Dorothy Sloan: An important Auction on December 15 & 16 in Texas
Dorothy Sloan, the Texas based auctioneer and dealer in rare and important Americana, is holding a two day auction of important material Thursday and Friday, December 15th and 16th. The sale will be held at 102 West Tarrant Street, Llano, Texas and carried live on www.liveauctioneers.com.
The title of the sale is:
La Invasion Norteamericana, 1844 -1846
And
The Mexican-American War
The J. Dudley Thompson Collection
For those unfamiliar with this war Ms. Sloan explains –
“The Mexican-American War (1846-1848), referred to by Mexico as La Invasión Norteamericana, though not as important as the American Revolution or the Civil War, was among the three pivotal U.S. wars for creating the territory of the present United States. Suddenly U.S. territory increased by a third to a half of today’s present-day configuration, and the enlarged territory contained incredible natural riches, such as California gold. Suddenly the U.S. stretched from the Atlantic to the entire Pacific Coast. The consequences for Mexico were dire, with a loss of about a half of their territory. Yet the Mexican-American War is not so well known, and still called the Forgotten War.”
Ms. Sloan’s catalogues long ago set the standard for analysis and description in the modern era and this sale extends her string of catalogues that are reference works at birth.
Auction 24 is available as an on-line catalogue that includes Abstracts, detailed item descriptions and illustrations. Links are provided at the bottom of this page.
Here are some of the items:
13.
[ARTILLERY]. KITCHEN, D.C. Record of the Wyoming Artillerists. Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania: Alvin Day Printer, 1874. [1-5] 6-89 [1, blank] pp. (pp. 25-28 misbound or misimposed between pp. 32 and 33). 12mo (16.5 x 10 cm), original full brown pebble cloth over stiff boards, stitched. Spinal extremities wanting, hinges weak. Paper toned, final leaf loose, but overall a good copy of a fragile book with an exceedingly desirable provenance. Small New England Historical and Genealogical Society withdrawal stamp on rear free endpaper. With ink signature of Edmund L. Dana and his pencil notes at various points in the text; Dana is listed as Captain on the Mexican-American War muster roll, and provided information to the author to help compile the history (see p. 7). Rare. No copies at auction and only a few copies on OCLC.
First edition of a rare, privately printed military memoir of the Mexican-American War for a unit that originated in Wilkes-Barre. Supposedly, only 250 copies were printed. Not in usual Mexican-American War sources. Smith K33a.
($2,000-$4,000)
69.
[BOUNDARY LINE]. UNITED STATES AND MEXICAN BOUNDARY COMMISSION. EMORY, William Hemsley. Report of the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Made under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior, by William H. Emory, Major First Cavalry and United States Commissioner. [Vol. 1]: Washington: A.O.F. Nicholson, Printer, 1857; [Vol. 2]: Washington, 1858. 2 vols. Vol. 1: [i-v] vi-xvi, [1] 2-258, [i-v] vi-viii, [1] 2-174 pp., frontispiece, 2 folded maps (1 in color), 1 map, 1 folded profile, 1 folded chart, 74 plates (12 in color); Vol. 2: [6], [1-9] 10-270, [2], [1-3] 4-78, [2], [1-3] 4-62, [1-3] 4-32, [2], [1-3] 4-35 [1], [1-3] 4-85 [3], [i]-ii pp., 271 plates (25 in color). Total plates: 346, including frontispiece. 4to (29.5 x 23 cm), original black cloth blind embossed with scene and American eagle, title blind stamped on spine; expertly rebacked preserving original spines, new endpapers. Some mild browning and offsetting in vol. 1. A finer copy would be difficult to find, especially with the usually absent large, colored geological map. Most copies of this issue recorded at auction are defective.
First edition (34th Congress, 1st session, Senate Executive Document 108). Bancroft, Arizona & New Mexico, p. 494. Basic Texas Books 57: “One of the most significant of all government reports on western and southern Texas.” Bennett, American Nineteenth Century Color Plate Books, p. 41. Deák, Picturing America, 649-650. Edwards, Desert Voices, pp. 54-55. Field 500. Howes E146. Munk (Alliot), p 72. Palau 79371. Plains & RockiesIV:291. Raines, p. 76. Reese, Stamped with a National Character 31. Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West, 822-6 & III, chapter 30.
