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    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.
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    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.
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    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
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    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
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  • Forum Auctions
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2021 Issue

The American West from Old West Books

Books on the American West.

Old West Books recently published their Catalog 53, January 2021, of Rare, Out of Print Books on the American West. That description may be brief, but it still sums up the type of books you will find here. They are about the Old West, and most are accurate, or reasonably so, rather than fictional exaggerations of the place. Those who collect the real American West will find much of collecting interest here. These are a few selections.

 

We begin with one of those stories generally known as “Indian captivities,” but this is not the typical such book. The title is A Condensed History of the Apache and Comanche Indian Tribes for Amusement and General Knowledge Prepared from the General Conversations of Herman Lehmann, Willie Lehmann... by Jonathan H. Jones, published in 1899. Herman Lehmann was 11, Willie 8 when they were captured from their field by Apaches in 1870. Willie escaped a short time later, but Hermann did not. He was taken off to live with the Apaches, adopted by one of their families. He grew to be an Apache warrior, and was involved in their battles with the Texas Rangers and others. About six years later, Hermann killed a medicine man who killed his master, determining he had to flee for his life. He spent a long time living on his own before securing a welcome from the Comanche tribe. He became close to their legendary leader, Quannah Parker. With the Comanche forced on a reservation, he was taken to see his mother and family, whom he no longer recognized. For the rest of his life, he lived between the two civilizations, spending time in the white world and on the reservation. Many years later (1927), an older man in the last years of his life, Lehmann wrote an autobiography. Item 58. $3,950.

 

This is the second description of Texas by an American visitor, preceded only by Mary Austin Holley's account. This author arrived shortly before Stephen Austin's cousin, but she published first. The title is A Visit to Texas, Being the Journal of a Traveller Through Those Parts Most Interesting to American Settlers with Descriptions of Scenery, Habits, &c. &c., published in 1834. It has been attributed to M. Fiske though this is uncertain. Fiske (or whomever) purchased land sight unseen from the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company. In fact, like many, he had never been anywhere near Texas let alone to his land. He came to see what he had purchased and check the security of his title. Fiske describes his travels around Texas, and likes it, but becomes ill and ends up returning east, well before the Texas Revolution. Item 36. $1,250.

 

Next is an obscure account of crossing the plains to California by a then young woman. Her name was Mrs. Lee Whipple-Haslam, her book Early Days in California Scenes and Events of the '50s as I Remember Them. That was the 1850s. Her father had gone west by boat in 1850 to find gold, established a claim, returned home and then took his family overland in 1852 to California. The trip, not surprisingly, was tough, but better than many. They saw many abandoned possessions, bones of dead cattle, abandoned wagons, even the bones of a young child, but by traveling slowly and taking time to feed their animals, they avoided major problems. The Indians they met were interested in trade, not attacking them. Unfortunately, a few years after they arrived in California, her father was murdered. Her mother opened a boarding house which leads to a notable event in her book. Mark Twain stayed at the boarding house for a while. She at first considered him “green,” but quickly realized he was far from that. “I was afraid of his quick repartee and sarcasm, even while I admired his versatility and conversational ability,” she says. She described their guest as a “visionary.” She says she advised him, “Why not write, as I know only you can? Grasp for fame, and strive to live in the memory and admiration of coming generations. Fame and gold will come at your bidding.” That seems almost too perfect, but perhaps her memory had become enhanced between the 1850s and 1922 when she wrote the book (published in 1925), but it does make a wonderful story. Item 74. $1,850.

 

This is an uncommon perspective on life in the Old West. We have some accounts by women, who provide a different perspective than do most books about the West, but this one comes from an upper-class British woman, and not just a visitor, but a settler. Isabel F. Randall was a 24-year-old woman in 1884 when she accompanied her husband to America to move to a ranch they purchased in Montana. He felt they could make a fortune raising horses. It wasn't so easy. Nothing was in the Old West. Her book is A Lady's Ranche Life in Montana, published in 1887. It consists of letters she wrote to family and friends in England from Montana. It was a difficult life, lots of work, limited rewards, and cultural differences with other women on ranches and farms in Montana who mainly came from very different, less affluent backgrounds. Nonetheless, she still manages to find humor in her situation as she describes her ranch life. They did not make the fortune they imagined, and two years later, returned to England where she gathered her letters and published this book. Item 52. $300.

 

Here is an account of another wealthy man who became a western rancher, among many other avocations, but he was nothing like Mrs. Randall. He thrived on the hardships, the harder the better. Overcoming challenges is what he lived for. Item 28 is Roosevelt in the Bunk House and Other Sketches: Visits of the Great Rough Rider to Wyoming in 1900 and 1910, by William Chapin Deming, the first edition published in 1926. Deming was a newspaperman, editor of the Wyoming State Tribune. Like most others, Deming was enamored by the man. His presence was spellbinding. Deming gathered his account from various people in Wyoming who had contacts with Theodore Roosevelt, but the most notable descriptions come from a meeting in a ranch bunk house in 1910. Roosevelt, recently returned from his famed African expedition, went to Wyoming. For an hour, he met with some newspapermen, ranchers, local politicians, and ranch hands and answered their questions. As Deming describes it, “we...asked him many questions that would help us to gain some understanding of this human dynamo, this composite man of the north and south, the east and west, whom all respect, and none quite comprehend.” Deming later adds, “He is a rare combination of unconventionality, candor, self-confidence, fearlessness, aggressiveness, and nervous physical energy...” Item 28. $750.

 

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

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
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    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
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    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
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    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

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