?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(CIVIL WAR--MASSACHUSETTS.) Civil War broadsides in a wide-ranging scrapbook compiled by a politician in Bernardston. Hundreds of items (clippings, ephemera, and a few manuscripts) mounted on 194 scrapbook pages (erratic pagination). Folio, 13 x 10 inches, original 1/2 calf, lacking backstrip, boards detached; last few leaves detached and worn, otherwise generally minor wear to contents; library bookplate and inked "withdrawn" stamp on front pastedown. Bernardston, MA and elsewhere, 1821-1863
"The Union . . . It Shall Be Preserved!" Illustrated broadside, 18 1/2 x 12 inches, signed in type by Henry W. Cushman; tipped to a stub at the fold. Announces the formation of "a military organization for instruction and drill" with a second meeting planned at the Bernardston town hall on 8 June. "All who love their Country, its Constitution and Government, and who feel that they are now in danger, are cordially and urgently invited to join . . . to save our glorious union." Greenfield, MA: H.D. Mirick, 5 June 1861.
A duplicate of the same.
"Honor the Brave! A Meeting of the Citizens of Franklin County . . . in commemoration of the gallant officers and men from this County who have recently given up their lives in the service of their country." Illustrated broadside, 19 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches, signed in type by Henry W. Cushman and others; detached from scrapbook with strip of adhesive staining at the fold. Greenfield, MA: Gazette & Courier, 9 July 1862.
Civil War broadsides aside, this is a fine local history and political scrapbook. It was compiled in 1860 by Henry Wyles Cushman (1805-1863) of Bernardston, MA, on the Vermont border. He served intermittently in the state legislature from 1837 to 1844, and then as Lieutenant Governor from 1851 to 1853. It begins with an engraved portrait of Cushing serving as a frontispiece, and a manuscript title page featuring his bookplate. The bulk of the volume contains newspaper clippings from 1831 to 1861, including speeches, articles and reports Cushman wrote for publication. He reports on the local lunatic asylum, opposes temperance laws, and supports Democratic candidates for the presidency.
Other highlights include two certificates of merit issued to Cushman as a student in 1821 and 1822; two manuscript notes of recommendation for Cushman as a teacher, 1823 and 1826; a 7 1/2 x 5 1/4-inch "Plan of Bernardston" he drew circa 1830 in 5 colors; several printed political leaflets and circulars; 4 broadsides for property auctions signed in type by Cushman, 14 January 1835, 12 February 1846, 20 February 1847, 6 April 1863; 3 of his calling cards; the broadside "Bye-Laws of the Town of Bernardston" printed in Greenfield in 1845; incorporation broadside of the Greenfield and Northampton Rail Road Company, February 1845; a satirical steamer ticket "For Salt River!" issued to Cushman's predecessor as lieutenant governor, 1849; 10 ballot proxes featuring Cushman, 1842-1851; broadsides issued by the Franklin County Agricultural Society on 9 April 1855 and 8 March 1862; arrangements circular and order of exercises for the town's centennial celebration 20 August 1862; 2 small tintype photographs of Franklin County Bank banknotes featuring Cushman's portrait; and 10 circulars on the Cushman Monument Association, 1854-1859.
