Rare Book Monthly
Skinners: An Interesting Auction
Portraits of a Keene, New Hampshire couple c. 1850 (with one book).
Then there is lot 362 which is another pair of paintings. They are portraits of Timothy and Eunice Colony of Keane, New Hampshire, and dated c. 1850. Between them there is only one book. Eunice is holding it and I wouldn’t want to ask her what’s in it. She looks quite unhappy. Her husband also looks extremely serious. I wouldn’t be interested to see their library but I would like to read her diary. A novelist might find a story there. She certainly appears diminished, has her finger marking a place in the text, and appears to be considering life in sober terms. There is one book and the pair of paintings is estimated $2,000 to $3,000.
Beginning at around lot 416 there begins to be printed and paper items. For firebugs there is lot 417, “Engine of the Red Jacket Veteran Fireman’s Association...Champion of the New England League, 1894.” It is a 22.5 x 17 ¼ inch lithograph. The estimate is $1,500 to $2,000, a sum I suspect is far greater that the original cost of the fire equipment shown. I also worry how the equipment could be brought to one place without leaving the surrounding area devoid of fire protection. I for one would have preferred dirty old fire apparatus that stayed home to fancy, polished equipment that was always away seeking prizes.
Lot 424 is a “Large Colored Production Poster for the Dutch Tour of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, dated 1880, etc, etc.” It’s 34. ½ x 20 inches and a perfect fit for many kinds of book collections. Slavery documents are very dry. Here is an image that can make a statement about your book collection and you won’t be going to debtor’s prison if you buy it. The estimate is $1,200 to $1,500.
Lot 427 is a “Rare Revolutionary War Account Book for the Privateer Ship Chandler, c. 1779-84, sailing from Salem, Massachusetts.” This must be good because the estimate is $8,000 to $12,000, a serious price. Interested parties will want to read the details.
Civil War and Lincoln collectors will be interested in lot 488 described as a “Rare Abraham Lincoln Funeral Broadside, dated April 17th 1865” and providing instructions from the Governor of New Hampshire to her residents to observe a mourning period in honor of the fallen President. Such pieces convey the reality of the assassination in a way that books, covers closed, and fitted like false teeth into a plate, can not. With this visual cue the sense of a book collection can be conveyed.
There is one more item described as “Rare Ted Williams 1959 Team Issue Two Part Wool #9 Uniform.” This is item number 125. It may have been designed to be worn in October which may explain why it looks so fresh. This uniform is estimated $80,000 - $120,000. That year the Red Socks paid Ted $125,000 for the entire season.
Those of us who love and collect books and ephemera want after all to experience our books, not just own them. Skinners, on June 6th, gives you a chance to do this.
Here is a link to the auction: www.skinnerinc.com
