Brian Parkhill Rare Books Catalog I

BRIAN PARKHILL RARE BOOKS 1October 2010 Catalog

1828-1860: The Second Party System

A selection of titles documenting the emergence of the Republican Party and an examination of the political debates that led to the Civil War.

Brian Parkhill Rare Books 2624 South Street Philadelphia PA 19146 [email protected] 215-518-9790

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Specializing in Americana and the foundations of American government, politicial science, philosophy, law and history. Acquisitions, appraisals, library and gift services in all fields.

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A collection of titles documenting the political instability created in the wake of the Constitutional compromise between North and South over the issue of slavery, debates which in the 1830’s and 1840’s provoked the nationalization of the Republican party around the issues of abolition and Union, even as the dominant parties of the Jacksonian era--the Democrats and Whigs--disintegrated along with the restless peace. This period, the period of transition from the second to the third party system, will focus on major speeches and government documents which describe the history of America’s inevitable slide toward Civil War, and which brought Lincoln, his Republican party and the members of his cabinet to power.

1828-1860: The Second Party System, The Emergence of the Republican Party in the Years preceding The American Civil War

BRIAN PARKHILL RARE BOOKS2

The ConsTiTuTions of The uniTed sTATes, ACCoRding To The LATesT AmendmenTs: To WhiCh ARe PRefixed, The deCLARATion of indePen-denCe, And The fedeRAL ConsTiTuTion, WiTh The AmendmenTs

PhiLAdeLPhiA: PRinTed foR RobeRT CAmPbeLL, 1800

hAndsomeLy bound 1800 ediTion of This imPoRTAnT PubLiCATion ConTAining The ConsTiTuTions of The sixTeen sTATes, The deCLARATion of indePendenCe, And The fedeRAL ConsTiTuTion. The fiRsT ediTion To ConTAin The imPoRTAnT 1787 noRThWesT oRdinAnCe, The de fACTo ConsTiTuTion of The TeRRiToRy And The bAsis foR The fRee sTATe LegAL PhiLosoPhy of AbRAhAm LinCoLn And mAny AboLiTionisTs.

oCTAvo, ConTemPoRARy CALf RebACked

Among the most controversial issues confronting the delegates of the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was that of slavery. In direct contrast to the assertions of natural liberty stipulated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution offers several remind-ers of the conflicted positions of the convention’s delegates. Section 2 of Article I defined other persons as “three-fifths” of a person for calculations of each state’s official population for representation and federal taxation; Section 9 of Article I allowed the continued import of slaves. Section 2 of Article IV prohibited the provision of assistance to escaping persons and required their return if successfully captured. Finally, Article V prohibited any amendments or legislation changing the provision regarding slave importation until 1808, thereby giving the States then existing 20 years to resolve this issue.

Too controversial to be resolved during the convention, the conten-tious issue of slavery and the debate over the meaning, intent and execution of these Constitutional compromises would ultimately lead to the Civil War. The three-fifths ratio in particular had a major effect on antebellum political affairs due to the disproportionate representa-tion it gave to slaveholding states. Not only did Southerers dominate the Presidency, the Speakership of the House, and the Supreme

Court during this period, but historian Garry Wills has postulated that without the additional “slave” votes, Jefferson would have lost the presidential election of 1800, “...slavery would have been excluded from Missouri... Jackson’s Indian removal policy would have failed... the Wilmot Proviso would have banned slavery in territories won from Mexico... the Kansas-Nebraska bill would have failed.”

The 1787 Northwest Ordinance (“An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio”) created the Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River. The Northwest Ordinance established the precedent by which the United States would expand westward across North America by the admission of new states, rather than by the expansion of existing states.

BRIAN PARKHILL RARE BOOKS

United StateS ConStitUtion & northweSt ordinanCe

BRIAN PARKHILL RARE BOOKS 3

Importantly, the ordinance prohibited slavery in the region, thereby establishing the Ohio River as the boundary between free and slave territory in the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. This division helped set the stage for the regional balancing act between free and slave states that underscored the politics of the Second Party System. In order to secure a compromise on the issue of banning slavery, the Northwest Ordinance also made law the earliest provision suggesting the future fugitive slave laws. The return of runaway slaves in this provision was only valid in the territories. It would not be until the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 that the federal government was required to assist in the capture and return of runaway slaves in all states, with specific rules on how to do so and fines and punishments for those that interfered with it.

The Northwest Ordinance, along with the Land Ordinance of 1785, laid the legal and cultural groundwork for midwestern (and subsequently, western) development. Significantly, the free state legal philosophies of both Abraham Lincoln and Salmon P. Chase (Chief Justice, Senator, and early Ohio law author) were derived from the Northwest Ordinance. Sabin 16101. Owner signature. A clean copy, handsomely bound.

$2500


Thomas Clarkson — The hisToRy of The Rise, PRogRess, And ACComPLishmenT of The AboLiTion of The AfRiCAn sLAve-TRAde by The bRiTish PARLiAmenT

London: PRinTed by R. TAyLoR And Co., foR LongmAn, huRsT, Rees And oRme, 1808

TWo voLumes. modeRn fuLL sPeCkLed CALf

fiRsT ediTion, WiTh ThRee PLATes, inCLuding The imPoRTAnT And fAmous PLATe dePiCTing The LAyouT of humAn CARgo on A sLAve shiP

Clarkson became a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire and, alongside Wilberforce and Granville Sharp, was instrumental in convincing the British public and Parliament of the moral necessity of abolishing the slave trade. He took a leading role in the affairs of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and undertook the dangerous task of collecting evidence from various British ports with which to lobby Parliament. These included firsthand accounts from mariners, including officers and ship’s surgeons, dockworkers, and marine side landlords, as well as gathering examples of the grim restraining apparatus used aboard slave ships. Clarkson was attacked on one trip to Liverpool, and was nearly killed by a gang of sailors who had been paid to assassinate him. Clarkson’s selfless efforts generated and sustained a national movement which mobilized public opinion as never before, and the Slave Trade Act was passed in 1807.

