• Forum Auctions
    A Visual and Historical Voyage into the Ottoman World:
    The Library of a Gentleman
    14th November
    Forum, Nov. 14: Preziosi (Amedeo). Stamboul: Recollections of Eastern Life, first edition, Paris, Lemercier, 1858. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Mayr (Heinrich von). Malerische Ansichten aus dem Orient. Vues Pittoresques de l'Orient, first edition in the original 10 parts, Munich, Paris & Leipzig, [1839-40]. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Lewis (John Frederick). Illustrations of Constantinople, made during a Residence in that City &c. in the Years 1835-6, first edition, [1838]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Dodwell (Edward). Views in Greece, first edition, ordinary format, Rodwell and Martin, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Cassas (Louis François). [Voyage Pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phoenicie, de la Palæstube et de la Basse-Égypte], 3 vol., first edition, [Paris], [1799]. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    A Visual and Historical Voyage into the Ottoman World:
    The Library of a Gentleman
    14th November
    Forum, Nov. 14: La Chappelle (Georges). Recueil de Divers Portraits des Principales Dames de la Porte du Grand Turc, first edition, Paris, 1648. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Fossati (Gaspard). Aya Sophia Constantinople as recently restored by order of H.M. the Sultan Abdul Medjid, first edition, ordinary format, 1852. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Pertusier (Charles). Promenades Pittoresques dans Constantinople et sur les Rives du Bosphore, 4 vol., inc Atlas, first edition, Paris, H. Nicolle, 1815-17. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Brindesi (Jean). Souvenirs de Constantinople, first edition, [Paris], [1855-60]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Nov. 14: Le Bruyn (Cornelius). Voyage au Levant, first French edition, Delft, Henri de Kroonevelt, 1700. £3,000 to £4,000.
  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction November 25th
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    H. Schedel, Liber chronicarum, 1493. Est: € 25,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    P. O. Runge, Farben-Kugel, 1810. Est: € 8,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    W. Kandinsky, Klänge, 1913. Est: € 20,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction November 25th
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    W. Burley, De vita et moribus philosophorum, 1473. Est: € 4,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    M. B. Valentini, Viridarium reformatum seu regnum vegetabile, 1719. Est: € 12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    PAN, 10 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: € 15,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction November 25th
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    J. de Gaddesden, Rosa anglica practica medicinae, 1492. Est: € 12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    M. Merian, Todten-Tanz, 1649. Est: € 5,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    D. Hammett, Red harvest, 1929. Est: € 11,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction November 25th
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    Book of hours, Horae B. M. V., 1503. Est: € 9,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    J. Miller, Illustratio systematis sexualis Linneai, 1792. Est: € 8,000
    Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25:
    F. Hundertwasser, Regentag – Look at it on a rainy day, 1972. Est: € 8,000
  • Doyle
    Stage & Screen
    November 14 & 15
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A studio-sanctioned Darth Vader Touring Costume from The Empire Strikes Back. $50,000 to $100,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: An original Al Hirschfeld's illustration of the cast of On Golden Pond. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: The largest trove of personal Grace Kelly letters to come to market. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: An Important Archive of Musical Manuscripts of Truman Capote and Harold Arlen's House of Flowers. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: The archive of an original Merrily We Roll Along Broadway cast member. $5,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Jerry Herman's Yamaha Model C7 Ebonized Grand Piano. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A large group of Jerry Herman musical posters. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Group of awards presented to Jerry Herman. $300 to $400.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: Six pages of original art for "The MAD Game of Basebrawl," a complete story published in MAD #167, pages 31-36, June 1974. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A MAD book made for Al Jaffee, containing original art and writings from many MAD contributors. 2011. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: A Jaffee-themed MAD Fold-In - "What honor should the creator of the MAD Fold-Ins be given?" $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, Nov. 14-15: MAD Fold-In - "What developing news story has many Americans totally transfixed?" $800 to $1,200.
  • Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    Printed Books, Maps & Caricatures
    13 November 2024
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: The Americas. Blaeu (Willem Janszoon), Americae nova Tabula, Amsterdam circa 1635. £800-1,200
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Witchcraft. Saducismus Trimphatus, by Joseph Glanvill, 2nd edition, 1688. £600-800
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Gillray (James). United Irishmen in Training, 1798. £500-800
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    Printed Books, Maps & Caricatures
    13 November 2024
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Ketham (Johannes de). Fasciculus medici[n]e …, Venice: Cesare Arrivabene, March 1522. £6,000-8,000
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Bible [English]. The Byble in Englyshe of the largest and greatest volume..., 1541. £7,000-10,000
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Chaucer (Geoffrey). The Workes of Geffray Chaucer newlye printed..., 1542. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    Printed Books, Maps & Caricatures
    13 November 2024
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Bible [English]. The Newe Testament of Our Saviour Jesu Christe..., 1566. £7,000-10,000
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Hakluyt (Richard). The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques..., 1599. £4,000-6,000
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Queen Anne binding. A sammelband of 15 almanacks, 1704. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    Printed Books, Maps & Caricatures
    13 November 2024
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Jacobite Uprising. A Grand Consultation concerning the Invasion of England..., 1745. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Holbein (Hans). Imitations of Original Drawings in the Collection of His Majesty, 1792-1800. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, 13th Nov: Wordsworth (William). Yarrow Revisited, 1st edition, presentation copy with author's corrections, 1835. £1,500-2,000

