Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2006 Issue

Historic America From Michael Brown Rare Books

Americana from Michael Brown Rare Books.

Americana from Michael Brown Rare Books.


By Michael Stillman

Michael Brown Rare Books
has published its 40th catalogue of Printed and Manuscript Americana. There is a wide spectrum of material in this latest catalogue, spanning four centuries and the birth of a nation. Anything American is fair game. If you collect Americana, then it is likely you will find material that is of interest to you. Here are some samples of material being offered.

It was one of the bloodiest mutinies in American history. The whaler Globe set sail from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, for the Pacific in 1822. Its young captain was enjoying his first command, and apparently his performance reflected this fact. Six sailors abandoned ship in Hawaii in late 1823. It was at this time that Samuel Comstock planned his mutiny. Once back at sea, and with help from several of the new, replacement sailors, Comstock snuck into the Captain's quarters and murdered the man with an axe. Three other officers were similarly despatched. Comstock then set out searching for some small island, where he planned to have himself made king. That island turned out to be Mili Atoll, where the crew disembarked, and Comstock began his attempt to win over the natives with gifts. This strategy proved a mistake. It angered his partner, Silas Payne, who did unto Comstock what Comstock had done to his captain. Meanwhile, six of the innocent crewmen returned to the boat and took off for the long trip back to Chile before the conspirators were aware. Once they arrived and told their story, the Secretary of the Navy ordered a search for the mutineers. That search ship was the Dolphin, and one of its crew was Hiram Paulding. Paulding was the author of item 175, Journal of a Cruise of...the Dolphin...in Pursuit of the Mutineers of the Whale Ship Globe. However, by the time they found the remnants of the Globe's crew, seven of the nine had been killed by the islanders. Only two, innocent non-participants in the mutiny, still survived. The Dolphin stopped at Hawaii on the return trip, and the book also describes that island. It recounts an attack on the Prime Minister's home by crewmen from the Dolphin and other ships to protest a law forbidding native women from "visiting" onboard ships. A "most unpleasant incident," says Paulding. Priced at $2,000.

The American government seems to throw vast sums of money around without much thought, but this was not always the case. In 1829, James Causten published this bitter attack on the American government for nonpayment of debts: View of the Claims of American Citizens, Which were (Reserved against the French Republic...). When America purchased Louisiana from the French in 1803, part of the price was America's agreement to pay off any legitimate claims American citizens held against the French. Now, over 25 years later, those claimants were still trying to get their money, some $4 million at the time. Item 113. $1,250.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia]. Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668. €22.000-€28.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto') - Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venezia: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Parigi: Claude Barbin, 1668. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: MERCATOR, Rumold (1545-1599) - [I continenti] - Europa; Africa; America Sive India Nova; Asia. Amsterdam: S.d. [ca. 1633]. €2.000-€3.000
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 746. Speed's Dual Atlas of Britain & the World with 96 Maps (1676). Est. $70,000 - $85,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 9. Visscher's Superb Double-Hemisphere World Map with Representations of the Elements (1658). Est. $4,750 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 58. One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1554). Est. $5,000 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 745. A Complete Example of Ortelius' Atlas of Ancient Geography (1624). Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 73. First English Map to Show California as an Island (1625). Est. $16,000 - $19,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 156. Bachmann's Dramatic View of the Mid-Atlantic Region (1861). Est. $1,800 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 741. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776). Est. $9,000 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 695. The First Printed Map Devoted to the Pacific (1589). Est. $8,000 - $9,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 733. Superb Image of the Presentation of Jesus in Hand Color (1502). Est. $700 - $850
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 52. Produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch to Encourage Surrender (1945). Est. $200 - $230

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