Pyotr Builds a Time Machine

“Siberian Seven” lived in our Embassy for 5 years. Pyotr Vashchenko is at upper right.

Pyotr builds a Time Machine.  When we arrived in Moscow in the fall of 1981, it was a season of Soviet citizens breaking into our embassy and seeking asylum.  Every few days some poor soul would drive past the Soviet Militsiya and try to break in.  Our consular people would spend some time talking  to them, and then lead them away, where the KGB would quickly take hold of them.  Of course, we felt badly about their fate, but we simply could not handle them.  We couldn’t simply launch a rocket from the embassy compound and send them to the USA.

            We already had a group of seven staying in the embassy.  They were Pentacostals from way out in Siberia, and they had broken in one time back in 1978, and sought religious asylum.  This was before we arrived, but they were still living in a small apartment in the basement of the embassy. 

            The embassy wasn’t that big that we could accommodate these people easily.  There they were—we couldn’t fly them out, and we did not want to turn them over to the KGB.  They were really simple peasants—fiercely religious, but very ignorant of anything beyond their native Chernigorsk. 

            They were simple, but they learned, as they whiled their years away inside our small Embassy compound. Our daughter Susan came back from college and got a job with the American Consulate, which was in charge of managing our uninvited guests.  As a junior official, Susan was assigned to visit the Pentacostals regularly, to find out if they had requirements, and then she would go to the Diplomatic Gastronome a mile away from our Embassy  to shop for them. 

            Although they had known nothing but the poor selection of goods available to Soviet citizens, they quickly learned to demand panty-hose—“Don’t forget—L’Eggs, beige!”  Regular Soviet women didn’t even know these products existed.    They’d also demand Duncan Hines Cake Mix, where regular Soviets would have had to make do with non-descript boxes marked Flour” in Russian.

Billy Graham visited Moscow in 1982, and the Pentacostals demanded that he meet with them during his trip. Graham met with them, and they demanded that he publicly denounce communism and demand their release to leave the USSR.  Graham refused to meet their demands, which caused them to tell the American press, "He was like all the other religious figures who have visited us, nothing special."  In fact, Graham worked behind the scenes and the Soviet government eventually did release them to fly to Israel and then they went to the U.S. 

When Jimmy Carter was President he talked with them by telephone, and then after his term was over he would call them periodically to see how they were doing.  The consular girls would tell them they had a call from President Carter, and they would say, “Tell him we’ll call him later!”

These seven Russians had become a royal pain.

The oldest Pentecostal, Pyotr, had been building a “time machine” which he planned to use to get out of our Embassy, and so when the Soviets agreed to let these people emigrate, he demanded that we ship his time machine with him. We had to figure out what to do about this large contraption.  The U.S. Government ended up shipping it with him to Israel. 

See: http://recollections.liblog.wheaton.edu/2008/12/09/cramped-quarters/

Here are some listings of books and papers that may interest you…..

 Biography of Prisoners in Death Camps (in Polish)

Nazi Death Camps: Biografia Bylych Wiezniow Politycznych Niemieckich Obozow Koncentracyjnych [Translated: Biography of Former Political Prisoners in the German Concentration Camp System]  Tom I [Vol. I]  Text in Polish. By Komitet Wykonawczy Gladysz, Dr. Inz. Antoni; Szymerski, Andrzej 1974 Philadelphia, PA Wydawnictwo "Promyk".  This book, all in Polish, contains a large collection of photos and drawings and text telling the stories of people who were sent to Hitler's Concentration Camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau,  Majdanek, Bergen-Belsen, Plaszów, Buchenwald, Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen, Ravensbrück, Gross-Rosen, Mauthausen and more. Many pictures of corpses stacked one upon another, starving children, naked women and children  do komór gazowych w obozie koncentracyjnym w Treblince;  three ranks of naked boys, ages 12 to 15 at Mauthausen. Also interior view of crematorium. Several pages are devoted to text and drawings of the story of Father Maximillian Maria Kolbe, at Auschwitz (Oswiecim), who offered himself to be poisoned by the Nazis, that another man might be saved. Bolesne Wspomnienia. Recollections of Piotr Abraszewski, Franciszke Bak, Dr. Stefan Benedykt,  Fr. Andrzej Bialoglowski, Wladyslaw Budweil, Antoni Kaputa, Fr. Jozef Chmiel, Kasper Ciolkosz, Ks. Andrzej Czelusniak, Tadeusz Dziekanowski, Ks. Stefan Flisiak, Marian Gabriel, Ks. Franciszek J. Gabryl,  Ks. Pralat Tadeusz Gaik, Janina B. Gazdajska, Ks. Pralat Jozef Gluszek, Felicja Oswit-Grzegorzewska, Juliusz L. Grzedziel, many more. Konferencja Delegatow Zviazkow Bylych Wiezniow Politycznych i Ruchu Oporu w Sprawie Odszkodowan --w Wiedniu 25-26 Czerwca 1973 Roku.  368 pp. 28 x 22 cm. Decorated white cloth on board with drawing of concentration camp, with prisoner slumped on barbed wire, with "Arbeit Macht Frei" on arch above. Fine condition. No dustjacket. (4865) $195.00. World War II/History

