William Reese Company AMERICANA • RARE BOOKS • LITERATURE AMERICAN ART • PHOTOGRAPHY ______________________________ 409 TEMPLE STREET NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT 06511 (203) 789-8081 FAX (203) 865-7653 [email protected] Getman Virtual Book Fair October 2020 Alaska at the Dawn of the 20th Century 1. [Alaskan Photographica]: [ANNOTATED COLLECTION OF VERNACU- LAR ALASKAN VIEWS TAKEN AND ORGANIZED DURING THE LAT- TER YEARS OF THE ALASKAN GOLD RUSH, WITH SEVERAL VIEWS OF MINING CAMPS]. [Nome, Juneau, and other locations in Alaska. ca. 1900]. Twenty-four tipped-in photographs, with printed captions, each photograph ap- proximately 3½ x 3½ inches. Contemporary brown wrappers. Some scuffing to spine. Minor fading to images. Very good. An excellent collection of vernacular photographs of Alaska around the turn of the 20th century, with printed captions beneath the images containing valuable information for identification of the images. The majority of the album captures images of Nome when it was a thriving boom town shortly after the 1898 discovery of gold. One of the captions covering three of the photographs reads, “Mining on the Beach. Nome, Alaska.” Other views include Nome from a distance, showing the hundreds of tents housing the prospectors; the house in Nome belonging to one of the album organizer’s friends; sled dog teams delivering water; six views taken on the Fourth of July, including a parade of sled dogs passing in front of Wyatt Earp’s Dexter Saloon, draped in patriotic ribbons; the Hunter Saloon, titled “the finest in Nome,” and Northern Saloon, similarly decorated for Inde- pendence Day; the J.F. Giese Hardware Store, occupying the “finest building in Nome;” five views of Juneau, including a street scene, a brewery housed in the first church in Juneau, and an enormous canoe named the “Whalekiller”; totem poles in Wrangle, Alaska; and the Muir Glacier near Skagway. Photographs from the time period near the Alaskan Gold Rush are rare, especially in an album as well-organized and well-identified as this one. $2000. one of the largest truck, military, and heavy equipment manufacturers of the 20th century. This album was created especially for W.J. Urquhart, the general manager of the Western sales department headquartered in Chicago (as reported in “The Horseless Age: The Automobile Trade Magazine,” vol. 24, 1909, p.420). The album opens with a photograph of a Pabst beer truck and continues with a wide variety of pas- senger and commercial vehicles, most with the names of the companies painted on the sides. Among the commercial vehicles depicted are trucks operated by Marshall Field, Red Rock beverages, the Birming- ham Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Pocahontas Coal, and B.F. Goodrich, and there Trade Album of Early Automobiles and Trucks are also images of an ambulance and a police car. A few of the images are detailed views of engines, transmissions, or other mechanical parts of the vehicles. Most 2. [Automobile Photographica]: [PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUM OF WHITE of the photographs have a label on the reverse describing the vehicle or part, its MOTOR COMPANY VEHICLES]. Chicago. [ca. 1910]. [116] photographs price, and in some cases also including information on the purchaser. Several of plus advertising leaf removed from Harper’s Magazine issue. Includes album of the owners are local, but most are scattered across the country, Canada, and even modern reproductions of the photographs. Oblong pebbled morocco album, gilt Russia. A few photos depict the full fleet of a company’s trucks lined up proudly title on front board. Boards rubbed and worn, corners bumped, spine perished. in front of factories, warehouses, and storefronts. Despite the company’s reputa- Photographs mounted on original linen, which is slightly curled. A few small tion, decades of mismanagement at higher levels forced the company to declare chips to edges (no loss to images), occasional toning and spots to images. The bankruptcy in 1980; White was bought by Volvo the following year. photographs overall in near fine condition. Such early automobile trade albums are rare. A handsome trade album of vehicles available from the White Motor Company “White Motor Corp.” in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CLEVELAND HISTORY (on- (Cleveland, Ohio), which grew out of the White Sewing Machine Company into line) (Case Western Reserve University). $4500. Large Chromolithographs of the Riel Rebellion A trio of rare battlefield views depicting three of the major skirmishes fought during the North-West Rebellion in Saskatchewan in 1885. This series of battles 3. [Canada]: [North-West Rebellion]: [Blatchly, W.D.]: [THREE HAND- is also known by several other names, including the Saskatchewan Rebellion, the SOME COLOR LITHOGRAPHS DEPICTING THREE OF THE MOST Northwest Uprising, and the Second Riel Rebellion (the first Riel Rebellion oc- IMPORTANT