• Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Winston Link Signed Photograph, Hotshot Eastbound, Iager, West Virginia, July 1957. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Alexander Hamilton ALS, Whiskey Rebellion. $2,800 to $3,200.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Civil War Canteen and Letters, Thomas Tabb Jr. CSA. $1,800 to $2,200.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Archive of Capt. William Tabb of MS, CSA, Killed Atlanta. $1,000 to $1,400.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Rudyard Kipling Collection, 29 Volumes, First Editions; Zaehnsdorf Bindings. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Artist Andrew Wyeth & Family Signed Letters, Cards. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Augusta Resolves Silk Broadside, Revolutionary War RelateD. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: 1894 Map of Nashville. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: CSA Navy Appointment, Semmes and Mallory plus Photo of Lt. Armstrong. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques
    Two-Day Summer Auction
    July 12 & 13, 2025
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Slave Colonies of Great Britain, 1825, Macaulay, First Edition, plus Debate on Abolition, 1792. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Signed Photo of 3 Presidents: Nixon, Ford, Carter. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, July 12-13: Slave Ledger, Merrill Plantations, Natchez, MS & Concordia, LA. $1,000 to $1,200.
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  • Sotheby’s
    New York Book Week
    12-26 June
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Theocritus. Theocriti Eclogae triginta, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, February 1495/1496. 220,000 - 280,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Printed ca. 1381-1832. 400,000 - 600,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Lincoln, Abraham. Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln. 8,000,000 - 12,000,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Galieli, Galileo. First Edition of the Foundation of Modern Astronomy, 1610. 300,000 - 400,000 USD
  • Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE / LANDINO, CRISTOFORO. Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta fiorentino, 1481. €40,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus]. Aggiunta: Marsilius Ficinus, Ad Dantem gratulatio [in latino e Italiano], 1487. €40,000 to €60,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. Il Convivio, 1490. €20,000 to €25,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: BANDELLO, MATTEO. La prima [-quarta] parte de le nouelle del Bandello, 1554. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LEGATURA – PLUTARCO. Le vies des hommes illustres, grecs et romaines translates, 1567. €10,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: TOLOMEO, CLAUDIO. Ptolemeo La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti…, 1548. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: FESTE - COPPOLA, GIOVANNI CARLO. Le nozze degli Dei, favola [...] rappresentata in musica in Firenze…, 1637. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: SPINOZA, BARUCH. Opera posthuma, 1677. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER. Borus Godunov, 1831. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - LECUIRE, PIERRE. Ballets-minute, 1954. €35,000 to €40,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MAJAKOVSKIJ, VLADIMIR / LISSITZKY, LAZAR MARKOVICH. Dlia Golosa, 1923. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MATISSE, HENRI / MONTHERLANT, HENRY DE. Pasiphaé. Chant de Minos., 1944. €22,000 to €24,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2014 Issue

The Civil War from the George S. MacManus Company

The Civil War.

The Civil War.

The George S. MacManus Company has issued the second part of their Catalogue 411 Civil War. Last year, the firm purchased a collection of 6,000 books, at least half pertaining to the Civil War. Not even a two-part catalogue is going to describe all of those, but over a thousand of them have been written up in this presentation. This collection includes both contemporary accounts of the war and histories written years later. There are accounts from foot soldiers to generals, many biographies of war leaders, numerous battle descriptions, and a large number of histories of various state regiments. This is a catalogue that will appeal to those interested in the details of this terrible war, including many of its more obscure accounts. Here are a few samples.

 

We start with a work that seemingly has little to do with the Civil War: Agricultural, Geological, and Descriptive Sketches of Lower North Carolina and the Similar Adjacent Lands, by Edmund Ruffin, published in 1861. Ruffin studied the soils of the area and provided helpful advice on such concerns as crop rotation for farmers. However, that is not what he is best remembered for. Ruffin was an ardent secessionist, promoting it with a vitriolic hatred for the “Yankees.” He even signed up for the VMI cadet corps though past the age of 60 so he could witness the execution of John Brown. For his efforts, South Carolina gave him the honor of firing the first shot at Fort Sumter, the first shot of the Civil War. Ruffin never became milder with age. After the conclusion of the Civil War, at the age of 69, he took a gun and shot himself to death. He could not bear the thought of submitting to Yankee rule. Item 654. Priced at $1,500.

 

Speaking of John Brown, item 665 is a book by Franklin B. Sanborn, who evidently had a different opinion of Mr. Brown: The Life and Letters of John Brown, Liberator of Kansas, and Martyr of Virginia. Brown traveled to “Bleeding Kansas” in the pre-war years to fight those who tried to bring slavery to the territory, at times using violence. In Virginia, he attempted to arm the slaves for a revolt, was captured and executed, hence his martyrdom to the cause of abolition. Published in 1891. $125.