 Radford's Portfolio of Details of Building Construction;  185 full-page detail drawings by Radford, William A,; Johnson, Bernard L., B.S.; Rawson, Charles P. 1911 Chicago, IL: The Radford Architectural Company. "Remarkable and Unique Collection" of plates showing details of modern building construction and finish for brick, frame, brick-vener, stucco and concrete houses and barns.  Details for interior trim including built-in features, kitchen cabinets, cases and cupboards and more. Designs for porches, balconies, stairways, fire places and more. Includes design for a Tuberculosis Camp Tent, Septic Tanks, how to remodel a store into a small theatre, stave silo, cooling box for cream, cold storage, more. 200 pp. 23 x 31 cm. Decorated light tan cloth on board, bottom nine cm of spine torn, edges frayed,  inner hinges cracked, detail pencil design drawings in two places. Inscription on front free endpaper: "Wallace A. Jones, 115 Chapman St., Greenfield, Mass." Fair. (7905) $78.00. Scientific/Architectural

Scientific American; The advocate of Industry, and Journal of Scientific, mechanical and other improvements, September 28, 1850, Vol. 6 No. 2 New York, NY: Munn & Co. Improved shooting harpoon; Baltimore & Susquehanna RR has turned out another splendid engine. Patented cane cutter. 8 pp. 28 x 39 cm. Paper periodical, foxed and stained, edges frayed. Fair. (3635) $20.00. Educational/Scientific

Illustration from Scientific American, Oct. 5, 1850

Scientific American; The advocate of Industry, and Journal of Scientific, mechanical and other improvements, October 5, 1850, Vol. 6 No. 3 1850 New York, NY: Munn & Co. New style of railway car uses teak wood, for cost savings in repair and painting. New inventions. Battin’s Coal Breaker, for breaking up chunks of coal into uniform size.  Good invention, but, because of the inventor, there has been much litigation in Pennsylvania.  “Every body was willing to pay Mr. Battin handsomely… and they only resisted his claims become of exhorbitancy (sic) and the taxiform and inquisitorial shape he persisted in giving to his collections.”  Joke about Irishman. Patents. 8 pp. 28 x 39 cm. Paper periodical, dampstained, spinefold partly torn. Good. (3495) $17.00. Educational/Scientific

Scientific American; The advocate of Industry, and Journal of Scientific, mechanical and other improvements, October 26, 1850, Vol. 6 No. 6 New York, NY: Munn & Co. McKinney's improved mode of regulating the setting of bows in wagon tops-- used for covered wagons that carried America west. Railroad News: Lawsuit against Baltimore & Ohio RR for refusing to transport live hogs. Monster steamer, 400 feet long, has been contracted for at Cincinnati. 8 pp. 28 x 39 cm. Paper periodical, spinefold torn, dampstained. Poor. (4648) $22.00. Educational/Scientific

Scientific American; The advocate of Industry, and Journal of Scientific, mechanical and other improvements, December 21, 1850, Vol. 6 No. 14 New York, NY: Munn & Co. 8 pp. 28 x 39 cm. Newman's patent Excavating Machinery; German sausages can kill you; Editorial on filthy streets in NYC: city railroads needed. Tehuantepec survey for railroad. Paper periodical, very good. (4319) $15.00. Educational/Scientific

 Universal Yankee Union--one BIG newspaper, 1841

 Universal Yankee Nation, The Largest Newspaper in all Creation, Boston, Saturday, May 8, 1841 Purdy, Edward C.; Houghton, John S., Editors. 1841 Boston, MA: Yankee Nation. Huge format newspaper, one wonders how many had arms long enough to hold this paper open.  Fire in School Street, Boston, this morning.  Story very critical and dismissive of Mormonism (preposterous humbug). Report of murder in Fayetteville, Arkansas and another in Richmond, Virginia.  Also great excitement after a murder in St. Louis. "Cruelties Practiced at the Boston Farm School"--- report of brutal whipping and mutilation of boys by Mr. Locke.  Marine News:  Arrival of the Britannia, ten days later from Europe. The Steamer President not arrived--great excitement in consequence. Settlement of the Chinese question, price of tea drops. Queen Victoria continues in excellent health; she is seen daily taking the air in a pony Phaeton, in the slopes and grounds at Windsor Castle.  Prince Albert presented a gold chronometer to the captain of the Albert and Wilberforce steamers on their departure with the expedition to the Niger for the abolition of the slave trade.  Advertisement for Dr. Rufus' Celebrated Female Pill; Dr. Douglass' Celebrated Chemical Hair Oil. 4 pp. 68 x 80 cm. Newspaper, many tears in folds, poor. (7842) $37.00. Newspapers      

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The Navigator Becomes a Tour Guide

USS Wright (CC-2)

I call this Blog “The Personal Navigator” because I thought that in my retired, civilian life I would like to “navigate” people into happy meetings with interesting books and papers.  Naval officers are all trained to be navigators.  Let me tell a little about my first job as a navigator.

Capt. Frank Romanick was skipper of USS Wright, a small (46,000 ton) carrier converted to a “Floating Pentagon” for the President in time of nuclear war. Frank was the public relations person par excellence.  He lived for seeing his ship’s picture plastered across a newspaper page, or on TV.  He came from command of a naval communications station in the Philippines, where he had been known all over the Far East for his publicity tricks.  Now he commanded a ship that, in time of war might have the President aboard.  I was his navigator. The year was 1968.

