North Carolina-based Leland Little Auctions will be in short order hosting their Important Spring Auction. Scheduled for Saturday, March 2nd, the sale contains over 400 lots, of which just a handful pertain to the fields of books, maps, manuscripts and ephemera. However, within the offering, maps are a great strength of the auction, and collectors of the early American republic won’t want to ignore The Federalist.
Lot 1236 (with the first lot being 1001) is the two-volume set of The Federalist, with volume I being a 2nd edition of 1799, and volume II a 1788 first edition. The 1799 printing of the first volume is considered quite rare, and this copy was likely bound and sold together with the first edition of volume II by John Tiebout, the printer of the edition. Both volumes are identically bound as a numbered set. The importance of The Federalist needs not be expounded upon here, I think! The set is estimated $5,000 to $10,000.
Leland Little is often consigned material by collectors in relatively close proximity, and thus the material brought to auction usually contains some such that relates to the South. In terms of maps, eight are offered covering the southeastern seaboard, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida (Lots 1226 to 1233). Among these, the first official state map of South Carolina is a standout. Made by John Wilson and published in 1822, the map is “in part a descendant of Mouzon’s celebrated 1775 effort [and] is a compilation of the district surveys commissioned after the War of 1812 at the behest of the South Carolina General Assembly.” Composed of four separate copperplate engravings, it is quite large when the quadrants are joined: 50.5” x 65.25”. It is estimated $5,000 to $10,000 as well.
Other maps in the sale include a late 16th century copperplate engraving by Abraham Ortelius of the New World, an early French Republican map of Great Britain and Ireland, a 1671 map of the American eastern seaboard from the Chesapeake Bay to northern Florida with striking hand-colored illustrations depicting natives.
Leland Little’s Important Spring Auction is slated for Saturday, March 2nd at 10am EST. Bidding is available in person, over the phone, online, and absentee. The entire catalog is online and available here, but as the books and other printed material are a small portion of the sale. I recommend looking directly at the Books & Historical category here and/or the Prints & Multiples category here for ease of access.
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…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
