Cinema, First Editions, and the Eclectic from James Pepper Rare Books
none
Here are some more words from the far left -- a pamphlet that originally appeared in the April 2, 1962 issue of The Militant, printing one of Fidel Castro's notoriously long-winded speeches, delivered at the University of Havana on March 13, 1962. It was distributed by the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a group set up in America to support Castro. It disbanded in 1963, helped not at all by Lee Harvey Oswald's association with it. In his speech Castro rambles on, as he is wont to do, at one time criticizing the old socialist saying, "‘We are socialists, forward, forward, and whoever doesn't like it let him take a laxative!'" Observes Castro, "If you don't like it take a laxative. Who are you going to win over with that?" Wise words, indeed. No wonder he has remained in power for almost half a century. Venceremos! Item 21. $50.
Here's one that falls under the "eclectic" heading: The Sacred Mushroom Seeker. Essays for R. Gordon Wasson. Wasson was a mushroomologist (I made up that word because I don't know the real one). Starting with an interest in the normal types of mushrooms you might put on your pizza, he expanded his interests to the more spiritual variety, another way of saying hallucinogenic drugs. Wasson ascended to the spiritual otherworld in 1986 at the age of 88, and in 1990 his friends published this collection of essays in his honor. I'll stick with anchovies on my pizza. Item 62. $85.
As long as we're traveling high, item 63 is True Hallucinations. Being an Account of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. Author Terence McKenna and others had embarked on a long strange trip to the Amazon in 1971 in search of a mushroom that supposedly was the missing link in the development of human consciousness. Perhaps he already had a few too many magic mushrooms before he left. A Village Voice review on the dust jacket proclaims, "If only a fraction of McKenna's thought is true, he will someday be regarded as the Copernicus of consciousness." I'm sure Copernicus would have appreciated the comparison. The book was published in 1993 in -- where else? -- San Francisco. $85.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
