Gene W. Baade Books on the West has issued their most extensive catalogue yet: "Oklahoma!" No, this is not a Rogers and Hammerstein musical. Rather, it is a textual. Offered are over 400 items pertaining to the Sooner State, or Oklahoma Territory, or Indian Territory, depending on how far back you wish to go. Baade describes this printing as "...my most ambitious catalogue to date, and one close to my heart..." That may sound odd for a Washington State bookseller, but Baade is an Oklahoma native, having grown up on a farm in the "Cheokee Strip" (a strip of land along the state's northern border once belonging to the Cherokees). He notes that while not everyone may agree with an old broadside that "Oklahoma is the richest healthful section of North America," it indisputably "was a 'Country' that spawned a broad history and a rich literature." Here are some samples of that broad history and rich literature.
Oklahoma has had its share of colorful characters. Here is one. "Catch 'em Alive" "Jack" Abernathy must have been the greatest of all wolf hunters. His nickname explains what he did, but Abernathy didn't use traps. No, he caught 'em with his bare hands. Abernathy, who according to his friend Teddy Roosevelt, was just about the greatest horseman alive, would chase the critters relentlessly on his horse until they tired. He would then jump from the saddle, grab hold of the wolf's jaw, and wire his mouth shut. This story reached a disbelieving President Roosevelt, who traveled to Oklahoma in 1905 to see for himself, and participate in a wolf hunt with Jack. It was said that Roosevelt was the only man who could keep up in the saddle with Abernathy, but he couldn't catch wolves. Item 1 is Jack's story: In Camp with Theodore Roosevelt or the Life of John R. (Jack) Abernathy, published in 1933. Priced at $200. Item 2 is a revised version of his story, Catch 'Em Alive Jack, published in 1936, and inscribed by Abernathy. $275.
"Catch 'em Alive" wasn't the only famous member of the Abernathy family. In fact, his sons may have been even better known than he. Their story is recounted in The Remarkable Ride of the Abernathy Boys, by Robert B. Jackson, published in 1967. Louis, age 10, and Temple, age 6, presented their father with an unusual request in 1910. They said they would like to ride on horseback from Oklahoma to New York, by themselves, to greet former President Roosevelt on his return from an African safari. Evidently, Jack was a permissive father, because he said "yes." There was a lot of publicity as the boys rode east, attracting large crowds of well-wishers, even welcoming bands along the way, but it was still quite remarkable for kids of their age. However, it was not a first, as the boys had ridden alone from Oklahoma to Santa Fe the year before, when they were not yet quite so mature. They returned by car (evidently age requirements for driving an automobile were much lower then), "Temp" was said to be barely able to reach the pedals. Three years later, the boys were at it again, when they took on a $10,000 challenge to ride horseback from New York to San Francisco in 60 days. They lost, finishing in 62. Item 197. $45.
Sotheby’s Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection D-M 18 October 2024
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Herodianus Syrus, Herodiani Historiarum, Venice, Heirs of Aldo & Torresano, 1524, Parisian binding for Jean Grolier by Jean Picard, ca. 1540
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro, Venice, Aldo, 1495 (Greek text), interleaved with 1497–1498 (Latin text), English olive morocco by Charles Lewis, the Botfield copy
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Horatius Flaccus, Horatius, Venice, Aldo, 1501, Bolognese brown goatskin (between 1501 and 1503), arms of Mino Rossi and illuminated initials throughout
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Lucretius, De rerum natura, Venice, Aldo, 1500, English early eighteenth-century red morocco, the Fletcher copy
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: CATESBY, MARK. 1683-1749. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. $100,000 - $150,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 1785-1851. The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: ADAMS ON HIS PEAR TREES AND A LOST PORTRAIT BY SALEM ARTIST HANNAH CROWNINSHIELD. ADAMS, JOHN. 1735-1826. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: EARLIEST MAP DEVOTED TO NORTH AMERICA. FORLANI, PAULO. fl.1560-1571. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: HAMILTON DEFENDS THE CONSTITUTION. HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. 1757-1804. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION BROADSIDE. Boston, September 14, 1768. $5,000 - $8,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: ONE OF THE EARLIEST ILLUSTRATIONS OF A SURGICAL PROCEDURE. BARTHOLOMAEUS ANGLICUS. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: RICHARD FEYNMAN'S ANNOTATED COPY, WITH TWO EARLY FEYNMAN AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS. $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: THE FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN COMPUTING. TURING, ALAN MATHISON. 1912-1954. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: FINE OIL PORTRAIT OF ALBERT EINSTEIN BY EUGEN SPIRO. $40,000 - $60,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: PENICILLIN MOLD MEDALLION INSCRIBED BY ALEXANDER FLEMING. FLEMING, ALEXANDER. 1881-1955. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: APPLE "TWIGGY" MACINTOSH PROTOTYPE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMONSTRATION SOFTWARE. $80,000 - $120,000
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: A Superb Extra-illustrated Copy of Nicolay and Hay’s Work About Lincoln. $50,000 – 70,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: The First Volume of De Bry's Great Voyages, Thomas Hariot's Description of Virginia. $50,000 – 70,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: An autographed cabinet card of Custer as lieutenant colonel. From his last sitting. $800 – 1,200.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: The Congressional Committee, Lincoln's Funeral Springfield Illinois, 3 May 1865. $4,000 – 6,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: A remarkable ninth plate daguerreotype of an interracial couple. $30,000 – 50,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: What may be the earliest known images of an identified plantation and enslaved African Americans posed with their owner. $20,000 – 30,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: Through Tickets to All Principal Points West Via Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad For Sale at This Office. $500 – 700.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: 15th New York Infantry / Regiment of Engineers GAR regimental colors. Ca 1880. $1,500 – 2,500.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1556. Senghor, Les Élégies Majeures. Geneve 1978.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1572. Lew Tolstoy. Anna Karenina. First Edition, Moscow, 1878.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg, 1536.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1060. Immanuel Kant, Critik der reinen Vernunft. First Edition, Riga, 1781.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 585. Bonaparte, Iconografia della fauna Italica. Rome, 1832f.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 548. Robert Fludd. Utriusque cosmi maioris, Frankfurt, 1617f.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 571. Christian von Wolff. Works, Halle 1741f.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 969. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Dekorationen innerer Raeume. Berlin 1874.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1457. Goethe. Das Tagebuch. Print on Vellum. Berlin, Officina Serpentis. 1934.
