739. STOWE, Harriet Beecher. (1811-96) American novelist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She was also a reformer and temperance leader as well as supporting anti-slavery movements and women’s suffrage. When meeting Abraham Lincoln at the White House, this towering giant looked down at this tiny woman and said, “So you are the little woman who started this war.” Signed Photograph, a fine cabinet card, 4 1/4 x 6 1/2” by Hastings of Boston. Choice.  (Est. $2,000-2,500)

740. DOUGLASS, Frederick. (1817-1895) Born in Maryland, Douglass was the son of Harriet Bailey, a slave and an unknown white father. Although treated cruelly and denied his freedom for 21 years, he did learn to read and write. In 1838 he escaped to New Bedford, MA and obtained a job as a laborer. With his freedom, he abandoned his name, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, and changed it to Frederick Douglass. As an active abolitionist, he was employed as a lecturer and wrote his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Fearful of being captured as a fugitive slave, he spent several years in England and Ireland where he earned sufficient money to purchase his freedom. He returned in 1847. He was well known to Lincoln at the time of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Douglass helped organize the 54th and 55th Mass. colored regiments and on two occasions, on August 10, 1863 and on August 19, 1864, Douglass visited the President at the White House. Signed Card, 2 x 3”, a very fine example.     (Est. $300-500)

741. BROWN, John, Jr. (1821-95) The younger Brown, first born of the fervent abolitionist’s twenty children, took up the crusade after his father was hanged for the raid on the Harper’s Ferry Arsenal. John Brown, Jr. was at Ossawatomie during the famous attack and would have been at Harper’s Ferry had the raid occurred at the designated time. He was sought as a conspirator, narrowly escaping arrest. A deerskin bound copy of The Legislative Guide published in Philadelphia in 1852, signed twice by Brown, once on the flyleaf and once on the title page. Some light dampstaining and foxing; else a fine copy with bold signatures. [This originates with the sizable John Brown collection disbursed by Norm Flayderman.]      (Est. $500-800)

“This mad project of slaveholders is towards their own ruin… If Vice-President Tyler (who in my judgment is not President) is silly enough to recommend the annexation of Texas, he will raise up a host of abolitionists in the North and West.”

742. Great Anti-Slavery–Texas Annexation Letter. Lengthy 4pp. ALS by Cortland Van Rensselaer, Burlington, [NJ], Nov. 29th, 1843. Van Rensselaer (1808-60), the son of Gen. Steven Van Rensselaer, served as missionary to slaves in Virginia, was a pastor in New Jersey, founded the Princeton Theological Seminary as well as the Presbyterian Magazine. Good content in this letter to his sister discussing how the Texas annexation question is really an attempt by slaveholders to expand their domains while attesting to his view on abolitionism & colonization. In part: “I did not write to you informing you of the birth of Ledyard Van Rensselaer… had a violent cold, and been bled, which latter operation is not very favorable to penmanship…Little Led grows daily; he is a plump, good-natured fellow…Catharina was very much disappointed at first in finding it was a boy…I am rejoiced it is not otherwise. The more I see and hear of girls – their indiscretion, witchery and proneness to run into temptation, the less do I desire to have them allotted as my portion. They bring with them a very peculiar feeling of anxiety, especially as times are growing worse and novel reading is increasing in the land… If Vice-President Tyler (who in my judgment is not President) is silly enough to recommend the annexation of Texas, he will raise up a host of abolitionists in the North and West. For my part, I should openly advocate disunion…rather than submit to such a dastardly scheme to prop up the abominations of slavery. This mad project of slaveholders is towards their own ruin. Nothing will arouse the genuine anti-slavery spirit throughout the land so effectually. I adhere to Colonization with rather more interest than I have felt for the last few years; but my anti-slavery feeling is at the same time largely on the increase. I have never seen, nor do I now, why a person in his sober senses might not be a staunch Colonizationist and Abolitionist at the same time.” Partial fold separations, minor loss due to small holes on third page, with transmittal leaf.    (Est. $300-500)

