Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2003 Issue

Oregon Trail</i> Part II Finding Gems Along the Trail

none

none


Our next entry is more interesting. It’s George L. Curry’s 1857 Correspondence, Resolutions and Memorials, of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Relative to the Hostilities of the Indians, and Protection of the Immigrants in 1854. Eberstadt states “In no other contemporary volume do we find so large a body of accurate eye-witness material on the campaigns, depredations and massacres along the Oregon Trail.” And this one is rare. As Eberstadt points out, this title is “not in Smith, Wagner, Sabin, Auction records, et al.” To that we can Abebooks. Not there either. The only other reference to it comes from Howes, who tells us virtually nothing other than he rates it a “b.” Not as valuable, in his estimation, as Parkman or Palmer, but as best we can tell, even rarer. This is a title ideally suited for the new “Wants List” Software being introduced by the Americana Exchange.

Here’s an amazing item I don’t expect to find. A bound collection of letters from 1849-1854 from George and Lisbon Applegate sent back home covering their journey to California and experiences once they arrived. Offered for sale for $950 in 1950, I wonder where these are today. Just in case, I search for these two writers on Abebooks.com. Nothing shows up for Lisbon, and for George only The Complete Guide to Dowsing. This is surely not the same George Applegate, unless he lived to be two hundred. Still, the earlier George probably could have used his namesake’s dowsing guide while crossing the deserts of western Utah and Nevada.

I then search for the Applegate Brothers on the AED “Keyword Search.” Each reveals one additional entry. For Lisbon, there’s an 1847 letter received in Missouri from his brother Lindsay in Oregon. Is this the same Lisbon? Considering that “Lisbon” is not a very common name this side of Portugal, and that he traveled west two years later, I imagine they are the same. The entry for George is much later. It’s a letter concerning mine samples written in 1875 to one Jefferson Wilcoxson, a California businessman. George’s letter comes from Colfax, California, but other letters (not from George) in the collection come from Applegate, California, named for George’s family. This lot was sold just last year by the PBA Galleries. Same George Applegate? Not certain, but seems to be a very good chance. I can’t help but wonder whether the owner of the large collection of letters is aware of these other items related to the Applegate Brothers.

Next we have an absolute gem. It’s an Oregon Trail book printed in 1821. How so early? It was written about the author’s overland journey to Fort Astoria on the Oregon coast undertaken in 1811-12. The book is in French and was printed in Paris, despite the very un-French sounding name of the author, Wilson P. Hunt. We find this listing from an old catalog of the William Holliday collection, sold by Parke-Bernet in 1954. On further investigation we discover from Peter Decker’s catalog of the Soliday collection that this is one of the most important books relating to the discovery of South Pass, a critical pass through the Rockies on the way to Oregon. It is also “extremely rare.”


Posted On: 2019-04-04 18:33
User Name: nelsonsdavis

Hello! stumbled across your "finding gems along the trail". wondering if you'd be of some help to me. I have several books my family would like to sell. One of them happens to be The California & Oregon Trail by Parkman - here is a description - Being sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life. Beautiful condition. Original Cloth jacket in very good condition - no tears, no rips, no sign of wear. Gold labeling on Spine, bright, clear. Very little foxing at beggining and end of book - most pages very white and clear. Book is in a custom sleeve. First edition, first printing of Parkman's classic account of his journey along the Oregon Trail. Octavo, original cloth, tinted lithographic frontispiece and vignette half title by Felix Octavius Carr Darley.

This is the scarce first issue in cloth, with ad leaf preceding the frontispiece. Publisher's catalogue in the rear and binding with PARKMAN set in sans-serif type on the spine.

My Q is this - could you direct me to sites where I could approach buyers directly?

If you're interested in other titles I currently have, here are some links -

This google sheet currently has 86 books and maps posted – Pikes book and atlas are in this list - This link will take you to a google doc - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m6faeCg5fspfChAmF2eC3Lgkr_KzHCHr5fSTzmk5ZaA/edit?usp=sharing

I’ve started to take photos of all in the sheet – so far about 27 books have been uploaded, which you can find here – (Pikes book and atlas are included) https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sBZG6sEB7RGGyZ9UR_xRO40Q9-9_raDW?usp=sharing – more photos will be posted in the coming weeks.

Best wishes,
Nelson

Nelson S. Davis
Market Research – Consulting – Client and Business Development – for hire!
Will work for Euros and US Dollars – Gold and Silver might work…..
+1 914.396.3662
nelsonsdavis@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsondavis/


Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
    Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
    Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
    Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
    Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
    Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
    Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
    Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000
  • Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
    Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
    Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
    Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
    Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
    Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
    Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions