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Early American: History Auction

Auction Reports

Auction Name History Auction Total Sales (USD) 395,473.00
Auction Date December 14, 2024 - December 14, 2024 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 310,850.00
Sale Number #121424 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 439,950.00
Total Lots 172
Sold Lots 152.0 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 701,750.00
% of Lots Sold 88.37% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 931,850.00
Unsold Lots 20 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 42.44%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Top Sale Price Lots
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
67 GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732-1799).

1782 George Washington Signed Medical Discharge Form for a Soldier in the Regiment of Invalids at Newburgh, NY

December 31st, 1782 USD 18,000.00 - 22,000.00 USD 24,700.00
195

First Edition of Theodor Herzl's 1896 Historic Proposal and Plan for a Jewish State that laid the Foundations of Political Zionism

1896 USD 14,000.00 - 24,000.00 USD 15,600.00
84

One of the Rarest of Benjamin Franklin Portraits, Stauffer's First State of Three, published by Edward Savage in 1793

published by Edward Savage, London, published Sept. 17. 1793 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 14,300.00
79

Exceedingly Rare Original 1634 Engraving Depicting Pocahontas Rescuing Captain John Smith from Execution by Clubbing, by Thoedore De Bry (1528-1598) and Sons

c. 1634 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 12,350.00
17 SUSAN DECATUR (1776-1860).

Susan Decatur the Widow of Naval Hero Stephen Decatur, 1821 Dated Superb Content Autograph Letter Signed To President James Monroe Attacking Captain Jesse Elliott For His Actions in the Duel with Commodore James Barron

January 15, 1821 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 10,790.00
83

c. 1761 "A View of the City of Boston the Capital of NEW ENGLAND, in North America." After Governor Pownal, Extremely Rare Original Colonial Boston Harbor Engraving

c. 1761 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 10,400.00
76

Historic 1766 British Parliament "Declaratory Act" Imprint Printer to the King's most Excellent Majesty, London

1766 USD 1,800.00 - 3,400.00 USD 9,100.00
1 JOHN ADAMS (1735 - July 4, 1826).

1797 President "John Adams" Signed Four Language Ship Papers also with "Timothy Pickering" as Secretary of State

June 8, 1797 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 7,800.00
13 JEFFERSON "JEFF" DAVIS (1808-1889).

CSA President & Confederate States of America President-Elect Jefferson Davis Autograph Letter Signed 1861

November 11, 1861 USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD 7,800.00
35 STEPHEN HOPKINS (March 7, 1707 - July 13, 1785).

1755 French and Indian War Letter Signed by Governor Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island with Important Content regarding Raising more men to Reinforce and Strengthen the Expedition Against Crown Point, Per Genl. Braddock's Defeat

August 2nd, 1755 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 7,800.00
89

1778 Capture of the Prize Schooner "Hawke" American Privateer Nathaniel Bently, the Commander of the American Armed Schooner "Hornet" in a Legal case involving Aaron Lopez & the American Congress

October 17, 1778 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 7,800.00
167

Genl. Stonewall Jackson's Official Report on the "Battle of McDowell" Contemporary Period True Copy a Confederate Victory Prior to the First Battle of Winchester Fought as part of Jackson's "Shenandoah Valley Campaign" of 1862 in Highland County, Virginia

N/A USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 7,800.00
196

1755 Original First State French Printing of the Fry - Jefferson Map of Virginia, Paris: Robert Vaugondy

N/A USD 8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 7,150.00
164

UNION VICTORY ! ... Richmond has fallen! / Slavery is abolished! our Union Restored! Possibly Unique Historic Civil War Broadside @c. April 3rd,1865 Civil War Period Broadside titled, UNION VICTORY" this exceptional content Printed Broadside starts: UNIO

N/A USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 6,500.00
92

1780 Revolutionary War Printed Broadsheet Draft ACT Order for Raising Massachusetts' Soldiers Quota to Serve in the Continental Army "Sixteen years old and upwards..."

June 22, 1780 USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,175.00
189

John Quincy Adams Presidential Campaign Political Song Handbill, to be Sung to the TUNE - YANKEE DOODLE

c. 1828, USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 6,175.00
68 GIDEON WELLES (1802-1878).

