auction guide · 2021. 2. 22. · • gift guide winter 201 • collecting kipling • vintage...
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Issue 19.2 // sprIng 2021
S p e c i a l D i g i t a l S u p p l e m e n t
SPRING 2021
F B & C
AUCTIONguide
heritage auctions
Significant Signatures
hindman auctions
Something for Everyone
potter & potter auctions
A Sale of Literary Importanceswann galleries
Fascinating Finds
S p r i n g 2 0 2 1 | 1
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Spring 2012• Larry McMurtry• Collecting Picasso• Printer’s Medals
Summer 2012• Brewster Kahle• Chihuly’s Glass• Copernicus in
Cambridge
Autumn 2012• Art of Marcellino• Bluebacks• The Nation’s
Bookbinder
Winter 2013• Jonathan Lethem• Book Props• Grateful Dead Archives
Spring 2013• Book Gangs• Ian Fleming• Hobart Book Village
Autumn 2013• Basbanes on the
Paper Trail• Billy Ireland• Gift Guide
Winter 201• Collecting Kipling• Vintage Hollywood
Scripts• Resource Guide
Spring 201 • Antiques Roadshow• Well-Read Women• Bookish Instanbul
Summer 201 • Stolen Maps• Top Auction Sales• Edward Gorey
Autum 201 • National Geographic’s
Women Photographers• Boston’s Literary District• Spy Libraries
Winter 2015 • Hemingway• Famous Children’s
Books• Book Arts for Kids
Spring 2015• Manhattan’s El Morocco• Charting the ocean• Simon Winchester
Summer 2015• Marion Wolcott Photos• Literary Ephemera• “Stone Age” Maps
Autumn 2015• Collecting Cookbooks• 150 years of Alice• Coastal Art Maps
Winter 2016• Juan Felipe Herrera• Mapping the West• Inside Downton Abbey’s
Library
Spring 2016• Agatha Christie• Mo Willems• Chip Kidd’s Creative
Biosphere
Summer 2016• Wallace Stevens• Women’s History• Brontë’s 200th Birthday
Autumn 2016• Vintage Caricatures• Holiday Gift Guide• Puzzlemaster Will Shortz
Winter 2017• Aviation Archive• William Blake• Collecting the
Vietnam War
Spring 2017• otto Penzler• Emily Dickinson• Wycliffi te Bible
Summer 2017• Lost Libraries• Pop-up Books• Bibliophile Letters
Autumn 2017• Art of Plath• Collecting Photobooks• First Road Atlas
Winter 2018• Frankenstein at 200• Tales from Shakespeare• Bejeweled Bindings
Spring 2018• Female Illustrators• Spirit Photography• Colonial Maps
Summer 2018• Tom Wolfe• Steinbeck’s Western Flyer• Little Blue Books
Autumn 2018• Vatican Library• Tolkien• McCloskey’s Island
Winter 2019• Eric Carle• National Park Libraries• Moe’s Books
Spring 2019• Gotham Book Mart• Rare Indian Books• Casanova’s Memoirs
Summer 2019• Whitman at 200• Space Travel• Melville’s abode
Autumn 2019• Collecting Horror• George Eliot• Maritime Atlases
Winter 2020• Tulsa Music Archives• Dana Gioia• Edith Wharton’s Library
Spring 2020• David Rubenstein• NyC Museum Libraries• Building a Bibliosphere
Summer 2020• Gentle Madness at 25• Kevin young• Shakespeare Society of
America
Autumn 2020• Dora Maar• Edith Rockefeller
McCormick• Beethoven Collections
Winter 2021• Collecting &
Repatriation• Betye Saar• Cholera Maps
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heritage auctions
2Significant SignaturesHeritage Auctions to sell signed Journals of Congress in June sale.
Contents • Spring 2021 • FineBooksMagazine.com
Auction Guide
hindman auctions
4 Something for EveryoneHindman’s 2021 sales kick off with fascinating finds in every price range.
potter & potter auctions
6 A Sale of Literary ImportancePotter & Potter Auctions’ March sale will include a wide range of significant books and letters.
swann galleries
8 Fascinating FindsSwann’s April sale promises a wide selection of items rarely seen at auction.
On the COverIllustration from Menagerie (1906) by Benjamin Rabier.
