Rare Book Monthly
Articles - December - 2002 Issue
The Elusive Zamorano 80 Captured Again: The Volkmann Zamorano 80 under the Hammer in February
Item 22. Costansó’s Diario histórico (Mexico,1770) .
This little 91-page first edition is so rare that it is most assuredly unread and unseen by most people, even those interested in studying or buying it. One surmises it was included because the only known copy at the time had been owned by Wagner, one of the compilers, who had sold it to Thomas Streeter before the publication of The Zamorano 80. That same copy was knocked down to F. W. Beinecke at the Streeter Sale in April, 1967, for $10,000, after having been moved forward from its original place so the aging collector could have the satisfaction of buying it, thereby adding to his Zamorano 80 collection the only piece he was missing from it. What real value this "distinguished" book could have for California compared to the fatal trials of La Pérouse, the wit embodied in the "Celebrated Jumping Frog," or even the breathy heavings of Ramona, has been a labored question. If one wanted to document California in another way, one could try to collect every edition of Ramona rather than spreading quick lime to catch a first edition of Yellow Bird. Of course, the former task is impossible no matter how much money is involved; the latter is achievable with sufficient funds and opportunity. Such difficult collecting choices are again on the horizon.
Those who have completed a collection including first editions of all titles listed in The Zamorano 80 breathe a rarified atmosphere that they do not have to share with many others. So far as is known, only four individuals have ever managed to complete such a collection. The first was apparently Zamorano Club member Thomas W. Streeter, who completed his in 1957 according to a statement he made in entry 2874 of his sale catalogue. The second was F. W. Beinecke, who gave his collection to Yale, thereby ensuring that that institution was the only one to hold a complete set. (The Bancroft lacks only the Yellow Bird; other libraries also have substantial collections of the titles.) The third person was Zamorano Club member Henry H. Clifford, who completed his collection at the Doheny Sale in February, 1988, by acquiring Zamorano 80 number 15 (Carrillo’s 1831 Exposición) and number 22 (Costansó’s [1770] Diario). The fourth is architect Daniel G. Volkmann, Jr., the only living member of this exclusive group.
Some of the titles in Volkmann’s Zamorano 80 collection were originally acquired by his mother, Beatrice Simpson Volkmann, who had accumlated the books as part of her interest in Californiana. By her death in 1969 she had accumulated fourteen of them, along with many other titles of Western Americana. Her collecting activities were guided in her early years by a physician. The family pediatrician, George D. Lyman, himself a distinguished California historian in an era of polymaths, advised her as she collected and read Californiana. After her death, the collection was appraised by Warren Howell at just over $8,000.
Ironically, it was not The Zamorano 80 that set Volkmann in motion, but rather the allure of the Grabhorn Press. At first, he concentrated on buying Grabhorn reprints. Later he started purchasing the original editions on which the Grabhorn reprints were based. He also acquired many first editions of classic Californiana, such as works by John Steinbeck, John Linville Hall, Bret Harte, and Frank Norris. After nearly thirty years of collecting,