743. Slavery in Mississippi… desperate to buy-back his best slave. Folded letter with postal-used cover, 2pp., Natchez, April 12, 1852, from J.E. Pardee to George Dickerman in New Haven, CT. Great content in which Pardee, in a business partnership with the Northern man, laments the loss of a black man who worked for him & will try to buy him from his new owner, despite the possible misgivings of his Northern partner. In part: “The harness that was sent I will do the best I can with, but do not send any more. I can get as saleable ones here at the same price…. I am bothered to death to get anybody to help me that is worth a damn. I have to have somebody, for I can not shut up every time I go out, and since I lost Frank, I can not get a boy that is good for anything, and in fact, can not get any kind for less than $15 pr month and board, and what they call a good one, $20 & board. I have tried 3 different ones since Frank left – one was lazy & a thief & the other two good for nothing. I never knew the value of Frank till I lost him. I know who has got him, and if I can get him, I am agoing to do so. I know you will think if I do buy him, that it will be money badly spent, but can not help it. I know he is worth more than any man I could hire (white man) at $40 pr month, and worth more in the shop than any six negroes I ever saw…I intend writing to the man that owns Frank today, and if I can get him, will do so. If you think I am a fool for doing so, say so, and when we wind up, you can charge me with the amt. I may pay for Frank if it get him…”  (Est. $200-400)

744. 1839 Letter from Mobile, Alabama: “BETTER KILL 4 WHITE MEN THAN STEAL ONE NEGRO.” Folded letter w/mostly struck blue MOBILE address panel (blue PAID, ms “Express Mail” & “75” rate) sent to Albany, NY, 4pp., Mobile, March 27, 1839, great content concerning recent City elections, banks suspending specie payments, people shooting each other being a common occurrence while contrasting a white man’s life being worth less than a slave! In part: “…business of all kinds is very dull in consequence of the Banks not discounting. The Bank of Pensacola has stopped specie payments and also some of the Mississippi banks and I should not wonder if all the Banks in Alabama, Louisiana & Mississippi should, but the times will not trouble the Brokers much. Yesterday we had our City Election. Col. Walton, our old Mayor has been defeated and the Vans carried the day. In the evening there was two Irishmen shot, but we get used to hearing of such things. Today there’s another man shot in his own store, getting into a dispute with a master of a shop. Last week there was another merchant shot for joking with another man’s wife. So we go. Its so common an occurrence that we don’t think of it the next day…you had better kill 4 white men than steal one negro, for the latter would be sure death, but to shoot or stab a white man would not cost over five hundred dollars to get clear of it…” A few fold separations repaired w/stamp hinge paper.  (Est. $300-500)

745. Threat of a slavery insurrection in Mississippi,1835. ALS, 3pp., Natchez, 28 December, 1835 with content on fears of a slave insurrection, possible war with France after President Andrew Jackson’s message (over France’s failure to pay long outstanding spoilation claims) and much more. In part: “…Natchez is swarming with strangers. It is said that one day last week, one hundred strangers arrived. The people are at present somewhat alarmed about negro insurrections, and keep a regular guard every night. This is the time when the plots which were brought last summer were to have taken place. One negro was shot dead night before last, for undertaking to elude the patrols. Business is at present brisk, Cotton comes in very rapidly…The President’s message has just arrived, and it is generally believed that a war with France is inevitable. This belief is founded on a letter from one of the Ministry in France to a gentleman in N. Orleans. The message of the President appears to leave things in the same condition they were before. The Gen. always talks well enough, but doesn’t put his theory in practice…If war should take place, it would be more dreadful in N.O. than anywhere else.” Fold separation repaired, intersting insight of fear in the south. (Est. $250-300)

Buying five slaves just weeks before Fort Sumter.
746. Receipt for “five Negro Slaves.” The price paid? A total of $2,600. Written in Richmond, VA, Feb. 28, 1861. A disturbing ephemeral item bearing witness to a sad chapter in American history. (Cost averaged, that’s $520/human.) (Est. $200-400)

747. Three (3) slave-related letters from Mississippi to Virginia, mid-1850s, from relatives referencing objections to slaves from a deceased family-member’s estate being sold to slave-traders in Virginia. They recommend that the slaves should be sold for fair prices, where the slaves would like to reside, keeping their families together if a reasonable price can be offered. One letter, May 22, 1855 reads, “I do hereby certify that I am opposed to selling the servants belonging to the estate of my sister…to traders and separating by that means the nearest relatives…”  (Est. $300-500)

