Cummins and Reese Offer the Charles Cramer Archive
- by Michael Stillman
The Charles Cramer Archive.
James Cummins Bookseller and the William Reese Company have combined to produce a catalogue of The Charles Cramer Archive. It is not a typical bookseller's catalogue. It contains but one item, though that lot encompasses 40 volumes. It is an archive that was composed by the Russian diplomat and American and European traveler Charles Cramer the good part of two centuries ago. It is filled with material that provides a window on 1820-30s America, in particular, along with some views of Europe and Russia.
Charles Cramer is not a household name, but he was born to an important Russian merchant family in St. Petersburg in 1799. The family firm had trade ties to the Americas, which led to Cramer visiting North America from 1824-28 and again in the 1830s. It was during this later period that Cramer served as Russian Consul in New York. After returning home, he remained in regular contact with American scientists through his position as Secretary of the Imperial Mineralogical Society of St. Petersburg.
While Cramer wrote and collected extensively on his travels, he apparently only published one book during his lifetime, a two-volume account published in 1837-1840 in St. Petersburg in German, Etwas uber die Natur Wunder in Nord America (Something about the Natural Wonders of North America). The second volume is scarce; the first extremely rare. This book features caves, rivers and waterfalls of America. Cramer observed many natural wonders as he visited every one of the United States as of the 1830s excepting Alabama, plus parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The archive includes presentation copies of this book Cramer gave to his father and his wife, including some of his autograph notes, manuscripts, an unpublished continuation, and original drawings by his wife, most of which did not appear in his book.
Along with Cramer's published book are several unpublished manuscript books he created: A General Tour thro' the United States, Scenes in America, Remembrancer of Scenes in Europe, and Scenes in Europe Second Series. The material dates from 1824-1849 (Cramer lived until 1879). What Cramer did was to assemble all sorts of visual material to accompany his narratives. He collected printed views, sketches and other ephemeral items on his journeys to include in his books. As Cummins and Reese note, "No contemporary account of travel in America is so widely illustrated." Cramer would then add his notes to the images he found, which were bound together with his texts. "Seen as a whole," Cummins and Reese continue, "the archive presents an unparalleled resource for how early nineteenth century America presented itself, and was viewed by educated outsiders. In many ways, the Cramer archive provides the visual cognate of observers such as de Tocqueville or Mrs. Trollope."
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.
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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.
![<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.")