The publication of Clarkson’s work and the successful efforts of con-temporary antislavery efforts in England—at a time when in America a sectional and Constitutional crisis deepened over an increasingly litigious body of fugitive slave law—are a reminder that the revolutionary political spirit of the Enlightenment continued to inform the legal horizon in 1808. America’s slavery institution was anathema to it, historically unique and with tragic consequences. Sabin 13486. See PMM 232. A fine copy.

$4500

the abolition of the afriCan Slave-trade


John reid and John henry eaTon — Life of AndReW JACkson, mAJoR geneRAL in The seRviCe of The uniTed sTATes, ComPRising A hisToRy of The WAR in The souTh, fRom The CommenCemenT of The CReek CAm-PAign, To The TeRminATion of The hosTiLiTies befoRe neW oRLeAns

PhiLAdeLPhiA: m. CARey And son, 1817

oCTAvo, viii, 425. oCTAvo, PeRiod-sTyLe CALf

fiRsT ediTion, deTAiLing The CAmPAign ThAT LAunChed JACkson’s nATionAL And PoLiTiCAL CAReeR. exCePTionALLy RARe, esPeCiALLy WiTh The fouR mAPs And fRonTisPieCe PoRTRAiT

Jackson’s rise to national prominence began with two major victories during the War of 1812. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend was fought in central Alabama on March 27, 1814. United States forces and Indian allies under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Sticks, a part of the Creek Indian tribe inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, effectively ending the Creek War.

Having been promoted to Major General after his victory at Horseshoe Bend, Jackson took command of the defenses at New Orleans, outside of which British Major General Edward Pakenham had assembled an invading force of nearly 8000 soldiers. Andrew Jackson’s force, including militia from several western states and territories, stood at

just under 5000. Neither force knew, when the battle commenced on January 8, 1815, that a treaty ending the War of 1812 had been signed two weeks earlier in Ghent. Jackson’s forces won the day, and the British suffered a defeat that would make Jackson a national hero, especially in the South. Alexis de Tocqueville later commented in Democracy in America that Jackson “...was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans.”

The victory at New Orleans would settle the so-called Second War of Independence, henceforward leaving most of the continent open to the empire-making of the American victors. The frontier that lay beyond New Orleans supplied both the wars and the war heroes that would dominate the Presidential spotlight for decades. That same frontier, the question of how it should be governed, and the huge political stakes represented by the question of which party would ultimately benefit, would provoke an exploration of the Constitution’s unfinished business. Howes R171. Sabin 21731. Text lightly foxed, otherwise near-fine. An exceptionally rare biography.

$6000

First edition, detailing the campaign that launched Jackson’s national and political career.

life of andrew JaCkSon


Thomas l. mCkenney — essAys on The sPiRiT of JACksonism, As exem-PLified in iTs deAdLy hosTiLiTy To The bAnk of The uniTed sTATes, And in The oidous CALumnies emPLoyed foR iTs desTRuCTion. by ARisTides

PhiLAdeLPhiA: JesPeR hARding, 1835

oCTAvo, oRiginAL PRinTed PAPeR WRAPPeRs, boxed

fiRsT ediTion

The Bank War started in 1829, when Andrew Jackson made his antago-nism toward the Second Bank of the United States clear. In response, Nicholas Biddle and Henry Clay applied to renew the bank’s charter four years earlier than necessary in order to make it an election issue. But when Jackson easily won in the election of 1832, he interpreted this victory as a mandate to terminate the bank entirely. Jackson explained his decision in his veto message to Congress, declaring that “some of the powers and privileges possessed by the existing bank are unauthorized by the Constitution” and referring to the bank as a monopoly.

In 1833, Jackson moved to finish off the bank. Jackson ordered all federal deposits in the bank withdrawn. To do this, Jackson was forced to remove two secretaries of the treasury, eventually replacing Louis McClane and William J. Duane with the more agreeable Roger B. Taney. Despite the Senate’s refusal to confirm Taney’s appointment, during his nine months as acting Secretary, he carried out Jackson’s orders. Jack-son announced that effective October 1st, 1833, federal funds would no longer be deposited in the bank. In retaliation, Nicholas Biddle began calling in loans from across the country. Biddle believed that a financial crisis would highlight the need for a central bank. However, the move backfired, and angry businessmen and farmers blamed the bank. The bank lost its charter in 1836, and went out of business in 1841.

If McKenney’s objective is not apparent from the title, it becomes so in the Preface: “My main object is, I confess, to save the yet uncon-taminated citizens of the country from the fatal effects of following the example set by those actors, whose conduct I have exposed. I hold it to be as dangerous to our liberty, as is the cholera to human life.” McKenney was best known as the author of the monumental 1838 History of the Indian Tribes of North America, and spent most of his later career championing Native American causes. Kress 3989. Howes M128. Sabin 43402.

Owner signature. Light browning and foxing. Nearly fine.

