Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2011 Issue

Signed American Documents from Joe Rubinfine

- by Michael Stillman

Signed photograph of the Columbia Shuttle crew.

One would have thought that his terrible defeat at San Jacinto, just a few weeks after his great victory at the Alamo during the Texas Revolution, would have done in Mexican dictator Antonio de Santa Anna. To the contrary, Santa Anna kept fighting for power for the remaining 40 years of his life. He shifted several times between power and exile. In 1855, he was finally removed for good, but as we can see, he was still attempting to recapture his country in 1866. At that time, Mexico was ruled by the French installed Emperor Maximilian, and the Mexican people would probably have welcomed back even the unpopular Santa Anna if he could have thrown out the Emperor. Ultimately, someone else did that. Item 39 is a bond, in the face amount of $500, dated June 28, 1866, from New York. It is signed by Santa Anna. It was his attempt to gain funds to engineer an overthrow of Maximilian. Santa Anna's portrait is on the bond along with other usual flourishes. $750.

 

Only Franklin Roosevelt, and possibly John F. Kennedy, were known among presidents to collect autographs. Perhaps there was another. Item 12 is a 1913 letter from former President William Howard Taft to an autograph dealer who was offering a 1654 signature of Edward Rawson for $1.50. Writes Taft, "If you still have this on hand, please send it to me…& I'll remit it." The letter is typewritten except for the "& I'll remit it," which is in hand. Rawson was the Secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1654. $500.

 

Item 8 is a photograph of the seven crew members of the Columbia Shuttle Mission, signed by each. The Columbia was one of the great tragedies of America's space exploration, disintegrating when it reentered Earth's atmosphere in 2003. All crew members were lost. This photograph is being sold by the family of astronaut David Brown with the proceeds to be donated to charities he supported. $15,000.

 

You may reach Joe Rubinfine at 321-455-1666 or Joerubinfine@mindspring.com.

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Australian Book Auctions
    Books, Maps, Modern Literature
    May 14 (US) / May 15 (Australia)
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: ORWELL, George. ANIMAL FARM. London, Secker & Warburg, 1945. $8,000 to $12,000 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: MILNE, A.A. THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER With decorations by Ernest H. Shepard. London, Methuen, 1928. Deluxe limited edition. $3,000 to $4,000 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: TWAIN, Mark. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade). New York, 1885. $1,000 to $1,500 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions
    Books, Maps, Modern Literature
    May 14 (US) / May 15 (Australia)
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: RAND, Ayn. ATLAS SHRUGGED. Random House, New York, 1957. First edition. $800 to $1,200 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: [BAUM, L. Frank]. PICTURES FROM THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ By W.W. Denslow… Chicago, [1903]. $400 to $800 AUD.
    Australian Book Auctions, May 14/15: HELLER, Joseph. CATCH-22. London, Jonathan Cape, 1962. $400 to $600 AUD.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000

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