(Lilly Library)

The Bernardo Mendel Collection: An Exhibit. Dedication of the Mendel Room / Lilly Library

Bloomington, Lilly Library / Indiana Univ. 1964. First edition. Green and gilt stiff paper wrappers (paperback). 83 pp. Illus. with 21 b/w plates. 4to. Includes "With the compliments of Bernardo Mendel" card laid in loose, along with the Program for the Dedication of the Bernardo Mendel Collection, sponsored by the Latin-American Studies Program and University Libraries, plus the exhibition brochure. First half dozen or so leaves detached.

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Book number: 43837

Catalogue: Books about Books

Keywords: , Books about Books, Books on Books, Rare Books, Exhibition Catalogues, Lilly Library, Book

[Dogs]. Spratts Patent (America) Limited

[Advertisement for] Spratts Patent (America) Limited [Dog and Poultry Supplies on] First Annual Exhibition of the New York Poultry Exchange [Form]

New York, 1887. 1 sheet. Illus. with b/w drawings. 8.5 x 7 inches. "To Secretaries of Shows: Spratts Patent (America) Limited / Contractors to the Kennel Club and all important Dog Shows, the Crystal Palace, Birmingham, Dairy, and all principal Poultry Exhibitions.." Advertisement mentions their improved Poultry, Pigeon, Rabbit, Bantam & Cat Pens; Poultry Meal; and Meat 'Fibrine' Vegetable Dog Cakes. On Verso: (Top half) Form of Entry for the First Annual Exhibition of the New York Poultry Exchange, Held in Madison Square Garden, New York City, December 14-211887." With entry fees. Rare. Not in OCLC. Cornell has a copy of "Premium list and regulations governing the first annual exhibition of the New York Poultry Exchange : to be held at Madison Square Garden, New York, Dec. 14-21, 1887" but without any entry forms. Very good, light edge wear and soiling.

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Book number: 45797

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Ephemera, , Americana, Ephemera, Dogs Poultry Agriculture, Document

Lindsay, Vachel

A Letter About My Four Programmes, for Committees in Correspondence [with Holograph Revisions]

[Springfield, Ill.], [The Jeffersons Printing Co.], 1916. First edition. Stapled paper wrappers. 2-65, [1] pp. Illus. with b/w drawings. 4to. Inscribed in full, 'Nicholas Vachel Lindsay' on page 7 at the conclusion of the introduction. Text begins on front wrapper with a table of contents; page 2 contains a list of Lindsay's books with holograph corrections; page 3 addressed by Lindsay to Miss Beatrice Allard [of Bryn Mawr] describes preparations for his engagements. Lindsay was a popular speaker and performer, and this books was prepared for the use of local committees for their publicity. Lindsay delivered four programs: 1. The gospel of beauty. 2. A talk on The art of the moving picture. 3. An evening of higher vaudeville, and orthodox verse as well. 4. The Chinese nightingale, and dramas for impromptu actors. Lindsay was preparing for just such a tour of performances, including the group to whose sponsor this copy was sent, in January of 1919 when he wrote to Sara Trevor Teasdale: "But also your real Vachel is much concerned with having a genuine and sincere tour this spring. It is so full already, and I do not want it to be a mere series of hollow noises. Since so many are like you, and prefer the Empire of China story told simply as a story, I am going to try that. My most successful new Poem is Old Andrew Jackson which should appear in the Independent soon. 2 That is, it is my most successful recitation, and no matter how earnest I am about it, always brings down the house. I cannot understand it, for I truly admire Old Andrew. He is just my style, but the fun in the piece always gets the audience. So please brace me up if you are around, and tell me to do it as earnestly as possible.. On Feb. 28 I spend the day at Bryn Mawr under the auspices of Miss Beatrice Allard" (Jan 3. 1919). But the Bryn Mawr appearance did not go well as Lindsay would write on July 20th of the same year as he contemplated a tour of England "I‘ll be hanged if I want to go through the weird land of England and be hazed as I was in Bryn Mawr or Boston (the two most English spots in America)," and to which he notes in the margin "Confidentially, I was frosted in Boston and hissed at Bryn Mawr." The sponsor at Bryn Mawr was Beatrice Allard [later Brooks] (1893-1977) who would receive her doctorate from Bryn Mawr College a year later in 1920; she would gone on to teach biblical history at Wellesley College for a year, and enjoyed a long career as professor and head of the department of religion at Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio. Last at auction in 1977. Front wrapper detached, wrappers darkened at edges, marginal chips to fore-edges, otherwise very good.

