Nov 7, 2023 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
21
Foreman of the jury that convicted Rebecca Nurse
Estate / Collection: The Victor Gulotta Collection
[SALEM WITCH TRIALS]
FISKE, THOMAS. Autograph document signed. Wenham: 23 September 1693. An autograph document in the hand of Thomas Fiske and signed “Tho: Fiske town Clerk,” the document a true copy taken from the Town Book of Records providing the text of a resolution of a town meeting at Wenham on 20 April 1692 in which “30 acres of land to be laid for Goodman Hobbs joining to the house where he dwell to be for his use till the Towns do cause to dispose of it some other way…” 3 ½ x 6 inches (16 x 8.5 cm); framed with a reproduction of an illustration depicting the trial of Rebecca Nurse. Provenance: James Cummins Bookseller.
Thomas Fiske (1630-1707) came to Massachusetts shortly after his birth in 1630. A prominent citizen, he was town recorder for Wenham from 1686 and given his standing was appointed to the jury that heard the case of Rebecca Nurse, accused of witchcraft, in June of 1692. Rebecca Nurse was an unlikely person to face persecution: she was a 71-year-old married woman with children and well-respected within the community with a reputation for piety. Nurse’s family originated in Salem but settled in nearby Topsfield. On March 23, 1692, a warrant was issued for her arrest based upon accusations made by Ann Putnam, Jr., Ann Putnam, Sr, and Abigail Williams of Salem, as well as another who claimed to have seen Nurse’s spirit tormenting Ann Putnam, Sr.
An example of the testimony against Rebecca Nurse follows: “The Deposition of Ann Putnam… saith that on the first day of June 1692 the Apperishtion of Rebekah Nurs did again fall upon me and almost choak me and she toald me that now she was come out of prision she had power to afflet me and that now she could for she tould me she had kiled benjamine Holton and John fuller and Rebekah Shepard: and she also toald me that she and her sister Cloyes and Ed: Bhishop wife of of Salem village had kiled young Jno putnams Child because yong Jno putnam had said that it was no wonder they were witches for their mother was so before them and because they could not aveng themselves on him they did kill his child…”
Nurse’s trial received some measure of public outcry and a petition on her behalf was signed by 39 citizens. Initially found not guilty, David Goss’ The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide describes what happened next:
“When Thomas Fiske, the jury foreman, announced the verdict the afflicted children raised such an outcry that Chief Justice William Stoughton asked Fiske to reconsider. Stoughton suggested that perhaps the jury had not heard Rebecca make an incriminating statement when another prisoner was brought in to testify against her. When Fiske later questioned Rebecca as to the exact meaning of her statement, she would not reply. This lack of a response, probably due to Rebecca’s partial deafness, was unexpected. Fiske waited briefly, then returned to the jury, and soon came back with a verdict of guilty. Stoughton sentenced her to be executed on July 19, 1692.”
The incriminating statement that Nurse had made was that another accused witch, Deliverance Hobbs, was "of her company," likely meaning that they were standing trial together rather than that they had both made a pact with the devil as it was perceived. Governor Phips reviewed Nurse’s case personally but ordered the execution. The current document signed by Fiske, just months following these events, mentions a “Goodman Hobbs,” possibly William Hobbs, husband of Deliverance with whom Rebecca Nurse was accused. The execution of Rebecca Nurse, a pious and well-respected woman, signaled the beginning of the end of the Salem Witch Trials as the local citizenry began to question the accusations, and soon thereafter spectral evidence was rendered inadmissible by Governor Phips.
In 1697, Thomas Fiske signed an apology for his role on the jury that condemned Rebecca Nurse: “we justly fear that we were sadly deluded and mistaken — for which we are much disquieted and distressed in our minds, and do therefore humbly beg forgiveness…” The present document presents a rare opportunity to possess the contemporaneous signature of the troubled jury foreman.
Sold for $1,071
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Includes Buyer's Premium
Estate / Collection: The Victor Gulotta Collection
[SALEM WITCH TRIALS]
FISKE, THOMAS. Autograph document signed. Wenham: 23 September 1693. An autograph document in the hand of Thomas Fiske and signed “Tho: Fiske town Clerk,” the document a true copy taken from the Town Book of Records providing the text of a resolution of a town meeting at Wenham on 20 April 1692 in which “30 acres of land to be laid for Goodman Hobbs joining to the house where he dwell to be for his use till the Towns do cause to dispose of it some other way…” 3 ½ x 6 inches (16 x 8.5 cm); framed with a reproduction of an illustration depicting the trial of Rebecca Nurse. Provenance: James Cummins Bookseller.
Thomas Fiske (1630-1707) came to Massachusetts shortly after his birth in 1630. A prominent citizen, he was town recorder for Wenham from 1686 and given his standing was appointed to the jury that heard the case of Rebecca Nurse, accused of witchcraft, in June of 1692. Rebecca Nurse was an unlikely person to face persecution: she was a 71-year-old married woman with children and well-respected within the community with a reputation for piety. Nurse’s family originated in Salem but settled in nearby Topsfield. On March 23, 1692, a warrant was issued for her arrest based upon accusations made by Ann Putnam, Jr., Ann Putnam, Sr, and Abigail Williams of Salem, as well as another who claimed to have seen Nurse’s spirit tormenting Ann Putnam, Sr.