A work the significance of which is difficult to overstate and whose importance is announced by its incredible size and elaborate production. It was so large and intricate that Congress became alarmed and ordered smaller printings after Vol. 1, making complete sets difficult to find. “Emory’s Report was perhaps the most complete scientific description ever made of the lands, the people, and the border country. [It] recalls the whole incredible history of the U.S.-Mexican Boundary Survey” (Wheat). “The narrative, the scientific reports, and the illustrations made Emory’s production an overwhelming contribution of factual knowledge concerning the American Southwest” (Goetzmann). In addition to its importance otherwise, this work is noted for its beautiful color plates of Native Americans and birds.
($3,000-$6,000)
159.
[DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION]. RICHARDSON, William H. Journal of William H. Richardson, a Private Soldier in the Campaign of New and Old Mexico, Under the Command of Colonel Doniphan of Missouri. Baltimore: John H. Woods, 1848. 96 pp., 3 woodcut plates, including frontispiece. 12mo (19 x 11.7 cm), original green pictorial wrappers, sewn. Light wear and soiling to wrappers, contemporary name in Philadelphia erased from front wrapper, lacking folding slip of certification from Doniphan, else fine, with the title page from the 1847 first edition neatly tipped in, but with perforation stamp of Rhode Island Historical Society and old library sticker with ink ms. shelf number. Preserved in a quarter brown morocco folding case.
Second edition of “one of the rarest of the Doniphan accounts” (Streeter Sale 166); first published in Baltimore in 1847. Fifty Texas Rarities 33 (locates only 2 copies). Howes R262. Plains & RockiesIV:13:2. Rittenhouse 480: “Journal of personal experiences with Doniphan’s men on their march over the Santa Fe Trail during the Mexican War.” Sabin 71093. Tutorow 3620 & 2630n: “Doniphan himself called this one of the best accounts of his famous expedition.... Richardson was a private who records scores of memories of daily life in camp, ranging from his own need to learn how to prepare camp breakfast to details of battles in a number of encounters with Mexicans.”
Chronicles the U.S. takeover of New Mexico, the conquest of Chihuahua, and Doniphan’s march through Texas.
($3,000-$6,000)
234. [MAP]. GARCÍA CONDE, Pedro. Carta geografica general de la Republica Mexicana, formada el ano de 1845 con los datos que reunio la seccion de geografia del Ministerio de la Guerra por el General de Brigada, Pedro Garcia Conde, Ministro de la Guerra y Marina, deputado, director del Colegio Militar, individuo de la Academia Nacional de San Carlos, vocal de la Junta General de Instruccion Publica, agrimensor y ensayador titulado y miembro de otras varias sociedades cientificas de la Republica. Nota esta edicion se hace provicionalmente mientras se concluye la carta en escala mayor. [facsimile signature] Pedro Garcia Conde. [Inset at lower left] Explicacion de los signos. [lower left] Engraved by B. R. Davies, 16 George Str. Easton Squ. London. From the Original Survey Made by Order of the Mexican Government; [lower center] Published by Edward Stanfrod [sic], 12, 13 & 14, Long Acre, London. W.C. [pasted on slip at lower right] Edward Stanford, 12, 13 & 14, Long Acre, London. W.C. Geographer to the King. London Agent by Appointment for the Sale Ordnance Survey Maps. Agent for the Admiralty Charts, the Indian Government Maps &c. [London, 1848?]. Engraved map with original hand-coloring. Neat line to neat line: 89 x 124.5 cm; overall sheet size: 96.5 x 131.5 cm. Sectioned and mounted on contemporary linen with contemporary marbled end panels, the upper with typed modern label. Lightly browned, a few minor stains, minor linen fold splits not affecting image. Preserved in a half leather over cloth folded case with a printed paper label. Copies located at Bancroft, Yale University, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, and a private collection.
First edition (another edition was published by James Wyld, apparently from the same plates but with an added border; copy in the Boston Public Library). American War College Library, p. 108. Jackson, Shooting the Sun 87. El Territorio Mexicano, Vol. I, p. 224. Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West 462 & II, p. 192.
Est. $30,000 - $60,000
243. [MAP]. [TEXAS]. EMORY, William Hemsley. Map of Texas and the Countries Adjacent: Compiled in the Bureau of the Corps of Topographical Engineers; From the Best Authorities. For the State Department, under the Direction of Colonel J J Abert, Chief of the Corps, By W H Emory, 1st. Lieut. T.E. War Department 1844. Published by Order of the U.S. Senate [inset table at left at middle] “The Present Boundaries of Texas Are Defined by an Act of the Texian Congress, Approved Dec: 19th: 1836...Statistics...Population....” [below preceding] “References....” [below preceding] “Authorities” [Humboldt, Pike, Arrowsmith, Stephen F. Austin, et al.] [below preceding] “Note” [relative position of the Presidio of Rio Grande and San Antonio de Bexar] [upper right] “Area” [table giving limits of Texas as defined by Republic of Texas Congress and U.S. Senate resolution]. [Washington, 1844]. Lithographic map delineating the area from the Mississippi to the Pacific between 22° and 42° north, relief shown by hachures, on two joined sheets, printed on thin paper, original pale sienna outline color of Texas borders; neat line to neat line: 53.5 x 82.5 cm; overall sheet size: 61 x 89 cm. Lightly creased where formerly folded, very light browning at center fold, small void at top center (slight loss of neat line, not affecting map proper), slightly wrinkled. Overall fine. Modern wooden gilt frame, map hinged to mat, under Plexiglas with explanatory text. Not examined outside of frame.
