Search Results: Authors starting with A from McBride Rare Books

Mexico City: Imprenta del Ciudadano Alejandro Valdes, 1833. Very good.. Broadside, approximately 12.25 x 8.5 inches. Two small wormholes at left margin. Light dust soiling and toning. Scarce devotional poem, attributed to Luis Abadiano, for the veneration of depictions of the Señor de Santa Teresa and Maria Santisima de los Dolores. This "Odita," or "little ode," is composed of twelve short, four-line stanzas, printed in double columns within a double border of printer's ornaments, and signed "L.A." at the foot of the second column. A nice copy of a handsome piece of ephemeral, devotional printing; we locate only one copy, at Brown.

Emporia, Ks: March 12, 1859. Very good.. [4]pp. Original mailing folds, short separations along some folds, a couple of short closed tears, a few tiny nicks to edges. A rare correspondence from Kansas at the time of the free state - slave state tensions in the 1850s. Here, the most important early settler of Emporia, Kansas, John H. Watson sends a territorial paean to his father back home in Pennsylvania. In his densely-written letter, Watson ran out of room, and had to sign his name over previously written text along the right edge of its last page. Watson was a Quaker lawyer-physician from Pennsylvania, who moved his entire family west to Kansas in 1858 along with other abolitionists in an effort to ensure the territory entered the Union as a free state. Watson does not mention the bloody political battles taking place at the time, but rather bemoans the state of his inheritance, the cost of his travel, and more, while also providing a firsthand report of the unsettled territory's beauty,… Read More

Doniphan, Ks: Printed at the Crusader of Freedom Office, 1858. Very good.. Single sheet, 3.5 x 7.5 inches. Minor foxing, light edge wear. An uncommon form, printed at James Redpath's Crusader of Freedom office in Doniphan, Kansas. The Scottish-born Redpath originally worked for Horace Greeley's New York Tribune where he published a series of articles compiling Facts of Slavery. In 1855, he moved to the Kansas-Missouri border and reported on the slavery disputes for the Free Soil newspaper, the Missouri Democrat, before starting his own newspaper, the Crusader of Freedom. The motto of his newspaper was "I enroll myself a Crusader of Freedom until slavery ceases to exist." Redpath met John Brown immediately after the fateful Pottawatomie Creek incident and his interview with the fervent abolitionist was Brown's debut in the press with Redpath labeling him a warrior-saint. The journalist became Brown's most vocal supporter in the press, and his report of the Battle of Osawatomie helped… Read More

Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1836. About very good.. xvi,[13]-238pp. 12mo. Original publisher's blue boards with black sheep spine, gilt. Boards rubbed, corners and spine moderately worn. Text lightly foxed. Scarce work addressing the anti-slavery work of George Thompson following his visit to America. Thompson (1804-1878) was British lecturer and reformer who worked as a commercial clerk. "Thompson first came to prominence in 1831, when he was recruited by the London Anti-Slavery Society's Agency Committee as an itinerant lecturer. In the run up to the Emancipation Act of 1833 he became the most effective British anti-slavery lecturer since Thomas Clarkson.... With the struggle against British slavery apparently won, Thompson was instrumental in reorienting anti-slavery effort towards the Americas and particularly the United States. ... In 1834 he encountered the charismatic American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Recognizing Thompson's talent, Garrison invited him to travel to the United States… Read More

Pittsburgh, Pa: August 2, 1838. Good.. [2]pp., on a single folded sheet, integral blank addressed on verso. Original mailing folds, somewhat tender along fold lines, a small panel of integral blank chipped away along fold lines, short tear and small area of loss from removed wax seal to first leaf costing or affecting a few words, top edge bumped. An informative manuscript letter written by a notable abolitionist during his travels through Pittsburgh in the summer of 1838. Elias Richards (1802-1887) writes from the United States Hotel to his wife Elizabeth Hunt Richards (1804-1892) in Massachusetts while on a trip intending to locate a place he could settle in business. Both Elias and Elizabeth Richards were prominent abolitionists based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Richards details his travel from Philadelphia through Pennsylvania, mentioning several towns on the road to Pittsburgh. Richards then provides a description of the Steel City: "This is a very busy city, situated on a point of land,… Read More

