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JFK Signed Copy of Early History of Ireland
JOHN F. KENNEDY,
Signed Book. Edward A. D’Alton, History of Ireland, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Half-Volume I to the Year 1210, 3rd ed. London: Gresham Publishing Co., 1912. One of six half-volumes. xxi, 3, 284 pp., 6 x 8.74 in. With a color frontispiece, eight plates, black and white illustrations, and one fold-out map of Ireland. Signed on the front free end page, “John F. Kennedy” in black ink.
“Brian Boru was of the family of Cormac Cas. His father was Kennedy, son of Lorcan. He was slain in battle with the Danes (951). At his death Brian was but a lad of ten years.”
What must John F. Kennedy have thought, when he read his surname in this history of the royalty of Ireland from a millennium ago? Brian Boru went on to become the high king of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He was less pleased to learn that the name Kennedy (Cennétig) meant “ugly head.”
President John F. Kennedy was America’s first Irish-Catholic president, and his family’s Irish roots stretched back for generations. The Fitzgerald and the Kennedy families both migrated to America in the mid-nineteenth century, escaping the devastating potato famine to find work and a better life. JFK visited Ireland during his presidency, in June 1963. This volume includes his ownership signature and details the history of Ireland to the year 1210.
The author, Rev. Edward Alfred D’Alton, was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1887. He become dean and vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Tuam in 1930.
Item #27515, $7,500
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July 8, 1776 – The First Book Printing of the Declaration of Independence, and One of the First Printings
[Declaration of Independence],
“In Congress, July 4, 1776. A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled,” pp. 41–46. Printed immediately after The Genuine Principles of the Ancient Saxon, or English Constitution. Carefully collected from the best Authorities; with some Observations, on their Peculiar Fitness, for the United Colonies in General, and Pennsylvania in Particular. By Demophilus. Philadelphia: Printed, and Sold, by Robert Bell, [July 8,] 1776, as dated by the terminal advertisement leaf.
Very rare. According to Sotheby’s, “while there are copies . . . in a number of major libraries and historical societies, only three other copies have appeared at auction since the Streeter sale” of 1967.
Item #26587.99, $450,000
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First Published Map Naming Dallas, Texas, from 1846 Travel Guidebook
[Texas],
J. Calvin Smith. A New Guide for Travelers through the United States of America: containing all the Railroad, Stage, and Steamboat Routes, with the distances from place to place. (New York: Sherman & Smith, 1846). 79 pp., 3⅝ x 5½ in.
This traveler’s guide included detailed listings of railroad, stage, and steamboat routes to locations throughout the United States with intermediate mileage and cumulative mileage on each route. It also includes a list of canals in the United States. It was issued annually from 1846 to 1850.
It is accompanied by a large folding map (20½ x 26 in.), with hand-colored outlines of each state and territory. It is believed to be the first published map to include the frontier settlement of Dallas, Texas, along the Trinity River.
Item #26523, $3,500
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Unique Inscribed Set of John Marshall’s Life of George Washington, With Joseph Story Letter to the Daughter of the Late Associate Justice Henry Brockholst Livingston, Conveying Marshall’s Thanks and Noting That He Will Be Sending to Her These Very Books
JOHN MARSHALL,
Inscribed books, signed “The Author.” The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War which Established the Independence of his Country, and First President of the United States, Compiled under the Inspection of the Honourable Bushrod Washington, From Original Papers Bequeathed to him by his Deceased Relative, 2 vols. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. 2nd Edition, Revised and Corrected by the Author. Volumes I – II bound in red quarter leather spine and brown leather, each inscribed and signed, “For Mrs. Ledyard with the profound respect of The Author.” John Marshall’s magisterial biography of George Washington was originally a five-volume set. This 1832 publication was revised by Marshall and issued in two volumes, with a companion volume of Revolutionary War maps: Atlas to Marshall’s Life of Washington, Philadelphia: J. Crissy, [1832], 10 hand-colored maps, bound in red quarter leather with original blue boards. With scarce printed errata for Volume I laid in, and manuscript errata for Vol II. The letter requires conservation.
Item #26161, $27,500
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One of the Earliest Announcements of Independence
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
The Pennsylvania Magazine; Or American Monthly Museum for January-July, 1776. Philadelphia: Robert Aitken. [5]-344pp.
A bound volume containing a remarkable issue—one of the most historic magazines ever printed.
