Search Results: Titles starting with C from BICKERSTAFF'S BOOKS, MAPS &C.

The Countryman is the only newspaper known to have been published on a Southern plantation. J.A. Turner was the owner of the Turnwold plantation and editor of the newspaper. This issue features a full-page editorial titled "God Bless Our Southern Women!" which extolled their virtues during wartime. Also of interest is a full page devoted to "Teaching Negroes to Read." (The author of the piece was quite clear in his views of educating slaves: "Negroes are incapable of education, and it will be a waste of our time and resources to attempt to confer it upon them…")
Joel Chandler Harris, author of the Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox stories, was employed as a printer's apprentice at Turnwold from 1862 (at which time he was 16 years old) to 1866. Indeed it was during his employment at Turnwold that he heard the stories told by slaves which served as the basis for his later successful literary efforts. This issue of The Countryman contains a brief item about a recipe for making black… Read More

[Paris.]: From Petit Atlas Maritime, 1764. Original fold lines and a bit of waviness. Very good. A nicely detailed and well-executed map of Bermuda from the mid-part of the 18th century. The map appeared in Bellin's Petit Atlas Maritime in 1763 and 1764. This is state 2, with the addition of the plate number above the neat line at the upper left. The island's tribes are referred to here as cantons. Hamilton is indicated with a simple icon of twelve blocks. Seven forts are located. Reference: Palmer, Printed Maps of Bermuda (2nd edition): p. 9. mapforum.com, Checklist of Printed Maps of Bermuda, 1585-1778: 68.

Important Early Chart of Portland (Maine) Harbor
Lemuel Moody (1767-1846) was an enterprising sea captain and nautical entrepreneur in Portland, Maine. Realizing "the great necessity of a correct Chart of Portland Harbour and the dangerous Rocks near Cape Elizabeth, also of Winter Harbour and the numerous islands in Casco Bay," Moody decided to produce such a chart. By 1825, the Atlantic Neptune charts that included this area were more than 50 years old and in need of updating. Moody took advantage of the opportunity and produced this chart, using the Atlantic Neptune charts as the foundation. In a notation on the original agreement for producing the chart, Moody states that "I did the whole of the survey." This impressive chart of Casco Bay was his sole cartographic undertaking.
The chart covers the area from Saco Bay to Seguin Island. A large inset at the upper left focuses on the immediate area around Portland harbor, including a detailed layout of streets and wharves. Small drawings of… Read More

First Official Printing of Maine's ConstitutionA very scarce example of the first printing of the Maine Constitution. As noted on the verso of the title leaf, 200 copies were ordered "printed for the use of the Legislature." In contrast, the next printing ordered by the Legislature -- in 1825 -- was for 10,000 copies. OCLC locates examples at six institutions. References: Noyes, Maine Imprints to 1820: 931. Skillin, A Bibliography of Maine Imprints, 1785-1820: 20-70. Not in Williamson, A Bibliography of the State of Maine. Thompson: Important Maine Maps, Books, Prints and Ephemera: 28A. (The Thompson copy sold for $1,840 in 2003.) Sprague, The Mirror of Maine: see 11 (for the 1825 edition). Shoemaker, A Checklist of American Imprints for 1820: 2075.Condition: Contemporary calf. Boards well-scuffed and with small gouged area. Significant chipping of spine leather; hinges and joints cracked. Age-toned and areas of staining throughout. An unsophisticated but appealing example of… Read More