Washington, D.C.: Buell & Blanchard, 1858. Good.. Twelve issues, each 4pp., printed in seven columns. Large folio. Old folds, varying levels of chipping, fold separations, foxing, and edge wear. Occasional minor loss of text from wear at crossfolds and in one case a tobacco burn. Some issues with ink notations at top left or in the top margin. A dozen issues, published over the course of a decade in the mid-19th century, of the abolitionist newspaper The National Era, edited by Gamaliel Bailey and John Greenleaf Whittier. The National Era was an important source of news and debate over the issue of slavery during its thirteen-year run, and continuously argued for the abolition of the peculiar institution until it ceased operations in February 1860. The most lasting legacy of the newspaper is its serialization of Uncle Tom's Cabin in forty-one weekly installments between June 1851 and April 1852, the first appearance of the novel anywhere.  The present collection of issues includes number 81, 97,… Read More

Playford Hall, Suffolk, England: May 8, 1844. Very good.. [1]p., totaling about 325 words. A few handling creases and spots, original smudging. Tipped to a backing and framed, with a mat window cut out on the back of the frame to allow the manuscript docketing on verso to be seen. Not examined out of the frame. An informative manuscript letter from prominent English abolitionist Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) to fellow anti-slavery activist John Scoble on the interesting subject of duties to be paid on "Slave grown sugar" (also referred to by Clarkson as "colonial sugar") reaching England from Cuba and Brazil, two fo the last countries to outlaw the institution. Despite being just one page, the letter is quite lengthy in content due to Clarkson's small, pinched handwriting, totaling twenty-seven lines in his hand with some corrections and underlinings. The letter opens with the 84-year-old Clarkson asking Scoble to send a copy of his letter on sugar duties that is to be read at Joseph Sturge's public… Read More

New York: S. Tackaberry, 1864. Very good.. Carte de visite photograph, 3.25 x 2 inches, on a slightly larger printed mount. Minor soiling and spotting, light edge wear. One of a series of CDVs featuring recently freed slaves produced in 1863-64 as part of a fundraising effort in the American South. This image is noted as "No. 10" at the top of the verso. According to a notice printed on the verso: "The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted to the education of colored people in the department of the Gulf, now under the command of Maj. Gen. Banks." The funds were used to establish schools for former slaves in southern Louisiana during the Union occupation of the region. The photograph was taken by Charles Paxson of New York, and copyrighted by S. Tackaberry in the Southern District of that state. The subject of the present photograph is Rosina Downs; she poses in a bonnet and jacket, with her arms crossed, looking left. A handful of photographs featuring Rosa were issued… Read More

[Providence: Hiram H. Thomas and Co., late December, 1865. Good plus.. Letterpress broadside, 17.5 x 12 inches, printed in double columns, with decorative floral border. Old folds, two folds neatly strengthened on verso, other folds tender, bottom third darkened. A rare newspaper carrier's address closing out the fateful year of 1865 and looking forward to the transition of the next year. The author personifies the year 1865 as "bent and wrinkled and gray" but also "in excellent health for his age." The end of the Civil War is recounted: "Then thought we how, during the mild reign of Spring, The wrong gave no check to the arms of the free, But only with 'Vict'ry' we made the streets ring, Till so wildly we cried, 'The Surrender of Lee!'" The text also mentions Sherman, Grant, and the assassination of President Lincoln. The tone is celebratory, as the author continues: "'To God give the praise!' for our nation is free! No longer a slave is contained by its shore! No longer the carnage of battle we… Read More

[Albany, Or, 1880. About very good.. Broadside, 12.5 x 9 inches. Light wear and minor creasing, a few small chips to edges and small areas of loss near center. Minor foxing. Broadside advertisement for "Water Proof Oil Blacking," sold by W.J. John of Albany, Oregon, a small town near Corvallis. The broadside lists seven reasons why this product is the best, beginning with "It is Cheap." Other reasons include durability, waterproofness, and its ability to keep leather soft and prevent cracking. Reason 8 is perhaps the most interesting: "You get a receipt and make it yourself so that you know what it contains, and that every ingredient is a Leather Preserver, as it contains nothing injurious, such as varnish, naptha [sic], benzine or turpentine." Not in OCLC.

