• <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Cool Hand Luke" | Paul Newman Academy Award® Nomination Plaque. USD$2500 - $3500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Hud" | Bound presentation script incorporating photographic stills. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "The Long, Hot Summer" | Movie Poster. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Joseph Heller | "Catch-22," inscribed to Woodward & Newman by author. USD$500 - $800
    <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> George H. W. Bush | Typed Letter Signed, Issuing a "Pardon" to Paul Newman. USD$1500 - $2000
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> William Jefferson Clinton | Inscribed Color Photograph. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Ken Kesey | Typed letter to “Paulnewman,” asking for further compensation for "Sometimes a Great Notion". USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "They Might Be Giants" | Costume sketches by Edith Head. USD$1000 - $2000
  • <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Chinese School. Album of Chinese rice paper paintings of St Helena and Napoleon, circa 1830s/1840s. £700 to £1,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Speed (John).<i> The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine...,</i> 1676. £3,000 to £5,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Laroon (Marcellus). <i>The Cryes of the City of London drawne after the Life,</i> 1st edition, 1688. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Thomas Sedgley binding. <i>The Holy Bible,</i> London, 1701, large folio. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Kipling (Rudyard). The Sussex Edition of the <i>Complete Works in Prose and Verse,</i> 1937-1939. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Dodgson (Charles). <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,</i> 1886, presentation copy. £500 to £800.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> German tarot cards. Napoleon tarock, Leipzig: Johann Gottfried Herbert, circa 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Milne (A.A.). <i>The House at Pooh Corner,</i> 1928, inscribed limited deluxe edition of 20. £15,000 to £20,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Peter Pan. A unique 13.5m (44ft) long needlework nursery frieze, by Helen Stebbing M.R.S.T., 1936. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Peak (Bob, 1928-1992). <i>U.S.A,</i> a mural produced for Trans World Airlines (TWA), 1971. £200 to £400.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Austen (Jane). <i>Pride and Prejudice: a novel,</i> 3 volumes, 2nd edition, London: T. Egerton, 1813. £8,000 to £12,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Hughes (Ted). Crow, 1st edition, London: Faber and Faber, 1970, signed presentation copy. £400 to £600.
  • <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Fine Books, Autographs & Illustration Art:<br>At Auction June 15, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> J.R.R. Tolkien, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy, first American editions, finely bound by The Chelsea Bindery, Boston, 1954-56. $9,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> John Carleton Atherton, <i>Fall Bounty,</i> oil on board, cover design for The Saturday Evening Post, 1943. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> George Washington, Endorsement Signed, “G:Washington,’ as President of the Potomac Company, 1787.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Gustav Klimt, <i>Das Werk von Gustav Klimt,</i> complete with 50 collotype plates, one of 300 copies, Vienna, 1918. $25,000 to $35,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Pancho Villa, Autograph Letter Signed, to the governor of Chihuahua soliciting help in persuading authorities to release him from prison, Mexico City, 1912. $7,000 to $10,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Charles Monroe Schulz, <i>The Peanuts gang,</i> Complete set of 13 drawings, 1971. $8,000 to $12,000.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2017 Issue

Americana, the West, Literature, & Much More from Back of Beyond Books

61141918-6195-4e09-9d4e-c09356190696

The Southwest and much more.

Back of Beyond Books has released their Rare Book Catalogue No. 18. I believe it must be their most extensive collection yet, 360 items of varied interest. Back of Beyond is a specialist in material related to the American Southwest, their home, and there are many items here pertaining to that specialty. However, there are many other fields represented, not all of which we normally find in their catalogues. Other subjects include the broader Western Americana, Mormons, Native Americana, Americana in general, literature, Wallace Stegner, Mountaineering, Pocket Maps, Sheet Music, and Miscellaneous, to cover everything else. This is definitely a something-for-everyone catalogue. You will find fascinating books and ephemeral writings no matter what your taste. Here are a few samples.

 

We will begin with a classic Southwest discovery item. John Wesley Powell led the first expedition to ride the Colorado River rapids all the way to the Grand Canyon. Powell headed two expeditions along the Green and Colorado Rivers, issuing his official report in 1875. He then had another 20 years to think about it, and in 1895, wrote a more detailed account. This second one is titled Canyons of the Colorado, privately printed in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in a small run in 1895. A large section of the Colorado River Powell first explored was dammed up half a century ago to create a giant reservoir – Lake Powell. Item 25. Priced at $9,750.

