Cummins and Reese Offer the Charles Cramer Archive
- by Michael Stillman
The Charles Cramer Archive.
James Cummins Bookseller and the William Reese Company have combined to produce a catalogue of The Charles Cramer Archive. It is not a typical bookseller's catalogue. It contains but one item, though that lot encompasses 40 volumes. It is an archive that was composed by the Russian diplomat and American and European traveler Charles Cramer the good part of two centuries ago. It is filled with material that provides a window on 1820-30s America, in particular, along with some views of Europe and Russia.
Charles Cramer is not a household name, but he was born to an important Russian merchant family in St. Petersburg in 1799. The family firm had trade ties to the Americas, which led to Cramer visiting North America from 1824-28 and again in the 1830s. It was during this later period that Cramer served as Russian Consul in New York. After returning home, he remained in regular contact with American scientists through his position as Secretary of the Imperial Mineralogical Society of St. Petersburg.
While Cramer wrote and collected extensively on his travels, he apparently only published one book during his lifetime, a two-volume account published in 1837-1840 in St. Petersburg in German, Etwas uber die Natur Wunder in Nord America (Something about the Natural Wonders of North America). The second volume is scarce; the first extremely rare. This book features caves, rivers and waterfalls of America. Cramer observed many natural wonders as he visited every one of the United States as of the 1830s excepting Alabama, plus parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The archive includes presentation copies of this book Cramer gave to his father and his wife, including some of his autograph notes, manuscripts, an unpublished continuation, and original drawings by his wife, most of which did not appear in his book.
Along with Cramer's published book are several unpublished manuscript books he created: A General Tour thro' the United States, Scenes in America, Remembrancer of Scenes in Europe, and Scenes in Europe Second Series. The material dates from 1824-1849 (Cramer lived until 1879). What Cramer did was to assemble all sorts of visual material to accompany his narratives. He collected printed views, sketches and other ephemeral items on his journeys to include in his books. As Cummins and Reese note, "No contemporary account of travel in America is so widely illustrated." Cramer would then add his notes to the images he found, which were bound together with his texts. "Seen as a whole," Cummins and Reese continue, "the archive presents an unparalleled resource for how early nineteenth century America presented itself, and was viewed by educated outsiders. In many ways, the Cramer archive provides the visual cognate of observers such as de Tocqueville or Mrs. Trollope."
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
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Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
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