• Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2019 Issue

Autographed Americana from Joe Rubinfine

American Historical Autographs.

Joe Rubinfine has released List 183 of American Historical Autographs. You know this will be highly collectible American material when you see items from Washington and Lincoln. However, if those presidents are not your cup of tea, you can also find items from the likes of Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Herbert Hoover. They aren't on Mt. Rushmore, but they could be in your collection. Along with presidents, you will find other cabinet and high ranking officials, many military leaders from the Revolutionary and Civil War, a bunch of people who did not consider themselves United States of Americans for a while (Confederates), and scattered others, such as New Orleans ladies of the night. You might prefer to spend an evening with one of them than with Andrew Johnson. Here are a few selections from this latest group of American autographs.

 

We start with a letter between Confederate Generals, one requesting assistance of another in having a third general replaced from his position of command by a fourth general. The problem was that the fourth general was the son of a fifth general, who needed to be convinced of the change without showing favor. Got that? The letter writer was Gen. William N. Pendleton, the recipient Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard. Pendleton wanted Gen. William H. C. Whiting removed from command at Wilmington, North Carolina. Whiting had actually done a good job of fortifying Ft. Fisher at Wilmington, the last open Confederate port where supplies could be brought in past the Union blockade. Whiting had long been close with Beauregard, but a few months prior to this Sept. 17, 1864 letter, he had not performed well on a side mission to assist Beauregard which perhaps led Pendleton to believe he could get Beauregard's assistance. Whiting had a habit of criticizing other generals, which did not make him the most popular man among his peers. Writes Pendleton, "Gen. Lee expressed to me his perplexity respecting a reliable Commander of Wilmington, it being notorious that Genl Whiting does not enjoy the confidence of the Army or Country...which renders it extremely unsafe for an important point to defend, at a critical time, upon his efficiency." Pendleton had the perfect candidate for Whiting's replacement - Gen. Robert E. Lee' son, Gen. Custis Lee. Robert E. demurred, saying he could not recommend his own son on account of their relationship, also noting that Custis did not have sufficient experience. Nonetheless, Pendleton pushed forward, evidently without success, as Custis Lee was not given the command. Whiting stayed on through a successful battle in December, but was then replaced by Gen. Braxton Bragg. Bragg, to Whiting's dismay, lost the fort the following month. Whiting returned to the fort, not as commander but to be with his men, was injured, taken prisoner by Union forces, and died in custody two months later. Item 12. Priced at $2,000.

 

Things were tough enough for poor Herbert Hoover in 1931. As President when the Great Depression arose, he was highly unpopular, heading for a shellacking in the election the following year. Now, he was called on to give a dedication for another President with a tarnished reputation, Warren Harding. Poor Harding was noted for the Teapot Dome scandal and a terribly corrupt administration. He was not corrupt himself, but way over his head in the presidency and taken advantage of by friends and associates. In his address at the dedication ceremonies for the Harding Memorial in Marion, Ohio, Hoover alludes to this unfortunate situation. He relates, "Warren Harding had a dim realization that he had been betrayed by a few of the men whom he had trusted...whom he had believed were his friends..." Hoover had accompanied Harding on his western trip in 1923, where the President suffered a fatal heart attack, so he had some understanding of what Harding surmised by then. Hoover went on to praise Harding personally, saying, "He was a man of delicate sense of honor, of transcendent gentleness of soul...of passionate patriotism...of deep religious feeling...devoted to his fellow men." Item 24 is a printed transcription of Hoover's address, signed by him while President. $2,000.

 

These signatures did not come from presidents, but they did come from the next closest thing - first ladies. Item 16 consists of 15 first lady signatures (some are duplicated) covering 150 years of presidential history. The first ladies are Barbara Bush, Sarah Polk, Harriet Lane Johnston (bachelor James Buchanan's niece), Lucretia Garfield, Rose Cleveland, Frances Cleveland (Rose was then bachelor Grover Cleveland's sister and first term first lady, Frances his wife and second term first lady), Mary Lord Harrison (Benjamin, not William Henry's wife), Edith Bolling Wilson, Florence Harding, Grace Coolidge, Lou Henry Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mamie Eisenhower. In several cases, the signatures came long after their husbands/uncles left office. For Polk, Johnston, and Frances Cleveland, around 40 years, for Harrison, 53 years later. $850.

 

There were no first ladies among this group, though they may have been first in the hearts of their country-men. The Blue Book was sort of a guide to New Orleans, containing ads for bars, attorneys, cigars and a taxi service. However, it is unlikely the average reader bought his copy to find out where to buy a good cigar. What distinguished this guide was that it provided addresses for ladies who plied their trade in Storyville, New Orleans' red light district. The guide provides the ladies' names, addresses, and pertinent details, even their race. Don't plan on putting this guide to practical use today. These women would all be well over 100 years of age if still living, which undoubtedly none are. This is a 1915 edition, the last year The Blue Book was published. Item 41. $2,800.

 

Andrew Johnson was a man with many difficulties in his life. His unexpected presidency, the result of Lincoln's assassination, did not go well. His loyalty to the Union was based on his dislike of southern plantation owners, not sympathy for the slaves, so when he took over the presidency just as the war was ending, he was quickly at loggerheads with the northerners in Congress. Johnson's obstinate manner and unwillingness to compromise prevented him from being able to successfully work together with Congress. All of this is well known, but less well known is that Johnson's family life was also filled with troubles. His wife, youngest son and son-in-law were ill, likely with tuberculosis, while his two older sons were alcoholics (only his two daughters were okay). Item 28 is a letter from Johnson while a Senator from Tennessee in 1859, six years before becoming President. Rubinfine says it was almost certainly written to his eldest son, Robert. Johnson talks of various political happenings, but the primary concern is evidently directed toward the middle son, Charles. Johnson had received letters from his wife and Robert concerning the situation. "The account given in both of them of your brother," he writes, "was extremely mortifying to me yet I was anxious to know the true State of the Case. Your mother Seemed to think I might be prepared for the worst for She feared it would end in his death, which has Kept me in suspense ever Since. Before this there must be a change Some way either for the better or for the worse. Let that be as it may I have been extremely anxious to hear what the change was. I hope of Course it is for the better. I am Sure it cannot be much worse." Apparently, the Johnsons survived whatever the current episode was, but unfortunately there was no long term solution. Charles, serving as an assistant surgeon during the war, was thrown from a horse and died in 1863. Apparently he was inebriated. The older son and letter recipient, Robert, committed suicide in 1869, unable to overcome his own alcoholism. As an aside, I have no idea what guidelines Johnson used for determining capitalization. Item 28. $7,500.

 

Here is another presidential poor health letter, though hardly on the same tragic level as that of Johnson. It was written by William Howard Taft, formerly President, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in 1927. He was then just a few weeks from his 70th birthday and his health was declining. Taft was never known as a fit man, once reaching a weight of 340 lbs. during his presidency. However, in his post-presidential years, he took fitness and diet more seriously, eventually lopping almost 100 lbs. from his weight. Like many presidents, Taft got much of his exercise playing golf. Here he writes from Quebec to J. L. Ketterman, apparently a golfing companion, that he can play no more. Says Taft, "I have had to give up golf during the last three years and never expect to take up the game again. My physician forbids." Item 46. $1,500.

 

Joe Rubinfine may be reached at 321-455-1666 or Joerubinfine@mindspring.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

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