James Cummins Latest Catalogue<br>Covers a Variety of Material
- by Michael Stillman
Emeline Fuller recounts killings and cannibalism on a journey to Oregon.
Few have lived through the horrors that 13-year-old Emeline Trimble survived in 1860. She and her family set out from Wisconsin for Oregon, but of the twelve, only young Emeline would make it alive. Her traveling party was attacked by Indians, the few survivors scattered, and when regrouped would battle starvation for seven weeks. Like the better-known Donner party, survivors of what is known as the Utter-Myers party would be forced to resort to cannibalism. Young Miss Trimble would survive the horror and many years later, now married with the name Emeline Fuller, she would write the only first-hand account of this tragedy, Left by the Indians. The Story of My Life. It was published in 1892. $3,000. For anyone interested in learning more about this sad and horrific journey, there’s an article on Rootsweb at www.rootsweb.com/~orgenweb/bios/emelinetrimble.html.
A man who had a better experience in the wilderness than Miss Trimble was Henry David Thoreau. Item 86 is a first edition of his famed Walden. It is inscribed by Daniel Ricketson, himself a naturalist and author of a history of New Bedford, Massachusetts, as well as a good and well-respected friend of Thoreau. $15,000.
French playwright Jean Genet rarely gave interviews, so the typescripts and galley proofs of item 35 are remarkable. Genet did consent to an interview in 1964 with Madeleine Gobell with, of all publications, Playboy Magazine. Here’s a purchase you can make which will show that you really do “read” Playboy for the articles. There is considerably more information in this interview material than eventually made it to the Playboy article, so those with an interest in Genet will undoubtedly find it fascinating. For example, Genet speaks at length of his relationship with Jackie Maglia, a racecar driver, comments which never made it to the final draft. $5,500.
Item 103 is another set of manuscript material from a Playboy interview. The year was 1964 and this time the interviewer was Alex Haley, later to be known for “Roots.” His subject was Martin Luther King. In a telegram to the Playboy editor Haley states, “King is so uncontrollably deluged that with me camped in his shop four days he has scarcely been able to give me two minutes. Indeed the man scarcely sleeps…” $4,250.
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.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
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.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…