The Yale team with Amos Alonzo Stagg (left); the House of David plays under the lights.
This next one is for baseball fans. It is an albumen photograph of the 1886 Yale baseball team. They wear striped overshirts, looking somewhat like prisoners, over T-shirts with a big letter “Y” on the front. Most notable among them, holding a bat, is a young Amos Alonzo Stagg. Stagg is not particularly noted for his baseball prowess, though he played the game and coached a college team for 19 years. He is more noted for the 57 years he coached college football, followed by five more years as a co-coach with his son, and some assistant's positions he filled until he was 96 (Stagg, who was 23 at the time of this photo, lived to be 102). Stagg also was involved in basketball, being elected to both the college football and basketball halls of fame. Item 75. $1,750.
Here is another baseball item, and a surprising one at that. It is a broadside announcing NightBaseballUnderFloodLights. The date was May 25, 1931, and the House of David Baseball Team was taking on a team from Quakerstown, Pennsylvania. This was one of the earliest night baseball games, the House of David Baseball Team having played in the first just a year before. If this sounds like an unusual name for a baseball team, the House of David was an unusual organization. It was a large religious commune in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Established just after the turn of the century, Benjamin and Mary Purnell were obviously commanding preachers, and a large community came to live on their property. They developed such attractions as an amusement park, resort, restaurant, a traveling orchestra, and a barnstorming baseball team, which was good enough to take on all comers, including major league teams. Along with raising funds for the group, it was an opportunity to spread their word around the country. They became so popular that at one point they had three baseball teams, hiring nonmembers to fill some positions as they ran out of players. The House of David team was instantly recognizable by their long hair and beards, which can be seen on this broadside. Like the Shakers, the House of David was celibate and long ago stopped inviting new members. It has virtually disappeared, the last surviving member of the baseball team dying last year at the age of 98. Item 76. $575.
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.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
