One of the rare books describing Indian life during the Civil War period is Among the Indians. Eight Years in the Far West: 1858-1866 by Henry Boller. Boller was a trader for the American Fur Company who spent these years in Montana and the Northwest. Toward the end of the period, he spent time with the Mormon community in Salt Lake, and he writes about this too. Recent reprints of his journey are readily available for those interested in reading about them, but this copy is an 1868 first printed in Philadelphia, and includes the folding map. Item 11. $6,000.
For those who collect particularly targeted geographic areas, Reese offers a group of early maps and other material pertaining to specific American counties. Those covered include Rockingham, New Hampshire; Middlesex, Massachusetts; Hartford and Litchfield, Connecticut; Lincoln, Maine; and Suffolk, Dutchess, and Saratoga, New York.
There are also extensive collections pertaining to Delaware County and the city of Utica, New York, from Martha Bradstreet. Mrs. Bradstreet was an English step-granddaughter of General John Bradstreet, a hero of the French and Indian War who had been granted a substantial amount of land in the area. She came to the United States in 1799 to claim what she felt was hers. By this time, much of this land had been settled by others who believed they had obtained good title. Mrs. Bradstreet would spend much of her life trying to regain this land, with limited success. She was at times represented by Aaron Burr, the duelist and almost President, who had long since been thoroughly discredited when he began representing Mrs. Bradstreet. However, she represented herself most of the time, as she evidently flooded the residents of this part of upstate New York with lawsuits for decades. Some see her as something of a pioneer in women's rights for taking initiatives virtually unheard of for women in her day, but her contemporaries must have thoroughly despised her for wreaking legal havoc on their lives. At one point she even petitioned Congress to impeach Federal Judge Alfred Conkling. Presumably he must not have been acting as she wished with her lawsuits, but the Judiciary Committee recommended that no action be taken. Item 124 covers Delaware County material ($25,000) while item 174 includes the Utica items ($20,000).
The William Reese Company is located on the internet at www.reeseco.com and they may be reached by phone at 203-789-8081.
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.")
