(Abraham Lincoln) An excellent hand-colored lithograph of a seated Abraham Lincoln, 315 x 230 mm. (13 x 9 in.) (sight) by E. B. E. C. Kellogg of Hartford, Connecticut (with additional credit at lower right: “Geo. Whiting, 87 Fulton St., New York”). Tastefully matted and framed.
Moderate even toning, else very good. Not examined out of frame.
(EXA 5435) $600
(Emancipation Proclamation) FREEDOM TO THE SLAVES Proclaimed January 1st 1863, by ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States. ‘Proclaim liberty throughout All the land unto All the inhabitants thereof’ ___ LEV XXV. ’10. Hand-colored lithograph Published by Currier & Ives, 152 Nassau St., New York. 320 x 200 mm., 12 3/4 x 8 3/4 in, (sight).
An unusual hand-colored example of this iconic Currier & Ives print.
Overall very clean and bright. Matted and framed with gilt trim. Not examined out of frame.
(EXA 5436) $750
Gideon WELLES (1802-1878) Autograph Letter, 3pp. 251 x 201 mm. (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.), “Comptroller’s Office” Hartford, [Conn.], 10 Nov. 1842, a partial draft with numerous edits and annotations concerning the Revolutionary War service of Perchas Capin on behalf of the veteran’s widow, Theodosia.1
Welles, then serving as Connecticut Comptroller, provides evidence in support of the “application in behalf of the Widow of Perchas Capin for testimony of his services during the Revolutionary war as one of the Guard at New Gate, or the Prison in Simsbury Ct…” In an attempt to substantiate the claims in Widow Capin’s application, Welles “searched the record of the Council of Safety and the books of the Pay Table remaining in this office.”
In the first paragraph, Welles took time to confirm the prison’s existence at the time, and that that the facility was actually a cave, “an extensive cavern, or caverns, which was and during the revolutionary war for conspiring Tories, suspected persons, and state offenders.” (The prison had been established in 1773 by the State of Connecticut in an abandoned copper mine.)
Welles’ first citation is dated the 15 July 1776 minutes of the Simsbury Council of Safety remarking on the “‘dangerous situation of New Gate Prison, and especially since a number of Tory Prisoners are committed there, and the great uneasiness of the People concerning them, and that the keeper is uneasy with his situation &c &c and requesting liberty of a guard &c…'” The council of safety resolved to provide for two or more “‘faithful men every night … carefully to watch and guard sd Prison…'” Welles continues with several citations from the public records mentioning Capin and the management of New Gate Prison but ended the draft mid-sentence on the third page with, “I would also state that”.
The following day, Welles drafted another version of this letter which was sent to Washington and became part of Theodosia Capin’s application file.2 The letter begins in the same manner and contains some of the same content, Welles decided to rework the letter significantly. Although according to another affidavits found in the pension application file, Capin was the chief of the guards for approximately two years at New Gate Prison, Welles was unable to discover any evidence in the state records of Capin’s employment as a guard. He only found references two bills for unspecified goods or services submitted to the State by Capin in connection with the prison.3
Usual folds, a few other minor creases, else very fine condition.
(EXA 5083) $350
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1 Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 – ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 – ca. 1900. (NARA 300022)
2 Ibid. Letter of Gideon Welles, 11 Nov. 1842.
3 Ibid. Affidavit of Timothy Holcomb, 21 Oct. 1842. “…I well recollect that the name of the officer of the Guard was Capin and that he was here as officer of the Guard for the space of two or more years during which time I frequently saw him at the Prison on duty.” This claim is seconded by Heziah Viet’s affidavit, 20 Oct. 1842: “I think he was the principal man of the guard. There were other men as assistant guards…”; Welles: “I do not find the name of Purchas Capin on the Pay Table books, nor any mention of individuals connected with the guards, from the time that the duty of selecting a keeper was delegated to the overseers, until the commissioning of Lieut. Owen in 1780 by the General Assembly.”
“…the picture we like best is the Lazlo portrait… the Sargent portrait in The White House… we do not care much for it… The photograph which we all like is a head by Pirie Macdonald…”
Edith Kermit Carow ROOSEVELT (1861-1948) A pair of fine content letters written to Edward W. Bok1, editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal concerning two portraits of Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt and Bok were close friends. For a number of years the former President anonymously authored the column, “Men” in the Ladies’ Home Journal at Bok’s request.
