Search Results: Titles starting with L from Auger Down Books

American, 1910. Tintype measuring 8 x 6 inches with an African-American portrait, laminated at borders with a decorative frame with the insignia of the Prince Hall Masons. Some chips to lamination at corners, very good. Very Good. An interesting portrait of an African-American man with a decorative masonic border bearing the distinctive shape of the Prince Hall Masons emblem. Prince Hall Freemasonry stands as the earliest officially recognized and consistently operational organization established by individuals of African descent. Its inception occurred on March 6, 1775, when Prince Hall (ca. 1748-1807), a proponent of abolition and a civil rights activist, alongside fourteen other free black individuals, underwent initiation into freemasonry. They established African Lodge No. 1 on July 3, 1775. In 1784, a formal request for a charter was submitted to the Grand Lodge of England, and upon approval, African Lodge No. 1 was redesignated as African Lodge No. 459 in Boston, Massachusetts. By the time… Read More

Vera Cruz, 1847. Folded letter to Wheeling, Virginia with learly struck two-line datestamp with "Paid 10" manuscript rate and blue "Steam" handstamp of New Orleans on 1847, with an unusual "Steam" marking applied in New Orleans. Fine condition. Fine. A descriptive and interesting letter from Captain George W. Clutter of Wheeling, Virginia, describing the scenes and food in Vera Cruz in detail. Clutter had enlisted a detachment of thirty-two men in early 1847 in Monongalia County for service in the war, who would eventually become known as the "Mountain Boys of Monongalia." Clutter was promoted to the captaincy upon the resignation of John Tyler. The company sailed in June of 1847 on the Brig "Tuckahoe" from Old Point Comfort to Point Isabel, where they marched to join General Taylor's forces. This interesting letter, written by Clutter from Vera Cruz, describes the city and cuisine of Vera Cruz in detail. He writes, "I am now boarding at the best Hotel in the city - it is called "Bells Stage… Read More

New Orleans, 1854. Fine. A lengthy description of life in New Orleans written by Samuel Sumner (1824-1866), the son of Michael and Mary Sumner of Newburyport, Massachusetts, describing life as an insurance salesman in New Orleans. He talks about his brother Richard (Richard Bartlet Sumner, 1816-1868). Sumner describes his life in New Orleans and alludes to previous difficulties, presumably in his travels from Newburyport and establishing his family in the New Orleans. He talks about the difficulty in establishing business relationships, stating "It has been most unfortunate for me (& I presume there is not one young man in a hundred that has suffered as much as I have from its causes) that I have never been placed in a position suitable to my taste or character, that is, I have had partners for whom I lost all respect & confidence because they had no respect for themselves & therefore it was impossible to succeed under such circumstances; but now I am in a very respectable position and am constantly… Read More

Charleston, 1866. Autograph letter, signed by a John (last name unknown,) addressed to R.W. Grange Esquire at Racine College in Racine Wisconsin. Some tears at folds, near fine. Appx. 1,000 words. Fine. A lengthy and atmospheric rumination on a holiday spent in South Carolina by an author known only as Bob, written to a friend in Wisconsin. The author relates in great detail a Fourth of July spent in Charleston, South Carolina in 1866, with several interesting details regarding an African-American parade and a fire department made up only of New Yorkers. At one point the author mentions Muncy, which suggests the possibility that he and the recipient were old friends from Pennsylvania. Describing his time in Charleston, he writes: "City remarkably quiet, scarcely anyone on the street, did not hear a dozen crackers, came back from breakfast, went to work. About 9.30 found out that all offices were to close at 10 a.m. & keep Sunday hours, was mity (telegraphers way of spellin mighty) glad of that. Ten… Read More

Claremont, 1838. Stampless letter with circular Claremont, New Hampshire postmark and 18 ½ cent rate. Fine condition. Fine. An entertaining letter written by Marion Richards of Claremont, New Hampshire, defending the northern way of life and describing the relative calm in New Hampshire during the Panic of 1837, which apparently had been the subject of previous correspondence between the two. She makes an interesting reference to "female rights," which she says she does not support, perhaps also in reference to an earlier conversation. She writes, "Your father speaks of the severe effects the course of the administration has had upon your city, and consequently upon the high-raised hopes of her citizens; this, undoubtedly is true in regard to all; all have been involved as it were in one general ruin and all have suffered. We, as individuals, it is true, felt the change and with others echoed the cry, 'hard times', but still in comparison with many, suffered little. Embarked in no dangerous… Read More

Arkansas, 1854. Letter measuring 8 x 6 ½ inches. Some slight tears at folds, near fine. Fine. An interesting letter written by a woman to her sister after spending a holiday by herself without domestic help. The author quotes a passage from Marion Harland's poem "Alone," and laments her holiday spent alone. She writes: "Mother gave the D---- free ticket and it was either work or starve, so into the kitchen I went. I like the preliminaries of cooking, such as making cakes and nick knacks, but when it comes to the sober reality I say quits, but it would have amused you to see me shaking my fat sides sifting corn meal. Flour isn't fashionable up here. It can be had for neither love nor money." She then elaborates on her loneliness, stating: "It is Sabbath evening and I feel particularly lonely as I look from my chamber window on the mountains clad in their raiment of pure white and listen to the howling of the wind. I wish like the psalmist that I had wings to fly from this bleak and dreary region.… Read More

