Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2013 Issue

Dorothy Sloan Auction No. 23:  an important sale

Selected images from Auction No. 23

Selected images from Auction No. 23

The Dorothy Sloan Auction No. 23 of Americana approaches. The sale will be on April 4th and 5th, 2013. These sales, one or so a year, are prepared with a care most associated with the skeptic.  Auctions are resurrections, the always-uncertain process of reconfirmation.  Fates will be decided in the rooms but this does not mean that the lawyerly Ms. Sloan will leave any information about the lots in the docket unstated.  She always makes her case and it makes her a creditable advocate for sellers and a trusted source for buyers.  She takes this seriously, as interested for the buyer and always makes the best case for ‘life goes on’ even as title is transferred.  To do this she employs detailed descriptions, a firm starting bid and high estimate.  The starting bid is her view of ‘wholesale’ and the high estimate what she believes is ‘retail’.  She has been doing this a long time and is the Meryl Streep of extraordinary cataloguing, her auction catalogues always among the best of the close to one thousand that are issued each year.  No. 23 is no exception.

Her sale this year, two years in the making, is a 600 lot foray, its focus on Americana with an emphasis on Texas, Mexico, California, the Trans-Mississippi West, and the Borderlands.  “Maps are a strong element, including early maps of America, California as an Island, Delisle’s 1718 Carte de la Louisiane, and the first printed map to name Texas.  Books of course are not over-looked.  Zamorano 80 volumes and plate books as well as important Texas printings are abundant.

Condition runs the gamut from very good to excellent along with a few exceptions for material such as lot 384, an early map of Stockton, California that exists in only a few copies.  For exceptional rarity Ms. Sloan will make the exception.

Befitting Ms. Sloan’s co-commitments to the past and the future the material on offer is consistently appealing and the online catalogue lush, most items illustrated with many images.  The world has shifted and continues to shift but for Ms. Sloan some things never change.  Her catalogues, whatever their forms, are classics at birth.

To this I’ll add two paragraphs from her explanation of the sale –

An intriguing genre of iconography for the West are bird's-eye views, which, as Ron Tyler explains at the Amon Carter Museum web site, are a much neglected source for studying history: "They appear as something between a panoramic view and a map, as though they were drawn by the artist while he was suspended in a hot-air balloon. In fact, they were drawn by hand using, most often, two-point perspective to produce a three-dimensional rendering. The city views are surprisingly accurate." Among such views, we offer Stockton (California, 1870); Laredo (1890); San Diego (1876); Mexico City during the French Occupation (1863-1864); and Colorado Springs & Pike's Peak (1890), the latter exceptionally beautiful and one of the most technically proficient examples of the medium of chromolithography. A related genre is the panorama. Present in the sale is an 1862 nine-foot panoramic 360-degree view of San Francisco from the top of Russian Hill by Gifford.

For collectors who pursue ephemera and the whimsical, some choice items are an 1842 broadside commemorating the burial of Santa Anna's leg during the Pastry War; Siler's rare illustrated pamphlet on boxing (The “Fight of the Century” printed in 1897), a rare Texas pictorial letter sheet with contemporary and illustrated vignettes (including the Alamo and camels in San Antonio during the Great Camel Experiment in the West); and two unrecorded memory games from Mexico with miniature lithographs, one teaching the history of Mexico by examining the life of Santa Anna (including a miniature litho of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto), and another game from ca. 1855-1860 intended to teach children the alphabet by use of the genre of Mexican types and costumes, illustrating occupations and pastimes such as newlyweds, drunks, pickpockets, alms givers, fandango, dentist, etc.

Here are 20 items to consider –

The auction includes about fifty pocket maps, a rare and interesting cartographical genre with a special niche in the map collecting world.

Lot 31. Wellge's exceptionally beautiful bird's-eye view of  Colorado Springs & Pike's Peak in 1890, among the most accomplished examples of chromolithography in the history of the genre. ($5,000-10,000)

Lot 75. Castro's iconic illustrated album Mexico y sus alrededores, this 1863-1864 edition reflecting the short-lived Second Empire in Mexico under Maximilian and France, including Gendarmerie Mexicaine. ($10,000-15,000)

Lot 80. Catherwood's Views of Ancient Monuments (1844). A fine fresh copy of the tinted issue in publisher's original binding.  “In the whole range of literature on the Maya there has never appeared a more magnificent work” - Von Hagen. ($25,000-50,000)

Lot 82. Missa Gothica (Puebla de los Angeles, 1770), Salva's superb copy of one of the most unusual books printed in North America in the 18th century. "A tour de force of graphic arts.” ($10,000-20,000)

