Rare Americana from David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books has issued their Catalogue 204 of Rare Americana. Lesser's catalogues feature primarily 18th and 19th century printed and manuscript Americana, a few items bleeding into the early 20^th century. Most are less than book length and few were meant for long-term survival, but these have survived. They were intended for use at the time. They provide an interesting look at the time and place in which they were created. These are a few samples.

Slavery was long gone by the 1920s, but segregation was rampant in America, and not just in the South. There were few communities where Blacks could buy homes. That led African American real estate developer Sidney Dones to create a community called Eureka Villa. That and adjacent Val Verde (the community is known by that name today) were open to Blacks. Lots could be purchased for $150, some even less, and small homes could be built on them. Other African Americans visited the community for the recreational facilities available, including a swimming pool. Dones writes in this 8-panel brochure for Eureka Villa, published in 1928, that he had “done my duty to my race in helping to put home-owning in Southern California in the reach of all.” He pointed out it was a necessity “because there is absolutely no resort in Southern California where members of our group are welcome... Our children are entitled to a place in the great open spaces where they can play and run unrestricted by race prejudice and oppression.” He said Hollywood jobs were within an easy commute as well as other work nearby, and that water and farmland were plentiful. He even mentioned the possibility of oil under the land, at least of some lots. He said he “really and truly” believed that some people who bought lots would strike oil and “make a fortune” within the next five years. The area became known as the “Black Palm Springs” and thrived for several decades, visited by Black celebrities such as Booker T. Washington. With the outlawing of segregated housing in the 1960s, many Black families moved on to other communities and the older, smaller homes experienced deterioration. Today, the population is diverse, with many Whites, Latinos, Asians and others living there. Item 3. Priced at $2,000.

It's hard not to appreciate creative legal defenses, and this is one of the most original ones I have encountered, even if ultimately it was unsuccessful. Arundel Coke, an English barrister, no less, decided to off his brother-in-law, Edward Crispe. He invited Crispe over for dinner and later asked him to walk to see a neighbor across the churchyard. When they got to her house, Coke pinned Crispe up against a wall, then whistling for his accomplice, a known criminal named “Woodburn,” to come. Washburn came with a pruning hook and proceeded to slice Crispe up. They left him for dead, whereupon Coke returned home and told his wife her brother would be home shortly. He was right, to Coke's surprise. The badly injured Crispe managed to crawl home. Despite the seven grievous wounds, Crispe recovered. Coke and Woodburn were tried for malicious maiming, a crime which carried the death penalty. Coke's ingenious defense was that he did not intend to slit Crispe's nose and was therefore not guilty, because what he intended to do (unsuccessfully) was to kill him. Clever, but it didn't work. The jury convicted the two men and hanged them anyway. Here is an account of the sordid event from 1723, An exact and particular Narrative of a cruel and inhumane Murder attempted on the Body of Edward Crispe, Esq; at St. Edmunds-Bury in Suffolk, On the first of January last at Night, by Arundel Coke, Esq; Barrister at Law, and John Woodburn, a Laborer. Item 27. $500.

Jews were always portrayed negatively in the old English theater. Shakespeare's Shylock was an example of the stereotype, an unethical Jewish moneylender. That mold was broken by Richard Cumberland in his play The Jew. A Comedy, published in 1795. Like Shylock, the protagonist, Sheva, is a Jewish moneylender. At the time, being a moneylender was a common occupation for Jews as most occupations were off-limits to them. However, Sheva, unlike Shylock, is a kind and generous man who helps a young couple out of their difficult situation. Perhaps unexpectedly, the play was a major success, and was performed to large audiences in Ireland and the U.S. as well as Britain. American editions renamed the play “The Jew; or the Benevolent Hebrew.” It helped change some of the prevalent anti-Semitic attitudes of the time, something of which Cumberland later wrote made him particularly proud. Item 62. $2,750.

America was gradually coming apart at the seams when the presidential election of 1852 was held. The same was true of the two major parties of the time, the Democrats and Whigs. Anti-slavery members of both parties formed third parties, first the Liberty Party in 1844, then the Free Soil Party in 1848. Neither won any electoral votes, though the Free Soilers carried 10% of the popular vote. Many returned to the major parties, which led to a breakout by many anti-slavery Democrats again in 1852. The Free Democratic Party, successor to the Free Soil Party, was born (and quickly died). Item 14 is a broadside for their ticket, Free Democratic Ticket. Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free Men! Hale and Julian. For Electors of President and Vice-President of the United States. This contained a list of electors for Massachusetts, which included poet John Greenleaf Whittier, along with other noted abolitionists of the day. The presidential candidate was John Hale of New Hampshire, the first abolitionist U. S. Senator. They gathered 5% of the vote, half of what the Free Soil Party pulled in 1848, and no electoral votes. However, many of these Free Democrats would join with northern members of the disintegrating Whig Party and other opponents of slavery to found the new Republican Party in 1856, whose less strident opposition to slavery would enable them to capture the presidency in 1860. Item 14. $500.

This is an interesting item for today, an era of the rise of “Christian Nationalism,” a combination of right-leaning religious and political beliefs, neither of which include a devotion to the concept of separation of church and state. Item 45 is The Tree of Liberty. An Address in Celebration of the Birth of Washington, Delivered at the Second Universalist Church in Philadelphia, Sunday Morning, February 28, 1830. Minister Zelotes Fuller cautions against entangling Christianity with politics. Fuller argues for religious freedom and the suppression of “clerical intolerance.” He says, “The past history of the Christian Church, should be a solemn warning to us, never to permit an alliance to be formed, between the priesthood, and the civil magistracy, between Church and State Powers.” Item 45. $450.

David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books may be reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. Their website is www.lesserbooks.com.