First edition, large format edition, issue unknown (present copy does not include “W.J. Stone Sc. Washn.” after the title, but does include below scale: “Published by order of the U.S. Senate”; “Engineers” in title correctly spelled; printed on thinner paper; definitive boundaries of Texas in pink; other minute differences in punctuation, etc. in title). Streeter 1543A: “The order of priority of the two issues of the large scale map (entry Nos. 1543, 1543A) and of the two editions, one large scale (entry No. 1543) and the other in smaller scale (entry No. 1543B), cannot now be determined, but it is probable that the large scale map was issued before the edition on smaller scale. A resolution passed June 11, 1844, by the Senate called for the publication of 1000 copies of the map ‘provided it can be done for the sum of $400,’ and on December 19, 1844, the Senate voted that 5000 more copies be furnished ‘provided the cost...does not exceed 12 cents per copy, including paper, printing, pasting and coloring.’”
This is a fundamental map in the historical cartography of Texas and the Southwest—the first map published by the United States government officially recognizing the boundaries of the Republic of Texas, thus identifying Texas as a separate political entity. Emory’s map was part of the annexation treaty between the U.S. and Texas in 1844. The map is a political-legal document of great historical significance.
H. Bailey Carroll in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 2, comments on this map:
This map is important even from the antiquarian viewpoint. It was made by men having excellent technical standards for 1844. It reveals in a striking manner the extent of geographical information about Texas and the Southwest....
By far the most important pre-war map that shows the great stakes involved when Taylor crossed into Texas and encountered Mexican troops.
($7,500-$15,000)
324.
[MONTERREY, BATTLE OF]. THORPE, Thomas Bangs. Our Army at Monterey. Being a Correct Account of the Proceedings and Events which Occurred to the “Army of Occupation” under the Command of Major General Taylor, from the Time of Leaving Matamoros to the Surrender of Monterey. With a Description of the Three Days’ Battle and the Storming of Monterey: The Ceremonies Attending the Surrender: Together with the Particulars of the Capitulation. Illustrated by a View of the City, and a Map Drawn by Lieut. Benjamin, U.S.A. By T.B. Thorpe, Author of “Our Army on The Rio Grande,” “Tom Owen, The Bee-Hunter,” etc. Philadelphia: Published by Carey and Hart, 1847. [i-ii] iii-vii [1, blank], 9-204 pp., wood-engraved frontispiece, wood-engraved title, wood-engraved plate, folded lithograph map. 12mo (18.7 x 13.5 cm), original embossed and gilt-decorated dark brown diced cloth, American eagle gilt stamped on upper cover, spine gilt lettered and dated 1848. Very slight wear to spinal extremities, overall light wear. Mild foxing to interior (heavier on endsheets and first few leaves of text); top edges of book block darkened (as in other examined copies). Overall a most excellent copy, seldom found thus.
Illustrated title:
Our Army at Monterey. By T.B. Thorpe. [title illustration of Guard-House] Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1848. [Inside image area] Darley Del. 13 x 8.5 cm.
Map:
Monterey and Its Approaches. [Below neat line] From a Map Drawn by Lieut. Benjamin, U.S.A. and Engraved Expresly [sic] for “Our Army at Monterey.” T. Sinclair’s Lith. Phila. 17.7 x 32.5 cm. Includes legend.
Plates:
[1] Entry Into Monterey. [Inside image area] Gilbert & Gihon. 9.5 x 15.6 cm. Frontispiece.
[2] City Of Monterey. In the Centre is the “Citadel;” on the Right are the Hills Confederation and Independence, on which Are Situated the “Bishop’s Palace” and other Forts; on the Left, the Forts Defending the Town. The Volunteers Approached the City between the Citadel and the Forts on the Left, the Regulars under Gen. Worth, Circuitously Moved Round to the Right. [Inside image area] Gilbert & Gihon. 9 x 15.2 cm.