748. Trying to prevent slaves from being run out of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1834. Legal-size, 3pp. folio legal plea with addressed postal-paid cover panel from Union, VA, to the Hon. James E. Brown, Wythe Court House, VA., (noted “The post master will confer a favour by handing this letter to Judge Brown so soon as it arrives”). This is the final 3 pages of a longer plea to Judge Brown from a man concerned that some slaves, the subject of a legal controversy, will be taken out of Virginia. He asks the Judge to issue an injunction against their being removed: “Your orator…can not see no other reason why the said John Goodall refuses to sign the aforesaid agreement than that he intends to run the negroes out of the Commonwealth of Virginia and dispose of them, and being insolvent, that no injury can accrue thereby to him, and having heretofore attempted to have said slaves run out…no doubt but that he would attempt it again…Your orator therefore prays that you Honour will enjoin & restrain…John Goodal from removing the said slaves from the Commonwealth of Virginia until the determination of the suit aforesaid and to require him to give security for their delivery…or if it be more proper that the Sheriff…be required to take the slaves in his possession and hire them out.” On back, Judge Brown writes his decision, dated Nov. 4, 1834: “Injunction granted to restrain the Deft. From removing the slaves from the Jurisdiction of this Court.”  (Est. $150-250)

749. 1833 Arkansas Territory – deciding between buying a black boy or hiring a Dutchman. 4pp. ALS with postal-marked panel, from Ararat, MD to Lyttleton Physick, Magnet Cove, Hot Spring County, Arkansas Terr., December 8, 1833, from the recipient’s two brothers: “I do not believe it will be in my power to procure you a black boy in the way you mention. Nevertheless, I shall try. In this neighborhood, there are at present a number of Dutch emigrants, some of whom could be engaged for several years together at about seven dollars a month. Should you prefer it, I could purchase no doubt, a slave or two who you could liberate when you saw proper, but in addition to the first cost, which would be from 5 to 7 hundred dollars, there would be the risk of health, and what is greater, that of getting them out there and it is more probably that they would be bad servants…Edmund requests me to caution you against the use of small thin barreled fowling pieces, as several instances of their bursting without being overloaded have occurred lately, one in the hands of Emlem…he is now fast recovering, but not out of danger from Locked jaw.” Light fold separation archivally repaired.    (Est. $200-250)

A masterpiece in African-American portraiture!

750.  Sixth-plate hand-tinted tintype in embossed leather patriotic case. This highly unusal, close-up portrait of a black Union soldier is one of the finest images of its type we have encountered. The young recruit peers intently at the camera. Great focus and clarity, superb condition save for slight bend in plate, seen only at an angle.    (Est. $4,000-5,000)

751. Quarter-plate daguerreotype of two African-American or mixed race boys along with two Caucasian boys. The two older, black boys appear to be preceptors of the two younger who sit attentively. The older boys hold a book and a quill pen. Each is identified by old paper labels, as Alfred Burgess, Chaffee, Eb Thayer and William Casey. Solarization to outer perimeter, else clear.     (Est. $500-750)

752. A terrific ninth-plate tintype of an African-American Buffalo Soldier housed in a thermoplastic wall frame with an ornate brass liner. Minor blemishes to portrait detract little. A fine portrait.      (Est. $400-500)

753. Two (2) lovely ambrotypes of African-American women in gutta percha cases, brass mats, protected by fine red fabric. Light typical wear to one spine, else fine. (Est. $600-800)

Another photographic masterpiece.
754. An exquisite, ninth-plate daguerreotype of a black child nanny with a white child. Housed in a thermoplastic case, separated at spine, with elegant, red velvet padding, and a brass mat. Truly wonderful.
(Est. $3,000-4,000)

755. An attractive, hand-tinted, oval tintype of an African-American woman holding a book and wearing gold jewelry, housed in a handsome case. Some crackling to portrait, else a beautiful study. (Est. $300-400)

756. Lovely sixth-plate tintype of an elegantly dressed black couple. (Est. $100-150)

An event that never took place! A meeting between Abe and Sojourner Truth!