$800

eSSayS on the Spirit of JaCkSoniSm


david WilmoT — A CoLLeCTion of house And senATe sPeeChes And AuTogRAPhs fRom The 29Th CongRess CoLLeCTed by ThomAs A.d. fes-senden (WiTh his oWneRshiP signATuRe), LATeR A CongRessmAn fRom mAine, (1862-63). inCLuding A CoPy of WiLmoT’s sPeeCh on his oWn PRoviso, WiTh his signATuRe.

J. & g. s. gideon, PRinTeRs, 1847

oCTAvo, ConTemPoRARy ThRee-quARTeR CALf, mARbLed boARds RebACked

Also included are the signatures of 5 Senators and 50 Representatives, including future President Andrew Johnson, John C. Calhoun, David Wilmot, Lincoln Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Confederate firebrand R.B. Rhett, and many more. The vast majority of the speeches are related to the Mexican-American War, slavery’s expansion into the territories as well as the important Wilmot Proviso.

Territorial expansion of the United States to the Pacific coast was the goal of President James K. Polk, the leader of the Democratic Party. However, the political ramifications of the Mexican-American War raised the slavery issue, leading to intense debates that pointed to civil war. Although he opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot supported Polk in the initiation of the war and was considered a Democratic Party loyalist. On August 8, 1846, in an effort to continue to straddle these increasingly opposing principles, Wilmot offered the following amendment to a House appropriations bill funding the peace negotiations:

“Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acqui-sition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said terri-tory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.”

Wilmot modeled the language for what would usually be referred to as the Wilmot Proviso after the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The House, after first voting down a counter-proposal simply to extend the Missouri Compromise line across the Mexican Cession, passed the proviso by a vote of 83-64. This led to an attempt to table the entire appropriations bill rather than pass it with “the obnoxious proviso attached,” but this effort was defeated in an ominously sectional vote. To avoid a vote, the Senate adjourned rather than approve the bill with the Wilmot Proviso attached.

A similar measure was brought forward at the next session with the ap-propriation amount increased to $3 million and the scope of the amend-ment expanded to include all future territory that might be acquired by the United States. The House again passed the bill, but the Senate refused to concur and passed a bill of its own without the amendment. The House ultimately acquiesced, the Wilmot Proviso was struck down, and the pro-slavery forces once again claimed a victory in Congress. Hinges repaired, very good condition only. A unique collection with a nice provenance, and an interesting historical record on the debates in Congress related to the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery into the territories.

$4000

the wilmot proviSo, Signed


William seWard — CALifoRniA, union, And fReedom. sPeeCh… on The Admission of CALifoRniA. deLiveRed in The senATe of The uniTed sTATes, mARCh 11, 1850.

WAshingTon dC: bueLL & bLAnChARd, 1850. oCTAvo, 16PP. disbound, boxed

one of seveRAL eARLy PRinTings of seWARd’s imPoRTAnT sPeeCh

“The America of 1850 was a largely rural nation of about 23 million people in which politics and public issues--at every level of govern-ment--were of consuming interest... The principal weapon of political combatants was the speech. A gift for oratory was the key to success in politics” (140). This was the “Golden Age” of the Senate, and it was in the Senate that the critical issues of slavery and expansion would come to a head.

“The Missouri Compromise had provided a temporary solution for nearly three decades, but when Congress was called upon to decide the fate of the new territories acquired in the Mexican War, the stage was set for the renewal of the national debate” (Goodwin, 141).

Early in the decade, the Whig Party, divided on the issue of slavery, would begin to diminish in power; the national Democratic Party, weakened by defections to the Free Soil movement, would also lose power.

As the 31st Congress opened, the Senate looked to the author of the Missouri Compromise, Henry Clay, to save the Union once again. As he had done in 1820, Clay called for compromise by way of division: California should be admitted on its own accord (a majority in that state were against slavery), and the remainder of the Mexican acces-sion should be divided into two territories, Utah and New Mexico, where slavery would be permitted without restriction. The other members of the Senate’s ruling triumvirate would rise to support the

compromise. It came as no surprise when John C. Calhoun spoke vigorously against the North, promising disunion if the slave question were not left alone. But Daniel Webster’s support for the compromise, including a resolution to strengthen the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act, was a major disapointment to the increasingly powerful anti-slavery move-ment. That movement would need new leaders, and in two freshmen Senators, William Seward and Samuel Chase, it would find them.

Seward’s maiden address to the Senate, delivered March 11, 1850 refused compromise “in any and all the forms in which it has been proposed.” He staunchly supported the Wilmot Proviso and the notion that slavery should be permitted in any new territory. “As Seward moved into the second hour of his speech, his conviction gave him ease and confidence. Step by step, he laid the foundation for the ‘higher law’ doctrine which would be forever associated with his name. Not only did the Constitution bind the American people to goals incompatible with slavery, he asserted, ‘but there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part... of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the universe. We are his stewards.’ With this single speech, his first national address, Seward became the principal antislavery voice in the Senate” (Goodwin, 146). Tens of thousands of copies of the speech were printed, and it was predicted that his words would “live longer, be read with more hearty admiration, and exert a more potential and pervading influence on the National mind and character than any other speech of the Session” (Goodwin, 146). A fine copy.

$750

“there iS a higher law than the ConStitUtion”



daniel WebsTer — The WoRks (in six voLumes)

bosTon: ChARLes C. LiTTLe And JAmes bRoWn, 1851

ConTemPoRARy hALf dARk gReen moRoCCo

fiRsT ediTion, subsCRibeR’s LARge PAPeR CoPy, signed by WebsTeR in voLume i

Daniel Webster (1782–1852) was a leading American statesman during the nation’s Antebellum period. He rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests. His increas-ingly nationalistic views and the effectiveness with which he articulated them led Webster to become one of the most famous orators and influential Whig leaders of the Second Party System.