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2013 Issue

"An Upstate New York State of Mind"

Most AE Monthly readers know Bruce McKinney as founder of the American Exchange and its impressive database of book auction records (AED); but the 66-year-old bibliophile also has an impressive record as a collector. In 2009 and 2010 two of his personal collections of early Americana sold at auction for a combined total of over $7 million.

McKinney calls his current collecting focus “An Upstate New York State of Mind.” It comes from the days when America was “tall and narrow” and the emerging nation clustered along the East coast. A small portion of his extensive holdings was on view recently at his home in San Francisco in conjunction with the February ABAA Antiquarian Book Fair.

Attending the special event were about 40 members of the Grolier and the Roxburghe Club of northern California who took a self-guided ramble through three floors of interesting and visually unusual materials consisting not only of books but paintings, maps, broadsides, prints, flags, models and ephemera of all sorts. McKinney estimated he has collected upwards of 3,000 items. “And,” he added, “When I say I have two hundred watercolors by a particular artist, well, that counts as one in the inventory.”

He dates his interest in collecting to 1955, when at the age of 9, his mother advanced him $4 to invest in book acquisitions (“That was a lot of money for a kid back then.”) and sent him on a visit to local historian Bill Heidgerd who advised that there was a future in local imprints.

A native of upstate New York himself, McKinney was a successful businessman both at home and abroad. His many ventures have been as diverse as publishing the Orange County (NY) Free Press in the early 1970s, organizing several firms to act as Asian trade broker in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea; the development of Tradex Orient in Hsinchu, Taiwan as an important Disa-based source for quality castings, the building of Consolidated Dutchwest in the United States into a national woodstove retailer in the 1980s.  The financial rewards of these enterprises enabled him to take early retirement. Since, after becoming an asset manager, he has invested some of his resources in his enthusiasms for a variety of subjects. He identified “the last fifteen years, since the advent of the internet” as banner years for collectors.

In his opinion, those with a very specific focus, such as the Hudson River Valley – have been able to access a much broader spectrum of material besides the printed page on sites such as eBay. He finds these new tools “encouraging.”  And of course it doesn’t hurt the quest at all that he keeps millions of book auction records in the basement. For his own interest and the interest of other collectors he reiterated that the AED (Americana Exchange Data Base) is the largest source of pricing and valuation for the field ever undertaken.  “I’ve built and continue to build the database I need to collect intelligently.”

It was clear to visitors that he’d put a significant amount of time and effort into the display. The entire home served as a gallery for prime examples from his holdings and guests had the benefit of an 87 item dated checklist to use in the self-guided tour.