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Book number: 43769

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: , Americana, Literature, American Literature, poetry performance poetry, Pamphlet Literature

[Lindsay, Vachel]. Pond, J. B. [James Burton, Jr.]

[Typed Letter] J.B. Pond, Vachel Lindsay's Agent, Pleads for Help in Booking Him to Lecture in England

New York, 1920. 2 pp. 8 1/2 x 11 inches. A retained carbon copy, dated August 20th, 1920. Pond writes to R. Leigh Ibbs of Ibbs & Tillett, England's foremost classical music agents, to help Vachel Lindsay arrange lectures in England, after Pond's English lecture agency partners, The Lecture Agency, who held a monopoly of the lecture field in England, and led by Gerald Christy, have turned him down. "Lindsay the one man in America that all of your visiting writers want to meet when they get here and he stands highest among the people who are known on your side. His books are published both by McMilllan and by Bell and I have seen excellent reviews of them. "The Spectator" has been especially generous in praising Lindsay..All of the English Literary men who have visited Lindsey here in America have invited him to come to England and to present his very remarkable recital of his own poems. Those recitals are so unique that they have attracted attention even in this-country where they have presented a great contrast on already existing styles of poetry and presentation.. I am absolutely certain that he will create the same sensation in England that Joaquin Miller did some years ago with his high boots, red shirt -and California poems. I am absolutely confident that Lindsay could be put into a hall in London and create a furor. Everyone of the literary men will be on your side. Mansfield has already prepared meetings for him in Oxford.." Pond laments the failure of Christy to support Lindsay because he is "not a regular professional English Lecturer." He ends with a final plea: "Try your best to see a way through .. Take all the money if you wish but remember Lindsay is our leading American poet. Stick with him a little and I think he will repay you. If you do anything I think you will do what you can for Lindsay. Your writers value him. Your only existing Lecture Agency has not treated him with dignity. For the sake of public opinion in this country I hope something can be done." James Burton Pond Jr. (1889-1961) took over the Pond Lyceum Bureau from his father Major Pond, who had built it into one of the largest speaker bureaus in the country. In 1919, before this letter was written, he had formalized relations with the Literary Agency in London arranging for a complete interchange of talent. Gerald Christy (1865-1944) took over The Lecture Agency, Ltd. in 1890. It was the chief lecture booking agency in the British Empire, with a monopoly of the lecture field in England. It was founded in 1879, six years after Major Pond founded his business, and with which it always maintained a close working relationship. Robert Leigh Ibbs along with John Tillett founded Ibbs and Tillett was the London-based classical music artist and concert management agency (1906-1990). " For the greater part of the twentieth century, Ibbs and Tillett's concert agency was to the British music industry what Marks and Spencer is to the world of the department store. The roll-call of famous musicians on its books was unmatched, and included such international stars as Clara Butt, Fritz Kreisler, Pablo Casals, Sergei Rachmaninov, Andrés Segovia, Kathleen Ferrier, Myra Hess, Jacqueline du Pré, Julian Lloyd Webber, Clifford Curzon and Vladimir Ashkenazy, to name but a handful .." Christopher Fifield: Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire (2005). Very good, edges worn with tears, paper clip hole.

