• Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2018 Issue

Archives: The future arrives courtesy of Elvin Montgomery

Highlights of archives available from Elvin Montgomery

Elvin Montgomery has been both an educator, dealer and appraiser for more than three decades and he increasingly has adjusted his focus as Black Americana, his category, has emerged from the shadows to become a major collecting subject.  And to this he has further added his insight on what he sees emerging, the sale and collection of archives and his logic is clear.  “It’s increasingly possible to buy sets of baseball cards rather than acquire them one by one.”  With history, subjects and events, it’s also possible, and while it’s always been possible to develop intense collections, today they increasingly trade as single, complete purchases.  Well, welcome to the future:  zero to 60 in a single transaction.

 

So, it’s a new world and the emergence of archives simply the latest outcome of what has become the steady outflow of millions of documents, photos, and objects that slowly become collections and archives.  Mr. Montgomery is simply introducing us to what such collecting is becoming and he illustrates his thinking with eight compelling collections.  They will find homes.

 

Here Mr. Montgomery has eight archives and each is, in effect, a collection by themselves.  Here is what they are:

 

EARLY NEW YORK JETS ARCHIVE, 1960s.

A fascinating, detailed, in-period archive of various papers and files pertaining to the early days of football’s New York Jets from the period when they were located in Long Island and were called the “Long Island Jets”. Contains original, primary source material such as:

 

Signed player applications

Photographs of officials and players (not press photos)

Team related files and correspondence

Records of scores and events

Dozens of pieces of paper. Excellent documentation for research and team history. Inside team history, not available in the open market. Probably unique.         $15,000

 

 

THE ASHTON SPRINGER BLACK THEATER MEMORABILIA ARCHIVE:

The Ashton Springer Archive is a large, diverse collection of materials that document the life and work of Ashton Springer – an important African American theater producer who was active and influential in the New York City and the national theater scene in the 1970s and 80s. The archive consists of hundreds of items that comprise a number of categories embodying Springer’s life, work and output (mostly in the 1970s, 80s and 90s). Considered the first black producer to “wield real power” on Broadway, Springer – born in Manhattan to West Indian parents - died at the age of 82 in July 2013.

“He is credited not only with helping to bring theater by and about African-Americans to wider public consciousness, but also with helping to bring late-20th-century African-American audiences to Broadway.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/theater/ashton-springer-broadway-producer-dies-at-82.html?_r=0)

Unfortunately very little primary source material is available on Springer and his activities, particularly in his most active and influential period (the 70s through the 90s), which is what this archive covers. Researchers, biographers, historians and filmmakers are going to be hard put to find unpublished, detailed Springer information, especially that which shows the inside view of his life, struggles and work. Fortunately, the materials present in this archive is a mother load of Springer information that cannot be found elsewhere. For various reasons, little else on Springer is likely to come to market or become available. Notably, not only does this archive reveal much about Springer’s life and work, but it also tells much about African American theater in general in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Springer was a pioneer since - despite the fact that black actors, performers, musicians, dancers, playwrights and even directors are not rare on Broadway - black producers are extremely scarce and Springer was one of the earliest to achieve prominence. Among the many productions that Springer was responsible for or heavily involved with were:

NO PLACE TO BE SOMEBODY

BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR

EUBIE!

ATHOL FUGARD’S “A LESSON FROM ALOES,”

AN ALL-BLACK REVIVAL OF “GUYS AND DOLLS”

ROLLIN’ ON THE T.O.B.A.

The Springer archive contains various types of objects, including

FILES AND CORRESPONDENCE

SCRIPTS, PLAYS, ETC.