A key figure in the Senate’s so-called “Golden era,” Webster was a masterful politician and orator who ruled the Senate along with the two other regional leaders, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. During the debates that became known as the “nullification crisis,” Webster delivered a speech (“Second Reply to Mr. Hayne”) in defense of nationalism that is regarded as one of the most eloquent speeches ever de-livered in Congress. Webster’s desire to see the Union preserved and conflict averted led him to search out

compromises designed to stave off the sectionalism that threatened civil war between the North and South. Webster came to be esteemed for these efforts and was officially named by the U.S. Senate in 1957 as one of its five most outstanding members. A fine set.

$2800

daniel webSter, “one of the Senate’S moSt oUtStanding memberS”


sTephen a. douglas — kAnsAs-nebRAskA ACT

An ACT To oRgAnize The TeRRiToRies of nebRAskA And kAnsAs. in sen-ATe of The uniTed sTATes, JuLy 21, 1854. 33Rd Cong., 1sT session. senATe mis. doC. no. 72

WAshingTon dC: 1854

16PP. one foLded, unCuT, And unTRimmed foLio sheeT. CusTom boxed

fiRsT ediTion, PRinTed by oRdeR of The senATe

“In 1854, the wheel of history turned. A train of events that mobilized the antislavery North resulted in the formation of the Republican Party and ultimately provided Lincoln’s generation with a challenge equal to or surpassing that of the founding fathers. The sequence began when settlers in Kansas and Nebraska called upon Congress to grant them territorial status, raising once again the contentious question of extend-ing slavery into the territories” (Goodwin, Team of Rivals, 160).

The passage of the Kansas Nebraska Act was a triumphant moment in the career of Stephen Douglas, but it marked the beginning of the end of the pre-Civil War Democratic Party and substantially hastened the Union’s unraveling. The Act reshuffled the political landscape by repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had barred slavery north of the Compromise Line, by allowing the settlers of Kansas and Nebraska the “popular sovereignty” to decide whether or not to permit slavery within their boundaries.

“Until the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, there was no signal point around which the antislavery advocates could rally. As

the Senate debate opened, Northerners were stirred into action ‘in greater numbers than ever… fighting with all the fierceness of an army defending its homeland against invasion.’ Passions in the South were equally aroused. To Southerners, the issue of Kansas was not merely an issue of slavery, but whether they, who had helped create and enlarge the nation with their ‘blood and treasure,’ would be entitled to share in the territories.” (Goodwin, 161).

The Senate debates were among the most well attended of the era, and the drama of those debates unquestionably corroborates the moniker given to the Golden Age of the Senate. Salmon Chase first attacked the bill as a “corrupt bargain,” and Douglas did not take to the floor for his concluding speech until midnight. At one point in the nearly four-hour speech, New York Senator William Seward “interrupted to ask for an explanation of something Douglas had said. ‘Ah,’ Douglas retorted, ‘you can’t crawl behind that free nigger dodge.’ In reply Seward said: ‘Douglas, no man will ever be President of the United States who spells ‘negro’ with two g’s” (Goodwin, 163). The bill passed at dawn the next morning. “‘They celebrate a present victory,’ Chase said, ‘but the echoes they awake will

never rest until slavery itself shall die’” (Goodwin, 163). The Act was signed by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854; it was certified by the Secretary of State on July 22. Fehrenbacher, Stephen A. Douglas 187. OCLC 28051577 [7]. Untrimmed fore-edge dusted with some chip-ping, light foxing, some blank margin pinholes. Very Good. Scarce.

$1800

the kanSaS-nebraSka aCt: “the eChoeS they awake will never reSt Until Slavery itSelf Shall die.”


“one of the moSt effeCtive pieCeS of politiCal propaganda ever prodUCed”

salmon p. Chase, Charles sumner, J. r. giddings, eT al — APPeAL of The indePendenT demoCRATs in CongRess, To The PeoPLe of The uniTed sTATes. shALL sLAveRy be PeRmiTTed in nebRAskA!

ToWeRs, PRinTeRs, 1854. oCTAvo

disbound, 8PP. hAndsomeLy boxed

fiRsT ediTion

The fugitive slave law provisions in the Compromise of 1850, the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, and the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 brought Northern passions on the issue of slavery to a boil. Following passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Ohio Senator Salmon Chase “assumed the leadership of the antislav-ery forces.” Chase, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, and Ohio Congressman Joshua Giddings “conceived of the idea of reaching beyond the Senate to the country at large with an open ‘Appeal of the Independent Democrats in Congress to the People of the United States.’ The ‘Appeal’ was originally printed in The National Era, the abolitionist newspaper that had first serialized Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Deemed by historians ‘one of the most effective pieces of political propaganda ever produced,’ the Appeal was reprinted in pamphlet form to organize opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act”(Goodwin, 161-162).

By the time Chase “rose to speak on the Senate floor on February 3, 1854, the country was aroused and prepared for a great battle” (Goodwin 162). His speech condemned the Act as “a gross violation of a sacred pledge; as a criminal betrayal of precious rights; as part and parcel of an atrocious plot to exclude from a vast unoccupied region, immigrants from the Old World and free laborers from our own States, and convert it into a dreary region of despotism, inhabited by masters and slaves.” Despite the success that the “Appeal” had in organizing Northern opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the bill became law. “’Be assured, be assured, gentleman,’ New York Tribune reporter James Pike warned the Southerners, that ‘you are sowing the wind and you will reap the whirlwind… No man can stand in the North in that day of reckoning who plants himself on the ground of sustaining the repeal of the Missouri Compromise… Here is the opening of a great drama that… inaugurates the era of a geographical division of political parties. It draws the line between North and South. It pits face to face the two opposing forces of slavery and freedom’” (Goodwin 163). Not in Sabin. Dumond 19. Very good. Minor age toning to front wrapper.