Haverstraw, 1782. Single page measuring 7 x 9 inches. Trimmed at margin with very small amount of loss to text else fine. Fine. An interesting and significant letter written by Ann Hawkes Hay to George Washington in 1782, seeking passage for a family member of the loyalist physician James Latham, a prominent doctor who treated smallpox during the conflict. Latham was a practitioner of the 'Suttonian' method of smallpox inoculation, developed by the english physician William Sutton. Latham built out a large network of Suttonian hospitals that inoculated soldiers from both armies, and despite his loyalist tendencies was allowed to operate during the conflict. "The revolution,however, introduced ideological conflict for Latham , whose residence in Livingston Manor brought him in contact with Robert R. Livingston and other large landowners. They themselves were divided on the path the Revolution should take. Latham was evidently torn between his loyalty to Britain and his desire to protect his… Read More

Boston, 1851. Autograph letter signed by Whipple and addressed to Oakes at her Brooklyn address. Fine condition. 9 ¾ x 7 ¾ inches bifolium. Fine. An interesting letter written by critic Edwin Percy Whipple to Elizabeth Oakes Smith, encouraging her to publish in Graham Magazine. He then offers sympathies on a play performed in Philadelphia, and excoriates the American theatre and its inability to do justice to Shakespeare's work. The letter was written during the period when Oakes published her "Woman and Her Needs" series in the New York Tribune, though it would appear from subsequent events that Whipple's opinion had been formed by her earlier work. Whipple's views on Smith would change later and be marked by Whipple's negative critiques of Smith's writing. In 1855, Whipple published a review of Smith's book "The Sinless Child," which criticized her unconventional views on marriage and motherhood. Smith responded with a scathing letter, accusing Whipple of being a "literary bully" and a… Read More

Lancaster, 1876. Single page measuring 9 ½ x 6 inches. Some tears at folds, near fine. Near Fine. An interesting letter deserving further study regarding the legal fallout for defaults on Negro Bonds following Emancipation, a question of significant economic impact for the finances of ex-enslavers, as a significant amount of private debt endured following Emancipation. The author, a collections agent, warns B.H. Massey, Esquire of pending actions to pursue damages for defaults on Negro Bonds for the sum of $10,000 based on the fact that Massey acted as Receiver of the bonds when they were issued. It is unclear whether Massey was Allison's client at the time or if he intended to pursue collections actions against him. We find no record of the case. Full transcription follows: Kershaw, Allison & Connors Correspondent American Attorneys Collection Association All Legal Business Attended To. Collections a specialty. Lancaster, S.C. Sept. the 14th 1876 B. H. Massey, Esq. Dear Sir, My impression… Read More

Republic of Texas, 1838. Stampless letter, folded, with red two-line handstamp of Steam Packet Columbia on January 16, 1838 from Brazoria Tex. to New Orleans. Fine condition. Fine. An intriguing letter written by Edmund Andrews, a judge in Brazoria, Texas, who had arrived in Stephen Austin's colony eight years before he penned this, in 1830. The letter is written to John K. West, the New Orleans attorney who was an original member of the notorious "New Orleans Associates." Andrews discusses a conversation he had on behalf of West with John Austin Wharton, who would die later in 1838, relating that Andrews had a conversation with Wharton on West's behalf. The conversation with Wharton revolved around a man with the last name Chase and Andrew Mills, who had both left Texas, presumably, and traveled to Kingston, Jamaica, where Mills was hanged for an undisclosed crime. Andrews writes that Wharton related that that Mills told him he "would not have done it if he had not been drunk," presumably talking… Read More

San Francisco, 1864. Broadside measuring 12 x 8.5. Some wear and archival tape repair to margin, fine contrast, excellent condition overall. Very Good. An interesting broadside advertising the Lighte and Bradbuiry piano as well as Martin Guitars, printed for the Salvator Rosa music store at 615 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. Lighte and Bradbury was in its third iteration in the period from 1858-1864 when this broadside was printed, having been started by the German immigrant Ferdinand C. Leuchte in 1847, who did business with a range of partners after anglicizing his name to Lighte. Among the testimonials listed on the broadside is praise from Lowell Mason, the composer and music director. Salvator Rosa's store was around from at least 1852, when a fire in the city destroyed the building on Clay St., making this location at 615 Montgomery Street at least the second for the firm. The firm published sheet music including "Fireman's March" and "Garibaldi's Hymn." Martin Guitars had been based in… Read More

Nome: Lomen Brothers, 1914. Silver gelatin print, 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. Fine. Women's baseball evolved alongside men's leagues beginning in the 1860s, with many teams and leagues appearing throughout the following decades, often playing indoors and often unrecorded in the annals of baseball history. Women's baseball was particularly popular in Minnesota and parts of the Midwest in the early part of the twentieth century. This photograph bears evidence as to the game's migration to Alaska Territory, where long winters would have been particularly conducive to an indoor league. This photograph, by the Nome, Alaska firm Lomen Brothers, shows the champion team of the Ladies Indoor Baseball League in Nome. We find no record in contemporary newspapers or anywhere else of the league. The Nome Brothers were a well-known photographic firm, who migrated from Minnesota to Alaska at the height of the Nome Gold Rush in 1903. By 1909 at the end of the gold rush, the population of Nome declined substantially to… Read More

Quincy, 1883. 8 x 6 inches. Twenty page letter by an unknown author written to his mother. Some tears, quite legible, very good overall. Very Good. [Warning - this description contains violent content and racist language] A long, highly unusual and and descriptive letter written by an employee of a mining company based in Quincy who leaves San Francisco for Guaymas before heading into the mountains on a very violent journey in which he attempts to occupy land in the hills outside of Guaymas based on an incorrect assumption that his Canadian citizenship will allow him to circumvent Mexican laws regarding American seizure of land. After getting arrested and possibly extorted by Mexican forces, he is eventually freed when a British captain finds him and persuades the Governor to formally charge him with a crime. He is acquitted in court in Chihuahua, and closes the letter by lamenting the lack of opportunity in California and the United States more broadly, as he is eventually sent back to California… Read More