The first is an Autograph Letter Signed “Edith K. Roosevelt, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt”, 2 pp., 175 x 115 mm. (7 x 4 1/2 in.), Oyster Bay, New York, 18 May [1916-1918], on Sagamore Hill letterhead, in which she writes, in full: “We have discussed your letter and while we feel that the picture we like best is the Lazlo portrait2, we feel it may not be entirely suited for your purpose. My husband is seated in his riding boots not breeches a long cloak thrown back from his shoulders, his riding whip in his hand- Perhaps the Sargent portrait in The White House would be better, tho we do not care much for it. The photograph which we all like is a head by Pirie Macdonald,3 but perhaps you wish a full length picture. Of course I have photographs of all kinds, and shall only too glad to help in any way—”
Soon after Theodore Roosevelt’s death in 1919, Bok received another Autograph Letter Signed, “Edith Kermit Roosevelt [and] Mrs Theodore Roosevelt” 3pp., 165 x 120 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.) on black-bordered mourning stationery, Oyster Bay, 21 May [1919]:
“We are glad that you approve of the head— It is not necessary to give a description. If you write to Pirie MacDonald 576 Fifth Avenue New York City, he will send the one we prefer. It is used as [the] frontis piece of The Great Adventure.4 I am sending a print of the Laszlo portrait next week to Butler’s Madison Avenue near 58th street, to be framed- If you call it will be shown to you – The portrait itself is owned[?] in England – I do not know if any one of the family who is writing articles about Mr. Roosevelt- My sons are writing their war experiences which must be the foundation for the rumor of which you speak — I will give them your letter, Tho’ I fear their time is fully occupied. I am quite sure the Pirie MacDonald head will make a fine picture. It is a wonderful likeness.”
A pair of fine content letters which reveal the Roosevelt family’s opinion of some of the significant portraits rendered of the 26th President.
The 18 May letter bears some light uneven toning, usual middle fold, paper clip impression, else very good. The 21 May letter bears extremely minor marginal tear, minor mark from paperclip at top margin of second page, one horizontal crease, else fine. Together, two pieces.
(EXA 4618) $800
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1 (1863-1930) Dutch-born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. For three decades Bok edited Ladies Home Journal where he coined the term, “Living Room”—updating the Victorian parlor for the twentieth century.
2 Philip Alexius de László, “President Theodore Roosevelt,” oil on canvas, 1908. Portrait part of the collection of the Museum of Natural History, New York.
3 (1867-1942) Noted New York photographer.
4 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1919).
John TYLER (1790-1862) Partly engraved Document Signed “J. Tyler” as President, 1p. 370 x 290 mm. (14 5/8 x 11 1/2 in.), Washington, 14 January 1846 [but actually c. 1844-1845*], and countersigned by John C. CALHOUN (1782-1850) as Secretary of State (“J Calhoun”). A scallop top Mediterranean passport executed at New Bedford, Mass. by “Joseph T. Adams Collector” for the ship Garland, an unarmed 242 ton vessel owned and commanded by Leonard Crowell with a crew of 24. Endorsed on the verso by Collector Adams, 9 June 1849. A strong engraving with an intact seal of the United States affixed at lower left.
An oddly dated passport that illuminates how these documents were produced and processed. Mediterranean passports, like other routine documents requiring the President’s signature, were signed while the documents were still blank to allow the signing of a sufficient quantity in a short time. The blanks were forwarded to the various federal port collectors throughout the country who, in turn, executed them for specific ships.
In this case, it appears that Collector Adams at New Bedford was unable to obtain a passport bearing the signature of James Polk and figured that no one would be the wiser.
The date of execution raises a question for the legal minded: did the document’s language “Given under my Hand and the Seal of the United States of America…” render the passport invalid upon issuance, as neither Tyler nor Calhoun were in office at the time?
Engrossment light, minor toning at bottom margins, light marginal wear with some cockling, else very good condition.
(EXA 5248) $850
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* Calhoun served as Secretary of State from 1 April 1844 to 10 Mar. 1845.
(Election of 1824) James ROBERTSON (c. 1780-1854) Federalist member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 1st District of Philadelphia from 1822 until his retirement in 1825. He was an officer for the Bank of the United States from the late 1820s until the bank’s dissolution in 1841.