“July 2. This day the Hon. Continental Congress declared the UNITED COLONIES FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES.”
Item #21422.99, $48,000
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Union League of Philadelphia Supports Re-Election of Lincoln as “the man for the time”
[ABRAHAM LINCOLN]. [HENRY CHARLES LEA],
Printed Pamphlet. No. 17: Abraham Lincoln, [March 1864]. 12 pp., 5¾ x 8¾ in.
“As a MAN OF THE PEOPLE, understanding them and trusted by them, he has proved himself the man for the time.”
Item #24898, $750
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Illinois Governor Richard Yates’ Fourth of July Address at the End of Civil War – Unhappy that the Nation Would not Execute Jefferson Davis
[CIVIL WAR & RECONSTRUCTION]. RICHARD YATES,
Printed Pamphlet. Speech of Hon. Richard Yates, Delivered at Elgin, Ill. on the Fourth Day of July, A.D. 1865. Jacksonville, IL: Ironmonger and Mendenhall, 1865. 8 pp., 6⅛ x 9½ in.
“The American revolution was begun and fought through for an idea—to establish that man is a man—to vindicate the right of every man to equal rights and to equal citizenship…. Every boy imbibes the genius of our free institutions. The poor friendless rail splitter rises to the proudest pinnacle of human power. [Cheers] The poor tailor boy becomes and is now our President, [cheers] the ferry boy the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, (cheers) and the humble tanner boys become the great commander, who marshals a million of veteran warriors in the great cause of union and liberty, and holds up the flaming symbol of emancipation to a whole race of mankind. (Applause.)” (p1/c2 – p2/c1)
“And yet, for Jeff Davis, who has been a wholesale murderer, who has struck at the life of the whole nation, and rolled the red wave of bloody civil war over the land, they say we must be magnanimous. [Sensation.] We shoot the poor deserter and the poor soldier who is found sleeping at his post on guard, but the nation must be magnanimous and not execute Jeff Davis!” (p6/c1)
Item #24904, $350
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American Christian Palestine Committee Scrapbook from 1951 Trip to Israel & Arab Lands
AMERCAN CHRISTIAN PALESTINE COMMITEE,
Scrapbook compiled by Harrison Fry, Religion Editor of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, one of the twenty-two tour participants. April 1951. Items glued or stapled to several pages, with additional papers laid in. In green leatherette boards, rules and decorations in yellow. 120 pp., 9½ x 11¾ x 1 in.
Item #25321, $1,500
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Carrie Chapman Catt’s Book, with editor’s letter promoting the “Co-Workers Edition” – to a noted Chicago Suffrage leader, millionaire and vice chair of Republican Party
CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT & NETTIE ROGERS SHULER,
Book. Woman Suffrage and Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923. No. 122 of 1,000 “Co-workers edition,” copy belonging to Chicago suffragist, millionaire and vice chairman of the Republican Party, Bertha Baur. 504 pp., 5¾ x 8¼ in. With: ROSE YOUNG. Typed Letter Signed, March 15, 1923, to Bertha Baur, New York, NY. On colorful illustrated “The Woman Citizen” letterhead. 1 p., 8⅜ x 10¾ in. #25601.01
“The gates to political enfranchisement have swung open. The women are inside.”
Item #25601, $950
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Extremely Unwoke Women’s Suffrage Views by a Chicago Italian-American Attorney
[WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE]. CAIROLI GIGLIOTTI,
Book. Woman Suffrage: Its Causes and Possible Consequences. Chicago: Press of Barnard & Miller, 1914. 92 pp.
“it is clear that woman suffrage should be discarded for the following reasons: First. It disrupts the home.... Second. The woman is physically unfit for certain offices.... Third. Politics is the most corrupt game of the age.... Fourth. The right to vote does imply the right to become eligible to nomination or election to public offices.... Fifth. The influence of the woman should be of a persuasive nature, and should be exercised at home.... Sixth. Jealousy would destroy domestic happiness.... Seventh. Women voters are unnecessary.... Eighth. Women could never control men, on account of weaker physical conditions.... Ninth. The needs of the family would be increased while incomes would decrease.... Tenth. When the woman is with child, she is liable to suffer as a result of any emotion or abuse....” (p74-76)
Gigliotti, a naturalized Italian-American attorney in Chicago, declares limited women’s suffrage as a failure in reforming politics and even opposes separate ownership of property by women, because husbands use their wives to hide their assets.
