Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - November - 2004 Issue

All Kinds of Americana <br>From Almagre Books

Schlitz made Milwaukee famous, but can it do the same for San Antone?

Schlitz made Milwaukee famous, but can it do the same for San Antone?


Item 199 is a serious volume for those who collect documents related to Native Americans. It consists of seven Indian Treaties Recently Ratified, from 1867, bound together in one volume. The original owner was Secretary of the Interior Orville Browning, who served under President Andrew Johnson. The set is inscribed to Browning by Charles Mix, who served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Browning was an Illinois colleague of Lincoln who stood by Johnson during his impeachment. While lands returned to the Navajos in Arizona and New Mexico at this time remain in their hands today, much of the land granted other tribes was later taken away by the U.S. in violation of these treaties. $2,850.

Item 4 is Alaska: Interesting and Reliable Information Relating Thereto. Writer B.K. Cowles represented Alaska at the World's Cotton Exposition in New Orleans in 1885. This leads to the question, what was Alaska doing exhibiting at a cotton exposition? $100.

For some people, Alaska just isn't cold enough, so John Barrow decided to focus on the area to the north. Item 18 is a first edition of his A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions...published in 1818. Barrow was Secretary of the British Admiralty and directed several explorations which tried (unsuccessfully) to find a Northwest Passage. Fittingly, Point Barrow, at the northern tip of Alaska, is named for him. $750.

Here's a test. Who explored the interior lands of America from 1804 to 1806? If you said "Lewis and Clark," you are, of course, right. But, an alternative correct answer would have been "Robert Sutcliff." Robert Sutcliff? Mr. Sutcliffe was a British merchant who was perhaps more of a tourist than explorer, but he traveled through various parts of the country long before there were motels and restaurants at every stop. He crossed through upstate New York visiting with some of the Indian tribes, and eventually all the way to Niagara Falls. He also visited the South, met Thomas Jefferson, and spoke approvingly of the region with one exception: he considered the existence of slavery a disgrace. Sutcliff never intended to write about his travels, but did so after encouragement from his friends. The book is Travels in Some Parts of North America, in the Years 1804, 1805, & 1806. This is the first American edition and was published the same year as Lewis and Clark's official report, 1812. Item 417. $350.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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