Peirce, Ebenezer W., Indian History, Biography and Genealogy: Pertaining to the Good Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoad Tribe and His Descendants; with an Appendix ~ North Abington, Massachusetts, 1878, published by Zerviah Gould Mitchell; 261 (+xv) pages, with eleven full-page line-engravings.

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The publisher, Zerviah Gould Mitchell (Mrs. Thomas C. Mitchell), was a native American. Her Preface to the book begins: "My object in bringing this work before the public is not only to show that I am a lineal descendant, in the seventh generation, from the great and good Massasoit [King Philip] whom both the red and white man now venerate and honor but also to make record of the wrongs which during all these generations have been endured by my race..."

According to Spirit of the New England Tribes by William Scranton Simmons: Mrs. Mitchell was one of the last of her lineage to reside on a tiny reservation in Lakeville Massachusetts where she and her daughter continued the aborginal tradition of straw basket-making. Pierce, a celebrated Civil War veteran and General in the United States Army, "accepted the task of being her assistant" in composing this historical record of the southern New England tribes and the reign of Massasoit (who is known as King Philip).

Our 1878 first edition has a mid-20th century guarded-binding of green cloth with gilt spine-lettering, complete and in very good condition, all plates present. Original front leaves (torn & stained, w/period ownership marks) have been bound in as provenance. Frontispieces and title page have small edge-tears and light staining; the book has about two dozen turned corners and occasional tobacco-ash ~ else an exceptionally well-preserved copy.

Very scarce documentation of the native American recollection and point-of-view.

Price: SOLD
Offered by Lightgate Books
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Amos, James E. THEODORE ROOSEVELT; HERO TO HIS VALET. New York: John Day Company, 1927. First edition. Octavo, blue cloth. 162pp. plus colophon. Portrait frontispiece of Theodore Roosevelt plus seven black and white plates. Very good. Very scarce. Amos, an African American, was initially hired by TR to look after his children while living in the White House. His job became much more than that and he traveled extensively with the President. The book is written from the perspective of a man who no doubt loved the President but there are insightful glimpses into the areas surrounding some of the most controversial events of the Roosevelt Administration, namely the Brownsville Incident and the White House dinner to which the President invited Booker T. Washington, the first African American to be entertained at the Executive Mansion. When TR was ailing near the end of his life, Mrs. Roosevelt asked Amos to return to their service, he did so and was with the Ex-President when he died at Sagamore Hill in 1919. traveling with him extensively. He recorded TR's last words; "James, will you please put out the light". $650.00

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