Collections of an Only Child: Seventy Years a Bibliophile, the Library of Justin G. Schiller

Boston: J.B. Yerrington & Son, ca. 1859-65. Atlas folio. Collection of approximately 180 of issues of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. Complete from November 25, 1859 (Vol. XXIX No. 47) through December 26, 1862, followed by assorted issues from April 9, 1852 through November 18, 1859. Full green buckram, lightly soiled. Condition varies, scattered toning, stains, tears, or tape repairs; March 21, 1862 (Vol. XXXII, No. 12) issue disbound; ownership signature of "Capt. Z.H. Small" at top of most issues.

The Liberator was founded by Boston Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in 1831. The paper took a religious perspective on the issue of slavery instead of a political one, appealing to a reader's moral conscience, as well as advocating for the rights of women and other marginalized groups. Garrison's weekly publication influenced many prominent leaders of the Abolitionist movement, including Frederick Douglass, Beriah Green, Jr., Arthur and Lewis Tappan, as well as Alfred Niger, and many more.

Important events featured in this volume include: President Lincoln's inaugural address (8 March, 1861); the outbreak of the Civil War at Fort Sumter (19 April, 1861); the Emancipation Proclamation (2 January, 1863); the New York Draft Riots (24 July, 1863); the Gettysburg Address (27 November, 1863); the Fort Pillow Massacre (22 April, 1864); Sojourner Truth's letter on her visit with President Lincoln (23 December, 1864); the fall of Richmond (7 and 14 April, 1865); Lincoln's assassination (two black-bordered pages, 21 April, 1865); and the farewell issue, dated 29 December, 1865 (the unrevised version, without William Nell's "Farewell to the Liberator" on the final page).