Search Results: Authors starting with F from Auger Down Books

Mostly Indiana, 1921. Fifty-Nine letters, appx. 100 pages total. Minimal wear, fine condition. The Milhous family were midwestern merchants who were active in Indiana and Ohio in the middle part of the nineteenth century. William Milhous was a Midwestern general store manager who was born in Ohio and operated stores in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois during the 1860s onward. His father Vickers operated a store in Dupont, Indiana. Both would eventually relocate to Salem, Ohio, with William and his wife settling in California later. Offered here is a collection of correspondence written to William and his wife Frances, the bulk written during the Civil War period, that offers a detailed look at the personal dealings, family life and political views, with two letters covering the Morgan Raid in great detail. Many of the letters are from the period from 1860-1863 when William operated a store in Hartsville, Indiana. Additional material from before and after the conflict provides details, mostly on family… Read More

Mostly Washington, D.C. and North Carolina, 1970. First Edition. Various formats including bulletins, magazines, and photographs, comprising one linear foot in total. Near Fine. The F.B.I. under J. Edgar Hoover showed a willingness to surveil and harass American citizens, perhaps most famously in the COINTELPRO program, while at the same time investigating some instances of domestic terrorism, such as some K.K.K. activities, and some of the racially charged murders in the south. Collected here is a group of materials - agent memos, magazines, anti-Communism papers penned by Hoover, and various bureau publications - that show a time capsule of the bureau in the 1950s-1970s (the group does not include any original casework, internally-circulated photographs or bureau files). The material reflects the volatile time period, with several memos relating to unrest, the murder of Malcolm X, anti-war protesters, and other issues relevant to the Civil Rights era - as well as the degree to which the bureau was… Read More

Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808. Letterpress broadside measuring 13 x 7 ¾ inches. Some slight toning, near fine overall. Fine. A broadside announcing the candidates for the United States House of Representatives, a list which includes Noah Webster. Webster received 212 votes in the preliminary election in May, enough to get him a spot on the ballot, but lost in the general election, in a generally difficult time for Federalist politicians. Webster experienced a religious conversion during this period, after being a not particularly devout Congregationalist earlier in his life, and embraced the church completely, perhaps due to the death of his infant son in 1806. Webster would run again for U.S. Representative in 1810, 1812 and 1816, losing each time, and eventually abandoned politics, his last office held being in the Connecticut House of Representatives, ending in 1807, shortly before his first campaign for national office. We find no record of this broadside in OCLC or other ephemera relating… Read More

Washington, 1833. Single page. Fine condition. Very Good. The American Colonization Society, and its mission to return freed African-Americans to Africa, played a part in galvanizing the abolition movement during this period when the institution was expanding rapidly. "The roots of antebellum abolition lay in the virtually unanimous rejection by blacks of the program of the American Colonization Society, founded in 1816 to colonize black Americans in Africa. Controversy over the colonization movement reinforced abolitionists' demands for black citizenship. By positioning themselves against colonization, African Americans rejected any solution to slavery that did not encompass black rights." (Sinha, p. 160). James Madison was the third president of the ACS, serving from 1833 until his death in 1836. Madison was an enslaver who nonetheless made claims of opposing slavery. Upon his death he left money to fund the ACS. Offered here is a letter written to Madison from P.R. Fendall, concerning mostly… Read More

Nara Prefecture: MGM Studios, 1956. First. Silver gelatin contact prints, measuring 5 x 4 inches. Minimal wear, fine condition overall. Fine. The legacy of Daniel Mann's 1956 film Teahouse of the August Moon, which tells the story of a misfit American captain's attempts to Americanize the village of Tobiki on Okinawa, is deeply problematic at best. While some scholars have pointed to this film, along with Japanese War Bride (1952) and the Brando film Sayonara (1957) as being the first to openly portray and discuss interracial marriage, others have argued that the film is part of a lineage of racial stereotyping and "yellowface" casting, with Asianweek, for example, calling Brando's performance - as the Japanese interpreter Sakini - number 9 in its list of Infamous Yellowface performances, and the critic Michael Medved awarding a Golden Turkey award for the most Ludicrous Racial Portrayal of All Time. The film features three Japanese stars: Nijiko Kiyokawa (Higa Jiga), Jun Negami (Seiko), and Machiko… Read More

