Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2007 Issue

A Serious Book Auction in Chicago

143

Lot 143 Eau & Gaz


For book buyers in Chicago and the Midwest evidence of resurgence in the book auction market is apparent in the upcoming sale at Leslie Hindman in downtown Chicago. The sale will take place on June 14th and begins at noon. Material is currently available for viewing both online and at the auction house. There are in fact two sales. The other is a Vintage Couture and Accessories sale on June 13th.

Book auctions were once a staple of Chicago life and the Hindman firm is now working to restore them as a regular midwest event. The city itself has a storied history and complex relationship to the printed word. Book stores, book auctions and collecting organizations have been ever present on the Chicago skyline.

The 388 lot book sale includes the property of many consignors but is primarily material consigned by Rockford College to raise funds for endowment. Many of the Rockford items have been the property of their rare book department for generations. The material is eclectic, the common denominator value. Some of it is quite rare.

Befitting an auction department that is building a base the presentations are thorough and the estimates appealing. Here is a representative group of what should be an interesting sale:

Lot 49 shows us what is more valuable than gold. It's ink of course. An actress collected the signatures of many of America's famous and prominent people in the first half of the 20th century. Two volumes of over 100 examples are offered here. Autograph highlights include Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays (signed photo), Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Amelia Earhart, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Michael Collins, Carrie Chapman Catt, John Philip Sousa, William Wrigley, Prince William of Sweden, Prince Ferdinand of Russia, Jane Addams, Al Jolson, Jack Dempsey, and Mel Blanc. The estimate is $3,000 to $5,000.

Lot 71 is a first edition of The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell. This is a celebrated biography that was a premier collectible before the depression, suffered a decline through the end of the Second World War and has slowly found its footing. It suffers from visibility but is an important work. It is estimated at $4,000 to $6,000. Lot 72 is a rebound set and is estimated at $1,000 to $2,000.

Lot 84 is Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. It's the 1872 first edition, first issue with 50 illustrations. It's estimated $800 to $1,200.

Lots 97 and 98 are stereo views of Chicago pre and post the great Chicago fire. No other city in has quite the fascination with its destruction as does Chicago. These lots are both estimated $200 to $400.

Lot 103 is an early Confederate imprint, Regulations For The Army Of The Confederate States. Richmond: Ritchie & Dunnavant, 1861 8vo., blue cloth. With the signature of Brig. Gen. Sterling Price to f.f.e.p. Light wear and soiling to binding; otherwise fine. This would have been printed in the opening months of the war, just a carriage ride from Washington. It is estimated $1,000 to $2,000.

Lot 143 will be of interest both to the French and to those appreciate the French style. It is [Duchamp, Marcel] Lebel Robert, Sur Marcel DuChamp. Paris: Trianon, 1959 4to., in wrappers, in brown cloth clamshell case with plate reading "Eau & Gaz a Tous Les Étages". 1 of 110 copies of the deluxe edition signed by Marcel DuChamp and Robert Lebel. A biography and catalog of DuChamp and his work. Fine in a lightly soiled and worn case. It is estimated $6,000 to $8,000.

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> CASAS (BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS). <i>La Découverte des Indes occidentales par les Espagnols,</i> Paris, 1697. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. <i>Primera parte de los commentarios reales, que tratan del orígen de los Yncas…,</i> Lisbonne, 1609 [1608 au colophon]. €8,000 to €10,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> GARCILASO DE LA VEGA. <i>Histoire des Yncas rois du Pérou. On a joint à cette édition l'Histoire de la conquête de la Floride,</i> Amsterdam, 1737. €800 to €1,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> LAET (JOHANNES DE). <i>L'Histoire du nouveau monde, ou description des Indes occidentales,</i> Leyde, 1640. €8,000 to €10,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> LAFITAU (JOSEPH-FRANÇOIS). <i>Mœurs des sauvages amériquains, comparées aux mœurs des premiers temps,</i> Paris, 1724. €1,200 to €1,500.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> ORRIO (FRANCISCO XAVIER ALEXO DE). <i>Solución del gran problema acerca de la población de las Americas,</i> Mexico, 1763. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> [ROCHEFORT (CHARLES DE)]. <i>Histoire naturelle et morale des Îles Antilles de l'Amérique,</i> Amsterdam, 1716. €800 to €1,000.
    <b>ALDE, Apr. 18:</b> TURGOT (ANNE-ROBERT-JACQUES). <i>Mémoire sur les colonies américaines, sur leurs relations politiques avec leurs métropoles…,</i> Paris, 1791. €1,000 to €1,200.
  • <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Speed (John). <i>The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine...</i> bound with <i>The Prospect of the most Famous parts of the World,</i> Thomas Bassett & Richard Chiswell, 1676. £20,000 to £30,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> China. De Jode (Cornelis), <i>China Regnum,</i> Antwerp [1593]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> World. Hondius (Henricus), <i>Nova totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula.</i> Auct: Henr. Hondio. Amsterdam, circa 1630. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> World. Blaeu (Willem Janszoon), <i>Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula</i> auct: Guilelmo Blaeuw, Amsterdam [1635 - 58]. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Acosta (Emanuel). <i>Rerum a Societate Iesu in Oriente gestarum ad annum usque à Deipara Virgine…,</i> 1st edition, Dillingen: Sebald Mayer, 1571. £3,000 to £5,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Ruggieri (Francesco). <i>Scelta di Architetture Antiche e Moderne della Citta di Firenze…,</i> 4 volumes bound in two, Florence, Appresso l'Editore, 1755. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Parry (William). <i>Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage,</i> 6 vols in 5, 1st editions, 1821-27. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Hunter (John). <i>A Treatise on the Blood, Inflammation, and Gun-Shot Wounds,</i> 1st edition, 1794. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Furber (Robert). <i>The Flower-Garden Display'd, in above Four Hundred Curious Representations of the most Beautiful Flowers…,</i> 1st quarto edition, London, 1732. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <center><b>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>April 5<br>Printed Books, Maps, Atlases & Caricatures</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Friedman (Milton). <i>A Theory of the Consumption Function,</i> 1st edition, 1957. £500 to £800.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Clarkson (Thomas). <i>The history of the ... abolition of the African slave-trade,</i> 2 vols., 1808. £800 to £1,200.
    <b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 5:</b> Civil War Pamphlets. A sammelband of 19 pamphlets relating to events of the English Civil War, 1640-1661. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Printed & Manuscript African Americana:<br>March 30, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Victor H. Green, <i>The Negro Motorist Green Book,</i> New York, 1949. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Papers of pianist-composer Lawrence Brown relating to Paul Robeson & more, various places, 1925-54. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Freedom Summer archive of civil rights activist Karen Haberman Trusty, Atlanta & elsewhere, 1963-64. $5,000 to $7,500.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> E. Simms Campbell, <i>A Night-Club Map of Harlem,</i> New York, 1933. $8,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann March 30:</b> Archive of letters from the sculptor Richmond Barthé to a close Jamaican friend, various places, 1966-85. $25,000 to $35,000.

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