Pictures are sometimes worth more than a thousand words
You can imagine why William became a gunfighter. He apparently didn’t like his original name, William Henry McCarty, and took as its replacement a worse one: William H. Bonney. Having then demonstrated his sensitivity to how he was addressed he subsequently and possibly because of the name change, became skilled at defending himself. “Hey Bonnie” if said in the wrong way could in some circles be construed as fighting words and he was not a good man to cross. Being a native New Yorker he knew how to protect himself. Lucky for New York he moved west. Unluckily for New Mexico he brought his New York manners with him.
At age fifteen he was arrested for theft in the New Mexico territory and then escaped to Arizona where he is credited with his first killing. This would be the first of many during his short life that ended 132 days short of 22. During his span he would become an angel of death or folk hero depending on who told his story. He is said to have killed anywhere from four to twenty-one. His willingness to kill earned him the sobriquet “Billy the Kid,” apparently for his precocious ability. His motivation for mayhem continues to be debated today. And because so little is known about him he is mostly a blank slate colored by later perspectives and agendas.
When Bonney was eighteen he became involved in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico [1878-1879], a violent struggle between cattle ranchers and merchants. Fighting on behalf of ranchers he killed two law enforcement officials and became the object of judicial inquiry culminating in a brief trial, a subsequent guilty verdict and sentence to hang. Being resourceful he contrived an escape, overpowering his jailers and killing one in the process.
At this point he had wrought sufficient carnage to be deemed colorful and became the subject of competing publicity campaigns that portrayed him as either a grimy serial killer or folk hero. This publicity was probably the death of him for soon after embarrassed law enforcement officials sought to retake the high ground by exterminating him. So much for the saying that all publicity is good publicity. The end came simply enough. He was tracked to a rural shack, surrounded and executed.
Rose City Book & Paper Fair June 14-15, 2025 1000 NE Multnomah, Portland ROSECITYBOOKFAIR.COM
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 748. Second volume of Blaeu's atlas featuring 89 maps of the Americas and Asia (1642) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 12. A world map with popular cartographic myths and unique embellishments (1788) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 30. One of the most sought-after charts from Cellarius' work (1708) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 38. Anti-Vietnam War persuasive cartography on a velvet poster (1971) Est. $350 - $425
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 43. Ortelius' influential map of the New World - second plate (1584) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 95. Scarce German map illustrating the French & Indian War (1755) Est. $8,000 - $9,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 149. Bachmann's dramatic view of the Mid-Atlantic region (1864) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 373. De Jode's very rare map of Europe with costumed figures (1593) Est. $6,000 - $7,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 674. De Bry's Petits Voyages, Part VII with all plates and map of Sri Lanka (1606) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 704. The first printed map devoted to the Pacific in full contemporary color (1589) Est. $7,500 - $9,000
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 734. Superb hand-colored image of the Tree of Jesse (1502) Est. $700 - $850
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: Best Image of Abraham Lincoln: "Closest… to ‘seeing' Lincoln… A National Treasure" Original Hesler/Ayres Interpositive. $800,000 to $1,000,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Einstein, 3pp of Unified Field Theory Equations: “I want to try to show that a truly natural choice for field equations exists.” Formalizing His Final Approach, Association to Theory of Relativity. $80,000 to $120,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Marilyn Monroe's Best Personally Owned & Annotated Script for Unfinished Last Film, "Something's Got to Give" (1962). $75,000 to $100,000.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: David Ben-Gurion ALS: "The Jewish people have attained the epitome...the State of Israel is born," 1 Day After Signing Israeli Declaration of Independence, Best Ben-Gurion Ever! $80,000 to $100,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Lincoln ALS to Youth: "A young man, before the enemy has learned to watch him...votes... shall redeem the county" Evocative of Famous "Work" Letter. $70,000 to $100,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Lincoln Appointment for Cabinet Member With Largest, Boldest, Full Signature! Important Content: Detente with England. $10,000 to $15,000.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: Abraham Lincoln Rare Signed Check To Law Partner W.H. Herndon, Perhaps Unique as Such! $20,000 to $25,000
University Archives, Apr. 23: Tokyo War Crimes Files of Prosecuting Attorney For POW Camp Atrocities, 500+ Pages, Unpublished Court Documents, Photos and More. $25,000 to $35,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: 1698 South Carolina Slavery Archive Huguenot Planters Earliest Rare Plat Maps for Plantations 41 Docs 107 pp. Most Colonial. $25,000 to $35,000.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: Adam Smith ALS While Revising “The Wealth of Nations” - A New Discovery Documenting Meeting with Influential Editor. $18,000 to $24,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Margaret Mitchell Rare ALS to Her Editor as Epic Film "Gone With the Wind" Gains Heat "Forgive this scrawl. I haven't written a letter in long hand in years and I've almost forgotten how it's done." $3,000 to $4,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Einstein 1935 TLS, Hopes to Warn Non-Jews of "The true nature of the Hitler regime.” $8,500 to $10,000.
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Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