757.  This is the ONLY example of this portrait we have ever encountered, a cabinet card by Perry of Battle Creek, Michigan depicting the Great Emancipator with the Abolitionist. Born Isabella Bamfree circa 1800 to a Dutch family (this was also her first language), she was freed by New York’s Gradual Abolition Act in 1827, afterwards working as a domestic. In 1843 she claimed to have been called by God to travel (or sojourn) the nation to preach “the truth”. Hence her popular name. She published and sold photos of herself to support her work in women’s rights and abolition. A great rarity.  (Est. $1,500-2,000)

758. An excellent, mounted, double-sided albumen, 4 x 3 1/2” titled “A Group of Contrabands.” The legend continues:
“A group of slaves escaped from the Rebel lines and now happy with Massa Linkum’s soldiers.” By George Warner Bragg. (Photo on verso depicts the “Fortified Bridge, Cumberland River.”) By Taylor & Huntington of Hartford. Fine contrast, great condition, RARE.   (Est. $2,500-3,000)

759. Orange boarded stereoview by Taylor & Huntington: “Bomb-proof Quarters of Major Strong, at Dutch Gap, Va., July, 1864.” Two black soldiers await orders! Vivid, nice contrast, a great study.
(Est. $200-400)

760. Another study of the “Dutch Gap Canal and Group of Soldiers” by E. & H. T. Anthony & Co. The legend on verso continues,”Taken after the bank was blown out. On the extreme left end a portion of the bank remains, which forms a profile, which the soldiers call Jeff Davis.” A black soldier on the riverbank holds the line to a boat. (Est. $200-400)

761. CDV titled “Learning is Wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca & Rosa. Slaves from New Orleans” published by S. Tackaberry of New York in 1864, photograph by Charles Paxton. The verso details the sale of these images would be used for education of “colored people in the Department of the Gulf.” Some light trim at bottom of mount. Charley Chinn is most famous as the slave photographed with severe back lacerations and scars from being whipped as a slave. (Est. $300-400)

762. Brady CDV with titled label “Headquarters Lafayette – Headquarters Genl Porter. Farnhold’s House and York River in the Distance.” Posing in front of an old homestead are four white soldiers, two black soldiers and two black orderlies. Great tone, contrast and detail. Published in 1862 by Barnard & Gibson.      (Est. $300-400)

763. AUTOGRAPHED by a Civil War Black combatant.
A rare carte of Sgt. George Smith of Co. I, 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry with signature on verso. Full board, a fine photograph. These do not trade hands often.    (Est. $1,000-1,500)

764. Carte of Deacon James Mars (1790-1880), a Connecticut slave who, with his family, refused to follow his master, a minister named Thompson, to Virginia, where he would have been denied the emancipation guaranteed him at age 25 under Connecticut law. In his later life, he enjoyed a prominent place in New England’s black community. He also played an important part in the African-American enfranchisement and temperance movements. Mars was a principal in the 1837 landmark case Jackson v. Bulloch, in which the Connecticut Supreme Court granted slave Nancy Jackson her freedom after two years of residency in the state with her Georgia master, James Bulloch. Slight mottling to corners detracts little, fine contrast.   (Est. $300-500)

765. Carte of black soldier (or contraband) with 5th Corps badge (Army of Potomac) on his hat sitting outside a shebang. Full board, sharp contrast, superb.  (Est. $1,300-1,500)

766. An extreme rarity: a CDV photo of an African-American naval combatant by Alfred W. Jacobs of Brooklyn. Some loss, cracking, and fly specking to albumen as shown. The subject’s face and uniform remain good. A mint example would command thousands.     (Est. $500-800)

767. By an African-American photographer! A very distinguished black gent posed by Ball & Thomas of Cincinnati,
3-cent revenue stamp on verso. A significant item by a much collected early black photographer.    (Est. $300-500)

768. Moses carte of black nanny and her charge, on verso: “Dosia & Baby Relle Philadelphia Dec. 1867.” Gold-ruled, slight loss at corners, great contrast.     (Est. $80-120)

