Recently I noticed that Swann Galleries of New York was preparing an appealing sale of book and manuscript material. I asked them to send me their news release about it because I’ve bought many lots from them over the years for my own collection. They sell material for big game hunters as well as less expensive lots that fit in serious collections. I’ve collected both ways. At 79, I like deep detail.
Looking over their upcoming sale on November 20th, my first search was archive and archives. A search for “archive” is a way to identify group lots, some occasionally providing extensive records for companies and individuals. If they fit into your collecting focus, such lots can be remarkable additions.
Beyond archives, run your search terms, it’s an efficient way to penetrate the descriptions.
As to Swann’s overview of the sale, here is their pitch.
Printed & Manuscript Americana at Swann November 20
Letter Signed by George Washington, Manuscript Diaries & More Lead Auction
New York—Swann Galleries’ Printed & Manuscript Americana auction is set for Thursday, November 20. The sale will feature an incredible selection of Americana covering early depictions of the American flag to diaries documenting heiresses of the Gilded Age.
The auction is led by an important 1776 diary by an officer from the Revolution named Benjamin Beal, tracing the journey north to reinforce the Invasion of Quebec, only to meet the shattered patriot army decimated by a smallpox epidemic and preparing to retreat. Arriving safely back in Fort Ticonderoga, our diarist is appointed to lead a company of carpenters and detailed across the river to build fortifications at the newly christened Mount Independence, witnessing the aftermath of the Battle of Valcour Island before receiving his discharge. The diary is expected to bring $70,000 to $100,000.
From the early days of America is an autograph letter signed by George Washington as Commander in Chief to Robert Morris expressing the anticipation of the coming British campaign against Philadelphia. Written in January 1777, just a few weeks after Washington’s Christmas 1776 crossing of the Delaware River and his victories at Trenton and Princeton, the letter is estimated at $60,000 to $90,000.
Also included are several scarce and important early American pamphlets, most notably Benjamin Rush's 1772 Sermons to Gentlemen upon Temperance and Exercise. Most volumes of sermons from this era would not generate much excitement, but this one has the first American discussion of golf. The publication is expected to bring $10,000 to $15,000. Other early pamphlets include The Indian Physician, Containing a New System of Practice, Founded on Medical Plants from 1828 ($2,000-3,000); and the 1764 Declaration and Remonstrance of the Distressed and Bleeding Frontier Inhabitants of the Province of Pennsylvania ($3,000-4,000). A 1784 German history of the American Revolution contains one of the first printed depictions of the Stars and Stripes ($2,000-3,000).
Also on the manuscript front, we have a diary of a participant in the 1901 expedition to relieve Admiral Peary in Greenland ($5,000-7,000); papers of an Erie Canal boat captain ($800-1,200); a volume of incendiary correspondence from Kansas during the Civil War era ($6,000-9,000); and a diary of Brooke Russel (Astor) ad a young American girl on the Grand Tour ($5,000-7,500).
A strong Mormon section will include early documents and manuscripts led by a, 1840 mortgage deed signed with Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith, at $30,000 to $40,000, and an 1849 commission issued to two Church representatives signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as the First Presidency, and additionally by Thomas Bullock as clerk, at $25,000 to $35,000. The Latin Americana section is headlined by a rare complete copy of the 1801 illustrated book, Vida de San Felipe de Jesus.
Exhibition hours are 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, and Monday, November 17, through Wednesday, November 19. Bidding is available through online platforms, absentee, the phone, and live in-person. Live online bidding platforms will be the Swann Galleries Website, Invaluable, and Live Auctioneers. The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at www.swanngalleries.com.
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