This was a remarkable ship— it had once been a light aircraft carrier, but was now converted to a super state-of-the art floating communications station, a “National Emergency Command Post Afloat”.  Large antennas sprouted from the flight deck, and we had a helicopter that would often lift a heavy wire antenna several thousand feet in the air, its other end tethered on the ship, to experiment at sending signals if this ship took over from shore facilities in Washington in time of a nuclear war.  This was just at the dawn of satellite communications.

The central part of the ship was called “The Box” and it contained all the communications systems and an operations control center manned by a special team of officers* and enlisted men from all the armed services, and NSA, CIA and so forth.  We even had a grandiose state room called “Flag One” which was designed for the President, who was then Lyndon B. Johnson. It even had the array of three television sets that LBJ always demanded  wherever he went.  Flag One also had a marvelous oversized toilet for the Presidential bottom.

Romanick discovered that ships got good press when they did good deeds.  When we visited a port, he sent the Chaplain out in one direction and me in another, to round up orphans, kids of all descriptions, ladies' groups, whatever, to tour that ship. 

The Captain thought I was a “natural” as Head Tour Guide, because – what else is the Navigator going to do when the ship is in port?  Every time we came into a port—any port— our decks were seething with kids’ groups.

We had ship visits down to a science:  Bring them aboard in the hangar bay, welcome them, give them yellow "Wright Guy" buttons, then put them on the flight deck elevator and send them topside.  Play with a gun mount.  Look at the helo.  Watch a liferaft inflate. Climb up to the bridge. Then, down to the mess decks for cookies and fruit punch.  Then off.

Once a month in port in Norfolk, we'd have massive “Bravo Zulu” ceremonies, where Romanick would give large plywood keys, painted with the ship's logo, to people who really excelled at something, like giving the most blood at a blood drive, or leading a team of sailors to clean up a school in Bermuda. [“Bravo Zulu”is Navy code for “Well done!”]

Captain Romanick congratulates his

 wife on a job "Well Done!"

  

There were flowers for all the wives and girlfriends who came to watch, and awards, awards, awards. 

Romanick discovered that you could get good press for rescuing someone at sea, so he tried to turn us into a Coast Guard cutter, by steaming into hurricanes or other storms, looking for ships or boats that had sent a distress signal.  We rescued a few, but as the President's National Command Post Afloat, a carrier, acting like a small, agile cutter--- was that our mission?

            Frank came up with another scheme to get publicity.  We’d do a burial at sea!  The brother of one of our officers had just died, and so the plan was to bring his coffin aboard and bury it at sea, with appropriate ceremony by several chaplains and gun salute, and all hands on deck in dress blues.  The ceremony went nicely, with cameras snapping and capturing every move, and the coffin was eased down a slide on the stern.  However, they had not put enough air holes in the coffin, nor weighted it down enough, and so it floated along astern of the ship.  Romanick was furious and ordered the stern gun mounts manned and away they blasted at the poor, defenseless floating coffin, until it finally sank. 

            That was our last burial at sea while Frank was commanding.

 * One of those bright young officers was Lieutenant Junior Grade Bob Woodward, who later went on to fame with his Watergate stories.

Let me “navigate” you to some books….

               

Trumpet Notes for the Temperance Battle-Field; a careful compilation from the best sources for Temperance Assemblies, Gospel Temperance and Prohibition Meetings, etc. by Stearns, J.N. and Main, H.P. 1888 New York, NY: National Temperance Society and Publication House. The power of song in the Temperance Movement cannot be overestimated. "Trumpet Notes"  is a compilation of the choicest temperance songs, to aid in the growing sentiment against drink and the saloons. "Lift Up Your Voice in Trumpet Notes", “God's Clock Has Struck the Hour", "Daybreak", "Freedom's Day" and "Blow the Temperance Trumpet." 192 pp. 13.5 x 20.5 cm. Decorated paper on board, stains on cover. Bookmark from Helen P. Ross. Inside front hinge of book contains cracks, other defects.  Good. (5427) $42.00.  Music/Temperance

Virgil: Opera P. Virgilii Maronis by Virgil (P. Virgilius Maro); Nova Editio Stereotypa Iteratus Curis, Castigata et Expolita 1824. Lipsiae (Leipzig): Sumtibus et Typis Car. Tauchnitii. [Karl Tauchnitz].

Latin text by Virgil. Bucolicon Liber. Georgicon Libri I,II, III, IV. Aeneidos Libri I,II,III,IV,V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII.  Culex Ad Octavium. Ciris Ad Messalam. Catalecta.  Copa. Moretum. This was a classic text for Scholars in the nineteenth century. 434 pp. 9.5 x 13.5 cm. Quarter leather and marbled paper on board.  Leather spine is cracked and worn. Frontispiece contains profile bust of P. Virgilius Maro. Good. (1738) $55.00. Literature/Educational

From Bucolicon:

Me. Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi

Silvestrem tenuis Musam medtaris avena:

Nos patriae fines et dulcia linquimus arva;

Nos patriam fugimus: tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra

Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas.

Meliboeus:

You, Tityrus, 'neath a broad beech-canopy

Reclining, on the slender oat rehearse

Your silvan ditties: I from my sweet fields,

And home's familiar bounds, even now depart.

Exiled from home am I; while, Tityrus, you

Sit careless in the shade, and, at your call,

"Fair Amaryllis" bid the woods resound.