Fine content Autograph Letter Signed “James Robertson” as a representative of the Pennsylvania State Senate, 4pp., 251 x 198 mm. (9 7/8 x 7 6/8 in.), Philadelphia, 26 April 1824, to Robert S. Garnett (1789 – 1840) of Essex County, Va. A chatty political letter to a member of the Congressional faction of the Democratic-Republicans backing Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford of Georgia for President commenting, among other things, on the growing factions growing around of Jackson, Adams and Crawford that would result in the only election ever thrown into the House of Representatives since the passage of the Twelfth Amendment. Robertson admits that since his arrival home from Harrisburg, “I have not given much attention to public affairs. This may be the reason why I think there is less interest felt here in the Presidential election, than there was some time ago. It is true, the excitement is still kept up among newspaper editions, and newspaper writers— but I am inclined to think that since the Convention which was held at Harrisburg, decided in favour of Genl. Jackson, and it seeming to be settled, that he would have the vote of Penna., people general appear feel more indifferent about it. Crawford’s friends, however, have not abandoned him. They have had a meeting at Pittsburg; and it is intended, I understand, to get up similar meetings in the other counties for the purpose of forming a new electoral ticket, in favour of C[rawford]. I do not think they can succeed. Adams has still a great many friends; but they cannot openly side with the Crawford men, even tho’ opposed to Jackson, as they have openly opposed the caucus system, which seem unfortunately for C[rawford] to be identified with his name…” Crawford’s supporters in Congress made a fatal blunder for his candidacy when they staged a Congressional caucus to nominate him for President. Out of 216 Democratic-Republican members of Congress, only sixty-six attended, giving the meeting the appearance of factional meeting without the official sanction of the party, hobbling Crawford’s nomination for President (together with his old friend Albert Gallatin for Vice President).
The rump Congressional caucus also roused the passions of all of Crawford’s political rivals who promptly went on the offensive. Roberston comments upon the excitement generated by Ninian Edwards’ accusation that Crawford had mismanaged funds in his capacity as Secretary of the Treasury: “A good deal of excitement has been felt here occasioned by the proceedings in your house, in relation to Mr. Edwards’s memorial. I have never seen the document referred to, nor the A.B. essays, and therefore cannot form any opinion on the subject; but from what I recollect of two reports of committees in the H. of R. last winter, my impression is, that nothing improper was made out against Mr. Crawford. I am therefore inclined to think that Mr. Edwards has placed himself in an awkward situation. Should he fail to substantiate his charges, the step he has taken will reflect disgrace upon himself; and I have no doubt, eventually operate in favour of Mr. Crawford. When Edward’s memorial is printed, I would to receive a copy of it and any other documents connected with it.” Crawford had much greater problems. In 1823 he suffered a paralytic stroke. Although Crawford finished third in the Electoral College, which under the Twelfth Amendment, placed him in the running when the race landed in the House of Representatives. His bad health rendered him a non-factor in Congress as all eyes focused on the contenders Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.
Robertson also take some time to criticize the new tariff bill: “…I was very sorry that the Tariff bill passed the H. of R. The manner in which its friends acted, showed it to be their determination to force it through at all hazards; and I have my fears, from what I have heard, and from the reception which the bill met with in the Senate, its friends would try and pursue the same course there. Still, I am unwilling to abandon all hope. I am unwilling to believe that such a [paper loss] body as the Senate, will pass such a momentous bill, as the one in question, by a majority of one or two votes: a bill too, which its warmest friends, if they have either sense or honesty, cannot deny, must operate grievously on some of the first states in the Union. Still, there is no telling what men will do, when urged on by narrow prejudices, and local and person interests…”
Toned spots from tape repairs to separated folds, light toning, else very good.
(EXA 4914) $1,200.00
(Election of 1840) [Robert MAYO] A Word in Season; or Review of the Political Life and Opinions of Martin Van Buren. Addressed to the Entire Democracy of the American People.” (Washington: W. M. Morrison, 1840) 46pp. (with untitled contents page at end) 227 x 143 mm. (9 x 5 5/8 in.) in titled wraps. “Dedicated to the Tippecanoe Clubs of the Union, by A Harrison Democrat” First Edition, lacks second full paragraph inserted on page 46 in the second edition, or the additional page present in the third.
A superb piece of negative campaign literature, attacking President Martin Van Buren in a mock “campaign biography” divided into three “periods” of his life. After covering his rise in New York State politics, his rise to power in the U.S. Senate and subsequent Presidency, Mayo concludes: “It must be obvious to the intelligent reader, that these few pages can only be offered, as a systematic outline, or frame-work, to be filled up by future details. But without these, the reader is now sufficiently initiated into solecism, which equally sustains the truth that Mr. Van Buren did every thing, and advocated every opinion—and the contrary of every thing and every opinion, that have been charged against him: Hence, his partisans dare deny the truth of those charges, when the fact is, that both allegations of his contradictory actions and opinions are true. He has been for and against every thing and every body, every opinion and every party, as it happened to suit the varying phases of his ERRATIC POLITICAL LIFE. But still it may be said, he has been constant in these, because they have subserved his PRE-EMINENT CONSTANCY IN THE PURSUIT OF THE SPOILS OF OFFICE AND THE CONCENTRATION OF POWER.”
