• Sotheby’s
    Fine Books and Manuscripts
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane] — Isaac D'Israeli. Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel. 70,000 - 100,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Brontë, Charlotte. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me..." 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Eliot, George. The author's magnum opus. 25,000 - 35,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Whitman, Walt. Manuscript written upon the Death of Lincoln, 1865. 60,000 - 80,000 USD
  • Sotheby’s
    Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining, Philadelphia, 1846. $3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: 17th–19th-century case maps of various locations. $1,500 to $2,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Andreas Cellarius, Haemisphaerium Stellatum Boreale Cum Subiecto Haemisphaerio Terrestri, celestial chart, Amsterdam, 1708. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Vincenzo Coronelli, Set of engraved gores for Coronelli’s monumental 42-inch terrestrial globe, Venice, circa 1688–97. $18,000 to $22,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, group of four navigational charts, Antwerp, 1580s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Thomas Bros, Block Book of Berkeley, Oakland, 1920s. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Nieuhoff & John Ogilby, An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, map of China, plan of Canton, London, 1673. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Frederick Sander, Reichenbachia, St. Albans, 1888-1894. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Two early illustrated works on horsemanship and breeding, Nuremberg, early 18th century. $700 to $800.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Gould, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans. Supplement to the First Edition, London, 1834; 1855. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, London, 1808–14. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Oakley Hoopes Bailey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Boston, 1896. $800 to $1,200.
  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2012 Issue

Couple, Separated Almost 200 Years, Reunited at the Rosenbach

Thomas Sully's portrait of Maria Gratz.

On a bright sunny day in 1831, or perhaps a cloudy one, we do not know, Benjamin and Maria Gratz sat for portraits. The painter was Thomas Sully, one of the foremost American portrait artists of the 19th century. He painted many notables, including Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, and Queen Victoria. If the Gratzs were not quite as well known as those individuals, they were nonetheless part of a prominent and remarkable family.

Benjamin's father, Michael, and his uncle were Jewish immigrants to America before the Revolution. They settled in Philadelphia, where they developed successful mercantile and business interests. The brothers were involved early in the patriot cause. They boycotted British merchandise subject to the hated Stamp Act of 1765, and by the time revolution broke out, they swore their allegiance to the new, would-be nation. After the war, the family's business interests would continue to grow and prosper. Benjamin was one of Michael's 12 children, most of whom became involved in the Philadelphia businesses.

Benjamin was an exception. Michael Gratz had purchased a sizable amount of land on the frontier, and it was Benjamin who went off to the wilderness to manage it. He settled in Lexington, Kentucky, and quickly became one of the most important of community leaders. Among his close ties was the orator and “Great Compromiser,” Kentucky's Henry Clay (one of Benjamin's daughters later married Henry Clay's grandson). At some point, Benjamin met and married Maria Gist, from a prominent family herself. It was reportedly a most successful and loving marriage, and the couple was beloved by many of the leaders of their community.

In 1831, on a visit to Philadelphia, the Gratzs discovered that Benjamin's sister, Rebecca, had had her portrait painted by Sully. Rebecca Gratz is a story herself. She devoted her life to worthy causes. She was very active in providing aid for poor women and children, and founding an orphanage in Philadelphia (Benjamin would do the same in Lexington). She was also active in various Jewish causes, for which she is still known today. It is said that she was the model for Rebecca in Ivanhoe, her attributes conveyed to author Walter Scott by their mutual friend, Washington Irving. Benjamin and Maria liked the painting of Rebecca, and commissioned Sully to paint theirs as well. When the visit ended, they returned to Lexington, portraits in hand.

What exactly happened to the portraits over the years is uncertain, though they remained in the family. Maria died in 1841, while Benjamin later remarried and lived for many more years. Somewhere along the way, their portraits became separated.

Fast forward a century. Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach, the noted 20th century bookseller, and his brother, Philip, collected Gratz family items, books and manuscripts, naturally, along with furniture, silver, ceramics, and portraits. They were also descendants of the Gratz family. After the Rosenbach brothers died, their Gratz family collection was one of the many items left to the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Since then, descendants of the original family have left more heirlooms to the Rosenbach. One of those gifts was the portrait of Benjamin Gratz, along with a second Sully portrait of Rebecca, bequeathed in 1970 by a granddaughter from his second wife, Henrietta Gratz Clay. Then, in 1984, the museum was notified by another descendant, Fanny Gratz, that there was also a portrait of Maria, though she knew not where it was. All she had was a photograph of what she called a “crayon copy” of the original portrait. Despite scouring auction records and other sources over the years, Rosenbach curators were never able to locate the missing portrait of Maria Gratz.

In June of 2011, still with no leads, Rosenbach curator Judith Guston tried a “shot in the dark.” She asked Susan Sklaroff of the Rebecca Gratz & 19th-Century America blog to post a request for readers to search their attics, friends' homes, and libraries to see if they could locate the painting. To everyone's surprise, she received a call just three weeks later. It came from Maria Gratz Roberts, a great-great-great granddaughter of Benjamin and Maria. It had been sitting in her house for decades. She had no idea anyone was looking for it. Evidently, the portraits must have at some point, probably early on, been separated, as one came to the Rosenbach through the family of Maria, while the others came through the family of Benjamin's second wife.

Though she had lived with the painting all of her life, Maria Gratz Roberts believed it belonged at the Rosenbach with the other portraits and Gratz family heirlooms. She donated the painting, along with a chair Benjamin had brought home from Philadelphia, to the Rosenbach. Once again, Benjamin and Maria are together, at least in portrait. It's a happy ending to a long tale. Dr. Rosenbach, something of a matchmaker himself, between books and their collectors, would undoubtedly be pleased. Families belong together.

Rare Book Monthly

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  • Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800

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