U.S. Navy Regulations, 1865; Regulations for the Government of the United States Navy. [Book belonged to Ens. James H. Bunting, recognized for his action in helping to destroy a Confederate salt work in 1864.] 1865 Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.  Naval Regulations book belonged to  "James. H. Bunting, U.S. Frigate Potomac", who is recognized in history of Civil War for his work in leading a naval party from USS Ethan Allen to destroy a South Carolina salt work. Navy Regulations include Regulation Circular No. 1 signed by Gideon Welles, Civil War Secretary of the Navy, August 1, 1865; Regulation Circular No. 4, by Welles, dated Aug. 22, 1866, detailing books to be carried aboard a cruising vessel by midshipmen. 345 pp. 12.5 x 19 cm. Blue cloth on board, quite worn, front and back outer spine cracked, 1 cm sword, etc. puncture in book penetrates first 120 pages. Poor. (3761) $150.00. Naval/Civil War/History

[Boat crews from U.S.S. Ethan Allan, Acting Master Isaac A. Pennell, landed at Cane Patch, near Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina, and destroyed a salt work which Pennell, who led the expedi-tion himself, described as "much more extensive than I expected After mixing most of the 2,000 bushels of salt into the sand of the beach, the Union sailors fired the four salt works as well as some 30 buildings in the surrounding area. The next day, off Wither's Swash, Pennell sent Acting Master William H. Winslow and Acting Ensign James H. Bunting ashore with two boat crews to destroy a smaller salt work.]

Ladies' Repository for 1850, The, Rev. B.F. Tefft, D.D., Editor 1850 Cincinnati, OH: L. Swormstedt & J.H. Power.  Splendid collection of elegant engravings, poetry, music, religious thoughts, travel, all manner of literature, book reviews, commentary, attacks on "corrupting literature."  Impressive array of reading for educated women: Lead article for February discusses three books on The Jesuits, gives a colorful description and discussion, but ends with a stern message against the "Romish denomination."  An Incident of the Hungarian War. Adulation of Kossuth. "Tracks of a Traveler" for September relates journey from Canada to Syracuse to Albany and eventually to Martha's Vineyard and Boston, MA. In Boston, editor attends wild meeting of the "radical, abolition, non-resistant, woman's rights, anti-Church, no-government, general-reform, out-and-out, come-out, Garrisonian Society of Fanatics. Never since the flood, has there been such a congregation of lunatics, as were assembled."  Report from Germany on new strides in women's equality. 412 pp. 16 x 25 cm. Red leather on board, moderate edge wear, engravings and some pages foxed, very good. (4821) $60.00. Women's/Religious/Travel/Poetry/Literature

 Scott's Infantry Tactics, title page

Scott's Infantry Tactics, Vol. II: Infantry Tactics; or, Rules for the Exercise and Manœvres of the United States Infantry, New Edition,  by Major-General Scott, U.S. Army 1861 New York: Harper and Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square.  Only  volume II. This small book is a new edition, prepared by Major General Winfield Scott, and the book used by Union soldiers in the Civil War. [It was probably used by Confederate Soldiers, also.]  School of the Battalion. Instruction for Light Infantry and Rifle, or Skirmishers.   Included in this small book are fold-out illustrative plates: there are 24 listed, but eight contain only description (8 plates missing). 228 pp.+75 pp. explan. of plates and plates. 9 x 13. 5 cm. Marbled paper on board with leather spine, spine worn, edges scuffed, pages quite clean but 8 of 24 fold-out plates are missing. Good. (3756) $160.00. Civil War/History/Military

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The Forgotten Iranian Sailors

The Persian Navy   

 Persian Gulf woman with camel

I had just arrived at ARMISH/MAAG Iran.  We were an Army Mission and a Military Advisory and Assistance Group in Tehran.  I was on the advisory staff for the Setade Bozorg, which means "Supreme  Staff" to His Imperial Majesty the Shah. It was 1970.

            The head of the Imperial Iranian Navy (IIN) was Admiral Rassa'i .

            This Chief of the IIN was left over from the old bunch of admirals.

            About a year before, in 1969, the Iranian Navy had maintained a post on an island in the Persian Gulf to operate a lighthouse and signal station, and to keep an eye on the sneaky Iraqis who might be coming down from Basra on the Shatt al Arab (Euphrates River).

            The IIN routinely sent a landing craft out each month to the island to resupply the detachment, and to take replacements, etc.

Watermen at Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf

            However, one month they simply forgot to go out to the island.  Coupled with that, the men on the island had failed to keep up the radio equipment, so they were pretty much stranded out there.  The next month the Navy forgot about them ... still... and so on for several months.

            These poor souls tried everything to get someone's attention, and they took to burning flares.  The first ship to discover them was a Royal Navy destroyer. The RN contacted the British Embassy in Tehran, and Ambassador Ramsbottom contacted the Shah.  It embarrassed the Shah greatly to have the British call attention to such sloppy performance, and so the Shah fired all his admirals-except for Rassa'i.

            That was a clue.  The Persians are very much into appearances and “face”.  In 1970, and even today, they think of themselves as adults in the world community, worthy of respect of all. The Shah was bringing the country into the international community, but still they had men who were more comfortable herding camels suddenly thrust into working on sophisticated jet airplanes.  

