Dorothy Sloan, auctioneer and cataloguer extraordaire, will conduct two interesting western Americana sales in San Francisco on Wednesday, February 16th, at the Society of California Pioneers, 300 Fourth Street at Folsom [94107]. Sale 14, a selection of 64 important lots will begin promptly at 1:30 pm. Sale 15, the second part of the Daniel Volkmann collection dispersal, containing 225 lots, commences at 3:00 pm. Ms. Sloan's approach to pricing is very clear cut. She sets a low and high estimate for each lot. The low estimate roughly equates to wholesale valuation and the high estimate to retail. She accepts no bids below the low estimate and no offers for unsold lots after the sale. As in gunfights you get no chance to reload. Pre-sale examination is available Sunday, February 13th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday February 14th from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm, Tuesday from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, and Wednesday from 9:00 am until noon.
Sale 14 is simply titled Americana. The aggregate high estimate is $423,000 and the low estimate $215,500. This suggests that Ms. Sloan believes the cash value of premium books at retail is about twice what a dealer may pay for stock. The presence or absence of collectors may well determine how close to retail valuation these books achieve. To make collectors comfortable Ms. Sloan goes to extraordinary lengths to document the importance, rarity and provenance of the material she handles. In doing this she does what dealers usually do to prepare an item for sale. They engage in extensive research to unearth information that makes the book, map or document more appealing. The best dealers are also the great researchers and are often exceptional writers who convey the history and excitement of a piece to induce a collector to trade cash for a treasure. Ms. Sloan herself brings the highest dealer standards for documentation to the auction field. At her sale of Zamorano material two years ago, at the same location, it was collectors, often with the expert help of dealers, who bought the important material and made the sale a notable success.
These two sales will be interesting as an indication of the health of the market.
Here are some interesting items from these two sales. All full lot descriptions are searchable in the AE database of upcoming auctions and on the Sloan website: http://www.sloanrarebooks.com. Of course Ms. Sloan always prepares exceptional catalogues that themselves become important bibliographical references. Call to order the catalogues: 512 477-8442.
Sale 14 is AMERICANA with an emphasis on the Southwest & the Borderlands, especially Texas, California, and Mexico. The type of material offered includes rare books, manuscripts, autograph letters, maps, atlases, broadsides, and ephemera.
Lot 31. [MAP: CALIFORNIA]. VINCENT. Map of the State of California... 1860. With panorama of San Francisco and Contra Costa. Engraved map with contemporary color. Pocket map with original covers. Provenance: Eberstadt-Streeter-Howell. Wheat, Gold Region 317. ($4,000-8,000) Collecting visual material has become very important over the past 20 years.
Lots 59 and 60 are copies of Miguel Venegas' history of California. The first is in Spanish and the second is in English. Both are first editions. A serious collector of California will want both.
Sale 15 is The Daniel G. Volkmann Jr. Collection of Rare CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO & THE WEST: Rare Books, Maps, Broadsides, Letter Sheets, and Ephemera. This is a wonderful assortment of material that is generally priced low and is absolutely red meat for western Americana collectors. So many lots are reasonably estimated that buyers are going to have a hard time knowing how to allocate their bids. Here are a few.
Case Antiques 2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction January 25-26, 2025
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: 1861 Civil War Personal Flag. $12,000 to $14,000.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Armory Show 1913 Exhibition Poster. $8,000 to $9,000.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Abraham Lincoln Signed Appointment, 1863. $4,000 to $5,000.
Case Antiques 2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction January 25-26, 2025
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Cormac McCarthy, The Orchard Keeper, 1st Edition, Signed. $3,800 to $4,200.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, 1st Edition, Signed. $3,200 to $3,400.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Winston Churchill & Bernard Baruch Signed Letters Plus Photo. $1,400 to $1,600.
Case Antiques 2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction January 25-26, 2025
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Mississippi Civil War Ambrotype, Dr. Bisland Shields with Saber and Hat. $1,400 to $1,600.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Custom 19th C. Lord Byron Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, 4 Vols w/ Over 350 Prints Incl. Ex-Joshua Reynolds. $1,200 to $1,400.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Four NASA Lunar Orbiter Survey Photos, 1966; Maestlin G Crater; Apollo. $600 to $700.
Case Antiques 2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction January 25-26, 2025
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Three Margaret Mitchell Signed Books; Association Copies. $1,000 to $1,200.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Jimmie Rodgers Signed & Dated Photograph plus Record, Framed. $1,000 to $1,200.
Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Edward VIII Signed Letter Autograph. $500 to $600.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare. The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
Sotheby’s: William Golding. Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
Sotheby’s: John Milton. Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing
Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing
Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing
Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing
Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide