Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week
On Tuesday, April 10, University Archives sells Autographed Documents, Manuscripts, Photos, Books & Relics, in 254 lots. A 1726 Mohawk land deed signed by Hendrick Theyanoguin and eight additional Mohawk leaders is estimated at $25,000-30,000, as is a signed copy of Thomas Jefferson's 1821 letter to Dr. Samuel Brown at Transylvania University in which Jefferson argues against recent tariffs placed on imported books. A July 1861 letter from General Robert Anderson immediately following the first Battle of Bull Run could fetch $10,000-12,000. The letterbook of Revolutionary War commissary Minne Voorhees is estimated at $12,000-14,000. Also up for grabs is a piece of a mahogany bed presented to John Quincy Adams during his service as minister to England ($1,000-1,200) and a data recorder from NASA's Apollo program ($500-600).
Dominic Winter sells Printed Books, Maps & Documents on Wednesday, April 11, in 586 lots. Benjamin Franklin's Experiments and Observations on Electricity (London, 1769; pictured), is estimated at £5,000-8,000, while a copy of the c.1690 second edition of John Seller's pocket celestial atlas could sell for £4,000-6,000. The sale includes a selection of bookbinding equipment, tools, and reference books (lots 421-450), and lots 500-586 are group lots, some of which have a great deal of potential.
Thursday, April 12 sees two sales: Printed & Manuscript Americana at Swann Galleries, in 323 lots, and Rare Golf Books & Memorabilia From the Collection of John Burns and the Library of Ron Muszalski, with additions at PBA Galleries, in 431 lots. Top lots at Swann could include the copy of Paine's American Crisis (highlighted in a previous post), a copy of the Nauvoo Neighbor Extra broadside of June 30, 1844 which contains the first official account of the killing of Joseph Smith, and a 1566 Mexican imprint (all three estimated at $50,000-75,000). A volume of business records from a Mexican silver mine covering the years 1576-77 could sell for $25,000-35,000, while a copy of the unauthorized second edition of the "Reynolds Pamphlet" rates a $10,000-15,000 estimate.
At PBA Galleries, the signed, limited first edition of Down the Fairway: The Golf Life and Play of Robert T. Jones, Jr. is expected to lead the way, at $10,000-15,000. A number of other lots will be of much interest to the Bobby Jones collector. A copy of the 1566 issue of the acts of the Scottish parliament which contains the first mention of golf in print (in a 1457 law to discourage it) is estimated at $1,500-2,000.
Photo credit: Dominic Winter Auctioneers