An example of the testimony against Rebecca Nurse follows: “The Deposition of Ann Putnam… saith that on the first day of June 1692 the Apperishtion of Rebekah Nurs did again fall upon me and almost choak me and she toald me that now she was come out of prision she had power to afflet me and that now she could for she tould me she had kiled benjamine Holton and John fuller and Rebekah Shepard: and she also toald me that she and her sister Cloyes and Ed: Bhishop wife of of Salem village had kiled young Jno putnams Child because yong Jno putnam had said that it was no wonder they were witches for their mother was so before them and because they could not aveng themselves on him they did kill his child…”
Nurse’s trial received some measure of public outcry and a petition on her behalf was signed by 39 citizens. Initially found not guilty, David Goss’ The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide describes what happened next:
“When Thomas Fiske, the jury foreman, announced the verdict the afflicted children raised such an outcry that Chief Justice William Stoughton asked Fiske to reconsider. Stoughton suggested that perhaps the jury had not heard Rebecca make an incriminating statement when another prisoner was brought in to testify against her. When Fiske later questioned Rebecca as to the exact meaning of her statement, she would not reply. This lack of a response, probably due to Rebecca’s partial deafness, was unexpected. Fiske waited briefly, then returned to the jury, and soon came back with a verdict of guilty. Stoughton sentenced her to be executed on July 19, 1692.”
The incriminating statement that Nurse had made was that another accused witch, Deliverance Hobbs, was "of her company," likely meaning that they were standing trial together rather than that they had both made a pact with the devil as it was perceived. Governor Phips reviewed Nurse’s case personally but ordered the execution. The current document signed by Fiske, just months following these events, mentions a “Goodman Hobbs,” possibly William Hobbs, husband of Deliverance with whom Rebecca Nurse was accused. The execution of Rebecca Nurse, a pious and well-respected woman, signaled the beginning of the end of the Salem Witch Trials as the local citizenry began to question the accusations, and soon thereafter spectral evidence was rendered inadmissible by Governor Phips.
In 1697, Thomas Fiske signed an apology for his role on the jury that condemned Rebecca Nurse: “we justly fear that we were sadly deluded and mistaken — for which we are much disquieted and distressed in our minds, and do therefore humbly beg forgiveness…” The present document presents a rare opportunity to possess the contemporaneous signature of the troubled jury foreman.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection, Nov 7, 2023
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Successful Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps Tops $1 Million!
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November 7, 2023 Sale Featured the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana & Travel
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle's successful auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on November 7, 2023 topped $1 million amid competitive international bidding. Offerings in this popular sale spanned early illuminated manuscripts to modern literary first editions.
The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana and Travel comprised fascinating material that attracted bidders from around the world. Highlighting the collection was a copy of the first Latin edition of the earliest published collection of voyages, including those of Columbus and Vespucci: the 1508 Milan Fracanzo da Montalboddo, which achieved a strong $239,400. The collection also featured a rare uncut copy of Livio Sanuto's 1588 atlas of Africa that doubled its estimate at $25,200, as well as a group of 19th and early 20th century material relating to Zanzibar that attracted intense competition, sending the lots soaring over expectations. (Read more about Esmond Bradley Martin below.)
Property of other owners was highlighted by a first edition of Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking scientific work, On the Origin of Species, 1859, which realized $94,500. This copy bore provenance of Charles Darwin's great-grandson Quentin Keynes, to the naturalist Richard Bayard Dominick, thence by descent to the consignor.
Robert Browning's first edition copy of John Keats’ poem, Endymion, 1818, sold for $37,800, many times its $7,000-10,000 estimate. The poem begins with the well-known verse, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."
The selection of livres des artistes featured François-Louis Schmied's Daphne in a major Art Deco binding by Pierre Legrain, 1924, one of 140 copies. The book tripled its $8,000-12,000 estimate, selling for $32,760.
Manuscripts in the sale were highlighted by a medieval manuscript on paper, Calculus temporum Ecclesiasticus, which sailed past its estimate of $3,000-5,000 to achieve an exceptional $31,500. This fascinating calendrical manuscript in Latin, circa 1360, possibly English in origin, was once the property of antiquary and collector Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872).
100 years before the Revolution: from Plymouth Colony to the Salem Witch Trials - The Victor Gulotta Collection, offered a curated collection of 17th and 18th century manuscripts documenting life in colonial New England. Among the rarities were a 1691 document signed by two notorious Salem witch trials magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin that realized $5,670, a document from 1686/87 signed by Edmund Andros as Governor of the Dominion of New England that sold for $5,670, and a 1656 Boston court document relating to a divorce case that achieved $6,300, all three exceeding their estimates.
Esmond Bradley Martin
Esmond Bradley Martin (1941-2018) was educated as a geographer and philosopher. He and his wife Chryssee had an enduring fascination with Africa, and settled in Nairobi, Kenya, in the mid-1970s. He wrote extensively, oftentimes in conjunction with his wife, publishing works including Zanzibar. Tradition and Revolution, Hamish Hamilton, 1978; Cargoes of the east. The ports, trade, and culture of the Arabian Seas and western Indian Ocean, Elm Tree Press, 1978; and many other works on African history and conservation. In the late 1970s, he began extensive research into the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, which included substantial stints incognito posing as a buyer of illicit wildlife products. For a while, he served as special envoy for rhino conservation for the United Nations. He continued this work until 2018 , when tragically he was stabbed to death in his Nairobi home
For about thirty years, beginning in the mid-1960s, Esmond Bradley Martin assiduously collected books and manuscripts on Africa and its history, acquiring a phenomenal collection of letters by many of the major English explorers of the nineteenth century, as well as numerous rarities from earlier centuries. He was buying at a time when troves of such material surfaced frequently at English auctions. Doyle was privileged to offer the first selection of his collection in the November 7 auction. A second and final portion will be offered early next year.
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Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.
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