Rare. (OCLC 11361356, 50457682) Worldcat identifies only five extant examples of this 1st edition in institutional holdings. Auction records reveal no examples of any edition appearing in the market in the past thirty years. Sabin only identifies a second edition (105456).
Formerly bound, light foxing to title page, minor toning at extreme margins, else very clean and in fine condition.
(EXA 4890) $1,200
(Andrew Jackson and early Memphis, Tennessee) Manuscript map, 1p. 192 x 280 mm. (7 1/2 x 11 in.) Shelby County, Tenn [c. 1836] detailing divisions of a 5,000 acre tract of land in the the vicinity of the Mississippi river including a 360 acre plot assigned to “Genl” [Andrew] “Jackson”, several other plots are assigned to “Genl” [James] “Winchester” and “John Overton”.
The text below the survey identifies the tract as “Grant No. 283 for 5000 acres granted by North Carolina to John Rice.” That tract, located on the east bank of the Mississippi just below the mouth of the Wolf River, was purchased in 1783 by Rice from the State of North Carolina (which controlled the territory until 1790). When Rice died in 1791, his heirs sold the tract to John Overton in 1794 for $500. Overton divided the tract with his old friend, Andrew Jackson. Jackson subsequently divided his share with General James Winchester. This survey formally delineated the divisions, “agreeably to the name inserted above in each Section or Subdivisions; having balloted for the Same and to relinquish accordingly; And further agree that William Lawrence shall as nearly as may be run out the Section or Subdivisions to certain the number of acres as marked above…”
At the time of the original grant to Rice in 1783 and the subsequent divisions between Overton, Jackson and Winchester, the land was still under the control of the Chickasaw Indians, and there was little the trio could do to develop the land. In 1819, the Chickasaws ceded the territory, and the three lost no time in laying out a town on the banks of the Tennessee River.
The present survey concerns only 3,500 acres of the 5,000 acre tract and appears to denote the lands to the west of what would become the historic core of downtown Memphis. An arrow, denoting the flow of the river, points downwards and what appears to be Mud Island and the Wolf River Lagoon appear at the top left of the survey.
Endorsed on the verso as a true copy of the map. The map differs to some degree from the copy found in the Shelby County Archives in that small subdivisions were made amending the original ink sketch. All of the plots in question were assigned to John Overton.*
Uneven margins, a few light folds, else very good.
(EXA 5038) SOLD.
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* Shelby County Register of Deeds, Book E, Page 319.
John Reuben CHAPIN (1823 – 1904), [Death of Washington], ink and gray wash on paper, 110 x 171 mm. mounted to a larger sheet.
Original artwork for the published engraving, Death of Washington. The scene was subsequently engraved by John Rogers (c. 1808 – c. 1888)1 and used for volume three of Benson J. Lossing’s Washington and the American Republic (New York: Virtue & Yorston, 1870) following page 556. Offered together with an original engraving based on the painting.
Soiling and toning to mount, especially on verso, however the artwork is quite clean and in very fine condition overall.
Chapin was born in Providence, R.I. and moved his family to New York in 1830. A decade later, Samuel F. B. Morse, a family friend, encouraged the young Chapin to attend the Academy of Design where Morse was a professor of art. By 1850 Chapin was a freelance illustrator for books and magazines as well as for the Patent Office in Washington. Chapin became so successful that he helped finance Samuel Morse’s new endeavor: the telegraph. In 1860, Harpers Weekly hired Chapin to supervise the illustration department. In 1865 Chapin began his own illustration concern, The New York Bureau of Illustration. In 1870 he moved to Buffalo, N.Y. and opened a branch of his business. Today, he is perhaps best known for his mammoth illustration of the Chicago Fire of 1871 that appeared in Harper’s Weekly.2
(EXA 4385) $4,500
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1 See Groce & Wallace, The New York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America (1957), 544: “English engraver who came to NYC about 1850 and was chiefly employed by book publishers.”
2 Judy Chapin Buzby “The Illustrated Chapin: John Reuben Chapin, (1823 – 1904)” Western New York Heritage (Fall 2004). 46-52.
(John T. FORD) Broadside, 403 x 142 mm. (15 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.), for the Holliday Street Theater, (Baltimore: “‘The Printing Office,’ Sun Iron Building,” [1862*]). A nice example promoting a run of performances by Annette Ince in Lady of Lyons, and the farce, Crimson Crimes.
The Holliday Theater was the first house managed by Ford. He leased the Hollday only a few years after entering the theatrical business as a tour manager of George Kunkel’s Nightingale Minstrels at age 22.
Light toning and faint dampstain at bottom, marginal wear including some minor chips not affecting text, folds, else very good.
(EXA 4551) $175
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* See Baltimore Sun, 5 September 1862., 2., “Holliday Street Theatre”.