$1800


James buChanan — inAuguRAL AddRess of PResidenT buChAnAn, deLiveRed AT The CAPiTAL, WAshingTon, mARCh 4, 1857

WAshingTon dC: PRinTed AT The CongRessionAL gLobe offiCe, 1857

oCTAvo, 4 PP. PAmPhLeT. hAndsomeLy boxed

A RARe PRinTing of buChAnAn’s inAuguRAL AddRess, inTimATing Chief JusTiCe RogeR TAney’s noT-yeT-AnnounCed deCision in dRed sCoTT

President Buchanan calls the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty—“that the will of the majority shall govern”—a “happy conception” for determining whether slavery shall be permitted in the Territories. Anticipating the impending Dred Scott decision, he dismisses the issue of popular sovereignty as one of little practical importance that the interpretation of that docrine “is a judicial question which legiti-mately belongs to the Supreme Court of the United States, before whom it is now pending, and will, it is understood, be speedily and finally settled.” Moments before his inauguration, Buchanan and Taney engaged in whispered conversation, which led to conspiracy-laden claims that Buchanan was receiving advance notice of that decision.

“The most explosive issue confronting the country was the status of slavery in the territories. The 1856 Democratic platform endorsed the principle of popular sovereignty, which declared that the residents of

a territory and not Congress should determine the status of slavery there. Northern and southern Democrats disagreed, however, on the meaning of this principle. Northern Democrats, led by [Stephen] Douglas, argued that this decision could be made at any time during the settlement of a territory, whereas southern Democrats generally insisted that it could be made only when its residents drafted a state constitution. Buchanan looked to the Supreme Court to settle this question in the Dred Scott case (1857), and prior to his inauguration he improperly intervened to get a northern justice to join the Court’s southern majority in issuing a broad prosouthern decision. The Court’s opinion, announced two days after Buchanan’s inauguration, declared that, since the U.S. Constitution protected slave property, Congress could not prohibit slavery from any territory. Buchanan naively believed that this decision would settle the territorial controversy” (ANB).

The implications of the Court decision and the economic downturn of 1857 combined to set the tone for Buchanan’s ineffectual term as President. This printing of Buchanan’s Inaugural is rare. OCLC records only a printing by Nicholson under a different title. Not located on OCLC or in Sabin.

$1200

bUChanan’S inaUgUral: “the will of the maJority Shall govern”


the infamoUS dred SCott deCiSion, firSt printing

dred sCoTT — benJAmin C. hoWARd, RePoRT of The deCision of The suPReme CouRT of The uniTed sTATes And The oPinions of The Judges TheReof, in The CAse of dRed sCoTT veRsus John f. A. sAndfoRd...

WAshingTon: CoRneLius WendeLL, 1857

oCTAvo, oRiginAL PRinTed WRAPPeRs, CusTom CLAmsheLL box

fiRsT ediTion of The PRinTed deCision of The uniTed sTATes suPReme CouRT in DreD Scott vS. SanforD.

The Dred Scott decision demonstrated the extreme pro-slavery position of the Court and helped to precipitate the Civil War by emboldening Republicans and dividing the Democratic Party. In 1846, Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in the free state of Missouri, filed suit for his freedom in the St. Louis Circuit Court, beginning an eleven-year legal fight. Chief Justice Roger Taney, in his opinion for the court, declared that all blacks, slaves as well as free, were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus opening up all federal territories to slavery and ruling that slaves do not become free when taken into free territory.

Taney’s opinion for the Court noted, ”The question before us is, whether the class of per-sons described in the plea [slaves of African ancestry] … compose a portion of this people, and are constitu-ent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a

subordinate and inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority. … It is the opinion of the court that the act of Congress which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property of this kind in the territory of the United States north of the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitu-tion, and is therefore void; and that neither Dred Scott himself, nor any of his family, were made free by being carried into this territory.”

The decision was announced to the country as James Buchanan was assuming the presidency in March 1857. Buchanan attempted to use the prestige of the Court to support the legitimacy of the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution in Kansas. This provoked a firestorm in the North, particularly in Illinois, where Republican Abraham Lincoln challenged incumbent Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas in the 1858 senatorial election. Lincoln claimed that the Dred Scott case was evidence that Taney and Buchanan, with southern Democrats, consti-

tuted a “Slave Power,” and that the logical next step for the Slave Power would be to declare northern state abolition acts unconstitutional.

Dred Scott, in the meantime, was returned to his original owners; he and his wife were manumitted later in 1857. Scott died the following year.

The Dred Scott decision was published simultaneously in New York and Washington, D.C. Both are considered the first edition. Sabin 33240. Original wrappers quite chipped and torn, with loss.

$2800


the birth of the repUbliCan party: “delegateS woUld enter throUgh two doorS, bUt exit throUgh one.”

William h. seWard — The RePubLiCAn movemenT. sPeeChes of WiLLiAm h. seWARd, deLiveRed AT ALbAny And buffALo, on The 12Th And 19Th oCTobeR, 1855.

ALbAny: Weed, PARsons And ComPAny. 1855. 15, [1] PP. disbound, boxed.

An unReCoRded vARiAnT PRinTing.