            However, they often did --- and still do---  things that make them look primitive in western eyes.  Forgetting their naval detachment on a tiny island in the Persian Gulf was just such a screw-up.  How they reacted to it shows how sensitive they were to being looked at with disfavor.  Americans and others of the industrialized countries are quick to look askance at people in less developed countries, but I can tell you, after getting to know Persians, and staying in touch with them all these years later, they are wonderful, intelligent, and generous people.  I personally think some of their leaders today are trying to take them back to an earlier century, but I am confident that regular Iranians will, one day soon, have enough of that.

            I arrived in Iran after all this, all the admirals except Rassa'i were young men, who had recently been bright Lieutenant Commanders, fresh from training in the UK or the US.  They all spoke English, and were quite sharp looking.  They put on their admirals' uniforms, some got rid of their "old" wives, and acquired wives suitable to their new stations in life.

             That gave me a good idea of how the Shah handled problems in his realm.

            My first trip to the Persian Gulf came a short time after this, and it was fascinating to see the Shah's shiny new destroyers and hovercraft, along with the traditional Arab dhows that have sailed in these waters for centuries.  

            Our escort on one trip around the Gulf was Prince Shaffiq, a nephew of the Shah, and a Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial Iranian Navy.  He was commander of all the helicopters and hovercraft.  After the 1979 revolution he escaped to Paris, and was gunned down shortly afterward by Iranian Islamic Republic agents.

 [Updated 03-31-13.]             

Now—I have some books and papers….

 Acts of the Apostles, The: with a Commentary, First Edition.by Rev. Abiel Abbot Livermore   1844 Boston, MA: James Munroe and Company. Livermore (1811-1892) was a Unitarian pastor in Keene, NH when he published this Commentary. Includes map of the Mediterranean Sea showing the travels and voyages of St. Paul, as well as a Calendar of Events during the first century of the Christian Era, and a Pronouncing Vocabulary. . 330 pp. + 24 pp. catalogue. 12 x 20 cm. Cloth on board with blindstamped design, cover moderately worn, faded with several small holes in cloth. Map of Mediterranean detached. Front free endpaper inscribed: "Amory Holman & Fanny Holman". Good. (5826) $48.00. Religious

  

King of Otaheite

American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, May 1820, Vol. 2 No. 9 Boston, MA: Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts. Memoir of Rev. Henry Jessey. Review of sermon delivered at the ordination of Rev. Stephen Chapin by Jeremiah Chaplin, Professor of Divinity in the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, at North Yarmouth. Extract of letter from Missionary College, Serampore by W. Ward. [Note: Ward was among founders of this College in India in 1818. It still exists in 2008.] College is open to all denominations of Christians, and to as many heathen scholars as choose to avail themselves of its exercises and lectures. Letter from Pomare, King of Otaheite, Society Islands. Report on efforts to Christianize American Indians of the Oneida and Stockbridge; letter signed with marks by Oneida Indians asking to embrace Christianity. 34 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, edges frayed, page corners curled, poor. (6399) $34.00. Religious/Missionary

American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, September 1820, Vol. 2 No. 11 Boston, MA: Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts. Frontispiece engraving of Rev'd James Manning Winchell, A.M. late pastor of the First Baptist Church in Boston. Memoir of the death of Mrs. Tamma Winchell, Rev. Winchell's widow. Tribute on death of Rev. Edward W. Wheelock, who, dying of consumption, left Rangoon for Calcutta, and died at sea. Letter from Mrs. Colman on the Burman Mission, mournfully relates last days of Rev. Wheelock. In letter to her sister she chides her for not answering for "nine long months" and goes on to tell her about revival of Buddhism in Burma, and building of pagodas.  32 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, edges frayed, page corners curled, poor. (6400) $34.00. Religious/Missionary

American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, January 1821, Vol. 3 No. 1 Boston, MA: Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts. Reflections on the New Year, 1821. Memoir of Rev. Andrew Fuller, Late Pastor of the Baptist Church and Society in Warren, Maine. Extracts from Mr. Judson's Journal--Burman Mission. Judson writes of traveling in Burmese rowing boat with ten rowmen to visit monarch in New Ava, or Ahmarapoor, 350 miles from Rangoon. Visit to Pagan. Disappointing audience with the emperor. They presented him an elaborately decorated Bible, which he flung to the ground. Necessity of Christianity to India; about the Hindoos; ritual of dying and the Ganges. Mr. Ward and the Mission at Serampoor. Missionary college at Serampoor will accept a Krishnu, a Sebuk-Ram, or a Ram-Mohun for 45 dollars a year. 40 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, edges frayed, page corners curled, fair. (6401) $34.00. Religious/Missionary

American Gift Book, The; Perpetual Souvenir 1856 New York, NY: Derby & Jackson, 119 Nassau St.  Introduced as "a volume so thoroughly American" includes many patriotic items by various authors, with much, much anti-Catholic writing, ridiculing Roman Catholicism.  Book dedicated to the sons and daughters of America. Frontispiece is engraving of Daniel Webster. Washington's Farewell Address; Poem, "The American Flag" by J.R. Drake; "America for the Americans"  --"We have had enough of 'Young Irelands' and 'Young Germanys'...We want none of his religious mummeries... his travail about the 'Immaculacy of the Virgin Mary'...".  "The Bible in Schools" by Hon. Joseph W. Savage urges that Bibles be returned to public schools, and relates opposition to this by the Catholics... schools do not teach blind and unquestioning obedience to the priesthood, do not inculcate the doctrines of Rome. "The Know Nothings"  by Dr. Thomas E. Bond. "This association has been got up to counteract the political influence of Romanism." Cloth on board, some foxing, blind-stamped design, minor fraying, gift inscription on title page. Publish date circled. Fair. (1303)  $29.00. Religious/Anti-Catholic

Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper:

American Messenger, May 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 5 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Statistics on intemperate persons among the inmates of the Baltimore almshouse: 60%. Mr. John Sadlier, member of the Parliament from Ireland, has just committed suicide, after having been engaged in enormous frauds. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  very good. (5360) $20.00. Religious/History

American Messenger, June 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 6 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Report on desperate condition of women of China, by Rev. John C. Lord of Ningpo:  They are slaves. Story about a dog who saved a store from burning in Troy, NY. War in Europe is ended, Treaty signed in Paris March 30 by Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Sardinia, Turkey, France, Prussia. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  spinefold torn 24 cm,  good. (5361) $20.00. Religious/History

American Messenger, July 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 7 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Colporteurs among the Cherokees. Work of Grace among the Karens of Burmah. The Chinese Language and Dialects. Agent of American Bible Society in Turkey sees declining interest in Mohammedanism and increased interest in the Christian religion among Moslems. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  biopredation in horizontal fold, fair. (5362) $20.00. Religious/History

American Messenger, August 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 8 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Letter from a Slave--Thanks for  the American Messenger! Report of Mexicans in Metamoras (sic) who are willing to read. Progress in the North-west, among Romanists who have renounced Popery and then united with Protestant churches. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  very good. (5363) $20.00. Religious/History

American Messenger, September, 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 9 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Story about lumbermen on the head waters of the Kennebec River in Maine, one who swore that God Almighty is not quick enough to kill me with a tree. The next day, while felling their first tree, a small branch was thrown with fatal  aim, as by the hand of the Almighty, and killed him. Story of brutal Indian swinging festivals honoring Shiva near Calcutta. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  top edge ragged. very good. (5364) $20.00. Religious/History

Florence Nightingale

American Messenger, April 1857; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 15. No. 4 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Florence Nightingale, her upbringing, and her service in the recent war in the Crimea. The Rev. Dr. Eli Smith died Jan. 11 in Beyrout, Syria, aged 55. His work was in translating, preparing and issuing a Bible in Arabic. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  very good. (5365) $20.00.  Religious/History

American Messenger, June 1858; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 16. No. 6   New York, NY: The American Tract Society. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Bishop McIlvaine's Address at 33rd anniversary of the Society. Position on "anti-slavery". Minnesota was admitted into the confederacy of the United States May 12, making the number of states in the Union 32. Russia to adopt the new style of calendar, so that by 1912 their calendar will coincide with the Gregorian. The children's missionary vessel, "Morning Star" since arriving at the Sandwich islands in 1857 has made two important cruises. Newspaper,  very good.  (5372) $20.00.  Religious/History

 Andrew Peabody

Andrew P. Peabody: Three Sermons preached at the South Church, Portsmouth, NH December 25, 1859 and January 15, 1860 by Peabody, Andrew P., D.D. 1860 Portsmouth, NH: James F. Shores, Jun. & Joseph H. Foster. Andrew P. Peabody became famous at the South Church when he stormed against the American victory in the Mexican-American war in 1847. A lifelong pacifist Unitarian preacher, Peabody was a champion of abolition. These three sermons, preached just before the start of the War Between the States, display his eloquence, religious fervor and absolute dedication to the Gospel of Christ. His last sermon is a Vindication of Unitarianism. 32 pp. 14 x 22 cm. (6441) $31.00. Religious/Unitarian

Annual Election Sermon, Preached before His Honor Samuel T. Armstrong, Lieutenant Governor, at the Annual Election, Wednesday, January 6, 1836 by Rev. Andrew Bigelow,  1836 Boston, MA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Stirring, nearly two-hour-long sermon begins with Moses parting the Red Sea to escape from Egypt; makes pitch for increased emphasis on Christian education of all in the Commonwealth. Note that this annual sermon before the Legislature has been conducted since 1631. Table in back of booklet lists preachers who performed this act since John Cotton in 1634, including Increase and Cotton Mather and many other respected men of the cloth. Footnote observes that presiding officer is acting governor AND newly elected mayor of Boston, at the same time.  Gov. Everett will be sworn in one week later. 78 pp. 14.3 x 23.6 cm. Paper booklet, ex-library, marked "dup." 4 and 7 cm tears in front cover at spine, dampstain, good. (6193) $24.00. Religious/History

 Hosea Ballou

Ballou's Sermons: Select Sermons Delivered on Various Occasions from Important Passages of Scripture by Hosea Ballou, Pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Boston 1844 Boston, MA: A. Tompkins. Twenty-five sermons delivered between 1818 and 1829.  Christ our Example. Rich Man and Lazarus. False Teachers Compared to Foxes. Sinner meets with deserved punishment. The New Birth. The End of the World. Divine Truth, as represented by Tithes.  The Golden Calf. Evil of Striving Against God. Book belonged to Library of Rev. Eli Ballou, a prominent Vermont Clergyman. 350 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Cloth on board, blindstamped design, Small bookplate shows "Rev. Eli Ballou's Library". Endpapers torn out, leaving only edges. Except for that, appearance and condition very good.    (1757) $40.00. Religious

  

Bible: Polyglott Bible, English Version, containing the Old and New Testaments with the marginal readings 1834 Brattleboro', VT: Fessenden & Co. and Peck & Wood. Bible has illustrations of scripture, critical introduction to scripture, many other study aids. Contains family record of Raymond family, married 1834. 9 cm. thick, 17 x 27 cm. Calf on board with gold lettering and design, scuffed and worn. Marbled endpapers. Pages foxed. Bible is 4 inches thick. Good. (2575) $45.00. Religious.

