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Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2007 Issue

The American Revolution from William Reese

Lemuel Cook, one of the last surviving Revolutionary War veterans.

Lemuel Cook, one of the last surviving Revolutionary War veterans.


While Seabury was attacking the revolutionaries from America, another anonymous publisher (possibly William Moore) was supporting them from Britain. Item 7 is five issues of The Crisis (numbers 4-8) reprinted in America by John Anderson in 1775. The support for the Americans is so bold and extreme, Reese notes, "The language of The Crisis must be read to be believed. How such a treasonable sheet survived is indeed a good question." At one point the writer tells King George "...you are determined to deluge the land with INNOCENT BLOOD," and at another, "Blood Calls For Blood." $1,500.

Not all was lost by the British after the Treaty of Paris granted independence to the former colonies. Item 92 is A Proclamation, from King George III, to the residents of Grenada and some smaller Caribbean Islands. In this message "To all Our loving Subjects," the King notes that Spain, which seized these islands during the Revolution, has restored them to Great Britain. One of these islands, Monserrat, is a British territory to this day, though most of its "loving subjects" were forced from the island after terrible volcanic eruptions a decade ago. $6,000.

Here is the natural conclusion to this catalogue. It is The Last Men of the Revolution, by Rev. Elias B. Hillard, published in 1864. It includes brief biographies, photographs, and views of the homes of the last six surviving Revolutionary War veterans. Naturally, photographs of Revolutionary War veterans are uncommon. This book, published during the Civil War, was intended to stir patriotism toward the Union among its readers. Item 99. $6,500.

The website for the William Reese Company is www.reeseco.com, telephone 203-789-8081.

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    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
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    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
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    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
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