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Book number: 45636

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Autographs & Manuscripts, , Americana, Literature, Poetry, Autographs & Manuscripts, Manuscript Literature

Livingston, Edward

Turkish Mission. Letter from the Secretary of State, to the Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, Relative to the Correspondence of Commodore Porter with the Turkish Government. Printed by Order of the House of Representatives

n.p. n.p. 1832. First edition. Removed. 2 pp. 8vo. Department of State, January 18, 1832. 22d Congress, 1st Session, Doc. No. 303. A very good copy, inked numeral on title, lightly foxed.

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Book number: 37621

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: , Americana, Commerce, Ottoman Empire Turkey, Pamphlet

Lobo, Francisco Alexandre

Discurso de Propozição: Recitado Nas Cortes Celebradas Em 23 de Junho de 1828, Na Cidade de Lisboa

[Lisboa], n.p. 1828. First edition. Self wrappers. 3 pp. 12mo. Supports the conservatives and absolute monarchists promoting Miguel as the Emperor of Portugal at the start of the Portuguese Civil War, or the Liberal Wars, that would last from 1828 to 1834, at which time, the author, Francisco Alexandre Lobo (1763-1844), Bishop of Viseu, and formerly Minister and Secretary of State of Business of the Kingdom (Prime Minister) of Portugal under Miguel, had to flee the country. OCLC locates only a single copy: at the Oliveiria Lima Library (CUA) OCLC: 51732986. Spotting in the lower margin, else near fine.

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Book number: 44444

Catalogue: Law

Keywords: European History, , Law, European History, Portugal Liberal Wars Monarchy, Pamphlet

Lyman, Joseph

[Printed Document Completed in Manuscript] Duties Collected for a Wheel Carriage in West Springfield, Massachusetts

Northampton; West Springfield, MA, 1801. 1 sheet. Docketted on verso. 6.5 x 8 inches. November 30th, 1801, signed in Northampton by Jos. Lyman [Jr], Collector of the Revenue, 10th Division, Massachusetts. Duties collected from Samuel Flower, of West Springfield, for a two wheel carriage, "having a top drawn by one horse, for the conveyance of two persons; for fifteen months, to end on the 30th of September, 1802,"for the amount of three dollars and seventy five cents. Joseph Lyman (1767-1847), son of Captain Joseph Lyman, studied at Yale in 1783, and read law, became a member of the bar, first as a Clerk of Courts and later as Judge of Common Pleas and Probate, as well as High Sheriff. "The Lymans featured prominently in the development of the Connecticut River Valley and flourished in nineteenth century Northampton, Mass.achieving social prominence, financial success, and a degree of intellectual acclaim. Having settled in Northampton before 1654, just a generation removed from emigration, the Lymans featured prominently in the development of the Connecticut River Valley. A Yale-educated clerk of the Hampshire County courts, Joseph's descendants included sons Joseph Lyman (an engineer and antislavery man) and Samuel Fowler Lyman (a jurist), and three Harvard-educated grandsons, Benjamin Smith Lyman (a geologist and traveler in Meiji-era Japan) and brothers Joseph and Frank Lyman (both trained in the natural sciences)." See Lyman Family Papers, Robert S. Cox Special Collections, UMass Amherst Libraries. Samuel Flower (1742 -1815) was 1st Lt. in Capt. Enoch Chapins company (W. Springfield) of minute men who marched 4/20/1775 in response to alarm of 4/19/1775. He was commissioned Capt. in Artillary on 5/8/1776. Served six years in War of Revolution in Capt. Col. Greaton's regiment. Jan. - June 1780 in Maj. Col. David Moseley's regiment 1782. See Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, Ancestor # A039915. Very good, minor soiling.

