Film, Writer, and an Early New Mexico Collection from James Pepper Rare Books
Fifteen collections from James Pepper Rare Books.
By Michael Stillman
James Pepper Rare Books has issued an unusual catalogue. It contains just 15 items, but then again, it contains many times that number. The paradox is resolved by the catalogue's title: Fifteen Interesting Collections & Archives. Each item contains multiple pieces, sometimes dozens of them. The collections range from those pertaining to films or authors to a large and unexpected group of documents from the then new territory of New Mexico, a few years after ceded to the United States following the Mexican War. There is much unpublished and unseen material to be found in these archives. However, we will take a look.
Item 2 is a shooting script archive for the classic film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean. The collection belonged to Jack Grinnage, who played the role of one of the three hoods, "Moose." Included is Grinnage's script, which he had hardbound, his Warner Brothers studio pass mentioning Rebel, and 16 still photographs. The script contains rewrite pages and numerous changes that were made as the film was upgraded from a second-tier black and white movie to a major color release. One of the photos shows Dean wearing his glasses, Grinnage intently studying his script, Jim Backus struggling to stay awake, and Natalie Wood looking beautiful. Priced at $30,000.
The New Mexico archive, which deals extensively with issues the government of the newly acquired land faced with the native tribes, is an amazing collection of likely otherwise unrecorded history. The 68 manuscript letters and documents pertain to the first six months of the administration of territorial Governor David Meriwether in 1853. Among the documents are:
Eight lengthy letters from Indian agent James M. Smith, covering livestock stolen by the Indians, corruption by his predecessors, illegal sales of liquor to the Indians, Mexican incursions into the territory, and Indian attacks on travelers and settlers. However, Smith recognized the terrible plight of the natives which led to their actions, and movingly writes, "They are really poor...I plead for the Apache - He is a noble, fine-looking, though naked Indian. Save him, I beseech you, from starvation."
Ten letters and five other documents from Indian agent Capt. Edmund A. Graves, Meriwether's son-in-law. He writes of conflicts between various tribes of Indians and between Indians and Mexicans, stolen horses, and other issues. Graves advises that the Indians must be brought under control, but he, too, recognizes that their actions are the result of a desperate situation, and that whites would act no differently if faced with the same conditions. He says, "they [the Indians] have for a great length of time subsisted merrily by the chase and by robberies and murder of the most revolting character - but as they must live and as both civilized as well as the savage man will plunder and rob before he will die by starvation when the means of subsistence is within reach, it is nothing remarkable or strange."
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.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
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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RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
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
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.