This Month’s New Catalogues:<br>Travels, Americana, and More
- by Michael Stillman
William Reese Co. "National Pride" with Buffalo Bill poster on cover.
If you’re looking for the latest advances in medicine, try item 15, Daniel Ballmer’s A Collection of New Receipts and Approved Cures for Man and Beast. Reese describes a cure for horse colic which involves knocking down a chicken with a whip, tearing it to pieces, and then “cram it down the horse’s throat with the handle of your whip.” Gee. Medicine hasn’t changed that much in the past two centuries. $1,000.
For losers, there’s John Burgoyne’s State of the Expedition from Canada…Burgoyne is the general who led the British down from Canada to the Hudson Valley in an attempt to split the colonies in 1777. Instead, he got whipped at Saratoga. This is his attempt to defend his actions before the House of Commons. Item 32. $6,000.
Item 34 is a compilation of John Calhoun’s views published shortly after his death. A Disquisition of Government… explains, as Reese points out, the “importance of minority rights in a system of majority rule.” Racial minorities were not the minorities whose rights Calhoun had in mind. $750.
Item 150 is a collection of The Writings of John Marshall, Late Chief Justice of the United States, upon the Federal Constitution. This copy includes an inscription from Edward Everett, later senator from Massachusetts and the gentleman who gave the long speech at Gettysburg. $2,000.
For those who collect Francis Parkman, there is a major offering here. It is the variant first edition of The California and Oregon Trail with only the first two advertising pages. Howes believed it might be one of the six copies sent to Parkman. Item 176. $5,000.
William Reese can be reached online at www.reeseco.com or by phone at 203-789-8081.
Almagre Books catalogue 20, simply titled “Americana,” is exactly what it says. There are 629 items, and while a few are fairly expensive, there are many interesting items appropriate for a more conservative budget.
An affordable example is an early account of life and commerce in Alaska. Item 8, from 1886, is Charles Hallock’s Our New Alaska; or, the Seward Purchase Vindicated. The title is intriguing, for less than twenty years earlier, many were referring to the Alaska purchase as “Seward’s folly.” $100.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