“Chase’s leadership during the political uprising in the North that followed the passage of the Nebraska Act had proved... to be the first bugle call in the formation of a new party. Under the pressure of mounting sectional division, both national parties--the Whigs and the Democrats--had begun to fray. The Whig Party--the party of Clay and Webster, Lincoln, Seward and Bates--had been the first to decline as ‘conscience Whigs,’ opposed to slavery, split from ‘cotton Whigs,’ who desired an accommoda-tion with slavery. In the 1852 election, the divided Whig Party had been buried in a Democratic landslide. But the passage of the Nebraska Act brought serious defections in the Democratic Party as well, as Northern-ers unwilling to sanction the extension of slavery looked for a new home, leaving the party in control of the Southern Democrats” (Goodwin, 180). Party confusion broke out as new coalitions with different names came into being--the Know Nothings, the Fusion Party, the People’s Party, the anti-Nebraska Party. In 1854, a group of anti-slavery proponents proposed the name “Republican Party,” and other conventions soon adopted this same name.

Salmon Chase would commit himself to the new Republican Party almost immediately. But Seward, who needed to cobble together a coalition in order to secure another Senate term, was still working on support from both the Know Nothings and the Whigs. New York held two conventions in September 1855. “When Seward was asked by a friend which to attend, he replied that it didn’t matter. Delegates would enter through two doors, but exit through one. The Whig delegates assembled first and adopted a strong antislavery platform. Then... they marched into the adjoining hall, where Republicans greeted them with thunderous applause. From the remnants of dis-

solving parties, a new Republican Party had been born in the state of New York... That October, Seward announced his allegiance to the Republican Party in a rousing speech that traced the history of the growth of the slave power, illustrating the constant march to acquire new slave states and thereby... the balance of power in the Congress. ‘What then is wanted?’ he asked. ‘Nothing but organiza-tion.’ The task before the new Republican Party was to consolidate its strength until it gained control of the Congress and secured the power to forbid the extension of slavery in the territories” (Goodwin, 183). Not in Blockson, Weinstein, Dumond, Work, Eberstadt or Decker. This is evidently an unrecorded variant of OCLC 4837581 and Sabin 79583. Light embrowning, near-fine.

$750


William h. seWard — sPeeCh… deLiveRed AT RoChesTeR, mondAy oCTobeR 25, 1858.

WAshingTon: bueLL & bLAnChARd, 1858

oCTAvo, 7, [1] PP.

An eARLy PRinTing of This imPoRTAnT sPeeCh by WiLLiAm seWARd

Following the Dred Scott decision, Seward gave a sensational speech on the Senate floor, accusing the Buchanan administration of having en-gaged in a corrupt conspiracy with the Supreme Court. Later that year, his rhetoric became even more heated. “Catering to the emotions of an ardent Republican gathering overflowing in Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, Seward argued that the United States was divided by two incompatible political and economic systems which had developed divergent cultures, values and assumptions. The free labor system had uneasily coexisted with slave labor, he observed, until recent advances in transportation, communication and commerce increasingly brought the two into contact. A catastrophic collision was inevitable” (Goodwin, 191):

“Shall I tell you what this collision means? They who think it is accidental, unnecessary, the work of interested or fanatical agitators, and therefore ephemeral, mistake the case altogether. It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States must and will, sooner or later, become either entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free-labor nation.” For decades, American politicians had denied that the sectional conflict was a matter of funda-mental differences, for preferring to cast the issue as the “machinations of extremists who exaggerated discord for their own political ends” (Goodwin, 192). Seward’s speech drew the battle lines quite differently, and on either side, the forces gathered. Also published in New York, 1858. Sabin 79576. A fine copy.

$800

“it iS an irrepreSSible ConfliCt between oppoSing and endUring forCeS...”


abraham linColn — sPeeCh of hon. AbRAhAm LinCoLn, deLiveRed in sPRingfieLd, sATuRdAy evening, JuLy 17, 1858

sPRingfieLd, iL: 1858

oCTAvo, 8PP. CAPTion TiTLed As issued, hAndsomeLy boxed

fiRsT ediTion, signed by RobeRT Todd LinCoLn beCkWiRTh (1904-1985), gReAT-gRAndson of PResidenT LinCoLn And his LAsT diReCT desCen-dAnT. beCkWiTh’s moTheR WAs Jessie hARLAn beCkWiTh, A dAughTeR of RobeRT Todd LinCoLn

In 1858, while William Seward and Salmon Chase were campaigning for President, Lincoln prepared for another bid for U. S. Senator. “As chief architect of the Republican Party in his state, Lincoln had first claim to run against Stephen Douglas,” who had previously champi-oned the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Lincoln’s Speech, which preceded his debates with Douglas, puts forth the great themes that marked his political philosophy during the last ten years of his life. This is its only separate printing.Urging that slavery

be placed in the course of “ultimate extinction,” he repeats his “House Divided” warning, first given at the State Republican Convention a month earlier.

Lincoln insists that the Kansas-Nebraska bill was “the beginning of a conspiracy” to nationalize slavery. Attacking Douglas and defending himself against the charge that he would “invite a war of sections,” Lincoln stands on “the principles of our Declaration of Independence.” Although blacks are not the equal of whites “in all respects,” the Declaration “does mean to declare that all men are equal in some respects; they are equal in their right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’” and, most significantly, “in the right to put into his mouth the bread that his own hands have earned, he is the equal of every other man, white or black.” Byrd 2960. Monaghan 12. Near fine condition.