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Urine in the Elevators

 

Russians Queue for Kvas

 Urine in the Elevators

When we first arrived in Moscow our apartment in the embassy was not ready for occupancy, so we were put into an apartment across town, in a typical ghetto for foreigners. 

All foreigners were located in big apartment blocks at several spots around the ring road. 

                The block where we were assigned had a few Americans, but the vast majority of people there were Angolans.  These were not people from large cities in Angola, but, it would seem, from the bush. 

Many of them were attending Lumumba University.  One of the graduate-level courses there was how to blow up things.  Perhaps some of the more successful graduates are now teaching Al Qaeda trainees.  

The day we arrived in Moscow, we were loaded down with suitcases.  Our host warned us—don’t set them down in the elevator.  Carry them.  Then, as we stood in the elevator, we could catch the strong smell of urine, and looked down at our shoes.  Gosh. 

It seems as if the little Angolan kids regularly peed in the elevator. 

The month we lived in this apartment was interesting.  This was September, the weather was not too cool, and the Angolans would have parties where they would roast a whole goat and celebrate all night. 

                Living halfway around Moscow on the Ring Road meant we had to learn to get around on the Moscow Metro pretty quickly.  It’s an excellent underground system, except this was summertime, and Russians don’t take a lot of baths, and the air in the subway trains was pretty smelly.

Soviet Navy Admiral and Personal Navigator

discussing weighty issue at Reception

Our Routine.  Our routine in Moscow was divided between trips around the Soviet Unionand just working there at the embassy.  When we were in Moscow we had one to three receptions to go to every night except weekends. We also entertained a lot; we hosted a dinner party for 8 or 10 about once a week.

Poster for "Reds" with Warren Beatty as John Reed

The night the Ambassador showed “Reds”.  One night Ambassador Robert Hartman showed the new film “Reds” starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton (1981) and my wife and I were asked to help as hosts.  This was the story of John Reed, the American Communist who came to Russia to experience the Bolshevik Revolution.  He wrote the book, Ten Days that Shook the World.  The Soviets admired Reed so much that when he died in 1920 he was buried in the Kremlin Wall mausoleum.

                Hartman invited some of the top people in General Secretary Brezhnev’s Politburo to see the film.  It was fascinating to chat with men who had lived and breathed all about “Reds” their whole lives— real Communists, and observe how they reacted to this American film version of the story of John Reed.

One interesting thing was how well informed these people were.  Although the average Russian couldn’t buy Time Magazine and other American periodicals, these people remarked about reading it regularly.  As we visited with top Red wives, we began to get the picture of the privileged life they led.

For me one of the most interesting things about life in Moscow was that it was like the other side of the mirror, behind the Iron Curtain.  As we traveled all over the USSR, when I was able to have a quiet chat with average Russians, out of sight of the often-present KGB, they often asked me: “What does Reagan want?  Does he want war?” 

I would answer, “No. President Reagan and the Americans want peace, just like you do.”

Now, about some books and papers….

 All about Zeppelins-- Cigarette-picture Album, in German

Zeppelin-Weltfahrten Vom ersten Luftschiff 1899 bis zu den Fahrten des L Z 127 "Graf Zeppelin" 1932. Cigarette-picture album with 264 silver-bromide photos and one metallic Weltflug-Gedenkmünze seal. [In German]  1933Dresden, Germany: Bilderstelle-Lohse. Marvelous book tells the story of German Zeppelins, including their history, construction and operation. Small (6 x 4 cm.) photos from cigarette packages are pasted on heavy album-style pages to help tell the story. Includes maps of Zeppelin trips all over the world.  Some photos show happy passengers using restaurant, wash room and staterooms aboard  zeppelin, also aerial photos of cities and locations around the world, including U.S. Capitol, London Bridge, Kremlin. [Interesting that only seven years later, German bombers were dropping bombs on some of these sites!]  Frontispiece photo of Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin with tissue guard. Vorwort: Zeppelin-Weltfahrten-Bilder  liegen  nur den Packungen der Zigaretten-Marken:Club und Liga.  Photos and information on 25 Luftschiffen. . 54 sheets; 34 x 24 cm. Paperback book with photo of Graf Zeppelin airship on cover, minor edgewear to cover, text and photos clean and complete. Album pages printed on heavy card stock. Very good.  (7971) $224.00. Travel/History