BATTLES DURING THE NORTH-WEST, OR SECOND curred near Manitoba in 1869 and is also known as the Red River Rebellion). Both RIEL REBELLION]. Toronto: Toronto Lithographing Co., [ca. 1885]. Three the 1869 and 1885 actions were led by Louis Riel, the leader of the Métis people. color lithographs. Cut Knife and Fish Creek: approximately 20¼ x 26¾ inches; Capture at Batoche: approximately 19½ x 26¼ inches. Cut Knife and Fish Creek Chronologically, the lithographs are as follows: trimmed about ¾ inch along the top margin and about 1¼ inches along left mar- 1) “Battle of Fish Creek.” This battle occurred on April 24, 1885 and resulted in gin. Capture at Batoche trimmed slightly more but evenly in each margin and a stunning victory when around 200 Métis soldiers overcame a superior force of adhered to backing board. Overall good plus. 900 government soldiers, and temporarily halted an advance on Batoche. cessful rebellion. Some fifteen years later the Métis formed their own provincial government in western Saskatchewan after hearing that the Canadian government was sending mounted police to enforce Canadian law in the region. This Second Riel Rebellion occurred in a series of skirmishes between the Métis and the Ca- nadian armed forces between March 26 and May 12, 1885. Though led by Louis Riel, the Métis ultimately lost again to the Canadian government. Still, both rebellions helped the Métis gain some measure of recognition and respect from the Canadian government that they would very likely not have earned otherwise. The lithographs were produced by the Toronto Lithographing Company, pur- veyors of patriotic views of famous Canadian wars. In this case, the company assigned W.D. Blatchly to paint the scenes for the 1885 conflicts; Blatchly was, at the time, one of the leading artists in all of Canada. An excellent series of lithographs illustrating three important events in the famous rebellion, with outstanding display appeal. $3750. 2) “Battle of Cut Knife.” On May 2, 1885 a force of Cree warriors held off a superior group of Canadian army units. 3) “The Capture of Batoche.” Effectively the end of the rebellion, the Métis were soundly defeated in the second week of May after they ran out of ammunition on the third day of fighting. This action forced Riel to surrender on May 15. The Métis are one of the recognized aboriginal groups in Canada who trace their roots to the first interaction between First Nations people and the earliest European settlers, usually French, and largely as a result of the fur trade. The Métis are among the earliest mixed-race people in Canada, and developed a sepa- rate, distinct culture based on their ancestral origins, usually stemming from the coupling of an indigenous woman and a male European settler. By the 19th century the Métis were well-assimilated into French-Canadian cul- ture, and many worked as fur traders for the North-West Company or Hudson’s Bay Company, or supplied furs as independent trappers. When those companies pulled out of the Red River and Saskatchewan regions in the mid-to-late 1800s, the Canadian government took over the land and began to enforce their will on the Métis people. The first armed conflict between the Métis and the Canadian provincial govern- ment occurred in 1869 in the Red River region, where Louis Riel led an unsuc- A Striking Recruiting Broadside 4. [Civil War]: [New York]: THE WAR HAS ALREADY BEGUN! [caption title]. Dansville, N.Y. November, 1861. Printed broadside, approximately 18¾ x 24 inches. Top edge chipped, edges worn, center fold partially separated, a bit brittle, as usual. Still, a good copy of a rare piece of historical ephemera. A striking Civil War recruitment broadside filled with bold text inviting the citizens of East Avon, New York to meet at the Brick Church on the evening of Nov. 19, 1861, to hear speakers including W.H.C. Hosmer and Job C. Hedges, Esq. discuss the recently-engaged Civil War and “its merits.” Text at the bot- tom of the broadside explains that at the end of the meeting, men will have an opportunity to join the “Gallant Thirteenth Regiment the most Popular, best Fed, best Clothed, and most comfortably Quartered Regiment on the Potomac.” Broadside undersigned in print by the recruiting officer, Lieut. C.S. Benjamin. The Thirteenth Regiment of New York was organized at Elmira, New York and mustered into the Union Army on April 25, 1861. The Regiment was transferred from state service to federal service later that same year in August. From 1861 to 1863, the Regiment participated in numerous crucial conflicts including the Advance on Manassas, the First Battle of Bull Run, the Siege of Yorktown, the Second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, and many others. During its service, the regiment lost a total of one hundred men to battle and disease. Included in their ranks was the notable Private Myron H. Ranney, who received the Medal of Honor for his service at the First Battle of Bull Run.