• Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2020 Issue

Who owns this damn thing anyway?

In August 2019 I made a run at auction at some paintings of 19th century Hudson River vessels and simply ended up raising other people’s winning bids.  There were three paintings and they all went high.  That’s the way it goes.  Only a week later, an ideal possible acquisition for my 7 counties of the mid-Hudson Valley collection would be coming up on August 23rd  at Thomaston, a said-to-said to be 19th century watercolor of “The Ship Factor of Pokeepsie N.Y., B. E. Howland Master off Goveners [sp] Island, N.Y.”, in whose family this watercolor was descended.   Nice.

 

Because my collection is very focused I tend to have deep [however imperfect] understanding of the pieces and parts that randomly appear at auction, on listing sites, on eBay, and in dealer catalogues.  This image was very appealing because in the late 18th century Poughkeepsie was emergent, still yet to be developed, but clearly a prime candidate for industrial development along the path on America’s industrial revolution that was wending north in later decades toward the Erie Canal.  There wasn’t much money toward the end of the 18th century  but the Hudson River, would become America’s Broadway within a few decades.  The place was pregnant with possibilities.

 

Here’s the auction description at Thomaston’s August 23 sale:

 

Watercolor of the Ship "Factor of Poughkeepsie, New York, B.E. Howland, Master of Governors Island in New York", broadside view of the rolling ship, sailing right to left with a #7 pilot boat leading the way past the Fort on Governor's Island, flying an American flag, the center mast with the pennant, "Factor", in red and white with sperm whale decoration and the American flag off the back; seven men are climbing the rigging and many are on the deck; titled in the margin below, nicely framed in a contemporary mahogany frame. OS: 17 1/2" x 24 1/2", SS: 12 3/4" x 19". Light overall foxing but generally in good condition. PROVENANCE: This watercolor descended through the family of Captain B.E. Howland of the ship "Factor".

 

It was an easy decision to bid and buy.  The price all-in was $2,740.

 

When it arrived I found a place on my office walls as a perfect perch, just above where the lights are turned on and off.  It’s terrific.

 

And then the story gets complicated.

 

On eBay, I recently found:

 

 An antique watercolor with a broadside view of the rolling ship, Factor, sailing right to left with a #7 pilot boat leading the way past the Fort on Governor’s Island. The ship is flying an American flag and shown with most of the sails out. The center mast has a ship pennant “Factor,” a red and white pennant having a sperm whale decoration and the American flag off the back. Seven men are climbing the rigging and many are on the deck, one with a spyglass. Titled along the base “The Ship Factor of Pokeepsie NY, B.E. Howland Master, Off Governors Island in New York”. This unsigned watercolor on paper probably dates to the 19th century and is in good condition, with some light overall foxing, as well as other imperfections, and is nicely reframed in a contemporary mahogany frame, matted under glass. Provenance: Descended through the family of Captain B.E. Howland of the ship, Factor. Dimensions: 12 ¾” h x 19” w, actual; 17 ½” h x 24 ½” w, framed.

 

Does it sound familiar?

 

Out of curiosity and concern I ran part of the description on Google and low and behold the item I bought last summer is also being offered on two other sites:

 

New Hampshire Antique Co-op [NHAC]

 

And

 

Rubylane.com

 

And of course on eBay.

 

I contacted the folks at NHAC and, out of curiosity, offered to buy it and asked for an image at a 45% angle.  They hesitated and I told them why I’m asking.  They were friendly and quick to reply.

 

The story is that this cooperative has some 200 members who bring items to them to catalogue and photograph, display, warehouse, post on various listing sites, and finally, one way or the other, sell.  At the same time, members can, temporarily or permanently, take back what they bring to them, and sell them themselves without obligation to tell them.  Hence, phantom examples, long sold, can live on for years on various sites in the ether.  Well, that explains it. 

 

I told NHAC I’ll be writing about this experience and expect they’ll pay more attention as it’s illegal to offer material they no longer have or own.

 

I then asked NHAC to contact the consignor to hear their version of the facts.  The consignor refused neither would NHAC help to reach them.

 

That’s too bad.


Posted On: 2020-07-01 07:55
User Name: bukowski

Deliberately raising bids knowing that you can’t win is rather unethical, Sir!


Posted On: 2020-07-01 16:23
User Name: adminb

I bid to win although I set limits. The lots you refer ran well beyond my interest so my bids, which totaled about $60,000, were not a factor in the roughly $150,000 they brought. The insinuation I would run someone up frankly is sick.

Bruce McKinney


Posted On: 2020-07-01 20:13
User Name: jkuenzig

Bruce - Interesting article. I'd be concerned as well if I had something in hand still offered for sale. So it is great you looked into it. Regarding the folks at NHAC I've known them for many years and they are good people. I'm sure that any continued listing of sold material was an unintentional oversight. It is interesting to me at least that in the print world we used to live in it was quite acceptable to call up a seller and find something was long sold. But in the internet age, it is expected that everything, and all references that same thing, is completely synchronized - often within minutes of something being sold or changing status. Your story highlights this with a specific example. It also explains why upon selling something to another dealer, we're sometimes asked to remove all reference to it from the internet. No-one in the trade will intentionally leave something for sale when it isn't anymore - it hurts their reputation, and causes customer angst (as in your case). But mistakes do happen. And google caching is not your friend in this regard! Best, John F. Kuenzig


Posted On: 2020-07-08 12:56
User Name: mbook

I only sell on abebooks, but sometimes i see them other sites and when you click on to buy goes to abebooks.
But in the past i have found lots if not all my stock on other sites, sometimes at higher prices, exactly the same description and same images of my books (as they like mine have "Malcolm Books scan" on the images of the book). On one occasion about 15 years ago, i was so annoyed, I wrote an email to the office of the president of the (Ex USSR) Country informing him the web site was selling books they do not own and they were most likely taking payment, and sending nothing, and they are giving the country a very bad name.
About a month later, the site vanished, not sure if anything to do with my email, but i was happy.
As for ebay, there are many criminals on there, and even when i told them, they did nothing, just a reply such as they have a very good feedback. One was selling Genuine solid English silver cigarette cases with nude images inside, or on top. The images were modern and just glued on, but almost impossible to see with the naked eye, only visible with a eyeglass, or by enlarging the ebay images and studying the edge. So buyers would never know until they tried to sell them. Some buyers were paying upto and over £1000 for them.


Rare Book Monthly

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    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
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    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
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