Trivial Pursuit?<br>Collecting Vice-President William R. King
- by Michael Stillman
Vice President, William R. King
By Mike Stillman
Collecting presidents is one of the most popular activities for book collectors. Its subjects are usually well-known, material is plentiful, and it can be quite expensive. The same cannot be said for collecting vice-presidents. Except for those who went on to serve as president, or committed some heinous act (Aaron Burr comes to mind here, or Spiro Agnew), few are remembered. John Nance Garner, FDR’s first vice-president, is supposed to have said the vice-presidency is “not worth a bucket of warm spit.” And that comment is about all people remember Garner for today.
Today’s subject is William Rufus DeVane King, vice-president under Franklin Pierce. Pierce himself is not well-remembered (nor well-loved). King is just plain forgotten. Not even in his native Alabama is he a celebrity, despite being the only Alabaman to ever achieve national elective office. If his name comes up at all today, it’s likely to be as the answer to a trivia question, or as part of some obscure controversy. Who was the only president or vice-president sworn into office outside of the United States? Who was the only vice-president never to set foot in Washington during his term of office? Who is subject to rumors of having a homosexual relationship with a president? Who challenged Henry Clay to a duel? Which vice-president had a county unnamed for him? The answer to all of these unimportant questions is William Rufus King.
The controversies to which his name is tied today would probably have saddened King. He was a man who wanted to avoid controversy. He wished to unite his country in a time when its divisions were becoming so deep that a split was all but inevitable. But, two of these issues are ones we still deal with today, and how we look at King now may tell us more about ourselves than about King and his times.
The rumors of a homosexual relationship, by no means confirmed, with president-to-be James Buchanan are instructive in comparing attitudes at the time with attitudes today. Not a big issue in King’s time, gay rights is in the forefront of political issues today.
And then there’s the question of slavery. King, the Alabaman, was, not surprisingly, pro slavery, and owned slaves himself. Of course, he wasn’t the only early American leader to own slaves. Names like Washington and Jefferson also come to mind. Today it is hard to grasp how people who otherwise seem to be good, decent people could ever have supported so indecent an institution. And King appears to be that - a man otherwise liked and admired by his contemporaries, even anti-slavery northerners, who supported this horrific treatment of a race of people. How should we regard these people today? It’s a question that confronts us more starkly with Jefferson, and to a lesser degree, Washington, but it also applies to the obscure King and so many more.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
