Rare Books
Where is Tommy?
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Harris, Kirby
Manuscripts
Approx. 45 items. Subjects include: a long series of letters from, early on, Kirby Harris, and later letters, typed and handwritten, mostly from Mrs. (Lorraine) Harris. It seems Mrs. Harris was trying to get chummy with (Otis Chandler and later) Williams. While her letters become increasingly personal, Williams remained professional. Earlier the topics were from the news, later she told of her activities. She eventually sent a photo of herself to him. [?]
mssLAT
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The widow Barnaby
Rare Books
Martha Compton, a poor but attractive young woman, marries Mr. Barnaby, the surgeon and apothecary of Silverton. He is older, and soon Mrs Barnaby is a widow, independently wealthy. In youth she dresses extravagantly, even in mourning. As she enters middle age, she determines to find another husband. Two misadventures land her in debtor's prison, from which she is rescued. At last she marries Mr. O'Donagough, but is again widowed, and finally finds Major Allen, who matches her in duplicity. Going foreward, she opined, "The tender passion had ever been secondary in her heart to a passion for wealth and finery." She is determined to take good care of herself and make a good bargain in remarriage.
401153
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Visual Materials
Image of a central image of an older African American man in a torn shirt and suspenders kneeling before Abraham Lincoln who holds a handwritten copy of the “Emancipation Proclamation” with broken shackles at his feet, captioned “Abolition of Slavery”; with an upper-left image of Eliza, a young mother, and a young girl coming to Uncle Tom and his wife, who holds a candle, in their pajamas before their cabin at night, captioned “Eliza seeking protection of Uncle Tom”; a lower-left image of Eva, a young blond girl lying in a small bed with white and African American mourners crowding around the bed and a night stand with a cup, small bottle, and box on it, captioned “Death of Eva”;an upper-right image of an African American man and woman dancing in the front yard of a cabin in a wooded area with African American onlookers and a man playing a banjo, captioned “Pastimes in the sunny South”; a lower-right image of Topsy, a young African American girl wearing a potato sack dress that read “18 [space] CH,” throwing a bonnet while sitting on a messy floor next to a can while a white woman in formal dress looks on aghast; the poster presumably advertises an Uncle Tom’s Cabin show.
priJLC_ENT_002337
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My own experience with the Vasques Bandits
Manuscripts
This manuscript is Snyder's account of his experiences in the mercantile business in Monterey County, California beginning in 1872. He ran a "branch store" and a "hotell." At length and in detail, Snyder describes an incident where his store was robbed by armed "Spanyards," the leader of whom he names as "Vasques." The bandits shot and killed a partially deaf man when he did not heed their demands for him to submit, and shot a second man hiding in a nearby barn. After killing a third man, Vasques declares that "he had only one way to make a living and that was by robbing, and as long as other people had any money he intended to have his Share of it if he had to kill a man to gett it." The bandits did not kill Snyder because he "submitted." The bandits stole eleven horses, including one that had been a present to Mrs. Snyder, loaded them with the stolen goods, and rode away. Snyder called the aftermath "a Mournfull looking Site." He reports that Vasques was eventually captured in San Jose and hanged. With typewritten card containing a brief biography of Snyder.
mssHM 16695
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Swift, Jonathan. "Your mouldring walls are mending still" [with other verse]
Manuscripts
Swift is the attributed author of an untitled poem on the last page beginning "Written by Dean Swift in Chester 1725 / Your mouldering walls are mending still..." Also contains eight other ballads and poems associated with Swift, dated 1724 ("A Dialogue between the old Gent that looks over Lincoln and the old Gent on ye new Church in Bloomsbury"; "An Epistle from Jack Sheppard to the E--l of M-----d"; "When York to Heave lifts one solemn Eye..."; "A New Ballad occasioned by a late Edict of the Pope for taxing & limiting the publick stews at Rome, Tune, You fair Ladies."; "Upon the Death of Mrs. Bowes who dyed in ten weeks after she was married." ; "By the Lord Harvey"; "Upon the sign of the Drapier: with him on one side is his book: on the other the Jewish Harp"; Writt on ye Castle window by D--n S---t"). Item removed from volume containing items RB 356326 and 356327 in 1965.
HM 27942.
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George Forby diary
Manuscripts
The early part of the diary details Forby's daily activities in mid-19th century New York, during which he visits friends, goes to concerts, sings in the choir of his church, and maintains his shop. He also meets and courts Elizabeth Dowd, whom he eventually marries. There is a considerable gap in the diary. There is an entry for August 24, 1851, with Forby still in New York, and the next entry in the diary is dated February 23, 1852, and Forby is en route to California via steamship. There do not appear to be any missing pages. Forby writes in detail of his journey, especially about his fellow passengers. His voyage takes him to Cuba, Panama, and the coast of Mexico, finally landing in California on April 1, and finds work as a painter in San Francisco. Here there is another gap in time, with no entries between November 30, 1852, and August 2, 1879, at which time Forby has been married to Elizabeth Dowd for twenty-four years, and had children, but she has passed away. He writes that he left California twenty-six years ago for lack of work. The first entry of the diary is dated January 5, 1851, and the final entered date is November 8, 1879. Included is a small scrap of paper with the writing "6/28-1824, Albany, NY, date of birth" on one side and "25 yrs old in '51" on the other side.
mssHM 16992