July 28: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Potter & Potter Auctions
- by Thomas C. McKinney
This month, Chicago-based Potter & Potter Auctions is hosting a July 28th sale of Fine Books & Manuscripts comprising 619 lots of diverse material. Books and manuscripts certainly make up a large portion of the sale, but photographs, posters and other mediums are also included. Autograph material is also a strong suit. The following are some standout items.
Is it inappropriate to say that the sale’s tour de force is Peter Force’s engraving of the Declaration of Independence? A rice paper engraving pulled from volume I of Force’s 1837-1853 series of books American Archives, this reprint was made using William J. Stone’s copperplate which was made by lifting ink directly from the original to create a perfect copy. Force’s reprints were authorized up to 1,500 sets, but many fewer copies were printed. This one is estimated $15,000 to $20,000 as lot 369.
In a total shift of subject matter, our next highlight is a WWI lithograph enlistment poster entitled “Destroy this made brute — Enlist,” which “played on the heartstrings of American men by summoning up deep-held fears of a German invasion. Lady Liberty, half-naked, lies in the arms of the German brute striding ashore, a cudgel emblazoned with the word “kultur” in his blood-smeared free hand.” Lot 383 carries an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000.
Hugh Hefner may have passed away last year, but his memory lives on, and lot 445 allows its owner to perhaps know him better than most. Coming to auction is a large and revealing archive of Hefner’s early correspondence, with over 60 typed signed letters and autograph letters addressed to his lifelong friend and confidant Jane Borson. The archive is estimated $10,000 to $20,000. Other autographs worth noting are an eleven-page autograph letter signed from Fidel Castro to an aviator and arms smuggler (lot 358, est. $8,000 to $12,000); a framed display with items relating to Harry Truman and his Secretary of the Treasury, John Snyder (lot 344, est. $6,000 to $7,000); and a large, sepia toned, signed photograph portrait of Chester Arthur, circa 1882 (lot 329, est. $6,000 to $8,000).
Under the heading of literature, two first editions, both estimated $4,000 to $5,000, are ones you’re familiar with. Lot 72 is a first issue of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind in its original dustjacket, printed in New York in 1936. Further on into the sale, lot 121 is L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, being a first edition, second state copy. The publication is dated 1899, 1900.
These are but a few of the items coming to auction in Potter & Potter’s sale of Fine Books & Manuscripts, slated for July 28, 2018 at 10AM central time in Chicago. The sale’s catalog is live online now. Live, absentee and telephone bidding is also available.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