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Book number: 44701

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Transportation, , Americana, Colonial & Early America, Transportation, Massachusetts , Taxes , Document

[Maine]. Lynch, John

[Als] Congressman John Lynch Urges Senator William Fessenden to Use His Influence to Prevent the Pay Department of Maine from Relocating to Augusta

Washington, D.C. 1865. [2] pp. Bifolium. 5 x 8 inches. Dated and signed Washington,May 16, 1865, by Congressman John Lynch (1825-1892) who claimed that Governor Cony's suggestion of moving the Pay Department to Augusta was a mistake and indicates that Fessenden's assistance in the matter would "save the Govt. more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars". He further notes that there exists "a very strong feeling in Portland that the interests of our city and the general public interest are always sacrificed when the local interests of Augusta are to be promoted. Very good, faint toning, mostly to margins, one edge tear, not affecting text, contents clear.

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Book number: 44256

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Autographs & Manuscripts, , Americana, Civil War Era, Autographs & Manuscripts, Maine , Manuscript

Magnus, Charles, lithographer

[Archive of Eleven Illustrated CIVIL War Song Sheets]

[New York], Charles Magnus, 1864. First editions thus. 1 sheet each. Broadsides. Approx. 8 x 5 inches. Charles Magnus (1826 -1900) a printer based in New York, though not known for his original designs, as were Currier & Ives, was admired greatly for the quality and color of his prints, and the craftsmanship of his use of steel, copper, and stone engraved plates with color applied in hand or stencil. He issued numerous song sheets, most with colored images, in various series, and many with numerous variants. Most are three to five stanzas and measure between 20.4 to 21 cm by 12.6 to 13 cm. (1) Home without a Mother. Image: one of two of Camp Carroll, Baltimore, temporarily known as Camp Chesebrough in 1864. Wolf: American Song Sheets: 898d. Variant. No Magnus #). Copy at AAS. (2) Summons to Battle. Air--Away! to the mountain's brow. Image: "Rendez-vous of Distribution, Va." a hospital camp in Alexandria which had been restructured as Camp Distribution, a station for soldiers awaiting their deployment orders. Wolf: 2259a. Magnus 96. Copies: Lib.Co.Phila. AAS. (3) The Banner of the Free. Air: The Sword of Bunker Hill - by Eugene Johnston. Image: Liberty holding flag and flag shield with eagle at her side. Wolf 83f. Magnus 205. Copies: LCP, AAS, MTSU. (4) The Star Spangled Banner. Image: Headpiece liberty with flag and shield, cannon barrel, canon balls, muskets and more. Wolf 2241t (variant). Magnus 206b. Copies LCP, AAS. (5) Tell Mother I Die Happy. The last words of Lieut. Crosby, who was killed in his battery at Salem Heights in the fight of Sunday evening, May 2d, 1863. Image: Angle hold wounded soldier in garden with tree, mother praying, house in rear. Wolf 2290f. Magnus 193. (6) The Song of All Songs, No. 2. Written by John F. Poole. - Sung by Charles E. Collins, at the American Theatre, 444 Broadway. - Air: "The captain with his whiskers.". Image: Jarvis General Hospital, Baltimore, Md. 2." Wolf 2182c (variant). No Magnus #. Copy at AAS only. (7). Red, White and Blue. Image: Liberty holding American Flag. Wolf 1981. Magnus 203. LCP, NYHS, AAS (in German with different image). (8) The Banner of the Free. Air: The Sword of Bunker Hill - by Eugene Johnston. Image: seated general flanked by flags. Wolf 83d. Magnus 19. LCP & John Hopkins. (9) Let the Rebels put that in their Pipes. Air: I was the Boy for bewitching 'em. By John Ross Dix. Image: Union cavalry charge with fleeing Confederates. Wolf 1241a. Magnus 116. Copies at LCP, John Hopkins, MTSU, Brown, Lincoln Presidential. (10) The Rebel Flags. Exhibited at the Capitol February 22, 1862. Air: The Sword of Bunker Hill. By John A. Fowler. Image: wounded soldiers with an armored ironclad gunboat, possibly the USS Monitor in the background. Wolf 1971a. Magnus 106. Copies at LCP, AAS, MTSU (11) Give us Back our old Commander. Image: McClellan and other officers on horseback with soldiers in the background. Wolf 754j. Magnus 134. Copies at LCP, AAS (variant i), MTSU, Brown, Lincoln Presidential, Univ. Tulsa. Very good or better copies.

