by the early 1840s, the result of his role as naturalist on an expedition to southern South America. He reached his determination based on similarities but with differences between plants and animals isolated from each other. However, Darwin was reluctant to publish his findings. He figured, correctly, that it would be extremely controversial and thoroughly denounced by the many literal believers of the Bible creation story. Meanwhile, Alfred Russel Wallace was conducting natural history studies in the area of today's Malaysia and Indonesia. By the 1850s, he had independently developed a similar evolutionary theory to that of Darwin. Wallace ran his theory past Darwin, unbeknownst that Darwin had reached the same conclusion. The result was that they decided to jointly publish their theory. This is their joint announcement, published in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society in 1858: On the tendency of species to form varieties; and on the perpetuation of varieties and species by means of natural selection. $325,000.
For those who admire Darwin for his intellect and courage (and no one turned out to be a greater supporter and defender of Darwin than Wallace), here is an archive you will greatly appreciate. It is the Darwin family photo album. It was evidently kept by Charles Darwin's wife, Emma. These are professional, carte-de-visite photographs. Both Charles and Emma Darwin's portraits are in the album, taken when they were elderly. Then there are portraits of their seven children who reached maturity, along with a grandchild. Additionally, there are other relatives on both sides of the family, scientific peers including Huxley, Hooker, Haeckel, Lyell, and more, and others they knew. The latter include Thomas Burgess, an old shipmate from his then long-ago voyage on the Beagle to South America from which he developed his theory of evolution. $175,000.
We saw Washington's dedication to a union of states, rather than multiple confederacies of them. The threat to the Union was beaten back in Washington's time, but a graver threat arose 70 years later. Washington's fear might have been realized but for the unyielding determination of this man to preserve Washington's union. That was, of course, Abraham Lincoln. This is an 8 x 6 oval print of Abraham Lincoln, seated on a chair. It was taken at Mathew Brady's studio in Washington, though the photographer was Anthony Berger rather than Brady. The date of the sitting was February 9, 1864. Lincoln's son, Robert Lincoln, would call this “the most satisfactory likeness” of Lincoln. It was Lincoln's face from this portrait that was used on the $5 bill through most of the 20th century (it has since been replaced on the $5 with a different image). $12,000.
This is a portrait of one of America's most important public figures in the years between the Revolution and Civil War, though he never became President. It wasn't for lack of trying. Three times he ran for President and three times he lost. Henry Clay was known as the “Great Compromiser.” That was not meant to say he yielded too easily on his principles; it meant he sought to find the middle ground between opposing parties so that the nation could move forward. His final compromise came in 1850, when he sewed together a group of resolutions to try to keep the North and South together after the Mexican War gave the country a substantial amount of new territory. The North wanted the new territories to be free, the South slave. The Compromise of 1850 helped keep the tenuous binds together for another decade, but it did little more than delay the issue, when only a strong resolve, such as Lincoln's, might have avoided a Civil War. Clay did not live to experience the disappointment at the end of his long and noble service to the country. Clay did live long enough to be photographed, and this daguerreotype was taken circa 1848. The photographer was Montgomery Simons, who noted that Clay, taken to the studio by his friend, Mr. Potter, quipped “I am Clay in the hands of a Potter, let him mould me as he will.” $32,000.
The 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop can be reached at 646-838-4576 or 410-602-3002, or at info@19thshop.com. Their website is found at www.19thshop.com.