Phebe Hanaford

Daughters of America; or,  Women of the Century, Illustrated  by Hanaford, Phebe A. ca. 1883 Augusta, ME: True and Company. Marvelous copy of a grand celebration of and for women; Dedicated to the women of future centuries of the USA. Author Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford (b. 1829— d. 1921) was a lifelong pioneer of feminism, abolition and women's suffrage.  Frontispiece steel engraving of Phebe Hanaford. Stories and illustrations of famous women include Hannah Duston, Martha Washington, Lucretia Mott, Phoebe Cary, Alice Cary, Ida Lewis, Miss Frances E. Willard, Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton, Mrs. R.B. Hayes, Mrs. Dr. McCabe, Mrs. Mary T. Burt, Elizabeth Comstock, Mother Taylor, Emily Huntington Miller, Mrs. Mary C. Johnson. Chapters devoted to  women leaders in many fields; women during the Civil War, wives of Presidents, literary women, women poets, women scientists, women reformers, women preachers (including Mrs. Hanaford), women missionaries, more. 730 pp. 14 x 22 cm. Elegant copy  with fresh decorated cover in muted gold, with image of Martha Washington, slight edge wear on heel and toe of spine. Gilt-edged pages, quite bright and clean. Very faint foxing on frontispiece. Handwritten inscription from "Aunt Fannie" to Elva on front free endpaper, dated 1893. Very good. (1674)  $66.00. Women's/Biography

Stalin, FDR and Churchill at Tehran

Signal, Jahrgang 5, Heft 6, 1944, erscheint zweimal monatlich [in German]       1944 Reetz, Wilhelm, Hauptschriftleiter; Berlin:                 Deutscher Verlag, Berlin SW 68, Kochsraße 22-26         40 pp. 27 x 36 cm. Nazi Photo Magazine published 1940-45, propaganda organ widely distributed during World War II. Cover shows black and white photo of Red Cross nurses walking up accommodation ladder of ship, "Im Dienst des Roten Kreuzes" illustrating article: "Schildträger der Ritterlichkeit. Das Internationale Komitee vom Roten Kreuz". "Der korrekte Terror. Die 'kriegswichtigen' Ziele der anglo-amerikanischen Bomber"; "Unter dem Sowjetwappen. Bilder aus Teheran" with photos of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, reporting their meeting in Tehran, Iran at the Soviet Embassy. "Romantik der Bosnischen Wälder?" Photo of Zwei Könige Peter II ofYugoslavia and George II of Greece; photo of Croatian soldiers killed by Boshevists; Photo of men of Waffen-SS Division, "Befreier von der Schreckenherrschaft."  "Panzer -- zwischen zwei Schlachten--nach Einem Tiefen Stoss in die Sowjetischen Linien." Very good black and white and color photos.        Periodical, very good.         (7995) $35.00. World War II/History

Laws of Business for All the States of the Union with forms and directions for all transactions, Revised Edition by Parsons, Theophilus, LL.D 1875, Hartford, CT: S.S. Scranton & Company. Harvard Law Professor prepared this book for everyman. Mortgages of land, goods, chattels; rights of women (very few); Bankruptcy; Notes of Hand and Bills of Exchange; Infants or minors; Apprentices. Married Women: …" a married woman is wholly incapable of entering into mercantile contracts on her own account. By the fact of marriage, her husband becomes possessed of all her real estate during her life, and if a living child be born of the marriage, he has her real estate during his own life, if he survive her."  Includes laws of each state with regard to Married Women.   697 pp. 14 x 23 cm. Maroon cloth on board with calf spine, edges frayed, leather quite scuffed; inside hinges cracked; owner name dated 1875 on ffep. Good. (4818) $30.00. Reference

Lydia E. Pinkham's Private Text-Book, Revised Edition ca. 1930 Lynn, MA: The Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co. In front of book: Caution to the owner:  This little book treats of  delicate subjects and has been sent to you only by request. It is not intended for indiscriminate reading but for you own private information. Book teaches women about menstruation and women's illnesses, and care, including Lydia E. Pinkham's medicines. Also includes very explicit testimonials, two blank postcards addressed to LEP Co., and an offer for a hot plate rest. 63 pp. 11.5 x 15.5 cm. Paper booklet with tape spine, very good. Included are testimonials for Sanative Wash, two blank postcards, and a typed letter offer. (5555)  $30.00. Women's/Medical/Advertising

Radford's Portfolio of Details of Building Construction;  185 full-page detail drawings by Radford, William A,; Johnson, Bernard L., B.S.; Rawson, Charles P. 1911 Chicago, IL: The Radford Architectural Company. "Remarkable and Unique Collection" of plates showing details of modern building construction and finish for brick, frame, brick-vener, stucco and concrete houses and barns.  Details for interior trim including built-in features, kitchen cabinets, cases and cupboards and more. Designs for porches, balconies, stairways, fire places and more. Includes design for a Tuberculosis Camp Tent, Septic Tanks, how to remodel a store into a small theatre, stave silo, cooling box for cream, cold storage, more. 200 pp. 23 x 31 cm. Decorated light tan cloth on board, bottom nine cm of spine torn, edges frayed,  inner hinges cracked, detail pencil design drawings in two places. Inscription on front free endpaper: "Wallace A. Jones, 115 Chapman St., Greenfield, Mass." Fair. (7905)  $78.00. Scientific/Architectural

PHOTO:Camp Meeting, ca. 1890

Camp Meeting ca.1890        21 x 16 cm. Photo shows group of adults standing and seated, with meal table behind.  There are four very neat tents, and a smaller cook tent. Also shown is a girl and two bicycles. Photo is faded, with  1 x 6 cm. Tear in right edge. Poor.  (2196) $15.00. Photo/Ephemera  

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