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Book number: 42987

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: , Americana, Military History, Civil War Era, lithographs songs letterheads Military camps Music, Broadside Military History

[Maine, Portland] Willis, William

[3 Alss] Correspondence from Maine Politician and Historian, William Willis, Regarding Portland's New Public Library and the History of Kittery

Portland, [ME], 1868. Collection contains three letters, spanning three decades of William Willis' political career. The first, dated October 2, 1837 (1 pp.), is a brief request for the recipient to forward a letter for signature. In the second letter, dated July 23, 1860, (2 pp.), Willis requests Dr. Fogg's assistance in obtaining original manuscripts pertaining to the history of Kittery. In the third letter, of January 25, 1868, (2 pp.), Willis solicits for government publications for Portland's new Public Library. William Willis (1794-1870) was a "lawyer who is considered the most important nineteenth-century Portland historian. He graduated from Harvard in 1813 and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in January of 1817. He practiced law in Boston until April of 1819, then moved his practice to Portland, ME in 1820. In 1835, he began a twenty-year partnership with William Pitt Fessenden. In 1849 he edited the Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith and the Rev. Samuel Deane. Smith and Deane were the pastors of the First Parish Church in Portland. Their journals record their experiences from 1726-1814 and provide an invaluable view of 18th-century social and political life. The book is included in The Mirror of Maine: One Hundred Distinguished Books That Reveal the History of the State and the Life of Its People. Willis's political career included a term as state senator in 1855 and he served as Portland's mayor in 1857. Bowdoin College granted him an honorary degree in 1867" (Maine State Library: Maine Writers List). Very good collection, minor soiling and ink bleed, one tear at the fold, not affecting text.

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Book number: 44257

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Autographs & Manuscripts, , Americana, Autographs & Manuscripts, Maine , Archive

[Maine]

[Laws of Maine in Relation to the Education of Youth]. Revised Statutes. Chapter 17. May 3, 1842

Augusta, [William R. Smith & Co. printers], 1842. First edition. Stitched paper wrappers. 27, [1] pp. 8vo. Attested to by Philip C. Johnson, Secretary of State, on May 3, 1842. Includes Article I: Of the General Duties of the Towns; Article II: Of the Powers and Obligations of School Districts, and the Assessments and Collection of Moneys, Raised by such Districts; Article III: Of the Duties and Powers of the Superintending School Committees and School Agents, and the Qualifications and Duties of Instructors; Article IV: Special Provisions Relating to the Regulations and Endowment of Schools, and Affecting the Government and Discipline of Literary Institutions. Very rare. OCLC locates one copy: Trinity College. Sabin and American Imprints report a copy at the Boston Public Library, but not found on their online catalogue. The printed version of Sabin lists this item as 43959, but the online version compiled by Gale assigns this number incorrectly to an 1826 version of 11 pages. American Imprints 423157. Sabin 43959. Lacking the wrappers and title page, else very good, scattered foxing.

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Book number: 38794

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: , Americana, Law, Maine , Education, Pamphlet Law

