Lot 135 is Williamson's "A History of the Genesee." The title in the catalogue is misspelled Genessee. Drop the second s and you'll find one copy on ABE priced at $9,000. Lot 152 is The Columbus Business Directory for 1843-4. On ABE there are three copies, all with problems, all priced below the high estimate. The Snider copy also has problems. Lot 154 is Juliette Kinzie's Wau-Bun, the "Early Day" in the North-West published in 1856. There are 16 copies on ABE, 10 offered at or below the low estimate of $300. Lot 155 is John Collins' "The City and Scenery of Newport, Rhode Island" printed in Burlington, New Jersey in 1857. There are 3 copies on ABE, 2 offered at or below the low estimate. Where there are ABE matches they are worth considering. The high majority of lots in the Snider sale find no comparables on any listing sites although most have extensive priced histories in the AED.
Another title in this sale that is found on ABE is Jonathan Carver's Travels through the Interior Parts of North-America. However, the Snider example is several magnitudes better. In a field that values original boards and uncut pages this copy is remarkable. To that add the impeccable provenance of Hershel V. Jones, Frank T. Siebert and Jay Snider and this copy approaches gem status. It is estimated at $3,000 to $4,000. The same copy brought $7,475 in the Siebert sale and will bring a premium in this sale. Careful comparison is essential.
Another Snider copy that will be difficult to compare to ABE listings is Michel Guillaume St. Jean de Crevecoeur's "Letters from an American Farmer." Again the copy is in original boards and is uncut. A single rebound copy on ABE is priced at $5,400 suggesting the $5,000 to $7,000 auction estimate may be low.
Since the Siebert sale six years ago knowledge has increased and access broadened. The online listings have exploded into a firmament of 125 million items, each for sale and each at least minimally described. The antiquarian and collectible books portion is of course much smaller, perhaps two million items, five million using the broader definition of 50 years old and at least marginally collectible. In that same period AE has been building an extensive record of important and collectible printed and manuscript material offered by dealers and sold at auction. For the serious collector the tools have never been better. And with the exceptional material in the Jay Snider collection you have the opportunity, may I say obligation if you are going to be a bidder, to evaluate them first hand. Electronic charts of all Siebert items and selected ABE items are attached.
Those who wish to subscribe for complete database access should click here.
It is going to be an exceptional sale and serious collectors should do their homework.
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.
![<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.")
