Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2003 Issue

An Interesting Americana Auction PBA Sale #264: Held May 29th

none

none


Author: Hutchings, J.M.
Title: In the Heart of the Sierras: The Yo Semite Valley, both Historical and Descriptive and Scenes by the Way. Big Tree Groves. The High Sierra with its Magnificent Scenery, Ancient and Modern Glaciers, and other Objects of Interest; with Tables of Distances and Altitudes, Maps, etc.
Place: Yo Semite Valley
Publisher: Published at the Old Cabin
Date: 1886
Item # : 130690 – Lot 137
Description: [4], xii, 13-496 pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece photo-type by Britton & Rey (The Yosemite Valley); a wood-engraved portait of the author; 24 photo-typo plates by Britton & Rey; 1 red plate wood-engraved plate of a snow plant; 3 wood-engraved plates; 3 maps (1 folding); numerous wood engravings in the text. 9¼x6½, original full turkey morocco stamped in blind, lettered in gilt, gilt inner dentelles, floral endpapers, all edges gilt. First Edition, Second Issue, publisher's deluxe binding.
Presentation copy inscribed by Hutchings at the top of the title-page, "The Right Rev. Bishop Kip. With the warm esteem of the Author." William Ingraham Kip was the first Episcopal Bishop of California. Second issue with photo-typo by Britton & Rey showing a woman seated behind the horse and a cabin with a lean-to; portrait of Hutchings is engraved in wood, etc. Hutchings, a pioneer of the tourist industry in Yosemite and one of the first to visit there in winter, was Guardian to the Valley & the Mariposa Big Tree Grove between 1880 and 1884. According to Farquhar, In the Heart of the Sierras was Hutchings' crown publishing achievement and "...contains a great deal more...than an account of Hutchings' personal experiences; it covers more fully than any other work of its day every aspect of Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees that could by considered of general interest to visitors." Cowan p.299; Currey & Kruska 175; Farquhar 18b. Provenance: From the Library of William Augustus Brewer.
Condition:A little rubbing to joints and edges, still very nice, internally fine, in the rare deluxe binding.
Price Realized: (Estimated $1,000-1,500). Actual: $1,092

Author: (Manufactory Scheme - Broadsides)
Title: Collection of 10 original broadsides, etc., relating to the
Place: Boston
Publisher:
Date: c.1738-1740
Item # : 130719 – Lot 212
Description: Includes: [Vans, Hugh]. Some Observations on the Scheme projected for emitting 60000 l. in Bills of a New Tenour, to be redeemed with Silver and Gold. Shewing the various Operations of thses Bills, and their Tendency to hurt the Publick Interest. In a Letter from a Merchant in Boston. Pamphlet. [2], 25 pp. (lacks half-title). 8¼x5½, unbound, stitched. (Stained, edge worn, hole in last leaf.) Evans 4308; Sabin 98549. Boston: S. Kneeland & T. Green, 1738. * The Manufactory Scheme: In Consequence of the Scheme which is inserted in the Book of Records of the Manufactory Company, proposing a Medium of Trade and Business by a Emission of Notes of Hand, or Bills on Land Security... Broadside. 4 pp., single fold. 12¾x9. (Holes and chips along gutter edge where removed; old ink notation on last page "This was printed on December 5th, 1740." Bristol 40197(3); Ford 726. 1740.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • 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.

Review Search

Archived Reviews