Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2006 Issue

Dawson Ephemera Auction September 29th

First separate directory of the city of Los Angeles

First separate directory of the city of Los Angeles


Lot 140. California: the Ideal Italy of the World. An Outline Mirror of the State for Health, Happiness, and Delightful Homes. 32 pp. plus 8 pp. of ads. 22.8 cm, printed yellow wrappers, in cloth case along with a signed 4.5 cm oval portrait of Hall given to Ed Carpenter by Florence Kreider. Philadelphia: Co-operative Printing Co., 1875. With old Dawson's Book Shop price of $5.00. Est. $1,200/1,800

Lot 143. Great Register of Los Angeles County, State of California. Published by Authority. Made and Done Pursuant to the Provisions of the Political Code. 139 pp., 39.5 cm, original printed wrappers reinforced with cardstock, spine rebacked in beige cloth, in cloth case. Los Angeles: Printed at the Mirror Book and Printing House, 1875.

The Register gives voter name, age, place of birth, occupation, city or town of residence, naturalization information, and date of registration. Est. $2,500/3,500

Lot 144. Directory of The City of Los Angeles for 1875. pp. 1-88; [i-iv]; 89-174 (lacks p. 175, which was printed on the original pastedown). 21.4 cm., original printed boards with leather backstrip, new endpapers. Los Angeles: Mirror Book and Job Printing Office, 1875. First separate directory of the city of Los Angeles. With four-page ad for Heald's Business College inserted between pp. 88 & 89. Est. $2,000/3,000

Lot 157. The Present Condition, Growth, Progress and Advantages of Los Angeles City and County, Southern California. 144 pp., 22.4 cm, printed wrappers, Stearns Rancho map printed on rear cover, map of Wilmington Harbor on p. [16], in cloth and leather case. Los Angeles: Mirror Printing, Ruling and Binding House, July 1876. First edition.

First publication of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Although printed by Mirror, the text is mostly reprinted from Hawley's articles in the Los Angeles Star, published by Ben Truman. There is a copy in the Pasadena Public Library with Ernest Dawson's notation, "First and only copy I have seen, Oct. 29, 1909, $3.50 net." Est. $2,000/3,000

Lot 166. Map of the City of Los Angeles. Large hand-colored map, paper panels mounted on cloth, 109.2 x 106.7 cm. Los Angeles, 1876. Robinson, Maps of Los Angeles 28. Formerly in collection Benjamin Kirby who gave it to Stuart W. Salisbury, January 29, 1943. Said to be Stevenson's own copy.

With blue pencil markings across several panels. According to Kirby's inscription on the verso, these are Stevenson's tracings of the old zanjas. Est. $5,000/8,000

The full catalogue is accessible both on AE and on the Johns' Western Gallery site: www.johnswesterngallery.com. Material can be viewed in person at the Gallery M-S 10-5. Bidding will be in the room, on the phones and by absentee bid. The auction begins at 10:00 am on Friday, September 29th at 250 Sutter Street, San Francisco.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000

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