Asked to comment on a few of the remarkable items on display McKinney put the period in context. “There was a moment when the Hudson River was the Broadway of American commerce,” he said pointing out that the area has some of the most continuously occupied real estate in the country. In the early 19th century, before the advent of the railroad, the steamer and canal boat were the dominant modes of transporting goods and passengers. Though the display included items both earlier and later the focus is on this era.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli:
    Auction 55
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    November 26st 2024
    Gonnelli: Stefano Della Bella, 23 animal plances,1641. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli: Stefano Della Bella, Boar Hunt, 1654. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Crispijn Van de Passe, The seven Arts, 1637. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, La Maschera è cagion di molti mali, 1688. Starting price 320€
    Gonnelli: Biribissor’s game, 1804-15. Starting price 2800€
    Gonnelli: Nicolas II de Larmessin, Habitats,1700. Starting price 320€
    Gonnelli: Miniature “O”, 1400. Starting price 1800€
    Gonnelli: Jan Van der Straet, Hunt scenes, 1596. Starting Price 140€
    Gonnelli: Massimino Baseggio, Costantinople, 1787. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli: Kawanabe Kyosai, Erotic scene lighten up by a candle, 1860. Starting price 380€
    Gonnelli: Duck shaped dropper, 1670. Starting price 800€
  • Swann, Nov. 14: Stephen Sondheim, autograph musical quotation signed and inscribed, 4 bars from “Send in the Clowns,” 1986.
    Swann, Nov. 14: George Washington, autograph letter signed to Robert Morris, preparing for attack on Philadelphia, 1777.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Autograph album containing over 250 signatures by members of 29th U.S. Congress, 1845.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Charles “The Bold,” letter signed to Duke of Milan written during Burgundian Wars, 1475.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Deng Xiaoping, TIME magazine “Man of the Year” issue signed and dated, 1979.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Theodor Herzl, autograph letter signed to prospective tutor of his children, 1902.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Bourienne’s Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte extra illustrated including 1798 letter signed by Napoleon after Battle of the Nile, 1836.
    Swann, Nov. 14: George Minot, autograph manuscript signed, diary kept during European trip to claim Nobel Prize, 1934.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Thomas Jefferson, autograph letter signed, introducing George Washington’s personal secretary Tobias Lear, 1793.
    Swann, Nov. 14: Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, signed in second volume, first edition, 1956-58.
    Swann, Nov. 14: John Steinbeck, late typescript drafts of 5 chapters from his posthumously published tales of King Arthur, 1959.
    Swann, Nov. 14: H.G. Wells, group of 14 of his books signed to his mistress Rebecca West or the son they had together, 1910s-40s.
  • Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 51. Ortelius' Influential Map of the New World - Second Plate in Full Contemporary Color (1579) Est. $5,500 - $6,500
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 165. Reduced-Size Edition of Jefferys/Mead Map with Revolutionary War Updates (1776) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 688. Blaeu's Superb Carte-a-Figures Map of Africa (1634) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 105. Striking Map of French Colonial Possessions (1720) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 98. Rare First Edition of the First Published Plan of a Settlement in North America (1556) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 181. Important Map of the Georgia Colony (1748) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 547. Ortelius' Map of Russia with a Vignette of Ivan the Terrible in Full Contemporary Color (1579) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 85. Homann's Decorative Map of Colonial America (1720) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 642. Blaeu's Magnificent Carte-a-Figures Map of Asia (1634) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 748. The Martyrdom of St. John in Contemporary Hand Color with Gilt Highlights (1520) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
    Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20):
    Lot 298. Scarce Early Map of Chester County (1822) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
  • Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. Red-Shouldered Hawk. London: R. Havell, Jr., 1829. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: STEWART, WILLIAM DRUMMOND, SIR. Altowan; or, Incidents of Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountain... New York, 1846. PRESENTATION COPY. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: WILLUGHBY & RAY, JOHN. The Ornithology of Francis Willughby in three books... London, Martyn, 1678. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: SUSAN B. ANTHONY. Autograph Quotation Signed, on equal rights "for men and women," Rochester, 1898. $1,000 - $1,500
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Autograph Letter Signed integrally to Le Comte de Milly arranging a meeting with M. Broignard, Passy, 1778. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: FRANKLIN, JEFFERSON, & ADAMS. Mansucript Signed by all three architects of the American ideal, requesting a Treaty of Amity and Commerce. $750,000 - $1,000,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Endorsement Signed, a pardon for a Confederate soldier, February 6, 1865. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: NAPOLEON FORMALLY RATIFIES THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. Document Signed ("James Monroe," "Robt. R. Livingston" and "Barbé-Marbois"). $100,000 - $200,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: JAMES MONROE ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF JAY'S TREATY. Autograph Letter Signed to Thomas Pinckney, Paris, January 17, 1795. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: GIDEON WELLES FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF FORT PICKENS AND FORT SUMTER ON THE EVE OF CIVIL WAR. Autograph Manuscript, 44 pp, c.1870. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: SIGNED BY BORGES. Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings. 1962. First book publication in English. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, Nov. 2-12: LORENZO DOW TURNER'S COPY. LOCKE, ALAIN. The New Negro: an Interpretation. 1925. $1,000 - $1,500
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
    Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
    November 14
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.

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