Spring 2021, 19.2 FineBooksMagazine.com
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Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 12-25%; see HA.com. 60888
RARE BOOKS SIGNATURE®
AUCTIONJune 9-10, 2021 | Dallas | Live & Online
DALLAS | NEW YORK | BEVERLY HILLS | SAN FRANCISCO | CHICAGO | PALM BEACHLONDON | PARIS | GENEVA | AMSTERDAM | HONG KONG
Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 40+ CategoriesImmediate Cash Advances Available
1.25 Million+ Online Bidder-Members
Consign alongside these fi ne books being offered in our June Signature® auction
Consign by April 12, 2021 | View Online Catalog and Bid at HA.com/6232
INQUIRIES: 877-HERITAGE (437-4824)James Gannon | Director, Rare Books | ext. 1609 | [email protected]
[Continental Congress]. Journals of Congress. Complete series of thirteen volumes, 1777-1788. With volumes from the libraries of, and with the signatures of, important early American statesmen John Sullivan, Roger Sherman, John Langdon, Gunning Bedford, Jr., Peter du Ponceau, Samuel John Atlee, and Richard Rush.
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Peggy Carouthers lives in Washington and is the director of custom content at Journalistic Inc.
Heritage Auctions@Auction
Significant Signatures
Heritage Auctions to sell signed Journals of Congress in June sale.
heritage Auctions will hold its first Rare Books
Signature sale of 2021, June 9–10. Among a wide range of books and works on paper, one of the most significant lots to come to auction dur-ing this sale is the complete 13-volume set of the Journals of Congress, which cover pro-ceedings from 1774 to 1788.
“This set covers the first 13 United States congresses, including the two Continental Congresses and the Constitutional Convention,” said James Gannon, Director of Rare Books at Heritage Auctions. “It was put together by someone who was able to track down volumes from the private collections and per-sonal libraries of Founding Fathers and Revolutionary War statesmen.”
The first volume, which begins with the first Continental Congress on September 5, 1774, is signed by General John Sullivan, a member of the New Hampshire delegation to that first Continental Congress. Also, a brigadier general dur-ing the Revolutionary War, Sullivan commanded troops both at the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Brandywine.
The second volume, which covers proceedings from the
year 1776, is signed by emi-nent founding statesman Roger Sherman.
“Sherman was a mem-ber of the Committee of Five, along with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston and, most famously, Thomas Jefferson, tasked by the Second Continental Congress with drafting the Declaration of Independence. He was the only person to sign all four founding documents of the nation—the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution,” Gannon said. “He also served as the
first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, as a Justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut, and as a U.S. representative and senator from Connecticut.”
The third volume con-tains signatures from John Langdon, a member of the second Continental Congress from New Hampshire, delegate of the Constitutional Convention
from New Hampshire, the first President pro tempore of the Senate, governor of New Hampshire, and Senator from New Hampshire; and Gunning Bedford, Jr., aide to Washington, del-egate to the Continental Congress, Attorney General of Delaware, delegate to the Constitutional Convention from Delaware, and signer of the Constitution.
other volumes include signatures from other notable early American figures such as Peter du Ponceau, secre-tary and aide to Baron von Steuben; Samuel John Atlee, a colonel in the Revolutionary War and member of the
Continental Congress from Pennsylvania; and Richard Rush, the eighth U.S. attorney general, the eighth Secretary of the Treasury, running mate to John Quincey Adams in 1828, ambassador to Britain and France, and son of prom-inent founding father, Dr. Benjamin Rush.
The set last sold for $7,500 in 1977, but as values and infla-tion have risen, bidding for
the volumes will begin at $10,000 in a live and online auction, though no bidders will be present in the room.