Item #25602, $600
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The Defense in Ex parte Milligan Argues That Even During War the Federal Government Can’t Use Military Trials Where Civilian Courts Are Operative
[LAMBDIN P. MILLIGAN],
Printed Book. D. F. Murphy, reporter, Supreme Court of the United States. In the Matter of Lambkin [sic] P. Milligan, William A. Bowles, Stephen Horsey, Under Sentence by Military Commission. Argument of David Dudley Field, Esq. for the Petitioners. March 12 and 13, 1866. New York: Williams J. Read, 1866. 97 + 104 pp., 6⅝ x 10⅛ in.
Court reporter records the impassioned defense, before the U.S. Supreme Court, by David Dudley Field of Lambdin P. Milligan and others, who were tried by military commission in Indiana during the Civil War and sentenced to death for disloyal activities. The court’s landmark decision agreed with Field’s reasoning that the federal government could not employ military tribunals where civilian courts were in operation.
Item #25148, $1,250
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“Freedom to Serve”: Secretary of Defense’s Copy of Seminal Report on End of Official Racial Discrimination in the Armed Forces
[LOUIS A. JOHNSON],
Book. Freedom to Serve: Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1950). May 1950 report to President Harry S. Truman by the Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. Rare presentation edition, bound in decorative brown cloth with gilt lettering, with Secretary of Defense Johnson’s name gilt-stamped on the front cover. 82 pp., 6.8 x 9.8 in.
“the Committee is convinced that a policy of equality of treatment and opportunity will make for a better Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is right and just. It will strengthen the nation.”
Item #24113, $1,200
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Masonic Constitution Dedicated to George Washington, with frontispiece Masonic Coats of Arms by Future Chief Engraver of the US Mint
[GEORGE WASHINGTON]. LAURENCE DERMOTT,
Book. Ahiman Rezon [Help to a Brother] abridged and digested: as a Help to all that are, or would be Free and Accepted Masons. To which is added, A Sermon, Preached in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, At A General Communication, Celebrated, agreeable to the Constitutions, on Monday, December 28, 1778, as the Anniversary of St. John the Evangelist. Published by order of The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, by William Smith, D.D. Philadelphia: Hall and Sellers, 1783. 4¾ x 7⅝ in.; engraved frontispiece, xvi, 166 pp. First edition.
“In Testimony, as well as of his exalted Services to his Country as of that noble
Philanthropy which distinguishes Him among Masons”
This is the scarce first American edition of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania’s Masonic Constitution, dedicated to Washington as “General and Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of America.”
The 1778 sermon included in this volume carries a similar dedication, as well as a detailed description of the procession in which “our illustrious Brother George Washington” marched as guest of honor. The sermon itself contains a remarkably prescient characterization of Washington as an American Cincinnatus. The volume’s fine frontispiece engraving of two Masonic coats-of-arms is by Robert Scot (Scott), future chief engraver of the United States Mint.
Item #25745, $1,450
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Colonial Merchant’s Copy of the First History of New Jersey Printed on One of Benjamin Franklin’s Presses
SAMUEL SMITH,
Book. The History of the Colony of Nova-Caesaria, or New-Jersey: Containing, An Account of its First Settlement, Progressive Improvements, The Original and Present Constitution, and Other Events, to the Year 1721, First edition. Burlington, NJ: James Parker, 1765. Henry Remsen’s ownership signatures to front and rear blanks. 573 pp., 8½ x 5 in.
This volume by Samuel Smith was the first general history of New Jersey, printed in a limited run of 600 copies on a press owned by Benjamin Franklin. Henry Remsen, a New York and New Jersey merchant, originally owned this copy.
Item #23633, $3,500
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Accusing Recently Retired Hamilton of Financial Malfeasance
JAMES CALLENDER,
Book. Historical Memories of the United States for 1796. Jan 1797. [Philadelphia: Bioran and Madan]. 288 pp. Half calf and marbled boards, bound in antique style, spine gilt, corners leather tipped.
Item #24363, $3,500
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Hand-Made Union Patriotic and Religious Song Book
[CIVIL WAR],
Manuscript Pen and Ink Folk Art Song Book, ca. 1864. 24 pp., 6⅝ x 8 in.
