• Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2020 Issue

The Latest Selection from Old West Books

Catalog 51 from Old West Books.

“May not be the best time to be putting out a catalog, but sitting around and waiting until things returned to normal seemed less appealing.” So does Tim Phelps introduce his latest Old West Books catalogue, and here's hoping this is a successful one. We need a little more of what Warren Harding called “normalcy.” Old West catalogues contain exactly the sort of material you would expect from a bookseller of that name. It is filled with items that will appeal to aficionados of the American West. Here are a few examples from their Catalog 51.

 

We will begin with one of the earliest descriptions of the West, before the American Revolution, when Americans had not yet set foot in most of that vast territory. We will give its very long title because that provides the best description of what is to be found in its pages: Three Years Travels through the Interior Parts of North America for more than Five Thousand Miles; containing an Account of the Great Lakes, and all the Lakes, Islands and Rivers, Cataracts, Mountains, Minerals, Soil, and Vegetable Productions of the North West Regions of that Vast Continent, with a Description of the Birds, Beasts, Reptiles, Insects and Fishes Peculiar to the Country. Together with a Concise History of the Genius, Manners and Customs of the Indians inhabiting the Lands that lie adjacent to the Heads and to the Westward of the Great River Mississippi. And an Appendix Describing the Uncultivated Parts of America that are the most proper for forming Settlements. The author was Jonathan Carver and his travels took place from 1766-1768. This is the 1796 Philadelphia edition of a book first published in London in 1778. Carver penetrated farther west than any American before, learning about the natural history and natives of what today would be described as the upper Midwest. He hoped to find a water route to the west coast, but didn't come close, discovering only a few tributaries of the Mississippi. Still, his journey sparked much curiosity in Americans that would later be fulfilled by Lewis and Clark. Item 22. Priced at $550.

 

Here is a booklet by a man better known for his skills with a gun than with a pen: The Tenderfoot's Turn, subtitled Whilom Sheriff of Dodge City, Famous Dead Shot in the Palmy Days of the Old Southwest, published in 1909 in, of all non-western places, Utica, New York. The author was William Barclay Masterson, and if that doesn't sound familiar, you know him better as “Bat.” Bat Masterson served as Sheriff of that legendary western town, and other positions in law, and as an army scout, buffalo hunter, and later as a professional gambler and journalist. You may not associate him with journalism, but for the last two decades of his life, he was a sports writer for a New York paper. He particularly reported on fist fights instead of gun fights. He loved boxing. Masterson writes about the art of the fast draw, and mentions several western notables such as Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Wild Bill Hickok, and Henry Plummer. He also had some advice extolling the virtues of a new gun. That explains Masterson writing this piece, and the publishing location of Utica. The booklet was published by the Savage Arms Company of Utica, whose straighter-shooting gun he was hired to promote. Claims Masterson, perhaps not objectively, of the Savage Automatic Pistol, “With a few minutes' practice a beginner can shoot it quicker and at the same time straighter than a six-shooter was ever shot by the cleverest gun expert the old frontier ever knew.” By the way, in case you didn't know (as I didn't) what a whilom sheriff is, “whilom” is an archaic word for “former.” Item 65. Priced at $650.

 

General George Armstrong Custer was a good soldier, but perhaps a better self-promoter. He already had a great reputation when things went so terribly wrong at Little Big Horn. Custer earned much sympathy at the time, but as the years went by, people questioned whether he was quite so good a general. He seemed to have gone off on a risky adventure on his own, and many men paid a heavy price. For over 50 years after his death, his widow, Elizabeth, devoted her life to salvaging his reputation. She was very good at it, but no one lives forever, not even Libbie Custer. After her death in 1933, there was no one in the family to carry on his legacy until many years later. George and Elizabeth had no children, so the job fell to the descendant of a brother. Item 24 is The Sacrificial Lion. George Armstrong Custer From American Hero to Media Villain. It was published in 1999. The author was Brice C. Custer, George's great grand nephew. At the time, he was George's closest living relative (Brice died in 2007). Brice was also a military man, flying airplanes for the Air Force and serving as a nuclear engineer at the Air Force Academy. George would have been amazed. Brice strongly defended Custer's reputation, perhaps influenced more by familial loyalty than total objectivity. This copy is signed by Brice Custer. $45.

 

Speaking of Gen. Custer, here is a really obscure related item. It is not the most thorough or original account, much of it cribbed according to Old West, but this is a part of a Custer collection you probably don't have. The title is A Soldier's Report of the Custer Massacre and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It must be one of the last accounts by someone with a personal connection as it was published long after even Libbie Custer died, circa 1946. The author was John Henry Smith, a soldier with the Sixth Infantry protecting the Seventh Cavalry's supplies, when he heard about Custer's demise. At the time he was 17 years old, as of the writing, he was 87. He wrote about his experiences, but Old West tells us he relied “heavily on the magazine article of Colonel T. M. Coughlin.” Phelps notes, “This is the first copy I've seen.” He's seen a lot of Western material. Item 79. $240.

 

There are lots of historic accounts of the westward migration, but here is very personal and obscure one. It is also very human. Item 83 is How the Corey's Went west. Fifty Years in Crossing the Continent, by Permelia Corey Thomson, published in 1908. After a brief colonial times introduction, the story picks up in the middle of the 19th century with Rufus Corey. The family has moved from original housing in Connecticut to Pennsylvania where Rufus, as part of a search for a missing young woman, finds Patty. They marry, start up a farm on family property, and begin 50 years of hard work, little wealth, and Rufus' periodic calling to seek better fortune by moving farther west. They have a family, a wonderful relationship, and poverty. The first move is to a better farm farther west, but still in Pennsylvania. After years of struggle, they pick up and move again, this time to Wisconsin. Life isn't easy but good, until Patty gets smallpox. Like most so inflicted, she dies. The children now grown, Rufus and a daughter move to Nebraska, at least not having to pull a wagon (there is now a train). After years there and a brutal winter, Rufus, now old and frail, decides on one more move west. It is off to California, and his remaining years in San Diego, where it is cool but not cold, and life gentle on an old man. $1,250.

 

Old West Books may be reached at 719-260-6030 or oldwestbooks@earthlink.net. Their website is www.oldwestbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

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