Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2016 Issue

Ending July 2: $5 starts at Gibson Auction's Americana Sale a real bargain

Highlighted lots from Gibson Auction's Rare Americana Antiquarian Book & Map Auction

Gibson Auction Service is a family owned and run business operating out of central Virginia. Serving mainly the local and drivable population, they offer all sorts of items for auction: personal property, farm machinery, real estate, and the like. In fact, the majority of their sales fall under these categories and so Gibson has never been covered on Rare Book Hub. This month, however, they are hosting a sale we’re very interested in. Entitled Rare Americana Antiquarian Book & Map Auction, the highlight of this sale is not necessarily any one lot, but the prices. Every lot begins (or began, as pre-bidding has already begun online) at $5. Rare books are not the specialty of Gibson, and with 325 lots, many being bulk lots, only the first forty lots have been given full descriptions. That being said, there are absolutely some rare and important items contained within the sale. Let’s have a look.

I just said that the highlight of this sale are its prices, but there’s definitely a single lot that stands out. John Lederer was a German surveyor who in 1669 was commissioned by Virginia governor William Berkeley to find a passage through the western mountains. He was the first European to explore west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and to see the Shenandoah Valley. The first edition of The Discoveries of John Lederer, in three several Marches from Virginia, To the West of Carolina, And other parts of the Continent: Begun in March 1669, and ended in September 1670, printed in 1672, is a “very rare book” (Sabin 39676). In the last sixty years, only two distinct copies appear in the Rare Book Transaction History over the course of several transactions. One of those, acquired by my dad Bruce at the Siebert sale in 1999, called my parents’ address home for eleven years. In 2010, his Discoveries of John Lederer, with an estimate of $40,000-60,000, sold for $158,000 at Bonhams. The book coming to sale now is not one of the two copies that have sold in living memory; it is not the Streeter-Siebert-McKinney copy. It does contain the same folding map though, which is directly correlated with the book’s value. And it claims a famous provenance nonetheless, bearing the armorial bookplate of the “Bibliotheca Phillippica,” also known as the Collection Formed By Sir Thomas Phillips, the renowned English book collector who lays claim to the largest collection of manuscript material amassed in the 19th century. Just like every other lot in this sale, lot 25, The Discoveries of John Lederer began bidding at $5. In pre-bidding at the time of this writing, that price has increased 1,000% to $5,000. Who knows what it will go for…

Lederer is not the only man to have produced a gem for the sale. Two men, far better known than Lederer, have one-of-a-kind items contained within. You may have heard of Daniel Boone and John James Audubon. Lot 23 is an autograph letter signed by Boone to Audubon, dated July 11, 1813. In the letter, Boone invites Audubon to come to his son Nathan’s house and states he is “too old and trifling now for any labor,” and also mentions how age has affected his eye sight. Pre-bidding on the lot is up to $3,000. The following lot, number 24, is an autograph letter signed by Audubon to Richard Harlan, the American naturalist and zoologist. The online catalog has excellent pictures that show the letter in clear detail, but for the life of me, I cannot decipher Audubon’s hand. I’m sure there are some of you reading this who can. Pre-bidding is currently at $1,250.

With a mere forty lots with descriptions and ridiculously low starting prices (with no reserves), any collector or purveyor of Americana, especially those interested in Virginia and the Carolinas, will enjoy browsing the catalog. As Gibson Auction Service does not usually deal in rare books and manuscripts, a keen and informed eye can very likely find some serious bargains. The official auction start time is noon Eastern Time on July 2nd. General auction information and a summary of the lots can be found here, while the complete catalog and pre-bidding are available here.


Posted On: 2016-07-01 12:52
User Name: reeseco

The Lederer is imperfect; the first leaf is in facsimile and there is loss to the top margin affecting headlines and text on about half the leaves. All of the facsimile work and the binding were done by the Robinson firm in 1953.
The supposed Daniel Boone to J. J. Audubon letter is an obvious forgery. The Audubon letter to Harlan is fine; it was from the Evans sale in 1991.
A "keen and informed eye" who examines these books- as I have- will discover many problems. Bill Reese


Posted On: 2016-07-02 01:54
User Name: scientiabk

Bruce you have done wonders for this auction.

July 1, 9:53 PM (Eastern time)
Lederer, lot 25, is up to $40,000
Audubon, lot 24, is up to $3250
Boone, lot 213, is up to $5000


Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

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