POSTERS

AWARDS & PLAQUES

PLAYBILLS & OTHER THEATER PUBLICITY MEMORABILIA

PHOTOGRAPHS

BUSINESS, LEGAL AND FINANCIAL RECORDS

ARTIFACTS

 

Springer – prominent in cultural and performing arts circles, especially in New York - won several awards, some of which are represented in the archive.  $15,000

 

THE DR. OLIVER WILSON WINTERS ARCHIVE

 

Dr. Oliver Wilson Winters, born about 1890 in Talbot Co., Maryland (often termed Dr. O. Wilson Winters) was a major civic, professional and organizational leader the mid-20th century Philadelphia area and nationally. Dr. Winters was by profession a dentist but his influence and activities reached far beyond dentistry since he was quite a leader as well as a dentist. He was an ardent advocate of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the Pyramid Club and other groups that represented organized African American leadership in the mid-20th century. He knew, interacted with many leading lights of the African American community of the time (e.g. W.E.B. DuBois). His life showed what leadership and organizationally-oriented African Americans were doing in the era before integration and before the civil rights movement became organized. He founded, promoted or joined organizations, advocated for educational causes and exemplified leadership in Philadelphia and other places as well. He was a graduate of Howard and Temple Dental Schools. Scholarships and awards are named after him. This small archive of more than 150 separate pieces is composed of paper objects illustrating Dr. Winters’ life and activities, including correspondence, photographs, souvenir and event memorabilia, programs and personal mementoes such as a wedding book with articles and details of his marriage. Being primary source material it is naturally rare and mostly unpublished. This is a major research resource pertaining to pre-integration black leadership, black organizations and black Philadelphia that is not to be found elsewhere. Most items VG. Items comprising the collection include (but are not limited to):

Various pieces of Alpha Phi Alpha Material

Pyramid Club material (a handwritten 1940s Pyramid Club Activity Plan, constitution, correspondence, etc.)

Correspondence To and from Civic Leaders  

Material On Cheyney State College

Material on the John Brown Memorial Association (which Winters co-founded), Lake Placid New York (where John Brown was buried) with photos depicting an event there, a 1955 Journal with Winters’ handwritten margin notes, group pilgrimage Itineraries, letters to persuade and thank people who attend the pilgrimage and a testimonial banquet program of the John Brown Association honoring Winters with his bio Included)

Ephemera such as greeting cards, sheet music and postcards to Winters from family and friends

A Marriage Book with Clippings and associated ephemera

Miscellaneous ephemera

This archive is a substantial and rare primary source of information that is worthy of being the basis for a dissertation, book or a film. Though material on Winters exists elsewhere, this archive is the crucial missing piece of personal and organizational history needed to reconstitute a comprehensive, accurate story of Winters and his life and times. This type of material is unique, wide ranging, not to be found again and belongs in the hands of serious researchers.

 

THE EULACE PEACOCK PAPERS AND MEMORABILIA The Eulace Peacock collection is an extraordinary accumulation of personal and athletic items (mostly paper) that chronicle the life of a major amateur athlete of the 1930's and the social life of Black collegians of the time. Peacock was a celebrated track and field star from Vauxhall, New Jersey who attended Temple University and excelled as a man of speed. He was one of the few men ever to beat Jessie Owens and was well known both nationally and internationally in track and field circles. He clearly was of Olympic quality though unfortunately a last minute injury prevented his expected participation in this arena. Peacock was a friend of many Black athletes of the time and his papers contain their correspondence with him. As might be suspected, admiring young women were also well represented among those who wrote to him. The letters he received do not always deal with the more pleasant side of athletics since they reveal the tremendous pressure he was under to win and maintain and exceed the level of performance he was at times capable of. The collection includes:

 

Letters from other Black athletes, some of whom were Olympic or national champions (e.g. Ralph Metcalfe, Cornelius Johnson and Ben Johnson of Columbia)

Letters from Athletic organizations about athletic events

Memorabilia of his days and athletic activities at Temple

Family letters to and from Peacock's brothers and others

Several dozen letters from a Miss Nettie Washington of Tuskeegee in Alabama who was one of Peacock’s girlfriends and was a granddaughter of Booker T. Washington

Letters to and from Miss Washington's friends and family

Letters from Peacock to Miss Washington

Many letters from several other girlfriends (often chiding him for not caring or writing back)

Photos of Peacock and others in his life

Mementoes of athletic events such as silver-plated trays, etc.