769. Composite CDV of the signers of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, with Lincoln, Hamlin and Speaker Colfax. Very sharp, tiny crease in mount corner, nice. (Est. $100-150)

770. “Here’s Your Mule. 2, 40 on the Port Hudson Road.” 40 acres and a mule was a term for compensation promised to freed African-American slaves after the Civil War. Red-ruled, CDV, evenly toned.  (OPEN)

771. CDV pair – the obverse and reverse of the regimental flag of the 6th US Colored Troops (USCT). These photos were done by D.B. Bowser of Philadelphia. The 6th USCT were raised in Philadelphia at Camp William Penn, their term of service included engagements at Petersburg, Fair Oaks, Fort Fisher and several others. Lost in the various battles were 8 officers and 79 enlisted men. Imporant photographic records. (Est. $3,000-3,500)

Fighting for Abolition – organizing the Republican Party at its Inception.
A landmark imprint, the only extant example.

772.  A prohibitively rare (likely unique) abolitionist imprint, a circular issued by one of the founding members of the Republican Party, Lewis Clephane (1824-97): Broadside, To the Opponents of Slavery-Extension. (Washington: Buell & Blanchard, Printers, [1855]), 1p., 8vo. (15.5 x 24.5 cm.). Not in OCLC, this is the only example known. Light creases else very good condition. The Republican Association of Washington, D.C. was formed in the summer of 1854 in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.* The association had its first informal meeting in May 1854 only months after the first Republican meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin. Israel Washburn, who presided over the Washington meeting, has been given credit for suggesting the name “Republican” for the fledgling party, although a Pennsylvania newspaper editor has also been cited as suggesting the name. In spite of the presence of an organization in the nation’s capital, the Republican Party did not immediately establish a national organization; rather, it was formed on a state-by-state basis with varying degrees of success. The most successful was this Washington group. Upon formation, they sought to convince Francis P. Blair to serve as its president — an invitation he declined. This association published and distributed various manifestos and publications throughout the country in the effort to foster the growth of the new party. This led to the first organizing convention in February 1856 in Pittsburg and subsequent presidential nominating convention in Philadelphia that chose John C. Fremont as the first Republican standard-bearer. For reasons unknown, Clephane represents the organization here simply as “The Publishing Association of Washington” opposed to “The Republican Association of Washington, D.C.“ as seen in the few extant imprints from the period that also cite Clephane as Secretary. The circular notes that the “Publishing Association…intend to stereotype the Speeches delivered in Congress during the present session, and other Documents, suitable for use in the coming Presidential Campaign. In order to facilitate their circulation as much as possible, the Association will furnish and mail them, singly, to such names and post offices as may be desired, at one dollar per hundred for documents of eight pages, free of postage. For packages of one hundred, or more, sent at the cost of purchasers, documents of eight pages, sixty two cents, and documents of sixteen pages, one dollar and twenty-five cents…” The Republican Association published numerous speeches and tracts beginning in 1855. Each articulated the Republican cause before high-ranking politicians and common citizens alike. The Association went to great lengths to publish some of the most stirring pro-Republican addresses for mass distribution including titles authored by William Seward, George Weston, and other prominent anti-slavery men. Such speeches primarily focused on the key issues of slavery’s dangers to the entire nation and outrage over affairs in Kansas serving to increase the profile of the fledgling political party that would become a dominant political force in less than a decade. This is one of the first imprints issued by this organization; the only earlier imprint is the 1854 constitution of the Washington group, of which the only extant example is found in the Library of Congress. There is one other imprint, issued in 1856 by the Association (OCLC 22941697), that lists some of the publications offered by the society of which there are but four extant institutional examples. An important imprint laying the groundwork of the Republican Party. * Interestingly Lewis Clephane in his own published history of the party, misstates its founding as June, 1855, but the constitution of the organization can be positively dated to 1854. See Lewis Clephane, “Birth of the Republican Party… (Washington: Gibson Brothers, 1889); Declaration, Platform, and Constitution of the Republican Association of Washington, D.C. ([Washington, 1854]), Library of Congress Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 201, Folder 38. The text references a meeting held on Saturday, August 19, which would place it in the year 1854. (Est. $3,000-5,000)

A landmark document of the anti-slavery, abolitionist movement: the First National Liberty Convention… establishing Salmon P. Chase as a national force.

