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.
SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Fredrik Kolstø. Aftenstemning ved Kysten. c.1890-t.
SD Auctions, Apr. 16: Knut Yran. OL-plakaten Oslo 1952.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: Thomas Heywood. An Apology for Actors. London: Printed by Nicholas Okes, 1612. $3,000 to $5,000.
Swann, Apr. 23: Illuminated Islamic Devotional Manuscript. 19th century. Approx. 90 leaves with gilt-decorated title and 2 full page miniatures of Mecca and Medina. $800 to $1,200.
Swann, Apr. 23: Antiphonal in Latin. Manuscript on Parchment. Cologne, early 16th century. $7,000 to $9,000.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: Mohammed ibn Jafir Albategnius. De Scientia Stellarum Liber. Bologna: Victor Benati, 1645. $8,000 to $12,000.
Swann, Apr. 23: Frank Herbert. Dune. Fine First Edition. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. $5,000 to $7,000.
Swann, Apr. 23: William Shakespeare. Five Plays from the Second Folio. London: Thomas Cotes for Robert Allot, 1632. $6,000 to $8,000.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men. New York: Covici-Friede, 1937. First edition, first issue. $800 to $1,200.
Swann, Apr. 23: Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities. With an A.L.S. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. First edition, first issue. $1,200 to $1,800.
Swann, Apr. 23: Ursula K. LeGuin. The Left Hand of Darkness. Inscribed First Edition. New York: Walker and Company, 1969. $800 to $1,200.
Swann Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women April 23, 2026
Swann, Apr. 23: L. Frank Baum & Ruth Plumly Thompson. Five First Canadian editions including Ozma of Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; Glinda of Oz; [and others]. $1,000 to $1,500.
Swann, Apr. 23: Corita Kent. Different Drummer. 1967. Color screenprint; signed "Corita" in pencil on the lower edge. $1,000 to $1,500.
Swann, Apr. 23: Bible in English. Tyndale-Taverner Translation. The Bugge Bible. The Holye Bible. London: Imprinted by John Daye and Willyam Seres, 1549. $1,500 to $2,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
