Rare Book Monthly
Articles - December - 2007 Issue
An Exceptional Auction December 3rd
Part Two, 330 lots.
Lot 138 is interesting. It's the 1787 printing of Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia." This is not the first edition which is exceptionally rare and highly prized but it is nevertheless a very good book to own. Some books matter more than others. This is one of them. It's estimated $20,000 to $30,000.
Lots 40 to 57 include an array of Lewis and Clarke material. The requisite first edition of The History of the Expedition [1814] is offered at $90,000 to $120,000. For L&C aficionados there are more than a dozen other relating lots. This path is well traveled, the material well documented, the market competitive.
For those who collect Poughkeepsie material because it's the least ambiguous search on the web today, there is lot 75, Thomas J., Farnham's "Travels in the Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and the Oregon Territory." This is the first printing, done in Poughkeepsie in 1841 by Killey and Lossing who were then publishing a newspaper. Lossing would go on to become the widely known 19th century American historian. Farnham's second book, "Travels in the Californias, and scenes in the Pacific Ocean...," published in 1844 in a place with a less arresting name, is included in the Zamorano 80 [no. 36]. The book in this sale is a much rarer, if not quite so coveted, volume. It is estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.
After lunch the hammer will fall on another 330 lots. With fiction there is a sense of "the time machine" so prepare yourself for Dr. Seuss to be on the same menu with James Fenimore Cooper. If these are east and west, then north and south are Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776] and Mary Wollstonecraft's "Vindication of the Rights of Woman with strictures on moral and political subjects," the Philadelphia edition published in 1792. Somewhere in between are Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce who are literarily on different planets but side by side on bar stools. The afternoon material is eclectic but consistently first tier.
Lot 558. Dr. Seuss [Theodore Geisel]. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! [1957] Estimated at $3,000 to $4,000
Lots 401-447. "A remarkable collection of first editions and association copies from the works of James Fenimore Cooper."
Lot 338. Adam Smith. "Wealth of Nations..." [1776] $40,000 to $60,000
Lot 379. Mary Wollstonecraft. Vindication on the Rights... Estimates $3,000 to $4000
Lots 481-501. Ernest Hemingway. A selection of first and signed editions as well as correspondence.
Lots 504 and 505. James Joyce. Ulysses. First edition, first issue of the regular printing. Paris, 1922. Estimated $20,000 to $30,000. Also Finnegans Wake, London, 1939. The first English edition. Estimated $1,500 to $2,500.
Here is a link to the entire sale in AE's upcoming auctions.
By the end of the day there should be many exuberant new owners.
