The Clements Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 1923 at the University of Michigan holds collections of print and manuscript materials on the history of North America and the Caribbean, with particular strengths in 18th and 19th century American history. It is an important American institution. They issue books on an irregular basis and I’m lucky to be reading their most recent, Americana is a Creed, a series of excerpts and essays on many of the important librarians, collectors and dealers involved in Americana. It’s the second volume of two, the first – The Pioneer Americanists: Early Collectors, Dealers, and Bibliographers was published in 2017.
The introductory essay to the recent volume is a gem that weaves the complex threads of collecting into a coherent view on the changing times, themes, and personalities. The individual pieces are similarly illuminating.
The following persons have been nominated for canonization:
Edward Everett Ayer 1841-1927
Wymberley Jones De Renne 1853-1916
Wilberforce Eames 1855-1937
William L. Clements 1861-1934
Henry R. Wagner 1862-1957
Charles E. Goodspeed 1867-1950
George D. Smith 1870-1920
Bruce Cotton 1873-1854
Charles P. Everitt 1873-1951
Arthur Alfonso Schomburg
Harold C. Holmes 1877-1965
Edward Alexander Parsons 1878-1962
Wright Howes 1882-1978
Edward E. Eberstadt 1883-1958
Charles F. Heartman 1883-1953
E. Millicent Sowerby 1883-1977
Thomas W. Streeter 1883-1965
Margaret Bingham Stillwell
Ernest Wessen 1887-1974
Douglas C. McMurtrie 1888-1944
Randolph G. Adams 1892-1951
Michael J. Walsh 1894-1984
Dorothy Porter Wesley 1905-1995
David Magee 1905-1977
David A. Randall 1905-1975
Leona Rostenberg 1908-2005
Madeleine Stern 1912-2007
Charles Hamilton 1913-1996
Marcus A. McCorison 1926-2013
Charles L. Blockson 1933-
Michael Zinman 1938-
John H. Jenkins 1940-1989
William S. Reese 1955-2018
It’s logical, if disappointing, to see Bill Reese on this list. He belongs, but his death at an early age, injects reality into a list that could otherwise mostly be statues in a museum. And I’ve written elsewhere of the importance of Wright Howes and Ernest Wessen who bought and sold gems at very reasonable prices.
I can also see places for others who have been omitted. No auction houses? It’s as if this is a book about the biggest waves in a world that has been transformed by storms, none bigger than Sotheby’s and Christies or persistent than Bonhams and Swann’s.
It’s an interesting group for whom the common denominator is involvement. To get on that list you needed to be brilliant, well-connected, generous and in few cases, ruthless. In other words, old books and collectible sundries are simply a particularly beautiful patch on the tapestry of life.
Both volumes are highly recommended. The first is available online through Oak Knoll Books. The second volume will probably be offered soon. And I’ll announce the third volume today, which to make the set complete must tell the stories of the auctions and the contentious battles throughout the 20th century as they shifted from “for the trade” to all with the will, resources and a paddle.
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.")
