More Rare and Unusual Americana from David Lesser Antiquarian Books
Rare Americana from David M. Lesser.
Here is the story of another preacher, but a very different one: The Surprising Case of Rachel Baker, Who Prays and Preaches in Her Sleep... The writer of this 1814 book was Charles Mais, who observed Miss Baker's sleep-preaching, wrote down some of her sermons, and participated in attempts to cure her. Baker was but 11 when she started having violent fits as she fell off to sleep, acting terrified, as if visiting Hell. However, this soon changed to calm, apparently rather typical sermons, warning people of the consequences of the failure to coordinate their actions with God's will. Miss Baker became quite a sensation, eventually being taken from her rural upstate New York home to the big city where hundreds of people listened to her dreamy speeches. The experts were confounded. They were not prepared to believe she was divinely inspired, yet they believed her sermons too intelligent for a poorly educated girl. There was also much consternation about a woman preaching to men, as this was considered forbidden at the time. Ultimately, they attributed her performances to a mental condition, which they apparently cured with a combination of waking her from sleep and opium. Oddly, none of the experts seemed to come to the conclusion that perhaps Miss Baker was faking it. We have not been able to find out what ever happened to Rachel Baker after her 1816 opium induced cure. Item 82. $175.
Perhaps this medicine would have cured Miss Baker of her sleep-preaching, as it cured just about everything else: Great Southern Remedy. Jacob's Cholera, Dysentery and Diarrhea Cordial... This wondrous medicine was produced by Dr. William Bliss of Savannah. His promotional pamphlet was likely printed during the 1850s. Dr. Bliss assures his readers that his cordial is not "another of the 'thousand and one' quack nostrums spread throughout the length and breadth of the land, and for purposes of gain." Oh no. To the contrary, Dr. Bliss' remedy "is peculiar for its great efficacy in dysentery, diarrhea, cholera morbus, flatulent cholic, weakness of stomach and bowels, painful menstruation, &c." In keeping with the needs of his 1850s Georgia audience, Dr. Bliss notes his cordial "may save the life of some of your family, or the life of a valuable negro." Item 20. $350.
David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Books is reached at 203-389-8111 or dmlesser@lesserbooks.com. The website is www.lesserbooks.com.
Forum Auctions 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.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
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.
Sotheby’s Geek Week 2-17 July | New York
Sotheby’s, July 15: Buzz Aldrin's FLOWN Apollo 11 Crew-Signed NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Cover. $15,000 to $20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Lunar Surface Flown Mission Emblem Presented to Tom Stafford by John Young. $8,000 to $12,000.
Sotheby’s, July 17: Albert Einstein. Typed Letter Signed ("A. Einstein."), to Ann Morrisett, Affirming a Pacifist's Right to Self-Defense, March 21, 1952. $10,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s Geek Week 2-17 July | New York
Sotheby’s, July 17: Operating and Maintenance Manual for the BINAC Binary Automatic Computer Built for Northrop Aircraft Corporation. Philadelphia, 1949. $30,000 to $50,000.
Sotheby’s, July 17: Steve Jobs Apple Computer Business Card, c. 1977. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Extensive Chronology of Spacecraft From Apollo to Skylab, Signed by a Member of Every Crewed Apollo Flight and the Commanders of Each Skylab Mission. $5,000 to $8,000.
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
DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800