Bath, Massachusetts, 1795. Folded circular, franked by Wolcott and addressed to William Webb, Esquire of Bath, Massachusetts [now Maine]. With the signature of George Simpson. Fine condition. Fine. An uncommon treasury circular announcing the appointment of George Simpson as cashier, following the retirement of John Kean due to illness. Simpson would serve as cashier from his appointment in March of 1795 until the Bank's decommission in 1811. Simpson would take up residence across the street from the bank on Chestnut Street, and was hired by Stephen Girard as cashier of the Girard Bank, which operated out of the same building, in 1811. He would serve in this position until his death in November of 1822, after which Girard promoted Simpson's first teller, Joseph Roberts, to be Cashier. We find no other examples of Simpson's signature in the trade, though several letters to him have surfaced over the years. Despite his low profile from a policy standpoint he was a key figure in the Bank of the United… Read More

Philadelphia, 1876. Autograph letter signed by Cooke. Fine condition. Fine. An interesting and candid letter written by Jay Cooke to [Edwin M.] Lewis, the trustee in charge of Cooke's assets following the dissolution of his company in 1873 and the ensuing financial panic. The letter specifically concerns shares of the Western Land Association. Cooke organized the Western Land Association after investing heavily in the Lake Superior Mississippi Line in 1866, and his overextension and the eventual closing of his company in 1876 led to national panic and financial ruin. Cooke would eventually recover some of his wealth, and this letter attests to his belief that his investments in the midwest would eventually pan out. "Cooke was extremely discouraged by events surrounding the dissolution of his company. He felt betrayed by many whom he had considered friends. In addition, he had not recovered emotionally from the death of his wife in 1871. His financial downturn forced him to move from his estate… Read More

N.P.: Treasury Department, 1793. Partially printed document signed by Hamilton and finished in another hand. Fine condition. With the original receipt from Ben Boomfield Autographs, sold in 1954 to the previous owner. Fine. Among Hamilton's many signal achievements as the first Secretary of the Treasury under the new Constitution was his creation in 1791 of the First Bank of the United States. Founded on British models - the Bank of England had been established in 1694 - this new institution would be vital to the development of the postwar economy. The Revolution caused profound disruptions to commerce and industry, and the new country began its saga under the weight of enormous debt, a devalued currency, and high inflation. A central bank, tasked with collecting tax revenues, holding public funds, paying government debts, and issuing paper currency, was Hamilton's solution. Starting with a 20-year charter and a capitalizaion of $10 million, the First Bank of the United States opened for business on… Read More

Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1844. First Edition. 8vo, wraps, 72 pp. Contemporary ink marginalia, bookseller description on inner wrap, binding reinforced with cloth tape, charity book shop stamp to front wrap, good condition overall. Good. The second edition of this title, originally published a year earlier, by Stephen Symonds Foster, the radical abolitionist known for his anti-clerical diatribes and involvement in the cause of women's rights. "In 1844 [sic], Foster published The Brotherhood of Thieves, which indicted the chuch, slavery and anti-abolition mobs as the 'queer trinity.' Foster saw American clergymen as being guilty of crimes that would 'disgrace an Algerine pirate.' They upheld the violence, murder and robbery that defined slavery and were 'watch-dogs.' of southern plantations. Foster and [Parker] Pillsbury were known to disrupt worship many times being physically removed from churches." - Sinha, p. 472. Uncommon in the trade, this being the the only copy on the market at the time of… Read More

N.P., 1972. N.p., 1964 and 1972. Two small press photographs measuing 7 1/2 x 2 1/2 and 3 x 4 inches, minimal wear, editorial marks to versos, near fine overall. Near Fine. A scarce pair of period press photographs of Frankie Freeman, including a portrait used at the occasion of her appointment to the Civil Rights Commission in 1964. When President Johnson appointed Freeman, at the time a St. Louis attorney, to the commission, she was the first woman of color to serve. She held the position through several administrations until 1979. After being forced out of government during the Reagan administration she returned to St. Louis and worked on the bipartisan Citizens Commission on Civil Rights.