This Month’s New Catalogues:<br>Travels, Americana, and More
- by Michael Stillman
Item 160 from William Reese is an 1830 first edition of The Book of Mormon.
The William Reese Co. always comes up with spectacular catalogues, and this month’s “National Pride,” is no exception. It is a catalogue of Americana, in particular, United States items.
Again it’s only possible to mention a few items. You will need the complete catalogue to understand the depth. The majority of items come from the days just before the Revolution, to the very early years of the Republic. There are many items of interest to people who collect specific states, travels through the backwoods then known as the “west,” and quite a few early maps.
A few are famed classics. Item #13 is the octavo version of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, with 500 hand-colored lithographs. $95,000. Item 209 is a first edition, in French, of de Tocquville’s Democracy in America. $13,500. There is a second British edition of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. Item 137; $16,500. And item 160 is a first edition of the Book of Mormon, printed in Palmyra, New York, in 1830. $75,000.
Item 12 is an interesting Sermon on the General Fast… by a British preacher in 1776, who favors the colonialists on the grounds of self-indulgence and other immoralities on the part of the English. $3,000. Not so favorably inclined to the Americans is one Charles William Janson, author of item 116, The Stranger in America. Janson resided in America from 1793-1805 and couldn’t find much nice to say about it. He thought Jeffersonian democracy was the work of the Devil. On that score, John Adams might have agreed. $1,250.
An unusual item is Benjamin Franklin’s Report of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and Other Commissioners, Charged by the King of France, with the Examination of Animal Magnetism, as now Practiced at Paris. The King had called on Franklin and others to review the claims of Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer, namesake of the term “mesmerize,” that he was using magnetized wands to control the human body. What was apparently going on here was hypnotism. Franklin and the commission concluded what was happening was mere psychological manipulation and Mesmer was disgraced. Item 83. $3,500.
Another strange item is #16, John Banvard’s Description of Banvard’s Panorama of the Mississippi, Painted on Three Miles of Canvas… In the days before movies, Banvard created a three-mile long panorama of 1,200 miles of the Mississippi River up to the mouth of the Missouri. The panorama would be scrolled along since viewing a three-mile painting from one location was hardly feasible. It was, in effect, the first “motion picture,” and the largest painting ever made. It made Banvard a wealthy man for a time. I have not been able to locate what happened to this painting, though it hardly could have been misplaced. $850.
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.")