“To find so many signa-tures of this caliber in one set is exceedingly rare,” Gannon says. “Something like this only comes along once every three or four decades and it is gratifying to be able to show it to our bidders. It is essential for them to know that impor-tant primary materials are still available for private collec-tions. Not all are housed deep in the holdings of major insti-tutions.” l
Volume III of the Journals of Congress, with the signatures of John Langdon and Gunning Bedford, Jr. Bidding begins at $10,000.
HINDMANAUCTIONS.COM
INQUIRIES Gretchen Hause, Director & Senior [email protected]
Currier & IvesThe Rocky Mountains. Emigrants Crossing the Plains.
1866
Property from a Distinguished Midwestern Collection$10,000.00 - 15,000.00
Upcoming AuctionsSale 873 Books & Manuscripts May 12, 2021 | 10am CT
Sale 904Fine Press Books, Online OnlyMay 13, 2021 | 10am CT
View of San Francisco, California by N. Currier and Wm. B. McMurtie (1851, estimated $6,000–8,000).
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SPRING 2021
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Peggy Carouthers lives in Washington and is the director of custom content at Journalistic Inc.
Hindman Auctions@Auction
Something for Everyone
Hindman Auctions’ 2021 sales kick off with fascinating finds in every price range.
hindman Auction’s 2021 sales schedule is shap-
ing up to generate impres-sive results. This comes on the heels of a banner year for the house in 2020.
Last year, Hindman reported an impressive $5.48 million in sales, and out of 1,100 lots offered in the house’s Chicago salesroom, 995 were sold, achieving a 90.5 percent sell-through rate for 2020. Meanwhile, individ-ual book sales also achieved strong results: Hindman’s June Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts sale achieved a 94 percent sell-through
rate; the November auction achieved a 91 percent sell-through rate; and the october single-owner auction gener-ated $1.2 million in sales.
Following these results, Hindman has its sights set on ambitious goals for 2021. A single-owner literature sale on March 19 will kick off this year’s sale season. This will be followed by Hindman’s Fine Books and Manuscripts sale—including Americana—which will be hosted May 12–13.
one highlight of the May sale will be a large collection of Currier and Ives prints.
“This large, very fine collec-
tion was amassed very care-fully by a Midwestern collec-tor who knew the material very well,” said Gretchen Hause, director and senior specialist of the Books and Manuscripts department at Hindman. “These prints are in great condition, and some of them are rarities at auction.”
Themes for the Currier and Ives prints include rail-roads, trains, and steamboats,
as well as winter, night, and Western scenes. Individual estimates vary, but begin at $800 and go up to $15,000.
Fine press books will also be well-represented in the sale. one notable lot is a nearly complete set of Limited Editions Club books dated through 2010 from a fine private collection.
“This very fine collection of fine press books includes a virtually complete run of Limited Editions Club books, which we’ll offer as a sin-gle lot of about 600 vol-umes,” Hause said. “Complete Limited Editions Club sets are
rare at auction. I know of only two sets offered in the last 20 years, and the collector put the books together with an eye toward fine condition.”
This collection also includes fine examples of books from the Allen Press, Logan Elm Press, Grabhorn Press, Arion Press, Golden Cockerel Press, Bird and Bull Press, Pennyroyal Press, and Westgate Press. Books from this collection will be offered in both the live May 13 auc-tion, and in an online auction of Fine Press Books, which will run concurrently with the live auction.
The sale will also include a collection of Bibles, which range from the incunable period through the 19th cen-tury in America, printed in a variety of locations and lan-guages, estimated between a few hundred and several thousand dollars.
Though not available in person, bidding will take place through traditional channels, such as absentee and telephone bidding, as well as through Hindman’s new online bidding platform, called the Digital Bid Room, which includes a new app.
“We’re going to have a strong first half of 2021,” Hause said. “In addition to a sin-gle-owner sale of fine litera-ture to be held in March, the May sale will feature interest-ing finds fresh to market from private collections and wide selections of printed books and Americana in a variety of price ranges. There will be something for every collec-tor.” l
Potter & Potterpage 7
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FINE BOOKS &MANUSCRIPTS DEPT.
