The Heart of America from the William Reese Company
- by Michael Stillman
Washington makes his appearance on Mt. Rushmore.
It is the nature of parents to defend their children. This is true even if your son happens to be U.S. General (and later President) Ulysses S. Grant. Grant led Union troops at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. It was a bloody battle, the worst of the Civil War up to that time (April 1862). Union forces were pushed back on the first day, but managed to recover, eventually winning the battle at great cost. Many in the press were after Grant's head as a result of the losses, accusing him of being unprepared, even drunk. It is to these charges his father, Jesse Grant, responded in this July 11, 1862 letter to Ohio Governor David Tod. Jesse Grant attributes hostility by the press towards his son to Ulysses Grant's unwillingness to quarter their reporters at government expense. Jesse Grant also blames General Don Carlos Buell, whose troops were late arriving but assisted Grant at Shiloh, and “five thousand cowards who threw down their arms deserted the standard of their country & their comrades in the midst of danger, and sought safety under the banks of the Tennessee, & prayed for the rocks & hills to fall on them to hide them from the fury of Beauregard, & his army...” Grant was temporarily relieved of his command, but Lincoln brought him back, recognizing him as one general who was willing to fight. Item 62. $4,000.
Item 163 is a more recent item, circa 1930, though it looks back at some of America's great leaders. It is a collection of 36 original photographs from the Black Hills region of South Dakota. They were taken by Connecticut photographer Charles D'Emery. The most notable subject is Mount Rushmore, its presidential faces then under construction. The project began in 1927 and at this point Washington's face is clearly recognizable, in some photos the beginnings of Jefferson appear. $1,250.
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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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. 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.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
