Books, manuscript, maps, and ephemera take you only so far. It’s possible to disappear into a great story but it’s close to shocking to consider you can personally acquire objects mentioned, pictured and/or referenced in stories you learned by heart when you were a kid. I’m writing about this as Bonhams is soon to sell The Earle Collection of the Early West which is deep with history-laden objects. It’s well worth a look.
Some collections are unintentional but the Earle Collection was not. Mr. Earle’s collection was from the get-go heavy on guns with historical association. A few years ago he described one example, the gun that killed Billy the Kid as “This is not just a gun – it is the history of America.” Such objects have been commanding auction house attention for decades and no doubt many will reappear in the years ahead. Violence fascinates.
Depending whether your interest is about the good or bad guys you have many choices in this sale. Mr. Earle collected both. Lots 1- to 49 are weapons. The bad guys’ weapons are often more valuable although Pat Garrett’s colt single action army revolver he used to kill Billy is estimated at $2,000,000-3,000,000 while a rifle that Mr. Bonney stole from the Lincoln County Courthouse to escape in 1876 is estimated $300,000-500,000.
While the collection includes objects relating both to famous desperados and lawmen, there are many opportunities to bid on weapons that will not require taking out second mortgages. Twenty-two of the 49 weapons have low estimates beginning under $10,000.
And there is more - two other related sections: Fine Art, Decorative Art and Western Collectibles, and Manuscripts and Memorabilia. Such material has long been in Rare Book Hub’s Transactions+; 1,328 lots mention Billy the Kid while Pat Garret appears in 373. In Bonhams’ new catalogue there are going to be many lots including letters, manuscripts, ephemera that are new to us.
The second section of the sale [lots 50-94] focuses on fine art, decorative art and western collectibles, comprising 45 lots including paintings, sculptures, objects including drums, strong boxes, a panoply of objects, as well as saddles and chaps.
Ephemera is included in the third section, Manuscripts and Memorabilia, lots 95 to 265. Here are some examples:
Lot 103. Samuel Colt’s Gold-Handled Ebonized Walking Cane. $3,000 -5,000
Lot 106. Photographs and Books relating to the Fisk-Stokes-Mansfield Affair. $800-1,200
Lot 108. Last studio portrait of Custer. $800-1,200
Lot 116. Sitting Bull Cabinet Card. $800-1,200
Lot 120. Buffalo Bill Silver Coin Pocket Watch. $8,000-12,000
Lot 122. Calamity Jane Cabinet Card. $2,000-3,000
Lot 127. Portrait of Jesse James. $6,000-8,000
Lot 133. The Death of Bob Ford. Death was real. $1,500-2,500
Lot 135. Signed Copy of Cole Younger’s Autobiography. $6,000-8,000
Lot 152. Bat Masterson Presentation Pocket Watch and Fob. $20,000-30,000
Lot 158. The Dalton Gang in Photographs. $3,000-5,000
Lot 165. Early Wyatt Earp Warrant. $10,000-15,000
Lot 174. Rare Virgil Earp
Lot 232. John Wesley Hardin in Death. $4,000-6,000
As well, there is a tip of the hat to 20th century criminals.
Lot 256. John Dillinger $800-1,200
Lot 257. Gangsters including John Dillinger and Al Capone.
As a writer about books, manuscript, maps and ephemera, I’m taking a deep breath and state the obvious: crime pays.
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