 

Item 709 is a letter of support for a controversial action, received by Confederate President Jefferson Davis from Louisiana Confederate Senator Thomas Semmes on July 20, 1864. Just three days earlier, Davis had removed General Joseph E. Johnston from his command of forces fighting Sherman during the Atlanta campaign. Sherman had made steady progress against Johnston's army, moving toward Atlanta. Davis and several of Johnston's subordinates, including Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood, believed the commander was insufficiently aggressive, yielding ground too easily to Sherman's larger forces. Senator Semmes shared this view, as he wrote Davis, “I write today to approve the act and admire the moral courage manifested by it...Whatever the merits of Genl. Johnston I am satisfied that with the forces under his command, he will not or cannot engage the enemy...You will have upon your head a pack of malcontents who will howl and growl and endeavor to destroy the confidence of the people in your administration...” Hood replaced Johnston, and while more aggressive, the results were no better. Johnston's strategy of protecting his forces may have been better than throwing them into a losing battle, the Confederacy's best hope by then being that the North would tire of a war of attrition. Davis' decision proved less than popular with the public, and if Johnston was not respected militarily by his peers, Grant and Sherman felt he made the right call considering the situation. $1,500.

 

Davis would get his comeuppance in the northern media after Lee surrendered and he tried to escape to Mexico. Davis was captured by Union forces. A report went out that he tried to disguise himself as a woman by wearing his wife's clothing. That seems unlikely, though perhaps he borrowed her coat to stay warm. Nonetheless, it made a good story for the victors' press. Item 1076 is a comic print headed, Jeff's Last Skeedaddle Off to the Last Ditch. How Jeff in His Extremity Put His Navel Affairs and Ram Parts under Petticoat Protection. It depicts Davis in a woman's dress holding a dagger while running from Union troops on horseback. $400. Item 687 is a broadside of a song entitled Oh Jeff! Oh Jeff! How Are You Now? It too depicts Davis in women's clothing being captured by Union troops as his wife looks on. $175.

 

Speaking of Mrs. Davis, item 651 is her biography, Varina Howell, Wife of Jefferson Davis, by Eron Rowland and Mrs. Dunbar Roland, published in 1927. Varina Howell remained steadfastly loyal to the lost cause for the remainder of her life, and regularly supported Confederate veterans organizations. Nevins says of this book, “Extensively researched, but seriously impaired by the author's extravagant admiration of her subject.” $25.

 

Here are two words you rarely hear spoken together: Custer Victorious. The rest of the title explains – The Civil War Battles of General George Armstrong Custer. Certainly he was more successful during the Civil War than in his most famous battle – how could he not be? Custer fought during the Civil War and later Indian wars, but it is his last Indian battle for which he will always be remembered. This account of Custer's early military career was written by Gregory Urwin and published in 1983. Item 982. $40.

 

The George S. MacManus Co. may be reached at 610-520-7273 or books@macmanus-rarebooks.com. Their website is www.macmanus-rarebooks.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, June 16-25: 15th-CENTURY TREATISE ON SYPHILIS. GRÜNPECK. 1496. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF BENIVIENI'S TREATISE ON PATHOLOGY. 1507. $12,000 - $18,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FRACASTORO. Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus. 1530. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK ON SKIN DISEASES. MERCURIALIS. De morbis cutaneis... 1572. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: BIDLOO. Anatomia humani corporis... 1685. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF DOUGLASS'S EARLY AMERICAN WORK ON INNOCULATION AND SMALLPOX. 1722. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LIND'S FIRST TREATISE ON SCURVY. 1753. $15,000 - $20,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: RARE JENNER SIGNED CIRCULAR ON VACCINATION. 1821. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: MOST BEAUTIFUL OF MEDICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. BRIGHT. Reports of Medical Cases... 1827-1831. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PRESENTATION COPY TO HER MOTHER. 1860. $6,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LORENZO TRAVER'S MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL OF BURNSIDE'S NORTH CAROLINA EXPEDITION. TRAVER, Lorenzo. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: ONE OF THE EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS ON DERMATOLOGY. HARDY. Clinique Photographique... 1868. $3,000 - $5,000
  • Bonhams, June 16-24: KELMSCOTT PRESS. RUSKIN. The Nature of Gothic. 1892. $1,500 - $2,500
    Bonhams, June 16-24: ASHENDENE PRESS. The Wisdom of Jesus. 1932. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: CHARLOTTE BRONTE WRITES AS GOVERNESS. Autograph Letter Signed, 1851. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS. BRONTE, Emily. New York, 1848. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: IAN FLEMING ASSOCIATION COPY. You Only Live Twice. London, 1964. $7,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: DELUXE EDITION WITH ORIGINAL PAINTING. BUKOWSKI, Charles. War All the Time. 1984. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN'S MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT ON THE ATOMIC BOMB. Original Typed Manuscript Signed, "On My Participation in the Atom Bomb Project," 1953. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN ON SCIENCE, WAR AND MORALITY. Autograph Letter Signed, 1949. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. WASHINGTON, George. Engraved document signed, 1786. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: AN EARLY CHINESE-MADE 34-STAR U.S. CONSULAR FLAG. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF LINCOLN WITH HIS SON TAD. 1864. $60,000 - $90,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: MALCOLM X WRITES FROM KENYA. Postcard signed, 1964. $4,000 - $6,000

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