Makhacheva, Taus

[Print] Super Taus and Camel Yasha

Kaspiisk, Dagestan, 2014. 33 x 23 1/4 inches. Photographic print on paper. Commissioned by R&D [HOME] Magazine, and photographed by Iman Guseinov. The work is an early example of Taus Makhacheva's alter ego: Super Taus, which the artist often uses in her performance art as contrapuntal gesture for the equilibration of gender forces. Taus Makhacheva (b. 1983 Moscow, Russia) first gained notice at the 57th Venice Biennale with her video installation Tightrope, which showed a tightrope walker carrying copies of paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts as he balanced on a rope. "Her origins often form a starting point for examining the tensions between tradition and modernity and between assimilation and cultural authenticity following the Sovietization of Dagestan. Descended from the Avars, the predominant ethnic group within Dagestan, but born in Moscow, educated in London, and currently splitting her time between Russia and the rest of the world, Makhacheva uses her works to interpret national narrative. While various aspects of this approach might suggest self-colonization, she offsets this charge through her dry humor. She examines the symbolic dimension of cultural life and the relationships between history, politics and popular culture. Her earlier works test the limits of self-identification through the cultural or physical landscape by using experiments with costuming, camouflage, and choreography."(1) "Oftentimes humorous, her works attempt to test the resilience of images, objects and bodies in today's world. In most of her performance-based works, she analyzes "the body as a supporting structure", repeatedly challenged in off limits situations. The artist's alter ego 'Super Taus', engages with her ancestral home of Dagestan, using strength to create provocative and ironic pieces."(2) References: 1. "The Strong Ones, Taus Makhacheva," Galéria HIT, 2019: (www.pilot-projects.info/en/works/the-strong-ones/). 2. www. thearmoryshow.com/info/past-exhibitors/2019/super-taus. 3. Sara Raza: "Punk Orientalism: The Art of Rebellion" ( London: Black Dog Press, 2022). A fine copy.

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Book number: 46237

Catalogue: Art

Keywords: Prints & Graphics, Women, , Art, Modern Art, Prints & Graphics, Women, Print

Alexander, Jonathan J., James H. Marrow and Lucy Freeman Sandler, eds

The Splendor of the Word

New York, New York Public Library, 2005. First edition. Stapled paper wrappers. Unpaged [10]. Illus. with color reproductions. Sm. 8vo. This small brochure is a short guide to the exhibit "The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at The New York Public Library." A 400 page catalogue with the same title was issued for the exhibit. A fine copy.

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Book number: 36863

Catalogue: Books about Books

Keywords: , Books about Books, Bibliography & Reference, Exhibition Catalogues, Books on Books, Pamphlet

Massachusetts

Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts; Begun and Held at Boston, in the County of Suffolk, on Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of May, A.D. 1787 [Bound with] Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts; Begun and Held at Boston, in the County of Suffolk, on Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of May, A.D. 1787, and from Thence Continued, by Adjournment, to Wednesday, the Seventeenth Day of October Following [Bound with] Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts; Begun and Held at Boston, in the County of Suffolk, on Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of May, A.D. 1787, and from Thence Continued, by Adjournment, to Wednesday, the Twenty-Seventh Day of February Following

Boston, Printed by Adams and Nourse, 1788. First edition. Gray-blue muslin with red and black morocco spine labels, gilt titles. [632]-645,[1]; [646]-665, [1]]; [662]-693, [1] pp. [error in continuing pagination for third session]. Folio. The most important act occurs in the third of the three sessions: "Act to prevent the Slave Trade, and for granting relief to the families of such unhappy persons as maybe kidnapped or decoyed away from this Commonwealth." While a ruling of the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1783 effectively abolished slavery in the state, it was only with this law that the trade in slaves was abolished. The incident that sparked the law was the kidnapping of three free blacks who were shipped to Martinique and sold into slavery. Prince Hall, a leader in the black community, led the effort to free them, with the support of Jeremy Balkan and a group of Quaker minister, as well as to pass this law which not only prohibited the slave trade, but also mandated financial compensation for victims of kidnapping and their families. There were 63 other acts passed in these three sessions. List upon request. Evans 20498; Evans 20499; Evans 21233. ESTC W16756; ESTC W16758; ESTC W16760. Moderate browning and soiling, library stamp to title page of first session, four leaves with marginal chips in first session, affecting a few letters on eight lines (missing letters supplied in manuscript), of one leaf (with repair), concerning concerning borders of Shutesbury, damp stain mainly to the last leaves of the third section. Still a good copy.