$3800

“a hoUSe divided againSt itSelf Cannot Stand”


“i never, in my life, felt more Certain that i waS doing right than i do in Signing thiS paper”

addendUm

abraham linColn — emAnCiPATion PRoCLAmATion geneRAL oRdeRs, no. 1 WAR dePARTmenT, AdJuTAnT geneRAL’s offiCe, WAshingTon, JAnuARy 2, 1863, The foLLoWing PRoCLAmATion by The PResidenT...

3 PP. bound in: WAR dePARTmenT. geneRAL oRdeRs. WAshingTon, d.C.: 1863. no. 1 – no. 400. TWo voLumes

oCTAvo, ConTemPoRARy hALf moRoCCo, mARbLed boARds

This is the most desirable book printing of Lincoln’s important Eman-cipation Proclamation and one of the earliest obtainable printings. Preceded by printings known only in a few dozen copies.

The General Orders, the 1863 compilation of the Union military gen-eral field orders, is a Civil War keystone. Published by the Government Printing Office, among all orders issued in that year, this two-volume set contains, in General Order No.1, a very early printing of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This is one of the earliest book printings of the Emancipation Proclamation, and it is considered one of the most desirable editions among collectors of the genre.

“On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one Thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free; and the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recog-nize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”

Lincoln actually wrote the Proclamation during July 1862. He post-poned its official issuance until after a Union victory so as to impact the effect of its announcement. After the September Battle of Antietam,

Lincoln delivered the first draft of the Proclamation which would take effect January 1, 1863. On that day, Lincoln reportedly paused before signing the final proclamation, saying, “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right than I do in signing this paper.” The final text was then rushed to the government printer. This General Order No.1 is one of the earliest official printings of Lincoln’s final version. It was preceded only by the Illinois State Journal “extra” of January 2, 1863 (known only in a single copy), a small format two-page broadside (also known only in a single copy), and the official folio edition (known only in nine copies). Although the General Orders is generally col-lected for the Proclamation, the four hundred orders contained in these volumes— those issued between Janaury 2nd and December 28, 1863—together offer a substantially rich window into the diverse aspects of administering the war, with respect to official mandates, battlefield requirements, legal agendas, etc.

These volumes are also an interesting reminder that Lincoln’s initial executive act of emancipation derived its Constitutional authority from his powers as Commander in Chief. As such, this printing of the Proc-lamation, unlike the separate printings, properly contextualizes this executive order within the other administrative aspects of running the war. Monaghan 182. Streeter 1751. Bound for John B. Lewis, surgeon, fifth Connecticut Infantry, who served with distinction during the war and was present at Antietam. Order No. 1 is somewhat compromised by the presence of a perforated stamp of the Hartford CT Medical Society. The second volume has a similar stamp on Order No. 202. Joints somewhat worn, otherwise clean copies.

$4000


doris kearns goodWin — TeAm of RivALs : The PoLiTiCAL genius of AbRAhAm LinCoLn

neW yoRk: simon And sChusTeR, 2005

oCTAvo, oRiginAL CLoTh And dusT JACkeT.

fiRsT ediTion, signed by The AuThoR.

Goodwin’s highly original biography, drawn completely from original sources, illuminates the issues that divided the nation during the dissolution of the Second Party System and the emergence of the

“team of rivalS,” Signed by doriS kearnS goodwin

Republican Party. The history details Lincoln’s rise from obscurity to his ascension to the Presidency. Though Lincoln competed for the nomination of the new Party with three gifted rivals--Seward, Chase and Bates--he also gained their respect and brought them together to create a most effective cabinet during the war. A fine copy.

$750


Jefferson davis — The Rise And fALL of The ConfedeRATe goveRnmenT

neW yoRk: d. APPLeTon And ComPAny, 1881 (TWo voLumes)

oCTAvo, PubLisheR’s ThRee-quARTeR bRoWn moRoCCo

fiRsT ediTion of JeffeRson dAvis’ imPoRTAnT hisToRy of The ConfedeRACy, WiTh 18 mAPs And 19 PLATes

“Every impartial reader must recognize the ability with which it is composed, the sincerity with which his opinions are held and the good faith with which they are set forth, and the value which it possesses as the authentic commentary on the most momentous episode in the history of the United States” (Allibone). Howes D120. A fine copy.

$2000

the riSe and fall of the Confederate government


granT, ulysses s. — PeRsonAL memoiRs of u.s. gRAnT

neW yoRk: ChARLes L. WebsTeR, 1885-86 (TWo voLumes)

oCTAvo, oRiginAL ThRee-quARTeR dARk bRoWn moRoCCo giLT

fiRsT ediTion of A CLAssiC in The genRe of PResidenTiAL memoiRs, CoPiousLy iLLusTRATed WiTh engRAvings, fACsimiLes And mAPs

Considered among the greatest of military memoirs, these two volumes were an immediate bestseller. With the help of his publisher, Mark Twain, Grant wrote to the last month of his life to leave a legacy for his family after being defrauded a year earlier of his estate. “Grant’s memoirs comprise one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history” (Eicher 492). A near fine copy.

$3000

perSonal memoirS of U.S. grant


James longsTreeT — fRom mAnAssAs To APPomATTox

PhiLAdeLPhiA: J. b. LiPPinCoTT And ComPAny, 1896

oCTAvo, oRiginAL PiCToRiAL Red CLoTh binding

fiRsT ediTion

“Longstreet’s tome is a milestone of great importance in Confederate literature. It tells the story of the war in the first person from one of the great generals of American history, allows him to make his case… Longstreet here provides ample documentation of his close relation-ships with Lee” (Eicher 277). Howes L451. Owner inscription and bookplate. Hinges expertly restored. Cloth unusually clean and bright, top of spine and corners with very light wear. Near-fine.