First edition, second printing, with signature marks in both numbers and letters. The Library of Congress copy, which was probably the copyright deposit copy, has the date 1847 on the illustrated title page. BAL 20306. Braislin Sale 1303. Connor & Faulk 245. Garrett & Goodwin, pp. 143 & 415. Haferkorn, p. 53. Howes T235. Littell Sale 1036. Sabin 95664.
The lithograph map by Lieutenant Calvin Benjamin delineates with typical U.S. Topographical Engineer precision Monterrey and environs, city plan, roads and trails in and out of the city, and topographical features. Letters and symbols in the legend are keyed to troop movements, landmarks, corn fields, chaparral, breast works, etc.
The engraved title is by talented artist Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1821-1888), generally considered the best known and most popular nineteenth-century United States illustrator (see Groce & Wallace, p. 165; Hamilton, Early American Book Illustrators and Wood Engravers I, pp. 101-116; and Samuels, Artists of the American West, pp. 122-123). During his highly successful career that spanned more than four decades, Darley illustrated the works of Edgar Allan Poe, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and many others.
($400-$800)
327.
[MUSIC]. The Rough and Ready Songster: Embellished with Twenty-Five Splendid Engravings, Illustrative of the American Victories in Mexico. By an American Officer. New York: Nafis & Cornish, Publishers, 279 Pearl Street; St. Louis, Mo: Nafis & Cornish & Co., [ca. 1848]. [1-4], 5-250, [i] ii-vi pp., 10 plates, including frontispiece, woodcut illustrations. 32mo (11.7 x 8 cm), original tan sheep, gilt pictorial spine. Binding rubbed, dry, upper spine snagged, spine faded. Interior very good except for scattered spotting and light waterstaining at rear.
First edition. Garrett & Goodwin, p. 278. Sabin 73463.
Includes, among other more general songs dating back to the Revolution, “Song of the Texas Ranger,” “San Jacinto,” “All for Texas,” “Remember the Alamo,” “Flag of Texas,” “The Female Volunteer for Mexico,” “Oregon and Texas,” “The Prisoners of Santa Fe,” and several others related to Texas.
($500-$1,000)
368.
[RESACA DE LA PALMA, BATTLE OF]. CURRIER, Nathaniel (publisher). The Brilliant Charge of Capt. May At the Battle of Resaca de la Palma (Palm Ravine) 9th of May, 1846 in which Gallant Exploit He Captured the Whole of the Enemys [sic] Cannon and Took Genl. La Vega Prisoner of War. [along bottom] Lith. & Pub. By N. Currier. Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1846 by N. Currier, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of N.Y. 33 Spruce St. N.Y. Print: image size: 21.5 x 32.2 cm. Contemporary hand-color. Contemporary wood frame. Light staining and fading, but overall good. Not examined outside of frame.
First edition. Currier 690. Peters, p. 201.
A scene dominated by May, long hair flowing and staring resolutely ahead, in the center leading his troops towards the Mexican cannon in the distance. The caption is not entirely correct. May overran his target and was forced to give the cannon up.
($150-$300)
369.
[RINGGOLD, SAMUEL]. WYNNE, James. Memoir of Major Samuel Ringgold, United States Army: Read Before the Maryland Historical Society, April 1st, 1847. Baltimore: Printed and Published by John Murphy, 178 Market Street, 1847. [1-3] 4-16 pp. Extra-illustrated with 7 plates from other sources and 1-page ANs by Ringgold to George Adams asking him to pay John Y. Schley $30, dated at New York, September 15, 1820. 8vo (21.5 x 14 cm cm), contemporary three quarter dark brown roan over tan and brown marbled papers. Two plates shaved, otherwise a very fine and desirable copy. With Chicago Historical Society bookplate, circular call number label on upper cover, embossed stamp on title, and pencil call number on title verso.
First edition. Connor & Faulk 251. Tutorow 4017.
This memoir eulogizes Ringgold, one of the great heroes of the Mexican-American War, whose death at the Battle of Palo Alto captured the popular imagination and whose fatal wounding is shown on one of the inserted plates. This lithograph is of Texas interest, Palo Alto being one of two battles of the War fought on Texas soil. When the gallant Ringgold received the wound at the Palo Alto, the army was deprived of one of its brightest ornaments. Ringgold was a Maryland native.
($500-$1,000)
428.