 

So, what made Powell do the things he did? Edward A. Spitzka wished to find out, which explains this bizarre archive of early 20th century material. Spitzka was a brain anatomist who somehow convinced Powell to leave him his brain for study. In those days, it was believed that studying the features of physical brains could reveal why the people they inhabited behaved as they did. Everything from presidential assassins to Einstein had their brains examined after they died (some should have had them examined before). This archive contains nine pencil drawings of Powell's brain, letters from prominent people who knew Powell describing his traits or specific anecdotes, typed and manuscript copies of Dr. Spitzka's report, two copies of the offprint of his article, and other material that will help you better understand John Wesley Powell's brain. Item 28. $4,500.

 

Western Monthly Magazine began publishing in 1833, a successor to The Illinois Monthly Magazine, the first literary journal in that then frontier state. The publisher was James Hall, who moved to Illinois in 1820 and worked as a lawyer, publisher, and writer. At some point he moved to Cincinnati, explaining the magazine's name change. The Western Monthly Magazine was published from 1833-1837. If Hall's name is familiar, he was the same James Hall who is known for one of the greatest early books about America's natives, the three-volume 1836-1844 set he wrote with Thomas McKenney, illustrated by Charles Bird King, History of the Indian Tribes of North America. A first edition of that will cost you a pretty penny (copies have sold for over $100,000). You don't have to be so rich to buy the magazine. Back of Beyond is offered bound copies of the first three volumes of Western Monthly Magazine, covering the years 1833-1835. Of particular note is it contains the first piece of fiction written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Isabelle and Her Sister Kate, and Their Cousin (we don't know whether Isabelle could shimmy like her sister Kate). Miss Beecher moved to Cincinnati in 1832 to be with her father, President of the Lane Theological Seminary. She joined the Semi-Colon Club, of which Hall was also a member. So was Salmon Chase, future Governor and Lincoln cabinet secretary, and one Calvin Ellis Stowe, who would become her husband. Item 224. $300.

 

Item 274 is American's Dream; Or, the Partial Downfall of Liberty, and its Ultimate Triumph over Tyranny, by "Thomas Theseer." It was published in 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, and you might assume the attack on liberty was slavery, or from a southern point of view, abolition. No, in 1861, if Mr. Theseer is to be believed, the real threat was Catholics. In his world, Catholics were paying off politicians to get their way. The cover features an image of a fearsome four-headed dragon, the faces being the Pope, Archbishop Hughes of New York, Secretary of State William Seward, and newspaper publisher/politician Thurlow Weed. The piece is an anachronism. In the mid-1850's, the Know-Nothing Party sprung practically out of nowhere with its virulently anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant platform. They made a serious run at the presidency in 1856, with a former President, Millard Fillmore, carrying their banner. However, the impending doom surrounding the practical inevitability of civil war quickly erased their particular agenda from the forefront of public consciousness. No one was worrying that much about the Pope in 1861 as their sons were being carted off to die in distant fields; nobody, that is, but Mr. "Theseer." $750.

 

Are you suffering from, well.... anything? Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People will cure it. Headaches, "female problems," paralysis, anemia, rickets, rheumatism, pimples, kidney disease, hysteria, "change of life," even tuberculosis. It contained some iron so the medicine may have been somewhat helpful in relieving anemia, or palesness. Quoting Mary Kilcline Cody from her article A Paler Shade of White, "Europeans could always rely on the Pink Pills to alleviate the pressures of bearing the white man's burden." As for the rest of the illnesses, good luck. By the way, we can thank Canada for producing this example of medical quackery. Item 322 is a 32-page pamphlet explaining the pills' miraculous cures, circa 1898. $50.

 

Here is an interesting product about which I can find virtually nothing. It is an unillustrated poster, promoting, in concise language, Wild Bill Hickok's Sober Gum. The entire explanation says it "will straighten you up and kill all trace of alcohol on the breath / Fine for morning after / Try it now / Guaranteed." Why don't they make this stuff any more? Is there no longer a need? It sounds like Wild Bill was onto something. However, it is dubious he was promoting this very useful product or receiving his deserved royalties. The undated poster notes that it was printed by the Allied Printing Trades Council of St. Louis, a union organization. The council was formed in 1893. Wild Bill died in 1876. Item 226. $250.

