Voyages and Travels from<br>The William Reese Company
- by Michael Stillman
Captain Bligh from his account of the mutiny on the Bounty
Item 86 is Otto von Kotzebue’s A Voyage of Discovery…for the Purpose of Exploring a North-East Passage… But this isn’t the same Northeast Passage of Barents and de Veer. This was really an attempt to find the Northwest Passage by heading northeast, if you get the drift. The starting point was Alaska. They didn’t find it, but in this, Kotzebue’s first voyage as commander, they did much scientific research all along the Pacific coast of South and North America, including Kotzebue Sound (named after the gentleman). This is a first English edition, following the German of the same year, 1821. $6,500.
It would have been simpler if William Bligh, instead of calling his book “A Voyage to the South Sea, Undertaken by the Command of His Majesty, For the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies, in His Majesty's Ship The Bounty, Commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh. Including an Account of the Mutiny on Board the Said Ship…” had simply named it “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Nobody really cares that he was transporting breadfruit seedlings to the West Indies. Still, if you want to read about the mutiny from the Captain’s perspective, this is the book. Item 10 from 1792. $14,500. Additionally for “Bounty” hunters, there’s George Hamilton’s A Voyage Round the World… Hamilton was the surgeon aboard the “Pandora” which was sent to round up the mutineers. Fourteen of them were captured, and despite the sinking of the “Pandora,” ten survived to be brought back to England and tried. Three were hanged, the others freed. Item 72. $10,000.
A fascinating yet chilling item is a manuscript written by one George Dunham entitled A Journey to Brazil aboard the Good Ship Montpelier. Dunham was a Rhode Island mechanic hired to do technical work on projects in Brazil during the 1850s. He wrote his observations of life in Brazil, with the chilling part being his comments on slavery and slave life. He was obviously appalled by it. He writes of beatings and other punishments “that made me think of the old Spanish Inquisition.” After witnessing a woman whipped Dunham has a long talk with the supervisor, but to no avail. He could not convince him that this was unnecessary. After a particularly brutal whipping in front of children, Dunham comments on the American who hired him “I am sorry to write it that I think there is the least human in John M. Carson of any man I ever saw in Brazil or out of it.” Item 49. $6,750.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