Chicago: Hays & Thompson, 1854. Very good plus.. Broadside, 15 x 6 inches. Minor soiling. A rare and unusual broadside newspaper extra advertising Evarts' Shingle Mill, with a handsome woodcut illustration of the mill itself occupying a third of the sheet. The Christian Times was a Baptist newspaper published in Chicago from 1853 to 1865. Evarts & Butler herein advertise themselves as "proprietors and manufacturers" of the machine, claiming it "makes better shingles, and more of them than any other mill, from any kind of wood," capable of producing "ten thousand in ten hours." Testimonials as to the machine's efficacy and quality of the mill and its shingles occupy the lower third of the broadside. An unrecorded Pre-fire Chicago broadside advertisement.

Cedar Rapids, 1894. Very good.. Small broadsheet, 10.5 x 6.75 inches. Previously folded. Minute closed tear at top edge. Light tanning. With accompanying transmittal envelope. Ephemeral, illustrated broadsheet advertisement for two agricultural machines for sale by the Hamilton Bros. company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the mid-1890s. The "Sweep Feed Mill" promises to efficiently grind all types and qualities of corn, while the "Mammoth Feed Steamer" promises to save the farmer thirty percent in feed costs. Examples of both are shown on either side of the sheet. With the original transmittal envelope, postmarked 1894.

[New Orleans: August, 1901. Very good.. 32mo. 16pp. Original peach wrappers printed in black. Short tear to front wrapper along the spine, small ink stamp on front wrapper, top corner creased throughout, else a very handsome copy. A seemingly unrecorded pocket-sized pamphlet, created without a proper title, designed to solicit donations and donation subscriptions for the Helping Hand Mission in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. The text of the pamphlet was authored by Rev. J.J. Hoffman, a Lutheran pastor who ran the mission, which was located at 1044 St. Charles Avenue. Reverend Hoffman writes about the proselytizing performed by the mission to the poor and hungry of New Orleans, without regard to nationality or creed, although he acknowledges that most of the people they help are Roman Catholic. Hoffman does, however, take a moment to explain the difference in care and attention given to the city's African American population: "While it remains a fact that no public institution in New… Read More

[Houston, 1944. Very good.. [4]pp., on a single folded sheet. Mild toning, punch holes to top margin. A rare program for the commencement exercises for the 1944 midwinter graduating class of Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas. The program prints the lineup of speakers and songs, including "Let My People Go!" by James Weldon Johnson, along with lists of honor students, class officers, and other details about the class. The last page is printed with a notice for the commencement exercises for "Three Negro High Schools" in the area to be held on February 1, 1944. The principal of Phillis Wheatley High School during this period, E.O. Smith, was the school's first principal, joining the staff of the school when it opened in 1927 as the third segregated high school to serve Houston's Fifth Ward community. A graduate of Fisk University, Smith spent his professional career in education and his larger life fighting for civil rights. The Handbook of Texas includes a lengthy entry on Smith's life… Read More

Nashville: Boylin Printing Co, 1898. Very good.. Printed broadside, 12 x 9 inches. Noticeably tanned and somewhat brittle, closed tear on right edge, slightly chipped. A rare broadside advertising a week-long schedule of African American speakers in Nashville. Jere Baxter, a prominent Nashville businessman founded the Tennessee Central Railroad and was installed as president of the company in 1897. The speakers on the present broadside were likely called to react to Baster's proposed use of the city's depot, Union Station. The speakers listed here include Rev. Luke Mason, Horace Storms, Andrew Clarkson, and J.C. Crowley, among others. OCLC records just a single copy, at Temple University.