Newspaper clippings of his many athletic exploits

Letters and invitations concerning 1930's Black social events in New York, New Jersey, etc.

FOR THE COLLECTION:                                                                                                                   $7,000

 

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT SCRAPBOOK WITH M.L.K. PHOTOS AND OTHER KEY MATERIAL, 1960's. A remarkable and unusual in-period scrapbook of black and white photos, pamphlets and flyers of Martin Luther King and various other key civil rights movement personages and themes. There are 32 photos of varying sizes (many 8" x 10", some 7" x 4 3/4", a few 4" x 5"). Subject matter includes MLK and Coretta Scott King cutting a cake to celebrate an event (perhaps an anniversary or a birthday) and civil rights scenes such as marches, speeches and movement people (e.g. a very young Jessie Jackson, Andrew Young, Abernathy and even show people such as a young Lou Rawls). There are also flyers, pamphlets and a report on "The State Of The Movement" (a presentation by King to the SCLC Staff Retreat, Penn Center, Frogmore, S.C., November 28. 1967). Other documents include a keynote address by Sidney Poitier to the SCLC 10th Anniversary Convention Banquet (August 14, 1967 in Atlanta) and a six page typewritten copy of a "Letter To My Dearest Friend, Martin Luther King Jr." delivered by Ralph Abernathy, April, 7, 1968. Remarkable and important historical material that will not be found elsewhere. Just looking through the material was a transporting experience. Obviously, this item belongs in a museum or historical library special collection. VG (Many photos are loose. The papers tend to be stapled or pasted in).                                    $7,000

 

THE SPHINX, MAY 1947 - ALPHA PHI ALPHA DIRECTORY. Softcover. 78pp. Official organ and membership directory of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Contains many photos and much information: e.g. chapter photos, a 38 page complete list of members at the time (with their cities and  chapters), national organizational activities and goals, officers at the national and local levels, local chapter activities, social events (including local sweethearts), etc., etc. Of particular interest is the articles and photos of two key celebrities: Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Dubois. Very scarce on the open market, hard to find and a prime research resource on immediate post-war African American college and professional life. VG- (front cover missing and back page torn at the lower left corner. However, so hard to find, so well-illustrated and so useful information-wise that it well worth acquiring). One cannot ask for a more useful, detailed item than this in regard to researching the state of professional Black America at this critical pre-civil rights era.                                                                                             $500 

 

COOKING WITH THE FIRST EPISCOPAL DISTRICT, A.M.E. CHURCH (Philadelphia). 1991. 3-ring binder with dozens of recipes, many from members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Has an index of recipes, nutritional advice, 488pp. of recipes + 90 pages of end matter (index, ads, section tabs, etc. An excellent survey of southern and urban home cooking. One of the nicest and most encyclopedic, comprehensive African American cookbooks ever seen. Very good condition.  $700

 

DRESSMAKERS INTERNATIONAL BALL, 1935. Souvenir Program of the Harlem Section of the ILGWU (AFL, Local 22). Saturday, June 19, 1935. A relatively lavish souvenir book with rich historical and visual content: photos, articles, illustrations of the local’s progress, etc. Many ads, articles and photos. An excellent portrayal of Harlem garment industry’s past. Who (in modern times) knew of the extensive and proud activities of garment workers in this Harlem Renaissance-era during the depression. Hard to find (only one has been seen so far) and well worth having. VG+ (occasional pencil markings next to a few ads and photos).            $600

 

Reach Mr. Montgomery by phone or email:

 

Telephone:  212.666.4449

eMail:  elvmont@aol.com

 

His website:  www.elvmont.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

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