Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2007 Issue
Travels from Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Antiquarian Bookseller
S.W. Prentice and others depart in a leaky boat to seek help.
James Edward Alexander was a British visitor to America who did not share all of Beecher's views. He visited the Caribbean, North and South America in 1831, and published his Transatlantic Sketches from London two years later. He traveled from the Mississippi valley all the way to that of the St. Lawrence during his U.S. visit, but unlike the typical European visitor of the time, he was sympathetic toward slavery. He felt that slaveholders were not being treated fairly and that sudden emancipation was a bad idea. Alexander served in various military and diplomatic posts for England, mostly overseas, through a five-decade career. Item 6. €975 (US $1,281).
If you are a collector of all editions of Robinson Crusoe, here's one you may have missed: Hikajat Robinson Crusoe... This is a rare translation of the 18th century stranded-on-an-island classic published in the Malay language in 1910. €25 (US $33).
Item 17 is an 1805 broadside celebrating the British victory a few weeks earlier in the Battle of Trafalgar. This was one of Britain's greatest naval victories ever, where their forces under Lord Nelson defeated both those of the French and Spanish. England lost no ships, though they did lose Nelson, struck by a bullet. The broadside includes a hand-colored view of the fleets as well as descriptive copy. €650 (US $854).
Item 128 is an aquatint, The Departure of S.W. Prentice... Produced in 1784, it illustrates a scene after a terrible shipwreck. The crew and passengers of the St Lawrence were cast onto a deserted island off Cape Breton on December 5, 1780. The survivors managed for several weeks in the bitter cold, but after five died, Prentice and a few others left on a small and damaged boat to seek help. They sealed leaks by pouring water on them, until the water froze to ice. They were eventually found by local Indians, who went back to rescue the others, only five of whom still survived, subsisting on the bodies of their dead companions. €1,650 (US $2,169).
Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Antiquarian Bookseller may be found online at www.gertjanbestebreurtje.com. Their telephone is +31-(0)347-322548.
