Sold! Auctions Review

Lot 19, one of the two manuscripts in the sale, was George B. Sanderson’s overland diary that he kept while he was physician to the famous Mormom Battalion that marched in 1846-1847 from Missouri to San Diego, CA. Although the story of this battalion has long been known, this diary was a complete surprise: its existence was not known before Sloan offered it here. Sanderson has long been known as “Dr. Death” because of his high-handed manner and propensity to prescribe calomel for every possible ailment. Apparently the battalion members considered him worse than useless. Despite his lack of medical acumen, the few excerpts that Sloan provides give one a sense that Sanderson’s diary will certainly provide further illumination on this important battalion and the area they traversed. The diary sold for $44,000 on an estimate of $30,000-60,000.

Sloan’s Volkmann catalogue is a notable contribution not only to its genre but also to scholarship. Her Clifford catalogue was an outstanding piece of work, but her Volkmann catalogue is going to be rare and sought after in its own right. Every lot is illustrated, and color plates further illustrate 36 of the items. Copies are available in either wrappers ($75) or cloth ($125) (plus shipping and applicable taxes) at (rarebooks@sloanrarebooks.com). The oblong catalogue for sale #13 is printed in two columns on coated stock and illustrated exclusively with color photographs of every lot. As with the Volkmann catalogue, this, too, is a lasting contribution to understanding the physical objects themselves as well as their historic importance.

Particularly with some items in the Volkmann sale, one is curious about the immediate and ultimate destinations of them. To complete his own Zamorano 80 collection, Volkmann had to buy several lots from the Clifford sale because some items are so rare that they come on the market only when such a collection is broken up. For example, it is difficult to imagine for what purpose one would pay $85,000 for the Yellow Bird if not to complete another Zamorano 80 collection. The world can only wait to see if Sloan will once again be called on to sell a third such collection.

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