• Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • 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

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2014 Issue

A Look Back from Gene W. Baade Books on the West

The latest selection of Books on the West.

Gene W. Baade Books on the West opens their latest selection, Catalogue 814, with a notable reason to want to add to your book collection. In times of trouble, they note, books have offered respite from the troubles of the day. This has been a particularly rough summer on the international stage. The news has brought stories of terrible tragedies, more so than usual this year. These cannot be ignored, and solutions must be found, but once is awhile, we do need a break. And, sometimes when we look to the past, we may find some overlooked answers to our current problems. So here are a few samples of what Baade has to offer, which should provide some respite, learning, entertainment, and maybe a few answers.

 

We start with a thorough look at America's first overland mail route to the west coast, The Butterfield Overland Mail 1857-1869. Its organization and operation over the Southern Route to 1861; subsequently over the Central Route to 1866; and under Wells Fargo and Company in 1869. It is one of the classic Arthur Clark western publications, three volumes by historians Roscoe and Margaret Conkling, published in 1947. Prior to Butterfield, it could take months for a letter to reach the west coast, as it had to travel by boat to Panama, across the isthmus by land, and then by boat to California. John Butterfield proposed a route across the southern United States that included numerous transfer stations in the Southwest that would take letters, and a few hardy passengers, from St. Louis or Memphis to San Francisco in just over three weeks. It was not the shortest route proposed, but Butterfield won the contract as the southern route enabled mail to be reliably shipped even during the winter. As the title implies, the original Butterfield service concluded in 1861, a number of issues leading to its demise. First the Pony Express, with its more northern route, cut the time to 10 days. Then, the outbreak of the Civil War disrupted the ability to ship along the southern route. Finally, Morse ran his telegraph coast to coast, allowing for instantaneous relay of important messages. Butterfield went bankrupt and was taken over by Wells Fargo, which continued service in other forms until completely driven from business with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The Conklings reportedly spent some 20 years, 65,000 miles worth of travel, took thousands of photographs and interviewed those with first-hand knowledge still living, in compiling this impressive set. Item 35. Priced at $500.

 

Butterfield's horses and riders only did limited portions of the route, passing off to the next rider. Here is the story of a horse and rider who traveled coast to coast, and in a somewhat circuitous route so as to touch every state (then 48) in the union. The rider and writer was Frank M. Heath, a World War I veteran from Maryland who set off in 1925 from Washington, D.C., and returned in 1927. While humans were likely impressed by Heath's performance, Heath gave all of the credit to his horse, as shown in his 1941 book's title, Forty Million Hoofbeats. Factual Story of the 11,356 Mile Trip of Gypsy Queen Under Saddle. Indeed, part of Heath's motivation was to prove what a horse could accomplish, and after Gypsy Queen's remarkable journey, Heath afforded her a well-deserved happy retirement. The pair set out on a southern route and returned on a northern one, with numerous jogs to make sure they touched every state. A major diversion was required, essentially circling the state of Missouri, and touching on its neighbors, to reach those heartland states not easily accessed by their southern or northern route. Other states were just nipped by their out-of-their-way jogs, such as California, Florida, and Maine. Heath had some advantages over the Butterfield riders – no Indians, bandits, or Confederates with which to contend – but they did have to share the road with those danged automobiles, now starting to become available to the masses. Heath passed away in 1945, Gypsy Queen predeceased him (1936), and while Heath provided a well-attended and celebrated burial for Gypsy, she was obviously not available to offer him the same. This copy was signed by Heath in the year of publication. Item 69. $75.

 

Item 147 is the Sixtieth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior 1891. These reports, issued during the 19th and 20th centuries, recount the government's dealings with the Indian tribes. Much covers the attempts at pacification, sometimes through force, other times by attempting to “civilize” the natives by such actions as removing their children to schools that would teach them the white man's ways. The timing of this set is particularly notable. It was at the end of the previous year that the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred, generally thought of as the final battle of the long-running Indian wars. The set contains two volumes. $200.

 

Wounded Knee was the last battle of the Indian wars, but this next book culminates with the Indians' last major winning battle of those wars. That event need not be identified, it is so well known, though the ironic title confirms it – Custer's Luck. Edgar Stewart's 1955 book is regarded as one of the best on the subject. It is not just about Custer's unlucky battle, but covers U.S. government relations with the Indians that led to Custer's dramatic end. Custer's career may have had many lucky breaks, but Stewart sees his defeat as the result not of bad luck, but of poor decisions. Custer spread his troops too thin, and was unable to amount any kind of effective defense when superior forces attacked. Item 137. $25.

 

Item 16 is Amelia Barr's Remember the Alamo. Who could forget? This is a piece of historical fiction, the story of an Anglo doctor and his Mexican wife in the days of the Texas Revolution. Naturally, this arrangement brings the critical issues of the time, particularly national loyalty, into play. While a novel, Mrs. Barr carefully researched the subject, introducing the various real players in the Texas Revolution in historically accurate roles. Though she wrote some 80 novels in her life, Mrs. Barr was particularly well suited for this story. That might seem unlikely since she and her husband were born in England, but they emigrated to America around 1850, and quickly moved west, settling briefly in Galveston and then moving to the state capital in Austin. Her husband became an auditor for the state, and was said to be friendly with Sam Houston. However, Mrs. Barr was not a writer at the time. Unfortunately, a yellow fever epidemic in 1867 took the lives of her husband and four sons. She moved back east and became a tutor. From there, she tried her hand at writing, and proved to be very successful in this new endeavor. Her story about early Texas was published in 1888, this being a first edition. $15.

 

Gene W. Baade Books on the West may be reached at 425-271-6481 or bookwest@q.com. The website is www.booksonthewest.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

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