Second, and even scarcer than the Edward, was lot 130 in the PBA #254 sale, a copy of J. K. Hyer and W. S. Starring’s Lahcotah: Dictionary of the Sioux Language (Fort Laramie, [1866)]. This crudely printed item is a Wyoming incunabulum, having been the first book printed in the area that became part of that state. Apparently printed on a US Army press at the fort, it was printed in no more than fifty copies, of which only five are extant. This copy, however, failed to sell on its estimate of $10,000-$15,000.
Third, and also in the PBA #254 sale among other Montana items in lots 183-188, was a piece of Western fun in lot 184, Helena’s Social Supremacy: Montana’s Center of Fashion, Refinement, Gentility, Etiquette, Kettle Drums, High Fives, Progressive Euchre and Mixed Drinks (Helena, 1894). This little 48-page book is supposedly part of the controversy surrounding the permanent capital of Montana. First fixed at the now abandoned town of Bannack while Montana was still a territory, the location of the permanent capital became a punching bag between some of the biggest political forces in the new state. Marcus Daly wanted it to be in Anaconda, which he practically owned. An arch enemy, William Clark, wanted it to be in Helena, which eventually won out in 1889 after both men spent an estimated $3 million each trying to influence the outcome. This delightful squib on Montana society recalls the contest and is a minor classic in the literature that surrounded the choice of Montana’s capital city. It sold for $126 on an estimate of $250-$350.
Many American males over 50 owned as a child several shelves of the venerable Zane Grey’s Western novels in the series published by Black. That popularity continues to be reflected in the auction rooms. PBA #254 sold a long run of Grey first and early editions in reasonable condition (lots 76-109). One of the items was his The Lone Star Ranger (New York: Harper, [1924]), signed by Grey but in a facsimile dust jacket. In a twist that reminds one of advertisers who market “faux pearls” and “genuine facsimiles,” PBA spent much time describing the photocopied dust jacket and concluded that the book was “very good in a very good facsimile jacket.” The lot fetched $373.00. Over at Swann, the same title (New York, 1915), also signed but in publisher’s cloth, was grouped with a similar signed copy of his Tales of Fishes (New York, 1919). That copy also had problems: “ex-library with faults, sold as is.” Despite those problems, the pair fetched $100.00. One wonders what would have been the price if both of these, too, had been munified with facsimile jackets. Despite the constant emphasis put on condition, it would appear that spending some time at a color photocopier might pay dividends.
Versions of the Declaration of Independence, all of them expensive, were sold by Sotheby’s (lots 190-193). More interesting, however, than the fates of the various contemporary printings, all of which did well, were the fortunes of two facsimile lots, one at Sotheby’s (lot 192) and the other at the PBA #254 sale (lot 57). The former was a copy in fair condition of William J. Stone’s facsimile produced in 1823 and one of 36 vellum copies known. Stone’s work has proven important over the years as the original Declaration has faded; Stone’s facsimile is, in fact, now clearer than the original. This copy sold for $207,300.00 on an estimate of $100,000-$190,000, surpassed only by lot 190, the Newport, 1776, edition that fetched $367,000.00. In the sale was another facsimile, this one pulled by Peter Force about 1848 from Stone’s plate and found as issued in a volume of his American Archives. (These copies lack the Stone imprint.)
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.
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.