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Book number: 43978

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: Slavery, , Americana, Colonial & Early America, Slavery, Massachusetts , Americana, Massachusetts, Law, 18th c., Book

[Shays' Rebellion]Massachusetts

[Four Documents on Shays' Rebellion] Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts... On Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of May, Anno Domini, 1786... To Wednesday the Twenty-Seventh Day of September Following [Bound with] Acts and Laws... To Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of January, 1787 [Bound with] Resolves of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of May, Anno Domini, 1786 and from Thence Continued by Prorogation, to Wednesday the Twenty-Seventh Day of September Following [with] Resolves... To Wednesday the Thirty-First Day of January, 1787

Boston, Printed by Adams and Nourse, 1787. First editions. Quarter cloth over paper covered boards. [487]-545, [1] pp.; [546]-627, [1] pp.; [87]-168] pp. and [169]-257, [1] pp. Folio. The key documents that reported on the revolt that fundamentally altered U.S. history. Beginning in 1786, only three years after the American Revolution had ended, an armed rebellion began in Western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, a war veteran, and composed not only of farmers but many others from diverse backgrounds who were angry about onerous taxes and imprisonment for debt, as well as cronyism, corruption and rules by an elite. The eastern rebellion was easily contained (in fact Shattuck, its leader was captured just after the time period of the first Resolve), but the western insurrection under Shays remained serious enough that the U.S. Congress surreptitiously raised 4000 troops for the defense of the arsenal in Springfield under the guise of needing them to fight a coalition of ten Indian tribes out West (Resolve LXIII, Message of October 27). The courts were forced to close in Western Massachusetts, but the insurrection was eventually put down with thousands arrested. The first two documents (Acts & Laws) contain the major responses to the rebellion: Acts for: Preventing riots; Suspending the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus; Acts for: Providing pay for the militia employed by the Gov't in suppressing the Rebellion; Amending an earlier act granting indemnity to offenders and providing for their trials; Describing the disqualifications regarding those who were guilty of treason; Suppression of Tumults and Insurrections; Disqualifying rebels from serving as jurors; Regulating the militia; and more. The two sets of Resolves are almost completely taken up with the Rebellion and its aftermath. The first began with an impassioned message delivered by Governor James Bowdoin on September 28, 1786, just two days after Daniel Shays confronted the militia Bowdoin had sent earlier under the direction of William Shepherd, and the Court was required to adjourn. "What led to the unwarrantable and lawless proceedings of those insurgents will be a necessary subject of serious Inquiry. The investigating the true causes of those proceedings may point out the proper remedy of them in future. But whatever may be the causes, it is impossible they should amount to a sufficient and justifiable reason for them. Every complaint, or grievance, that can be offered, as a reason to palliate them, is, from the nature of the Constitution, redressible by the General Court, the only body, within whose department it is, to redress public grievances. The application, therefore, to all other bodies, and all other modes of redress, are anticonstitutional, & of very dangerous tendency, even when attempted in a peaceable manner: but much more so, when attempted by acts of violence, for preventing the execution of the laws, and the due administration of Justice. These observations are strictly just, where there is a constitutional mode for the redress of grievance: and especially where those in Government, who have the power to redress, annually depend on the people for political existence." Bowdoin's last words were prophetic; he was not reelected, many of the reforms called for by the rebels were enacted, and a more powerful central government was created with the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Evans 19780. Evans 20496. Evans 19793. Evans 20515. ESTC W016751. ESTC W016755. ESTC W006811. ESTC W33326. Generally fine copies, except for last item, which is removed from a larger volume and not bound with the other three, old stitching marks at inner margin, first item with foxing on three leaves, and small faded contemporary marginal notation; first leaf of second item with two creases to lower half and one leaf with paper loss at corner just affecting marginal title, final item with a few marginal pin holes and one tiny stain, otherwise very sharp and clear impressions in a fine binding; and one loose.

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Book number: 44052

Catalogue: Americana

Keywords: New England States, , Americana, Colonial & Early America, New England States, Massachusetts , Americana, Massachusetts, Law, 18th c., Shays Rebellion, Book