LONDON, Jack. The Call of the Wild. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE in the scarce original dust jacket. Est. $3,000/5,000 At auction March 13, 2021
CHRISTOPHER BRINK, Director & [email protected]
UPCOMINGAUCTION:
FUTURE SALES:
March 13th, 2021Fine Books & Manuscripts
August 28th, 2021Featuring Americana, travel, natural history and fine press
Fall 2021
Now accepting consignments for all forthcoming sales
INQUIRIES:
Potter & Potter@Auction SPRING 2021
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Peggy Carouthers lives in Washington and is the director of custom content at Journalistic Inc.
A Sale of Literary Importance
Potter & Potter Auctions’ March sale will include a wide range of
significant books and letters.
on March 13, Potter & Potter Auctions will host
its first rare book auction of 2021, which it has dubbed “A Sale of Literary Importance.”
“The main focus of the sale will be on literary titles,
both modern and early,” said Christopher Brink, director of the Fine Book department.
“The sale will commence with a strong selection of hard-boiled fiction and crime items.”
one of the main high-
lights of this portion of the sale is a first edition of iconic crime writer Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep (1939, estimated $4,000–6,000), which introduces his wise-cracking protagonist, Philip
Marlowe, who Brink says “redefined the noir genre.”
Also in the detec-tive portion of the sale are several Arthur Conan Doyle items, including all major works relating to Sherlock Holmes and a fine set signed by the author, as well as an autograph letter by Dashiell Hammett written in the Aleutians in 1945 (esti-mated $1,500–2,500).
There will also be an important collection
of letters including an undoc-umented autograph let-ter signed by James Baldwin with an unpublished essay (estimated $2,000–3,000), which will be highlighted in the Civil Rights section, and an autograph letter signed by Albert Einstein regard-ing the Communist Party and the state of democracy (esti-mated $4,000–6,000).
Additionally, the sale will
contain a strong selection of modern first editions, includ-ing a substantial Edgar Rice Burroughs collection, which features several presentation copies from the author to his
brother–in–law, Eddie Gilbert. Brink says one of his personal favorites from this section is a “pristine copy of The Call of the Wild in the scarce origi-nal dust jacket” (estimated $3,000–5,000).
Finally, several other high spots of the sale include an artful binding of Sir John Skelton’s Charles I from the Hampstead Bindery (1898, estimated $1,200–1,600) ; a first issue of Uncle Tom’s Cabin with an autograph note signed by author Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852, esti-mated $3,500–5,000); a copy of William Shakespeare’s son-nets from the Shakespeare Head Press printed on full vellum and limited to just 12 copies (1905, esti-mated $2,000–3,000), and Syr Ysambrace, edited by F.S. Ellis, (1897, estimated at $1,200–
2,000) from the Kelmscott Press highlight in Potter & Potter’s Fine Press section; and a presentation copy of Ray Bradbury’s first novel, Dark Carnival, inscribed to
William Targ, G. P. Putnam’s former editor–in–chief (esti-mated $1,000–1,500).
Previews are available by appointment only. The sale will be conducted online, but the platform will include a video livestream of the sale.
“This past year has really proven that we have solidi-fied ourselves in the Midwest as a predominant auction house known for its fine book sales,” Brink said. “This is prob-ably the most important sale I’ve had the pleasure of curat-ing, and we’re very excited about the quality and scarcity of the items we’re bringing to the market.”
To view the catalog, visit Auctions.PotterAuctions.com/Catalog.aspx?auctionid=1110.l
Sir John Skelton’s Charles I in a Hampstead Bindery binding (1898, estimated $1,200–1,600).
Syr Ysambrace, edited by F. S. Ellis, with full-page woodcuts from Edward Burne-Jones (1897, estimated at $1,200–2,000).
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104 E 25th Street, NYC • 212 254 4710 • SWANNGALLERIES.COM
Download the App
Richmond Barthé, African Boy Dancing, cast bronze, 1937.Estimate $150,000 to $250,000. At auction April 22.
