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Melodramatic Anti-Mormon Illustrations
HERE
IS a seldom-seen "publisher's dummy"
or salesman's sample used one hundred years ago to promote a famous sensationalistic
book . . .
J[ohn].
H[anson]. BEADLE. POLYGAMY,
Or, THE MYSTERIES AND CRIMES OF MORMONISM.
Being a Full and Authentic History of this Strange Sect From its Origin
to the Present Time. With a Thrilling Account of the Inner Life and Teachings
of the Mormons and an Exposé of the Secret Rites and Ceremonies of the
Deluded Followers of Brigham Young. By J. H. Beadle, Formerly Editor of the
Salt Lake Reporter, and Clerk of the Supreme Court for Utah. Assisted by Hon.
O. J. Hollister, United States Revenue Collector for Utah. With an Introduction
by Hon. Murat Halstead, the Renowned Author. Illustrated with a Great Number
of Striking Scenes of Life Among the Mormons. Cincinnati, Ohio: W. H. Ferguson
Company, [c. 1904].
9 X 6¼ inches. Not
collated, because not intended to be the complete book. Approximately one hundred
miscellaneous pages, including special sensationalistic promotional leaf advertising
the upcoming work.
Promoting what would become FLAKE 356. Original
blue gilt-decorated cloth gilt, printed in black. In excellent condition.
::SOLD::
postpaid:
$150::
THE FIRST
THING YOU NOTICE when you look at a salesman's
sample book is that it is not nearly as thick as the book itself
. . .
Rare "publisher's dummies" are uncommon
relics from a time when major best-sellers might be sold exclusively by subscription.
Experienced agents or private citizens could order a sales kit, show the sample
book to friends and other prospective customers, and record the orders on special
blank forms bound in at the end. (The forms in this example are still blank,
and contain no orders.)
This is therefore not
the book, but a MUCH MORE SCARCE
sample volume used by the publisher to sell the book in advance.
Yes, people collect these, and major rare book libraries treasure them. Entire
articles have been written on the subject.
This salesman's sample book includes a few pages
of text, and many of the illustrations - just enough to entice prospective readers
to order the book. The back cover of this thin volume includes a stamped impression
of how the spine will look on the full-sized book, once it arrives . . .
Beadle's anti-Mormon potboiler went through
many editions in several languages, beginning in 1870. This updated 1904 edition,
however, is notable for its critique of continuing polygamy among the Latter-day
Saints, long after Wilford Woodruff's Manifesto had been accepted by the
Church. In fact, the frontispiece of this edition is a fresh illustration of
Joseph F. Smith returning to his very large family after testifying in
Washington, D.C. . . .
"Founded in Fraud,"
declares the special advertisement page leaf near the end of this sample book,
this
sect has defied both law and morality until it is to-day the Standing Reproach
of our Great Country. Its existence is a foul blot on the fair name of the
Republic. . . . The demand for this work is greatly increased by the determination
of the Mormon leaders to baffle the efforts of our Government to put an
end to Polygamy, and to enforce the law against those people who, calling
themselves Latter-day Saints, have violated every law of God and man. . .
. According to the sworn testimony of President Smith, who is the head of
the Mormon Church, many of its high officials are still practicing Polygamy
to the disgust of all decent people. . . .
So buy this book (in 1904)! It will be nearly
600 pages in length, "furnished to subscribers at the following low prices:"
Bound in Fine Cloth, Silk Finish, Marbled
Edges, - $1.75
Bound in Morocco Grained Texoderm, Gilt Edges, -$2.50
This work is sold by subscription
only, and cannot be had except through our regularly authorized Canvassing
Agents. Subscribers will not be obliged to take the book unless it corresponds
with the description in every particular.
I am afraid to ask what "Morocco Grained
Texoderm" is. Gilt edges or not, I promise it is not morocco leather!.
This publisher's dummy contains some forty-five illustrations,
most of them full-page, including early Mormon leaders, the Kinderhook plates,
the Deseret Alphabet, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, many polygamy scenes, and
a good portrait of "United States Senator Reed Smoot, the Mormon Apostle"
on glossy paper at the front. Despite the authors' disdain for Mormonism, they
did not attempt to detract from Smoot's physical appearance . . . as they did
of Brigham Young and his associates!
Some of the pictures are delightfully melodramatic,
partaking of an overly-precious Victorian delicacy, as exemplified in the drawing
of a young Mormon girl pleading with her mother to save her from polygamy. Others
are more course, as in the familiar image from earlier editions, vilifying the
Mormon temple ceremonies, the oath of vengeance, and the doctrine of blood atonement
. . .
detail, enlarged from the full scandalous plate seen below
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