Lot 97. Original Archive of Terry’s Texas Rangers, the largest & finest contemporary collection in private hands, including  Major Benjamin Francis Weems' 1851 Navy Colt .36 caliber revolver with engraved Texas Navy naval battle scene on cylinder. ($200,000-300,000)

Lot 125. Three original sketches of Mexico by English artist Daniel T. Egerton in the 1830s. ($20,000-40,000)

Lot 176.  Hernández. Rervm Medicarvm. Rome, 1651. The handsome Doheny copy of the first illustrated edition of Hernández's great natural history of the New World. ($15,000-30,000)

Rare Book Monthly

  • Swann, June 12: Lot 3:Thomas McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1848-1854. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000. Swann, June 12: Lot 3:Thomas McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1848-1854. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 3:
    Thomas McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1848-1854. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 3:
    Thomas McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1848-1854. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 8:
    Invoice to the Town of Boston for advertising pre-revolutionary content in the Boston Post Boy, manuscript document, Boston, July 1768. Estimate $5,000 to $7,500.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 13:
    Clairac and Nicola, L'Ingenieur de Campagne; or, Field
    Swann, June 12: Lot 81:
    Journals of Major Robert Rogers . . . of the Several Excursions he Made . . . upon the Continent of North America, London, 1765. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 99:
    Photograph albums and papers from the family of W.G. Fargo, photo albums containing 442 photographs, 1865-88. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 112:
    Isaac Leeser, Discourses on the Jewish Religion, 10 volumes, Philadelphia: Sherman & Co., 1866-1868. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 176:
    Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston, 1845. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 190:
    Thomas Hariot, Admiranda narratio fida tamen, de commodis et incolarum ritibus Virginiae, 1590. Estimate $25,000 to $35,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 200:
    Correspondence of a regimental cavalry commander in Wyoming and Utah, July 1865 to February 1866. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, June 12: Lot 226:
    Maturino Gilberti, Vocabulario en lengua de Mechuacan / Aqui comienca el vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mechuacana, 1559. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000.
  • Sotheby'sBibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 June
Sotheby'sBibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 June
    Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Bissière, Roger. Cantique à notre frère soleil de saint François. 1954. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. La vie & l’œuvre de Philippe Ignace Semmelweis. 1924. Rare édition originale, avec envoi. Joint : La Quinine en thérapeutique, 1925. 4,000 - 6,000 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. Mort à crédit. 1936. Édition originale. Bel exemplaire sur Hollande. 2,500 - 3,500 EUR
    Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Chillida, Eduardo ─ Emil Cioran. Face aux instants. 1985. Un des 100 exemplaires sur Arches. Eau-forte signée. 600 - 800 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. Ler dla canpane. L’Art Brut, 1948. Édition originale. 3,000 - 5,000 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. L'Herne Jean Dubuffet. 1973. Un des 100 exemplaires du tirage de luxe avec une sérigraphie originale en couleurs. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
  • Gros & DelettrezLivres & Manuscrits ArméniensJeudi 12 juin 2025Paris, Francis Gros & DelettrezLivres & Manuscrits ArméniensJeudi 12 juin 2025Paris, Francis
    Gros & Delettrez
    Livres & Manuscrits Arméniens
    Jeudi 12 juin 2025
    Paris, Francis
    Gros & Delettrez
    Livres & Manuscrits Arméniens
    Jeudi 12 juin 2025
    Paris, Francis
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: BIBLE, Venise 1733, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit daté 1606, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit début XVIIIe siècle, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, Amsterdam 1664
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, Amsterdam 1702, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: DICTIONNAIRE arménien, manuscrit XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle.
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: EVANGILE, manuscrit 1735-1737, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: LIVRE DE PRIERES, Grégoire de Narek, manuscrit
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: GEOGRAPHIE, Ghoukas INDJIDJIAN, Venise 1802-1806
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: MANUSCRIT THEOLOGIQUE, XVIe-XVIIe siècle
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: MASHTOTS, manuscrit XVIIIe-XIXe siècle, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: LETTRE ENCYCLIQUE, manuscrit XIXe siècle
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: NOUVEAU TESTAMENT, Amsterdam 1668, reliure arménienne
  • Rose City Book & Paper FairJune 14-15, 20251000 NE Multnomah, PortlandROSECITYBOOKFAIR.COM Rose City Book & Paper FairJune 14-15, 20251000 NE Multnomah, PortlandROSECITYBOOKFAIR.COM
    Rose City Book & Paper Fair
    June 14-15, 2025
    1000 NE Multnomah, Portland
    ROSECITYBOOKFAIR.COM
    Rose City Book & Paper Fair
    June 14-15, 2025
    1000 NE Multnomah, Portland
    ROSECITYBOOKFAIR.COM

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