[TAYLOR, ZACHARY]. Life of General Taylor from the Best Authorities. New York: Nafis and Cornish; St. Louis, Mo.: Nafis, Cornish & Co., 1847. [1-5] 6-256 pp., 10 woodcut plates (counted as part of pagination), lithograph frontispiece and title on heavy paper with beautiful contemporary hand-color. 32mo (11.7 x 8 cm), original brown gilt-decorated embossed cloth, spine gilt lettered and decorated. Except for fading to cloth, overall fine. With pencil signature of Flora D. Todd on front pastedown. Very rare. No copies at auction or on OCLC.
First edition? of a work that seems to have been reprinted numerous times in various forms. Not in usual Mexican-American War sources.
A highly flattering view of Taylor and his campaign. Four of the plates depict action in Texas at Fort Brown and Resaca de la Palma and the death of Major Ringgold. Extensive discussion of that phase of the war is also included. The book closes with a discussion of the Battle of Buena Vista that includes some rather grim passages and proves the author is no friend of Mexico: “Our wounded men, who could not get from the field, were all, to a man, even Lieutenant-Colonel Clay, vilely massacred, robbed, and left naked, while the enemy’s wounded were left for us to gather into our hospitals, which has been done, the general having given orders that the senior surgeon, Dr. Hitchcock, shall have everything he calls for for their service.... These Mexican fight well—they are brave to the death, but they are ignorant, they are savage, low, and guilty of great barbarity. They murder men (who hold up a white flag) that they may strip them of their clothes and rob them of their money, &c.” (pp. 243 and 252-253).
($500-$1,000)
466.
[TEXAS]. TILDEN, Bryant Parrott, Jr. Notes on the Upper Rio Grande, Explored in the Months of October and November, 1846, on Board the U.S. Steamer Major Brown. Commanded by Capt. Mark Sterling, of Pittsburgh. By Order of Major General Patterson, U.S.A. Commanding the Second Division, Army of Occupation, Mexico. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1847. [i-iii] iv-v [1, blank], [7] 8-32 pp., 9 folded lithograph maps. 8vo (23.5 x 15 cm), original blue printed wrappers. Light scattered foxing, especially to first and last few leaves, discrete Library of Congress embossed stamp on title page and pencil call number on verso, maps with uniform light age toning with a few marginal chips, but all professionally backed. Overall, an excellent copy.
Maps:
[1] A Sketch of the Upper Rio Grande Explored in the Months of October and November 1846 on Board the U.S. Steamer Major Brown Commanded by Capt. M. Sterling of Pittsburgh under the Direction of Lieut. Bryant P. Tilden, Jr. 2d. Regt. U.S. Infantry by Order of General Patterson U.S.A. Commanding the 2d. Division of the Army of Occupation in Mexico. Lith. of T. Sinclair. [Upper right]: No. 1. 21.3 x 37 cm.
[2] [Plus 8 additional untitled detail maps of the river, numbered in upper right]: No. 2 [to] No. 9. [Lettered in lower right corner (except one in lower left)]: Lith. of T. Sinclair. [Map No. 5 two views on one sheet]. Various sizes. All the maps put together form a strip map of the river.
First edition of a rare and important work on Texas and the Mexican-American War, giving an account of a river journey from Camargo at the mouth of the Rio Grande, up the Rio Grande nearly 300 miles to Presidio del Rio Grande. Connor & Faulk 766 (“rare little book”). Garrett & Goodwin, p. 144 (photocopy). Graff 4151. Haferkorn, p. 87. Howes T264. Raines, p. 206. Sabin 95874.
Tilden’s maps and detailed text constitute an excellent source for conditions along the Rio Grande during the early campaigns of the Mexican-American War. The primary purpose of the mission was to determine the feasibility of opening steamboat communications as far up river as Presidio del Rio Grande, then the crossing point on the river for traffic between San Antonio and Monclova. Tilden’s party left on their expedition October 1, 1846, less than a week after the Battle of Monterrey. They were unable to proceed farther than Laredo by water and made the last leg of the journey up on horseback and down by dugout canoe. Text includes descriptions of towns along the route (Mier, Laredo, Presidio del Rio Grande, etc.), the countryside, and encounters with Mexicans. The maps, with their interesting notations, show the Rio Grande from Camargo to the Presidio del Rio Grande, and are the most accurate and informative published maps of the area to date. A vital work on the river that would finally form the boundary between Texas and Mexico. See J.B. Wilkinson, Laredo and the Rio Grande Frontier (pp. 204-207) for a discussion of the Tilden Expedition.
($5,000-$10,000)
A link to the sale beginning with Lot 1:
http://www.dsloan.com/ee/auction/24/abstracts
Dorothy Sloan eMail Contact:
To ask questions and/or register to bid
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![<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b719f220-50aa-4855-9a72-293cad312283.jpg "<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.")