$1000

from manaSSaS to appomattox


franCis Trevelyan miller — The PhoTogRAPhiC hisToRy of The CiviL WAR

neW yoRk: RevieW of RevieWs, 1911. Ten voLumes. quARTo, oRiginAL bLue CLoTh giLT

fiRsT ediTion of miLLeR’s fAmous And imPoRTAnT 10-voLume PhoTogRAPhiC hisToRy of The CiviL WAR

“The grandfather of pictorial histories, this mammoth work is a necessary part of any civil war library... Published on the 50th anniversary of the war’s start, Miller’s work brings together written contributions from soldiers and historians on both sides... Overall, the authors are successful in their attempts to describe aspects of the war as detached, objective history. The work contains 3389 images that consti-tute an important source work on the war’s appearance--its battlefields, common soldiers, officers, forts, diseases, camp scenes, army movements and material. Virtually all the classic icons of the Civil War are contained in this work” (Eicher).

a neCeSSary part of any Civil war library

Absolutely essential, Miller’s “Photographic History” contains contributions from over 39 eminent individuals, including academicians, President William H. Taft, and veteran officers of both Confederate and Union forces, many of whom wrote from personal experience. “Zealous in their work, often regardless of danger, and at all times handicapped by the vexing difficulties of the photographic process of that day,” Brady and his assistants were relent-less in pursuing the war on film. Photos include “scenes of actual conflict, others of places devastated by gunfire, of troops on the march or in bivouac, and of individual officers and men” (DAB). Eicher 771. Nicholson, 516. Near fine condition.

$3800


SCribner’S SerieS

John g. niColay, eT al — CAmPAigns of The CiviL WAR

neW yoRk: ChARLes sCRibneR’s sons, 1881-1883

TogeTheR, sixTeen voLumes. smALL oCTAvo, oRiginAL bLue CLoTh

A sCARCe And fine fiRsT ediTion seT of ALL TiTLes in The fuLL sCRibneR’s CiviL WAR seRies

Includes many titles considered essential, “straightforward,” “well written,” “reliable,” and “balanced.” This complete set is near-fine in original publisher’s cloth, and includes titles as follows:

John g. nicolay. The outbreak of Rebellion. new york: Charles scribner’s son, 1881. “This book describes the opening scenes of the war as recorded by Nicolay, who served as Lincoln’s private secretary.... Generally well done... retains its importance as a primary source.” Eicher 33.

manning f. force. from fort henry to Corinth. 1881. “The early war in the West, including Grant’s capture of Forts Henry and Donnelson... Painstaking research...” Eicher 42.

Alexander s. Webb. The Peninsula: mcClellan’s Campaign of 1862. 1881. “This work is an all-fact military description of the movements and engagements of the armies. It is reliable and evenhanded and remains, as it was at the time of publication, one of the best sources on the campaign...” Eicher 48.

John Codman Ropes. The Army under Pope. 1881. “This work treats the eastern theater action following McClellan’s peninsular campaign. The disastrous tenure of Pope as field commander provides a theme... The book is generally well written and livelier than some in the set.” Eicher 59.

francis W. Palfrey. The Antietam and fredericksburg. 1882. “Lee’s Maryland Campaign in September of 1862 and the Federal response, the subsequent reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, and the battle of Fredericksburg. Like most other volumes in the Scribner’s set, Palfrey’s is a straightforward narrative of military operations.” Eicher 63.

Abner doubleday. Chancellorsville and gettysburg. 1882. Eicher 73.

henry m. Cist. The Army of the Cumberland. 1882. Eicher 1023.

francis v. greene. The mississippi. 1882. “One of the better volumes of the Scribner’s series, a straightforward, factual narrative. Although it lacks color and anecdotal material, Greene’s story of military movements is clear and sober.”

Jacob d. Cox. Atlanta. 1882. “This work is outstanding and one of the best volumes in the Scribner’s set. Its author not only commanded a division int he battles for Atlanta but was well trained in literature, military affairs, and politics. Maj. Gen. Cox’s great skill as an indepen-dent thinker and wordsmith shines clearly here. Like other volumes in the series, this book takes the Union viewpoint of military affairs. Cox’s narrative is nonetheless balanced in tone and as meaningful as it could have been prior to the publication of the O.R.” Eicher 111.

Jacob d. Cox. The march to the sea: franklin and nashville.” 1882. “Cox continues here where... [he] left off... Outstanding.” Eicher 136.

george e. Pond. The shenandoah valley in 1864. 1883. “Pond details actions throughout the Valley from April 1864 to March 1865... This work is more readable than others in the Scribner’s set, very nearly reading like a novel.” Eicher 131.


Andrew A. humphreys. The virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865. 1883. “This is the largest and one of the best of the Scribner’s set. As Meade’s chief of staff, Humphreys had access to al the best data that could be obtained for such a work, and he experienced the entire campaign as few could. Like other volumes in the set, this one takes the Union viewpoint, yet considering this position, Humphreys took great pains to present a balanced story.” Eicher 115.

frederick Phisterer. statistical Record of the Armies of the united states. 1883. Eicher 853.

J. Russell soley. The blockade and the Cruisers. 1883. “The best in [the “Navy”] series.” Eicher 17

daniel Ammen. The Atlantic Coast. 1883. Eicher 1.

Alfred T. mahan. The gulf and inland Waters. 1883. Eicher 7.

Overall near-fine. Scarce and desirable.

$3500


Documents

Brian Parkhill Rare Books Catalog I