Rare Collectibles, First Editions and More at Book Sale

(Submitted by Toni Earnshaw, Friends of the Library)

You never know what will come in the door when a library friends group collects items for a book sale.

Most items are mundane, an occasional rarity crosses the threshold, and once in a great while a mind-blower arrives. Such was the case for the Friends of the C. H .Booth Library as they collect for the annual summer book sale throughout the year.

A month or so ago a hand written journal of a whaling voyage landed on our doorstep. It was quickly determined to be a journal of a Pacific Ocean voyage in the whale ship Samuel Wright, of Salem, MA, from 1833-1836.

The journal was kept by the second mate, William E Percival. John Pitman, a whaler of longstanding who commanded several ships over his career, was the captain of the Samuel Wright. Directly under Pitman was the first mate, Thomas Nickerson.

Nickerson, born on Nantucket, also had a long career as a whaler and merchant mariner, beginning at the age of 14 when he shipped out on board the ill-fated whaler Essex. In 1820, the Essex was rammed by a giant white whale and sunk, providing the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic story of Moby Dick.

Young Nickerson had the good fortune to be placed in the boat of first mate Owen Chase, which was rescued after an open-boat ocean voyage of 90 days.

The Samuel Wright was later wrecked on another voyage off Bunbury, Australia, and its timbers were salvaged for a building that eventually became St. Mark’s Church, the second oldest church in Western Australia, which still stands.

There is a three-year break in the journal, and then Percival began an account of another voyage, again under Captain Pitman, this time on the ship Congress.

The Congress had its own connections to Melville’s great novel. The book Herman Melville’s Whaling Years states that on April 1, 1841, a whale towed a boat from the Congress far out of sight. After cruising in search of the boat for two days, Captain Pitman decided the boat had been sunk, and continued his voyage.

However, the boat managed to make a 1,500 mile voyage to the Marquesas Islands, where the crew were rescued some months later, shortly before Melville was at the Islands and undoubtedly heard the story. The same book also locates Melville’s Acushnet and the Congress together with other ships at the Galapagos Islands in 1842, where they would certainly have spoken and perhaps visited with each other.

You can find this whaling journal as well as other books of interest in the Rare and Collectibles Room at the Booth Book Sale, such as all six volumes of the signed collector’s limited edition of Astronaut Library by astronauts Lovell, Aldrin, Carpenter, Glenn, Borman, Shepard, Schirra.

All Easton Press, each signed by the authors and with Certificates of Authenticity; and Marlborough: His Life and Times, by Winston Churchill, NY: Scribner, 1933. Six volumes. Red half leather.

Additionally there are attractively priced collectibles such as For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway, First edition; Primitive Physic: or, an Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases by John Wesley (1772) and an extensive collection of pristine Easton Press publications, some still in original cellophane wraps, many limited editions and autographed works donated by the estate of a private collector.

There is also an extensive selection of very good condition adult and children’s books signed by author and/or illustrator: Drawn from New England: Tasha Tudor by Bethany Tudor (New York: Collins, 1979), likely 1st edition, signed by Tasha Tudor and inscribed by Bethany Tudor, her daughter and David the Dreamer.

His Book of Dreams by Ralph Bergengren, illustrated by Tom Freud (1922), first edition with illustrations by Sigmund Freud’s niece, Tom Freud, who used a male pseudonym, and was known for her eccentricities, and a wide selection of fine and very good condition comic books in protective sleeves.

The sale will be held July 9 through July 13, at the Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane, in Newtown, CT. A $5 admission is charged on Saturday only, with other days being free.

Numbered admission tickets will be on sale beginning at 7am on Saturday. Hours for the sale are 9am - 5pm Saturday and Sunday, 9am - 7pm Monday (half price day) and Tuesday ($5 per bag day), and 9am - noon on Wednesday (free day).

Further information can be found at www.boothbooksale.org, by emailing boothbooksale@yahoo.com, or by calling 203-426-4533.