Gideon Welles' Written Telegram Congratulating Admiral David D. Porter & General Terry on the Fall of Fort Fisher

January 17, 1865 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 5,525.00
103

1776 Revolutionary War Engraving titled "David Wooster, Esqr. : Commander in Chief of the Provincial Army against Quebec."

March 26, 1776 USD 3,500.00 - 4,500.00 USD 5,200.00
19 BENJAMIN EDES (1732-1803).

1780 Benjamin Edes Signed Revolutionary War Boston Town - Treasury Tax Loan Certificate: for the Purpose of carrying on the War. Signed by "David Jeffries" Deacon of Old South Church

N/A USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 4,875.00
48 CHESTER W. NIMITZ (1885-1966).

Highly Important Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Signed WWII "PROCLAMATION NO. 1 - To the People of the Marshall Islands" Broadside Document Regarding His Being "MILITARY GOVERNOR OCCUPATION OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS"

1944-01-31 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 4,550.00
51 JOSEPH WARREN REVERE (1812-1880).

Joseph Warren Revere Civil War General's Extensive Family Related Archive of Revolutionary War Patriot Paul Revere's Grandson and Great Grandson "Paul Revere"

N/A USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 4,550.00
97

Plan of the Town of Boston, with the ATTACK on BUNKERS-HILL, in the Peninsula of CHARLESTOWN, the 17th of June, 1775 J. Norman, Sc.

N/A USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 4,550.00
77

December 13, 1773 Philadelphia Postscript Newspaper Broadsheet Imortant Reports on a Boston Tea Party Meeting

c. December 13, 1773 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 4,225.00
30 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON (1805-1879).

To Liberty Civil War Autographed Handwritten Poem Signed by William Lloyd Garrison, Boston, October 21, 1860

October 21, 1860 USD 800.00 - 1,000.00 USD 3,900.00
185

1859 Kentucky Estate Slave Appraisal Listing Four Named Slaves

May 26, 1859 USD 500.00 - 600.00 USD 3,900.00
  • Sotheby's Book Week
    2 June - 9 July
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
  • June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Medical Incunabula: Petit (Jean)publisher & Kerver (Thielman)printer. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, sm. 8vo, Paris [1498]
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Hugo (Victor) [Wraxall (Lascelles)]. Les Miserable, 3 vols., 8vo, L. (Hurst & Blackett) 1862, First Authorized English Translation (copyright).
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Shelley (Mary Wollstonecraft). Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus, 8vo, 2 vols. in one, L. (G. & W.B. Whittaker, Ave-Maria-Lane) 1823.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Cuisine: Anon. Cookery, Pastry, and Sweet Meats in three Books, Alphabetically Digested, 8vo 1710.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Lambert (Aylmer Bourke). A Description of the Genus Pinus, with Directions Relative to the Cultivation…, 2 vols. Sm. folio L. (Messrs. Weddell) 1832.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Botany: Curtis (William). Flora Londinensis: or Plates and Descriptions of such Plants as Grow Wild in the Environs of London, 2 vols. folio, London (B. White) 1777 – 1798.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Le Moire (J.M.) Maple Leaves, Canadian History and Quebec Scenery (Third Series) 8vo Quebec (Hunter, Rose & Co.) 1865. First Edn.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: The Earliest Extant Printed House Contents Sale Catalogue in Ireland: Baillie, Auctioneer, Abby Street. A Catalogue of the Goods and Stock of the late Edward Wingfield…
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: William III King of England. Autograph Letter Signed ("William R") to an unnamed correspondent [possibly Charles-Henri de Lorraine] discussing his strategy against the French forces during the siege of Namur.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: [Austen (Jane) (1785-1817]. Pride and Prejudice, 3 vols. sm. 8vo, L. (T. Egerton) 1813.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Heaney (Seamus). Ugolino, sm. folio D. (Dolmen) 1979, Limited Edn. No. 78/125 Copies, Signed by Seamus Heaney, Louis le Brocquy, Liam Miller and Andrew Carpenter.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Voltaire (F.M. Avouet de). Petits Ouvrages, attribues a M. de Voltaire, sm. folio manuscript, dated 1776, containing 9 works.
  • Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
  • June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
    Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
    June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
  • Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950