Nye & Company’s upcoming auction, “Property from a Private Collection: A 20th Century Machinal Delight” will be held on November 16th, 2022.
- by Announcement, Rare Book Hub staff
Lot 262: Black Americana "I Always Did 'Spise a Mule" Bank
Nye & Company’s upcoming auction, “Property from a Private Collection: A 20th Century Machinal Delight” will be held on November 16th, 2022. This amazing collection – all of it the lifetime vision of a single collector - is comprised of all manner of mechanical and musical devices, games, and all the associated ephemera one could ever hope to find to accompany them.
There is a superb collection of mechanical and still cast-iron banks, tin toys and books with a “Black Americana” theme, a fine collection of early Berliner, Victor and Edison cylinder and disc players and accessories. All of them – many of them rare or unusual examples – are in operating condition and include original paperwork.
One such example is an early Berliner Trademark Model Gramophone, ca. 1888, made in the United States, with rare original horn and parts. This is the gramophone model featured in the iconic "His Master's Voice" image, though the one offered for sale here has an earlier painted horn. There are also many 7” Berliner and Zon-O-Phone recordings, some very rare.
There is a separate category dedicated to medical quackery, with dozens of early machines, early books, and devices with their original 19th century packaging. For collectors of these types of objects, a treasure trove of devices and related ephemera awaits.
Among the highlights of the mechanical banks – many in excellent original condition – is a J & E Stevens “Always Did ‘Spise A Mule” bank with its original wooden box AND original paperwork. There is also an excellent original “Darktown Battery” mechanical bank, also in original paint.
The collection also includes an important library of books related to conventional and homeopathic medicine, with volumes spanning four centuries. There are historically important books and documents concerning slavery and early technology, and many volumes about New York City, New York State, Westchester County and more.
One of the highlights of the book collection is the 1788 1st edition of “An Account of The Slave Trade” by Alexander Falconbridge. Falconbridge was a surgeon aboard a slave ship during the second half of the 1700s and was responsible for health and well-being of the slavers’ “cargo”. He was so moved by his experiences that eventually became an early active member of the abolitionist community. Another one of the extraordinary volumes is "The Breviarie of Health", published in 1575 for Andrew Boorde, the very first medical book published in English (ex-Yale Medical Library).
The collection of late 19th and early 20th century objects features coin-operated mechanical devices including over 30 early slot machines and early trade stimulators, all in working condition, all with their keys, many with original paper and advertising, and all in either original condition or lightly restored.
There are several free-reed mechanical crank organs, and even a Regina Hexaphone (a forerunner of the earliest “juke boxes” which takes Edison cylinders).
Some of the more interesting lots in this group include a rare “Sanitary Chewing Gum Machine” by Manikin Vendor Company, in very good condition. There is also a “Multi Bell Slot Machine” (1936) by Caille A. C. Novelty Co., in extraordinary original condition and in complete working order (keys included).
Bidders can participate in the live auction by either arranging for phone bids by calling us at (973) 984-6900, or by bidding online through these four online auction platforms: www.nyeandcompany.com , www.liveauctioneers.com , www.bidsquare.com , and www.invaluable.com . Each one of these platforms are already hosting the online full color catalogue for this auction, and each lot is profusely illustrated with photos. Anyone looking for additional images, condition reports or info about an object is invited to visit the Nye & Company website or email to [email protected].
John Nye had a long and fruitful career at Sotheby’s before he and his wife, Kathleen, acquired Dawson’s in 2003 and started Dawson & Nye. With the move to Bloomfield seven years later, they renamed the business to Nye & Company (Auctioneers, Appraisers, Antiques). The firm is nationwide, but the majority of their consignments come from Estates and Trusts in the New York-Metropolitan area.
For more information about Nye & Company Auctioneers and their upcoming Auction of Machinal Delights Auction on Wednesday, November 16th, please call us at (973)984-6900 or visit us at nyeandcompany.com. Better still, come join us for our live preview which has already begun in our gallery, located at 20 Beach Street, Bloomfield NJ (30 seconds off of the Garden State Parkway). The preview runs from 11/2/22 thru 11/16/22. The Auction will begin at 10:00am.
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
