Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2003 Issue

Printed & Manuscript Americana: <br>An Interesting Auction at Swann on December 4th.

The Swann sale is very strong in interesting Americana.

The Swann sale is very strong in interesting Americana.


By Bruce McKinney

On Thursday December 4th Swann Galleries in New York, in two sessions, is offering 511 lots of printed and manuscript Americana.  For Americana collectors there is a great deal of worthwhile material to consider.  Marquee items include Samuel Colt’s copy of McKenny & Hall, the first appearance of the Book of Mormon and a private collection of American almanacs.  There is enough important material that a 1524 Cortes Praeclara Fernandi, printed in Nuremberg in 1524, is not listed among the most important items.  On the auction catalogue cover is a Lincoln assassination broadside dated April 20, 1865, offering a $100,000 reward for the murderer of the late President.  Described as “America’s most famous reward poster issued only days after the assassination,” it is estimated at $15,000 to $25,000.  This is an important sale.For Americana collectors of all descriptions there is a wide variety of less expensive material as well. Here are some representative items.

This is the suppressed critique of New Yorkers, Gotham and the Gothamites; a Medley.  And the description reads on, “This was suppressed and the author and publisher... both imprisoned and fined.  It is a satire on the New Yorkers.”  The date is 1823 and the estimate $500 to $750.  Does nothing change?

There are ten Mormon lots whose aggregate high estimate is $164,350.  There is the aforementioned first appearance of the Book of Mormon in the upstate New York newspaper, The Reflector of Palmyra dated January 2, 1830.  On December 4th it will be offered with an estimate of $50,000 to $75,000.  There is also a copy of the first edition, in book form, of the Book of Mormon.  It is estimated $50,000 to $70,000.

And then there are American almanacs from the 18th and 19th centuries.  In the sale they comprise lots 445 to 511 and include, in total, 903 copies.  For those with an interest in very local material these lots represent an unusual opportunity to obtain, in some cases, large lots of relatively obscure material.  The estimates are modest but this is desirable material that will go higher with complete justification.

Supporters of Ohio State will be interested in lot 280, Journal of the Proceedings of the Convention...[concerning] the admission of Michigan into the Union.  Columbus history students may want to acquire this material to search for defects in the process by which their football rivals gained admission to the Union.  If you can’t beat ‘em on the football field beat ‘em in court.

Students of Spanish and residents of Mexico will be interested in a bound volume containing 179 royal decrees, including broadsides issued in Mexico between 1811 and 1813.  This is described as “an impressive collection of Mexican government documents” issued during the movement for independence.  It is estimated $5,000 to $7,000.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
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    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
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    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025 Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025
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    Now through July 10, 2025
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    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
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    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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