This hand-sewn booklet contains eight songs popular during the Civil War era, with music and lyrics in calligraphy. Songs include “On a Green Grassy Noll” by J. D. Canning, with music by Ira Odell; “The Old Mountain Tree” by James G. Clark; “Harmonian Waltz”; “Year of Jubilee, or Kingdom has Come!”; “Squire Jones’s Daughter”; “The Sweet Birds Are Singing”; “Lament of the Irish Emigrant”; and “Soon and For Ever,” by J. B. Monsell. The last page of the booklet is dated February 21, 1864.
Item #24826, $4,500
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General Schofield’s Personal Gettysburg Official Records
[GETTYSBURG; GEN. JOHN M. SCHOFIELD],
Books, 3 Volumes – The War of the Rebellion: Gettysburg Official Records, devoted to the Battle of Gettysburg. Owned by Union General John M. Schofield (with his stamp in first volume).
Item #23060, $750
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The Reform Constitution of Virginia Signed by the Man Who Warned South Carolina Governor Pickens about the Reinforcement of Fort Sumter
LITTLETON Q. WASHINGTON,
Pamphlet, Constitution of Virginia, ca. 1851, signed at top in ink, “L. Q. Washington,” with pencil beneath (in another hand), “Mr. Washington Asst. Secty of State 1850-1851.” 33 pp., 5⅝ x 8⅝ in.
After Virginia adopted the Declaration of Independence, George Mason and James Madison began drafting a state Constitution. For James Madison, helping draft his state’s Constitution would serve as a dress rehearsal for his future task of writing the U.S. Constitution. Virginia adopted its first constitution in 1776, and a major revision in 1830 loosened suffrage requirements. As more residents populated the western counties, they were underrepresented in the legislature because of continuing property requirements for voting.
The most significant changes in the 1851 Constitution included the extension of the suffrage to all white males of voting age, the creation of the office of lieutenant governor, and the election rather than appointment of judges. Because of these changes, this version has been called the Reform Constitution.
Item #22395, $2,000
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John Marshall’s “Life of George Washington” and Companion Atlas with Hand-colored Maps
JOHN MARSHALL. [GEORGE WASHINGTON],
Books, The Life of George Washington Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War which Established the Independence of his Country and First President of the United States, Compiled Under the Inspection of the Honourable Bushrod Washington, From Original Papers Bequeathed to him by his Deceased Relative, 2nd edition, in two volumes. Philadelphia: James Crissy and Thomas Cowperthwait, 1840. 982 pp. plus index, 5½ x 9 in. Both have pencil inscription on blank fly leaf “A. Seeley 1851 Presented by T.C. Gladding.” Rebound; very good, some foxing toward the front. OCLC 183328030. With: Atlas to Marshall’s Life of Washington, Philadelphia: J. Crissy, [1832], 10 hand-colored maps. Ex-Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Massachusetts bookplate on front paste-down. Black cloth spine and corners, original green boards with label. Internally fine. OCLC 191237946.
Chief Justice John Marshall’s magisterial biography of George Washington was originally a five-volume set. This 1840 publication, revised and issued in two volumes, also includes the 1832 companion atlas of maps relating to the Revolutionary War.
Item #22477, $1,250
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Opposing the African Slave Trade - 1790 New Haven Sermon
JAMES DANA,
Pamphlet. The African Slave Trade. A Discourse Delivered in the City of New-Haven, September 9, 1790, before The Connecticut Society for The Promotion of Freedom. Half-title: Doctor Dana’s Sermon on the African Slave Trade. New Haven: Thomas and Samuel Green, 1791. Evans 23308. 33 pp., 4¾ x 8¼ in.
“Our late warfare was expressly founded on such principles as these: ‘All men are created equal: They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’.... Those who profess to understand and regard the principles of liberty should cheerfully unite to abolish slavery....”
In 1784, Connecticut passed a law that all slaves born after March 1, 1784, were to be freed before or when they reached the age of 25. In 1790, a group of clergymen, lawyers, and academics formed the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and for the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage to support the law. Yale University president and Congregationalist minister Ezra Stiles, formerly a slave owner, served as the society’s first president. Here, Rev. Doctor James Dana reviews the history and extent of slavery in the world. Calling it unjust, unchristian, and against the principles of the American Revolution, he urges abolition. Dana’s sermon, and those preached at the Society by Jonathan Edwards Jr., Theodore Dwight, and others, were among the most popular anti-slavery literature from the period. However, the Connecticut Society lapsed and disappeared after the turn of the century.
Item #24464, $1,900
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