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<center><b>Sotheby's<br>English Literature and History<br>Available for Immediate Purchase</b><b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> William Shakespeare. <i>A Midsummer-Night's Dream,</i> 1908. 7,500 USD<b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. <i>Brontës' Novels,</i> 1922. 2,400 USD<b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> Lewis Carroll. <i>Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There,</i> 1872. 25,000 USD<b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> Charles Dickens. Collection of Fiction including <i>Oliver Twist</i> and <i>Sketches by Boz,</i> 1838-1865. 6,250 USD<b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> Mary Shelley. <i>Frankenstein,</i> 1839. 4,250 USD<b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> James Joyce. <i>Ulysses,</i> 1925. 2,500 USD<b>Sotheby’s, Available Now:</b> Jane Austen. <i>The Complete Works of Jane Austen,</i> 1901. 5,250 USD
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<center><b>Jeschke Jadi Auctions Berlin<br>Rare Books, Prints, Historical Photography<br>29 September 2023</b><b>Jeschke Jádi, Sep. 29:</b> Jan Theodor de Bry. <i>Anthologia magna sive Florilegium novum.</i> 1626. 9,000 €<b>Jeschke Jádi, Sep. 29:</b> John Locke. <i>Epistola de tolerantia ad Clarissimum Virum T.A.R.P.T.O.L.A.</i> 1689. 9000 €<b>Jeschke Jádi, Sep. 29:</b> F. T. Marinetti, Boccioni, Pratella, Carrà, a.o. <i>Collection of 35 Futurist manifestos.</i> 1909-1933. 7000 €<b>Jeschke Jádi, Sep. 29:</b> Johann Elert Bode, Rare engraved celestial globe. (1804). 6000 €<b>Jeschke Jádi, Sep. 29:</b> Sebastian Brant (ed.). <i>Tertia pars huius operis in se continens glosam ordinariam cum expositione lyre litterali et morali.</i> 1498. 5000 €
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<center><b>Christie’s<br>Charlie Watts: Literature and Jazz<br>London and online auction<br>15–29 September</b><b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940). <i>The Great Gatsby.</i> New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925. £100,000–150,000<b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). </i>The Hound of the Baskervilles: Another Adventure of Sherlock Holmes.</b> London: George Newnes, 1902. £70,000–100,000<b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>Agatha Christie (1890–1976). <i>The Thirteen Problems.</i> London: for the Crime Club Ltd. by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1932. £40,000–60,000<b>Christie’s, Explore now:</b><br>Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961). <i>The Maltese Falcon.</i> New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930. £30,000–50,000
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<center><b>Potter & Potter Auctions<br>Nobu Shirase and the Japanese Antarctic Expedition: the Collection of Chet Ross<br>October 12, 2023</b><b>Potter & Potter, Oct. 12:</b> [BYRD]. VEER, Willard Van der and Joseph T. RUCKER, cinematographers. The 35mm motion picture Akeley camera that filmed the Academy Award-winning documentary “With Byrd at the South Pole”. $30,000 to $50,000.<b>Potter & Potter, Oct. 12:</b> [SHIRASE, Nobu, his copy]. RYUKEI, Yano. <i>Young Politicians of Thebes: Illustrious Tales of Statesmanship.</i> Tokyo(?), 1881-84. $15,000 to $20,000.<b>Potter & Potter, Oct. 12:</b> SHACKLETON, Ernest H. <i>The Antarctic Book.</i> Winter Quarters 1907-1909 [dummy copy of the supplement to: <i>The Heart of the Antarctic</i>]. London, 1909. $10,000 to $15,000.<b>Potter & Potter, Oct. 12:</b> [USS BEAR]. The original auxiliary deck wheel from the famed USS Bear, 1874-1933. “PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS SHIP IN THE HISTORY OF THE COAST GUARD” (USCG). $10,000 to $15,000.<b>Potter & Potter, Oct. 12:</b> HENSON, Matthew. <i>A Negro Explorer at the North Pole.</i> With a forward by Robert Peary. Introduction by Booker T. Washington. New York, [1912]. $3,000 to $4,000.
Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2006 Issue
Signed Documents of The South from Joe Rubinfine
By Michael Stillman
It is a land of contradiction. The South was a leader in America's fight for freedom and liberty during the Revolution. Four of the nation's first five presidents were southerners. Yet, its "peculiar" institution, the antithesis of everything good for which the nation stood, would lead it to try to break apart that union it was so instrumental in forming. It is hard to understand why. One can only wonder what America's history would have been like without slavery and the racial animosities it spawned. We can only have a dream.
The latest catalogue from Joe Rubinfine is titled The South. It is a collection of manuscripts and signed printed material pertaining to that part of America. Most of the works relate to one of those two defining moments, The Revolution and the Civil War. However, there is some material from between those wars, and more, particularly of literary interest, from the 20th century. Here are a few of those items from the land of cotton and contradiction.
No one is more responsible for America's freedoms than Virginian George Washington. His success at leading American troops to victory in the Revolution resulted in such an outpouring of affection that he could have become king. He didn't want it. He wanted a government freely chosen by the people. Item 16 is a letter Washington wrote to one William Smith on June 8, 1788. The primary subject was the ship "Federalist," a 15-foot mini-ship he had given Washington. The General has great praise for the ingenuity of this built to small-scale ship, but also talks of more weighty matters, the new U.S. constitution then being debated. Maryland had ratified the document, but it was under challenge in Virginia. Washington makes his sentiments clear. Says Washington, "I cannot entertain an idea that the voice of the Convention of this State [Virginia] which is now in Session, will be dissonant from that of her nearly-allied Sister [Maryland]. Priced at $125,000.
Item 18 is a most interesting personal letter from George Washington to his brother John. Evidently, John Washington was short on funds, and his famous brother had tried, without much success, to help him obtain a loan. He then explains, "If I could furnish you I would do it with pleasure, but I am in debt myself without the means of discharging them, and besides, am exposed to great expenses." The year was 1784, and many who had been of reasonable means before found themselves in difficult straits after the Revolution. The future President then notes that he will have to sell some property, for while he is owed money by others, he sees no immediate prospects of being able to collect it. Washington next thanks his brother for some holly berries, and says that in the spring, he will be sending for some trees promised by Colonel Harry Lee. That would be Light Horse Harry Lee, Washington's trusted aide and Revolutionary War hero, whose own finances would eventually become so bad he would end up in debtor's prison. $11,500.