Rare Books
by Kirsten Berg, November 7, 2023 8:53 AM
"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions…" — George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789
Washington issued a proclamation on October 3, 1789, designating Thursday, November 26 as a national day of thanks.
Perhaps George Washington picked the third Thursday in November because he didn't want another holiday on the calendar too close to the Fourth of July or crowding his own birthday in February. American Thanksgiving has morphed into a holiday that celebrates food, football, and family.
This month's post honors Unthanksgiving and the National Day of Mourning, which take place on the Thursday following Thanksgiving — the first at Alcatraz, the second at Plymouth, Massachusetts. These Rare Book Room titles show some pieces of our nation's shared history, and shared transgressions.
First up, we have an excerpt from the 31st Congress 2d Session House of Representatives March 3, 1851 — a deceptively boring-looking government publication, this unbound, unopened excerpt from an 1851 session of Congress is a reprint of official Department of the Interior missives regarding the Choctaw Indians from 1830 to 1851, after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.
Next up: Archive of Aboriginal Knowledge, 6 Volumes, Henry Schoolcraft 1860
Henry Schoolcraft (1793–1864) was an explorer and ethnologist. This famed publication is seldom available for sale on the open market. Schoolcraft should be known not only for his own work in ethnology but also for his choice of wives — his first was Jane Johnston, poet and granddaughter of an Ojibwe chieftain; his second wife was a Southern author of a pro-slavery novel published just before the Civil War under her married name, Mrs. Henry R. Schoolcraft.
Third: Report on Indians Taxed & Indians not Taxed in the United States Except Alaska, 1890 Census
Fire and paper — such a bad combination. Much of the 1890 census material burned in January 1921 at the Commerce Department Building. The loss prompted the creation of the National Archives. Our copy of the census has been collated complete with 25 maps, 19 chromolithographs, 34 illustrations, and 2 two-color chromolithographs.
And, finally: Five Little Katchinas (1933), a children’s book is by Elizabeth Willis De Huff, who was born in Georgia in 1886. She moved with her husband to Santa Fe in 1916; he was a superintendent of the Santa Fe Indian School. DeHuff remained connected to the Native American community and their folklore and art for the rest of her life. The Beinecke Library at Yale holds her collection of American Indian art.
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Not to be missed!!
The Rare Book Room now has merch! Including this tote bag, which has a zipper closure, perfect for carrying all of your rare and delightful purchases. There's also a magnet, a pin, and a notebook set.
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Rare Book Room specialist, Kirsten Berg, will be back on the Powell’s Blog each month with exclusive looks at everything the RBR has to offer. Between dispatches, dig into her archive!
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