The end of the War of 1812 is announced to America.
Zebulon Pike is best remembered for his exploration of the American Southwest, and the peak in Colorado named for him. However, before heading west, he first traveled north, up the Mississippi in an unsuccessful attempt to find its headwaters. His very rare report on his journey, An Account of a Voyage Up the Mississippi River, from St. Louis to Its Source... is offered as item 128. It was this trip that earned him an appointment to make his more significant journey west. Published in 1807. $30,000. Pike's better known report, An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and through the Western Parts of Louisiana... published in 1810, is also offered as item 129. $25,000.
Indians were so often depicted as "savages" in early America that it is a welcome change to see them noted for their eloquence. Item 146 is Native Eloquence, Being Public Speeches Delivered by Two Distinguished Chiefs of the Seneca Tribe...Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother. Published in 1811, these two charismatic speakers talk about issues of the day. Red Jacket speaks of the negative impact of white civilization on his people, rejects the white man's religion, and opposes the sale of Seneca lands. $2,500.
The History of Printing in America, by Isaiah Thomas, was the first such history ever published. Thomas was a printer who devoted much of his life to preserving America's early printed works. He founded the American Antiquarian Society, which to this day holds the greatest collection of such material. This history was published in 1810. Item 157. $1,750.
The Seneca Indians were not the only people to produce great orators. One of the greatest speakers the nation has ever known, and a major political figure until the mid-19th century, was Daniel Webster. He is perhaps best known for his defense of the Union during the 1830s nullification crisis ("Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable"). In 1801, Webster was still a college student when he delivered this oration, A Funeral Oration Occasioned by the Death of Ephraim Simonds... Simonds was a fellow senior at Dartmouth College when he died, and Webster's tribute presaged the day he would become one of America's greatest orators. This is only Webster's second published work, preceded by a Fourth of July speech he delivered a year earlier. Item 172. $3,750.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