773.  The Address Of The Southern And Western Liberty Convention Held At Cincinnati, June 11 & 12, 1845, To The People Of The United States. With Notes By A Citizen Of Pennsylvania. ([New York: William Harned], 1845) 15, [1]pp. Caption title, as issued. Printed in double columns, original stitching intact, numerous period signatures from a J.H. Graham of Pennsylvania and a James Agnew on title page and back wrap over the order notice for pricing copies. A scarce imprint, one of two editions printed in 1845, this being the scarcer of the two versions of which OCLC references but eight extant institutional copies. (OCLC 7783307). Salmon P. Chase presided at this “most remarkable Anti-Slavery body yet assembled in the United States. The call embraced all those who were resolved to act against Slavery… It was not therefore exclusively a Convention of the Liberty Party.” Back in 1843, a Liberty Convention was assembled at Buffalo, and Chase established himself as an active and influential member. Subsequently, on several occasions, he became the public exponent of the views and objects of the party. This led, in 1845, to call a Western and Southern Convention at Cincinnati of all persons who were “resolved to use all constitutional and honorable means to effect the extinction of slavery with-in their respective States, and its reduction to its constitutional limits in the United States.” Delegates from the Northeast to the Old Northwest were brought together. Relying on the sentiments of the Founders expressed in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, the Northwest Ordinance, and other contemporary writings, the Address insists that the Nation was founded on the premise that slavery was evil. Nevertheless, slavery has taken hold of both major parties, the Whigs and Democrats. The Liberty Party is the answer for anti-slavery men. The address, read to the Convention of 4,000 persons, prepared by Mr. Chase as Chairman of the Committee, argued the necessity of a political party opposed to the nationalization and extension of slavery, and exhibited what he regarded as the necessary hostility of slaveholding interests to all liberal measures. This was the Liberty Party’s greatest success, getting sufficient votes to deny the presidency in 1844 to Henry Clay. It later metamorphosed into the Free Soil Party and, finally, the Republicans. The last page invites further “orders for this Address.” A scarce, significant document of early political history and the evolution of the Republican Party adopting the anti-slavery plank.  (Est. $800-1,200)

774. Frederick Douglass. [Abolitionism] Proceedings of the Yearly Meeting of the Friends of Human Progress, held at Waterloo, Seneca Co. N.Y. the 3d, 4th and 5th June, 1859. (Rochester, N.Y.: Press of C. W. Hebard & Co. Daily Express Office, 1859.) 23pp. in titled wraps. Scarce edition, OCLC identifies only 4 institutional copies (#21274818). The meetings of this society, established by Hicksite Quakers began in 1848, but soon attracted radical thinkers of all stripes including feminists, abolitionists and peace activists. This particular meeting resolved to condemn slavery and called on women “to cultivate themselves a firmer self-reliance and a bolder practical assertion of their rights to engage in any and every useful vocation to which they are demonstratively adapted.”  OCLC also notes the author as Frederick Douglass. (Est. $250-500)

An extremely rare print with interesting history.

775. Gimber, Stephen H. [Engraver] (1810-62) After the artist Alexander Rippingille: “Emancipation. / Glorious First of August 1834 / England Strikes the Manacle From The Slave and Bids The Bond Go Free.” Beneath this is printed “For sale at the American Anti Slavery Office, 144 Nassau St, New York.” In the lower left margin is “Painted by Alexr Rippingille” and in the lower right margin “Engraved by S.H. Gimber.” This engraving celebrates the end of slavery in the British West Indies. It is uncolored as issued and measures 35 x 24 cm. (13 1/2 x 9 1/2”). Museum matted and in a gilt frame, light staining in left margin. Patrick Reason was an African-American who studied under Gimber and produced engravings for anti-slavery books. The American Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Philadelphia in 1833. The New York office was open just a short time when this engraving was issued. (A second version was published in 1838.) This is the only example we could source.
  (Est. $800-1,000)