New England Book periodically offers a run of premium material and the 9th is one of those occasions. Swann's autographs sale on the 11th provides an opportunity to acquire a John Adams signature for $800 to $1,200 and a serious Jefferson letter to his friend Marquis de la Fayette estimated at $35,000 to $50,000. On the same day PBA is offering a nice copy of the 9th volume of Curtis’ Indians and a copy of the Book of Mormon estimated $50,000 to $80,000. John’s Western Gallery is offering 265 lots on Mining, Railroads & Exploration of the American West on the 12th. The sale includes a run of California local histories.

During the week of the 14th to the 20th you have the option, on the average to consider a new sale every 8 hours. Sotheby's offers two days of photographic images, Christie's two photography sales on the 17th, Bloomsbury "The Library of the Late Erica Spender" on the 18th. Many other sales both in the United States and in Europe have been scheduled but details are not yet posted.

During the week of the 21st Bloomsbury will conduct their second sale in New York, this one named "Important Printed Books and Manuscripts." A week later, they hold their first Americana sale in the new world. Bonhams will sell in San Francisco and Los Angeles, on October 22nd, an eclectic mixture of very old and not so old collectible works on paper. A very nice catalogue is available. On the 25th PBA disperses the reference library of Jeffrey Thomas.

Heritage of Dallas is offering a series of sales. We are covering their "Grand Format Rare Books & Manuscripts Auction" on October 25th and 26th. Also on the 26th Dorothy Sloan will offer "Auction 21, High Spots of Texas, the West, Mexico & the Borderlands: Rare Books, Maps, Manuscripts, Iconography, Ephemera." The sale is to be held at Badu House in Llano, Texas. On the 31st Leslie Hindman continues to breathe life back into Chicago book auction trade with a sale on collectible books.

In between these events are many others I haven't mentioned and empty spaces on the calendar that will fill up as the month progresses. What we can say for sure is that the auction season is underway.