This little 91-page first edition is so rare that it is most assuredly unread and unseen by most people, even those interested in studying or buying it. One surmises it was included because the only known copy at the time had been owned by Wagner, one of the compilers, who had sold it to Thomas Streeter before the publication of The Zamorano 80. That same copy was knocked down to F. W. Beinecke at the Streeter Sale in April, 1967, for $10,000, after having been moved forward from its original place so the aging collector could have the satisfaction of buying it, thereby adding to his Zamorano 80 collection the only piece he was missing from it. What real value this "distinguished" book could have for California compared to the fatal trials of La Pérouse, the wit embodied in the "Celebrated Jumping Frog," or even the breathy heavings of Ramona, has been a labored question. If one wanted to document California in another way, one could try to collect every edition of Ramona rather than spreading quick lime to catch a first edition of Yellow Bird. Of course, the former task is impossible no matter how much money is involved; the latter is achievable with sufficient funds and opportunity. Such difficult collecting choices are again on the horizon.
Those who have completed a collection including first editions of all titles listed in The Zamorano 80 breathe a rarified atmosphere that they do not have to share with many others. So far as is known, only four individuals have ever managed to complete such a collection. The first was apparently Zamorano Club member Thomas W. Streeter, who completed his in 1957 according to a statement he made in entry 2874 of his sale catalogue. The second was F. W. Beinecke, who gave his collection to Yale, thereby ensuring that that institution was the only one to hold a complete set. (The Bancroft lacks only the Yellow Bird; other libraries also have substantial collections of the titles.) The third person was Zamorano Club member Henry H. Clifford, who completed his collection at the Doheny Sale in February, 1988, by acquiring Zamorano 80 number 15 (Carrillo’s 1831 Exposición) and number 22 (Costansó’s [1770] Diario). The fourth is architect Daniel G. Volkmann, Jr., the only living member of this exclusive group.
Some of the titles in Volkmann’s Zamorano 80 collection were originally acquired by his mother, Beatrice Simpson Volkmann, who had accumlated the books as part of her interest in Californiana. By her death in 1969 she had accumulated fourteen of them, along with many other titles of Western Americana. Her collecting activities were guided in her early years by a physician. The family pediatrician, George D. Lyman, himself a distinguished California historian in an era of polymaths, advised her as she collected and read Californiana. After her death, the collection was appraised by Warren Howell at just over $8,000.
Ironically, it was not The Zamorano 80 that set Volkmann in motion, but rather the allure of the Grabhorn Press. At first, he concentrated on buying Grabhorn reprints. Later he started purchasing the original editions on which the Grabhorn reprints were based. He also acquired many first editions of classic Californiana, such as works by John Steinbeck, John Linville Hall, Bret Harte, and Frank Norris. After nearly thirty years of collecting,
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s 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.
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 | Hindman Western Manuscripts and Miniatures July 8, 2025
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.