Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2004 Issue

Despite a Few Clouds Over Title,<br>Texas Auction a Huge Success

Copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence, which sold for $764,000.Courtesy of Sotheby's

Copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence, which sold for $764,000.Courtesy of Sotheby's


By Michael Stillman

Texas has its reputation. It’s been said that Lyndon Johnson stole his first election in 1948. If so, he wasn’t the only Texan guilty of stealing during that era. Someone or some persons were busily sneaking books and manuscripts from the Texas State Library around the same time. And those without access to the state archives were doing the next best thing: printing up new copies of antiquities. Like their 19th century counterparts, these 20th century outlaws left their mark on the land. Today, whenever important Texas documents come up for sale, there will always be some question as to where they came from, are they legitimate, and does the seller truly own them.

This recently came up at a major sale of Texas material conducted by Sotheby’s on June 18, 2004. Being sold was a wonderful collection put together by an unnamed Texas physician and book collector who died over a decade ago. His family was now selling that collection. As Lauren Gioia of Sotheby’s noted, “It’s well known in the book world there are problems in Texas.” A lot of material was looted in the 1950s, material which still belongs to the state, even if no one knows where it is. This material may have long ago worked its way into the hands of honest and unwitting collectors, who paid good value for it, but that doesn’t matter. It still belongs to the state. When it finally shows up for sale on the open market, the state has the right to reclaim what it still lawfully owns.

So, when the collection came to them, Sotheby’s experts immediately set about checking the material, both for legal ownership and that other issue regarding fakes. They contacted the Texas State Library, which initially had no problems. Sotheby’s also hired the author of “Texfake” to check the collection and he found it to be authentic. However, the Texas State Library got back to them about one item, an 1835 handwritten letter by Jim Bowie to Stephen F. Austin. Records indicated this one-of-a-kind letter had once been in the Texas State Library, but at some point disappeared. Sotheby’s quickly pulled the item from the auction.

The seller later came back and removed three additional pieces from the sale. These were items copies of which had once been stolen. However, since these were printed items, it wasn’t clear whether these were the looted ones or other copies. The seller chose to put these aside until an examination can determine whether these were the state’s copies or others.

However, if all is well that ends well, then all was well for this auction. Almost all of the rest of the material was sold, and total receipts were well above the cumulative high estimates. As Ms. Gioia pointed out, Texas is one of the hottest areas of collecting today. Many of the buyers were Texans themselves, and evidently all those stereotypes about Texans and wealth must be true.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
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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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    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
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    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    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
    Now through July 10, 2025
    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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