'
By Michael Stillman
The William Reese Company's 240th catalogue is titled Travels and Voyages. Reese specializes in the
very top level of books, manuscripts and ephemera. You will find contemporary items either written by, or
concerning the voyages of the greatest explorers. Not to be namedroppers, but some of those you will find here
are Magellan, Drake, Vancouver, Dampier, Hakluyt, Drake, Cook, Kotzebue, Wilkes, Bligh, Ross, and Foss.
Foss? Few explorers of this time had it easy, but no one ever suffered like poor Daniel Foss. His book is A
Journal of the Shipwreck and Suffering of Daniel Foss....the Only Person Saved from on Board the Brig
Negociator....and who Lived for Five Years on a Small Barren Island - During which time He Subsisted on Seals,
and Never Saw the Face of a Human Creature. If all he subsisted on was seals, this might not be quite as
horrible a story. According to Foss, and he being the only survivor, it is hard to verify the details, the
Negociator left Alexandria (other editions say Philadelphia) in 1811 (others say 1809). On Nov. 26, 1811 (or
November 15, 1809), the ship struck an iceberg in the Pacific and went down. All hands made it to the lifeboats,
but nine days later, only 13 were left, the result of the extreme cold. A bit later still, the number dwindled
to three, and dying of hunger, they drew lots to see which would be dinner for the others. Then there were two.
They survived this way until March, when the two spotted a small island. Unfortunately, their boat overturned
100 yards from shore, and only Foss made it to the island alive. It was then that Foss began subsisting on seals
and collected rainwater, a step up from his previous cuisine, but certainly very tiresome since this was all he
had for the next five years. How many ways can you cook a seal? Finally, he was spotted by a U.S. ship and was
saved from his island. So, is Foss' account of his story accurate? Since he was the only survivor, we'll never
know, but considering that by 1816, he was publishing contradictory editions concerning the year they left, and
where they left from, one might question his memory, if not his honesty. Item 57. Priced at $4,500.
Here are some fascinating, though embarrassing letters from Loring Austin. Austin set out from America to Russia
to establish a trading business. His letters to his father give a picture of the port city of Archangel in
Russia at the time. Unfortunately, Austin was not successful in his business ventures. A letter on his return
trip is most revealing. His American ship was threatened by French and Danish privateers. They were forced to
seek protection from the British fleet. Writes Austin, "To our shame it must be confessed that our flag waves in
the Baltic the very emblem of impotence, and our commerce....finds its only security under the British flag, a
protection we cannot request without disgrace, & which perhaps may not be granted, without some sarcastic remark
upon our national imbecility too galling to be made without impunity, yet too obviously just to admit of reply."
Talk about humiliation. Less than a year later, America would go to war with Britain, the impressment of U.S.
sailors into the British navy a major cause. Perhaps the British were a bit more justified than we thought,
since we seemed to be free riding their naval protection. Item 7. $2,000.
-
Ketterer Rare Books
Auction May 26thKetterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000Ketterer Rare Books
Auction May 26thKetterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000Ketterer Rare Books
Auction May 26thKetterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000Ketterer Rare Books
Auction May 26thKetterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000 -
Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
-
Sotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & ManuscriptsSotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USDSotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USDSotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USDSotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USDSotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & ManuscriptsSotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USDSotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBPSotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBPSotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR -
Gonnelli
Auction 59
Antique prints, paintings and maps
May 20th 2025Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€Gonnelli
Auction 59
Antique prints, paintings and maps
May 20th 2025Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€Gonnelli
Auction 59
Antique prints, paintings and maps
May 20th 2025Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€Gonnelli
Auction 59
Antique prints, paintings and maps
May 20th 2025Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
Rare Book Monthly
Rare Book Monthly
-
Dominic Winter Auctioneers
May 14
Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & ExplorationDominic Winter, May 14: (Choiseul-Gouffier, Marie). Voyage Pittoresque de la Grece, 2 vols, 1st edition, 1782-1822. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, May 14: Gentlemen's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, by Sylvanus Urban, 11 volumes. £700-1,000Dominic Winter, May 14: Shackleton (Ernest). The Heart of the Antarctic, 2 vols, 1st ed, presentation copy, 1909. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
May 14
Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & ExplorationDominic Winter, May 14: Drayton (Michael). Poly Olbion..., London: 1622. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, May 14: Scheuchzer (Johann Jacob). Ouresiphoites Helveticus, 4 parts in 1, 2nd ed, 1723. £3,000-4,000Dominic Winter, May 14: Roberts (Henry, after). Chart of the NW Coast of America and NE Coast of Asia ..., [1784]. £500-800Dominic Winter Auctioneers
May 14
Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & ExplorationDominic Winter, May 14: World. Maffei (Giovanni), Indiarum orientalium Occidentaliumque Descriptio..., 1589. £1,200-1,500Dominic Winter, May 14: World. Ortelius (Abraham), Typus Orbis Terrarum, [1598]. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, May 14: Bible [English]. [The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New..., 1613]. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
May 14
Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & ExplorationDominic Winter, May 14: Taylor (John). All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet..., 1630. £1,000-1,500Dominic Winter, May 14: Pierpont Morgan Collection. Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1904 & 1906. £2,000-3,000 -
Swann, May 15: Lot 4: Helena Bochoráková-Dittrichová, Z Mého Detství Drevoryty, Prague: Obzina, 1929. First trade edition, signed by the artist. $4,000 to $6,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 10: Nancy Cunard, Negro Anthology, with a tipped-in A.L.S. to Karl Marx's niece, 1934. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 14: Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845. First edition. $4,000 to $6,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 17: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, inscribed first edition, 1959. $2,000 to $3,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 28: Margaret Hill Morris, Private Journal Kept during a Portion of the Revolutionary War, for the Amusement of a Sister, 1836. First edition. $3,000 to $4,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 38: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, 1877. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 43: Gertrude Stein, Portrait of Mabel Dodge at the Villa Curonia, signed presentation copy with photograph of Stein, 1912. First edition. $8,000 to $12,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 48: Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, first edition in the scarce dust jacket, 1927. $6,000 to $8,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 54: Katherine Dunham, large archive of material from her attorney, 1951-53. $20,000 to $30,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 55: Margaret Fuller Signed Autograph Letter, New York City, 1846. $3,000 to $5,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 92: Sonia Delaunay, illus. & Tristan Tzara, Juste Present, deluxe edition with original gouache, 1961. $20,000 to $25,000.Swann, May 15: Lot 93: Flor Garduño, The Sonnets of Shakespeare, 2006. Limited edition. $6,000 to $8,000.