This Month’s New Catalogues:<br>Travels, Americana, and More
- by Michael Stillman
Item 228 from Oak Knoll, "The Horn Book."
For those into frauds, there’s also The Works of Sitting Bull in the Original French and Latin… That should have set off more alarms. How would a Sioux chief be writing books in French and Latin? Obviously, people were rather gullible then, and fell for Robert Dunlap Clarke’s charade. Apparently Clarke also had him speaking German and Greek, and claimed he was a graduate of Oxford. $1,750.
Item 12 is an unusual one for followers of famed mystery writer Dashiell Hammett. Hammett is best known for the Thin Man and Sam Spade, but during the Second World War, he edited a newspaper for soldiers stationed in the Aleutian Islands (he was pushing 50-years of age at the time). The Battle of the Aleutians is a history of that battle he wrote and published in 1944. $185.
For those interested in building a collection of the Mexican revolution of 1910, your collection is already built. Item 386 consists of 127 titles concerning that revolution. $2,500. If you prefer something more peaceable, item 435 is the Constitution of the Society of the “United Germans” at Teutonia. Teutonia was a utopian colony of German emigrants to Ohio whose constitution was printed in 1827. $1,000.
Collectors of our shortest-lived president, William Henry Harrison, will know item 436, A Discourse on the Aborigines of the Valley of the Ohio… Harrison didn’t write much. This is the Cincinnati first edition of perhaps his most notable work. From 1838. $1,250.
For just $50, you can have the Railroad to Oregon. March 3, 1845… Of course there was no railroad to Oregon in 1845, but author Robert Dale Owen advocated the construction of a Pacific railroad. Item 455.
Almagre Books can be reached via email at wwroth@kiva.net or by phone at 812-334-0465.
Oak Knoll Books’ latest catalogue is a milestone: number 250. Oak Knoll has been selling books since 1976, and publishing them almost as long. Their specialty is “books about books.” They are the indispensable source for this type of material.
Catalogue 250 is culled from the finest items in their large stock. It is neatly broken down by category, such as bibliography, bookbinding, book collecting, design, illustration, history, forgeries, libraries, private presses and more.
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.")
