Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2008 Issue

Newly Acquired Material at Michael Sharpe Rare and Antiquarian Books

A Lincoln and a Ford - Abe poses, Henry cranks up the engine.

A Lincoln and a Ford - Abe poses, Henry cranks up the engine.


Speaking of Mr. Twain, he died in 1910, and in 1911, his library was auctioned off at Anderson Auction, the largest American auction house at the time. One of those items sold was Twain's copy of In the Himalayas and on the Indian Plains, an 1886 work by Constance Gordon Cumming. This copy is signed "S.L. Clemens, Bombay, 1896," along with having a bookplate signed by Twain's literary executor, Albert Bigelow Paine, stating that it was from Clemens' library and sold at Anderson in 1911. Item 100. $1,250.

From prose we go to poetry. Item 61 is the first American edition of The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem. This may be an imaginary look at Indian life, but still a notable piece of writing. Published in 1855. $1,300.

Michael Sharpe Rare and Antiquarian Books may be visited online at www.sharperarebooks.com, or reached at 626-405-2934 or info@sharperarebooks.com,

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
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