Dayton, Oh: The Otterbein Press, 1923. Very good.. 30pp. 16mo. Publisher's wrappers, stapled, with photographic portrait of Manly on front wrapper. Minor soiling and staining to wrappers. The rare updated second edition after the first of 1919, relating the story of David Jayn Manly's life from Sierra Leone to his college experiences in Indiana. The first edition was published under a different title, From the Jungles of Africa to Indiana Central University. Indian Central University is now known as the University of Indianapolis. The present work traces Manly's experiences from his village in Sierra Leone, being taught by missionaries, then his decision to leave Africa in order to obtain further education in the United States. Manly made his way to Freetown, where he traveled by ship to New York, then Indianapolis by train under the sponsorship of the Christian Endeavor Society of Indiana Central University. This edition concludes with a two-and-a-half-page update on Manly's American experiences,… Read More

[South Carolina, 1884. Very good.. 8pp., single sheet folded into eight panels. 24mo. Moderate soiling and foxing, even toning. A scarce promotional pamphlet for the Mt. Pleasant Home for Destitute Children. The home was founded in 1881 by Abby Munro, a Philadelphia Quaker, and served as the first orphanage for African American children in South Carolina. The text relates the need for such a home in the state, as well as a bit of its history: "More than a million of colored children in the souther states are growing up in ignorance and vice...To save these children from ignorance and crime and make them intelligent, honest and industrious is not only a charity, but a christian duty." One panel relates the "Present Financial Condition" of the home. Scarce.

Cambridge, Ma: [ca. September 11, 1909. Very good.. [1]p., on Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Settlement letterhead, with original transmittal envelope. Original mailing folds, minor toning. A fundraising form letter sent by Charlotte E. Hawkins, later Charlotte Hawkins Brown, informing the recipient of the progress of her school and ostensibly soliciting donations for its continued support. Hawkins writes to Mrs. George Rolfe of Cambridge, but the letter was forwarded to Mrs. Rolfe on Martha's Vineyard. The letterhead includes the officers of the school, the Advisory Board, and the three courses of study available to students - Agriculture, Manual Training, and Domestic Science. In the present letter, aimed specifically at benefactors in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hawkins describes the school, its student body of 125 students, and offers her plans for future work needed at the school. A native of Henderson, North Carolina, Charlotte Hawkins Brown (1883-1961) was raised in Cambridge, where she met… Read More

Little Rock: Central Printing Company, 1924. Good.. 291pp., plus thirty-one photographic portrait plates. Publisher's green cloth with titles stamped in black. Considerable wear and staining to boards, edges worn. Hinges partially separated but holding by mull cloth. Latter portion of text dampstained. A well-worn copy of a rather scarce book. An uncommon work detailing the history, activities, and prominent early members of the Mosaic Templars of America. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the Mosaic Templars was "an African-American fraternal organization offering mutual aid to the Black community, founded in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1882 and incorporated in 1883 by two former slaves, John Edward Bush and Chester W. Keatts. Taking its name from the biblical character of Moses, the organization offered illness, death, and burial insurance to African Americans at a time when white insurers refused to treat Black customers equally. The name metaphorically linked the organization's… Read More

Richmond, In, 1929. Very good.. 48pp. Quarto. Original blue wrappers printed in gilt, string tied. Minor wear, light soiling and creasing. An unrecorded souvenir program for the 1929 annual meeting of the African American Masons in Richmond, Indiana. The work includes the text of the organization's 1784 charter, a description of Richmond, a passage about the Underground Railroad in Wayne County, the schedule of events for the meeting, biographical passages on figures such as William Paul Quinn, background on the organization, and more. One page prints a "1929 Directory [of] Churches, Fraternities, Clubs, Etc." including women's clubs such as the Sojourner Truth Club. The latter portion of the work is comprised of numerous well wishes and advertisements for local businesses; the latter includes Bundy's Studio, which claims that "All the Pictures in This Book Were Made at This Studio." The work is profusely illustrated throughout with dozens of photographic portraits of the officers, members, well… Read More