 

Back of Beyond Books may be reached at 435-259-5154 or andy@backofbeyondbooks.com. Their website is www.backofbeyondbooks.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON SMALLPOX. <i>Some Account of the Success of Inoculation...</i> 1759. $10,000-$15,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> GAUTIER D'AGOTY. <i>Myologie complette en couleur et grandeur naturelle...</i> 1745-6. 20 hand-colored plates. $8000-$12000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> ILLUMINATED SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY, manuscript on vellum, 14th century. $4000-$6000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN AUTOGRAPH MEDICAL MANUSCRIPT OF JOHN MORGAN, 1760-1. $30,000-$50,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> RARE CIVIL WAR CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS BY WINSLOW HOMER. Life in Camp. 1864. $8000-$12000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> AMELIA EARHART'S SUBSTANTIALLY ANNOTATED COPY OF <i>THE PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR. 1927. $8000-$12,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> DAVID BEN-GURION ON ISRAEL'S DESIRE FOR PEACE BUT NEED FOR STRENGTH. 1956. $2000-$3000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> CONTEMPORARY AUTOGRAPH MUSICAL MANUSCRIPT AND LYRICS FOR "JERUSALEM OF GOLD." $60,000-$80,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> FIRST EDITION OF HEMINGWAY'S FIRST BOOK IN UNRESTORED JACKET. $20,000-$30,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> TOLKIEN LETTER DESCRIBING HIS OWN HOBBITNESS AND THE CREATION OF LORD OF THE RINGS. $10,000-$15,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> NAPOLEON LETTER SIGNED PROCLAIMING HIS ASCENSION AS EMPEROR. $40,000-$60,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> MAN RAY. Facile. 1935. First edition, 12 photographic plates. $2000-$3000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> WIENER WERKSTÄTTE TOYS. 17 linocut plates of toys from the workshop of Jossef Hoffman. $4000-$6000
  • <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Hobbes (Thomas). <i>Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme & Power of a Common-Wealth,</i> first edition, first issue, 1651. £10,000 to £15,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> [Burton (Robert)] "Democritus Junior". <i>The Anatomy of Melancholy,</i> first edition, Oxford, Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, 1621. £8,000 to £12,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Fletcher (Giles). <i>Of the Russe Common Wealth,</i> first edition, Printed by T[homas] D[awson] for Thomas Charde, 1591. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Shakespeare source book.- Fraunce (Abraham). <i>The Lawiers Logike, exemplifying the praecepts of Logike by the practise of the common Lawe,</i> first edition, 1588. £4,000 to £6,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Fireworks.- Babington (John.) <i>Pyrotechnia or, A discourse of artificiall fire-works…,</i> 2 parts in 1 vol., first edition, Thomas Harper for Ralph Mab, 1635. £4,000 to £6,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Gardening.- [Bonnefons (Nicolas de)]. <i>The French Gardiner instructing how to cultivate all sorts of Fruit-Trees and Herbs for the Garden, translated by John Evelyn,</i> third edition, 1675. £3,500 to £4,500.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Witchcraft.- F. (H.) <i>A true and exact Relation Of the severall Informations, Examinations, and Confessions of the late Witches…,</i> first edition, 1645. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Science.- Boyle (Robert). <i>The Origine of Formes and Qualities (According to the Corpuscular Philosophy),</i> first edition, Oxford, H. Hall for Ric: Davis, 1666. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Massinger (Philip). <i>The Unnaturall Combat. A Tragedie,</i> first edition, Printed by E.G. for John Waterson, 1639. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Plastic Surgery.- Read (Alexander). <i>Chirurgorum Comes: or the Whole Practice of Chirurgery,</i> first edition, Printed by Edw. Jones, for Christopher Wilkinson, 1687. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Hall (Edward). <i>The Union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancaster & Yorke…,</i> [by Richard Grafton], 1550. £2,200 to £2,500.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Cosmetics.- Jeamson (Thomas). <i>Artificiall Embellishments. Or Arts Best Directions How to Preserve Beauty or Procure it,</i> first edition, Oxford, Printed by William Hall, 1665. £1,000 to £1,500.

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