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454
●
(RELIGION.) JASPER, REV.
JOHN.
De Sun Do Move.
Tall chro-
molithograph, 32 x 12 inches, in what
may be the original heavy tiger-striped
oak frame.
New York: Strobridge Lith., circa
1875-1880
[1,500/2,500]
A RARE AND VIRULENTLY RACIST DEPIC
-
TION OF THE REVEREND JOHN JASPER
,
DELIVERING HIS FAMOUS SERMON
“
DE SUN
DO MOVE
.”
Jasper (1812-1901), is without
question one of the 19th century’s most impor-
tant black ministers. His fiery oratory and
passionate delivery drew crowds of white as well
as black Baptist congregants. Jasper had honed
his oratory style in the 1840’s delivering grave-
side sermons for slaves and free blacks, and
making the occasional appearance at the First
African Baptist Church of Richmond. It is a
testament to Jasper’s charismatic powers that
while still a slave in the tobacco fields and fac-
tories in the 25 years preceding the Civil War,
he was allowed to deliver sermons to sizeable
crowds of slaves, despite a Virginia law specifi-
cally prohibiting such behavior. After the War
and Emancipation, Jasper was formally
ordained and organized the Sixth Mount Zion
Baptist Church. It was here that he delivered
his famous sermon “De Sun Do Move.”
Though entirely counter to what science had
known for centuries, Jasper’s geocentric sermon
still drew crowds of people of all persuasion.
According to one skeptic “Jasper didn’t convert
me to this theory, nor did he convert me to his
religion, but he did convert me to himself.”
WE
WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE A SINGLE OTHER
COPY OF THIS LITHOGRAPH
,
AT AUCTION
OR IN ANY COLLECTION
.
454
455
●
(RELIGION.) ASHLEY, JAMES M.
Duplicate Copy of the Souvenir from
the Afro-American League of Tennessee to Hon. James M. Ashley of Ohio.
Frontispiece of Ashley and additional illustrations. 851, [50], pages. Large, thick 8vo, origi-
nal pictorial blue cloth with beveled edges, stamped in dark blue and lettered in gilt on the
spine; all edges sprinkled red,
AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY
,
INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY ASHLEY
.
Philadelphia: A.M.E. Publishing House, 1894
[800/1,200]
A COPY OF THE
“
LIBRARY EDITION
”
INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE SUBJECT OF THIS
EXHAUSTIVE WORK
.
A collection of speeches and addresses by James M. Ashley (1824-1896), a
leading voice in the struggle for the abolition of slavery. Ashley traveled with John Brown’s wife and
reported on his execution for the Toledo (Ohio) Blade. During his term in the United States
Congress, he wrote a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, introduced the first bill for a
constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, and initiated impeachment proceedings against President
Andrew Johnson (1867). The first copy we have seen of this “Library Edition.” James M. Ashley
was the great grandfather of U.S. Representative Tom Ashley.