April & May Auctions
APR 8
APR 15
APR 22
Early Printed BooksRick Stattler • [email protected]
Printed & Manuscript AmericanaRick Stattler • [email protected]
African American ArtNigel Freeman • [email protected]
MAY 6
MAY 13 & 14
MAY 20
MAY 27
Old Master Through Modern PrintsTodd Weyman • [email protected]
Graphic DesignFeaturing Selections from the Letterform ArchiveNicholas D. Lowry • [email protected]
Modern & Post-War ArtHarold Porcher • [email protected]
Photographs & PhotobooksDeborah Rogal • [email protected]
4005_FineBooks_SpringGuide2021_Rnd2.indd 1 1/28/21 2:24 PM
Swann Galleries@Auction SPRING 2021
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Peggy Carouthers lives in Washington and is the director of custom content at Journalistic Inc.
Fascinating FindsSwann’s April sale promises a wide
selection of items rarely seen at auction.
on April 15, Swann Auction Galleries will
host its Printed Manuscript and Americana sale, which will feature a noteworthy col-lection of American historical prints, as well as a variety of books and manuscripts.
“We will begin with a spe-cial collection of prints cov-ering the early period of American history,” said Rick Stattler, director of printed and manuscript Americana at Swann. “It traces the national narrative from the Colonial years through the start of the
Civil War, and includes items referencing the American Revolutionary War, portraits of the founding fathers, alle-gorial pieces about the ris-ing stature of America in the world, and examples of early American engraving.”
one of the sale high-lights is an engraving of a sketch by Bernard Romans, An Exact View of the Late Battle at Charlestown, June 17th, 1775, which was printed in London in 1776 (estimated $40,000–60,000).
“It’s one of the very few
engravings of the Battle of Bunker Hill based on an actual eyewitness view of a battle which was a seminal moment in the creation of the nation,” Stattler said. “The engraving is also extremely scarce. only one other exam-ple has been traced at auc-tion since 1973.
Another highlight is a pair of hand-colored etchings of George Washington. The first, G. Washington in his Last Illness, Attended by Doc’rs Craik and Brown depicts Washington on his deathbed surrounded by doctors and his wife, Martha. The second, Lived Respected and Fear’d—Died Lamentd and Rever’d, shows Washington’s portrait on a funeral urn with mourners. Both images were published in Philadelphia in 1800 (esti-mated $6,000–9,000).
In the afternoon por-tion of the sale, Stattler says Swann will feature works mapping the history of the Americas, including Canada and Latin America, materials from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, American Judaica, and a large selection of mate-rials on the American West.
one prominent lot is
Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma’s Curioso Tratado de la Naturaleza y Calidad del Chocolate, which hasn’t been seen at auction since 1949. Published in Madrid in 1631, Stattler says this volume is the first edition of the earliest publication solely about choc-olate and includes notes on the medicinal use of the plant and how to prepare choco-late in beverage or tablet form (estimated $10,000–15,000).
The most timely highlight from the sale is a collection of more than 160 letters written by Dr. Harlow Brooks, chief con-sultant in medicine to the First and Second Armies in France in World War I (1917–1919 and 1936, estimated $1,200–1,800).
“During the time Brooks was writing these letters, he was dealing with the influ-enza pandemic, and in his letters home to his wife, he delicately danced between telling her to take precautions, such as social distancing, but also trying to keep her from panicking,” Stattler said.
In one letter from october 1918, Brooks wrote,
“Pneumonia and influenza are to be my problems, at least I propose what should be done, but that is not all in this game by any means, and most of all we must keep pounding the Boche [Germans] night and day.”
The sale will begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern and will con-tinue for most of the day with roughly 50 items auctioned per hour. Live bidding will be conducted online and by phone, and previews are avail-able by appointment only. l
G. Washington in his Last Illness, Attended by Doc’rs Craik and Brown (1800, estimated $6,000–9,000).
A set of letters by Dr. Harlow Brooks regarding the 1918 influenza pandemic are up for auction (1917–1919 and 1936, estimated $1,200–1,800).
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