July 2, 2024Rick StattlerPrinted & Manuscript Americana Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana — June 2024 Read more about Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana — June 2024 Swann closed out June 2024 with a standout Printed & Manuscript Americana sale on Thursday, June 27. The auction earned $1 million against a $647,100 to $970,700 pre-sale estimate and…
Read more about Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana — June 27, 2024 June 10, 2024 Printed & Manuscript Americana Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana — June 27, 2024 Our June 27 Americana sale stretches across the ages from the 1500s to the 1980s. The age of early exploration is represented by a lovely 1590 De Bry Latin printing…
Read more about Listen to Jackie Robinson Speaking at an Ohio Civil Rights Rally in 1964 March 5, 2024 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Listen to Jackie Robinson Speaking at an Ohio Civil Rights Rally in 1964 This civil rights rally was held in Columbus, OH, a few months after the March on Washington and just as the congressional fight for the Civil Rights Act approached the…
Read more about Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript African Americana — March 21, 2024 February 12, 2024 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript African Americana — March 21, 2024 One of our largest African Americana auctions to date includes important documentation of the abolition movement, catalogues and posters for exhibits by leading Black artists, previously unseen Black Panther material, and material on Black-owned businesses.
Read more about Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana — September 28, 2023 September 6, 2023 Printed & Manuscript Americana Auction Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana — September 28, 2023 The September 28, 2023, Americana auction is rich in material from the American Revolution and the Civil War. Highlights include early printed journals of the Continental Congress, a complete run…
Read more about Collector’s Guide: A Look at Whaling History on Paper April 3, 2023 Printed & Manuscript Americana Collector’s Guide: A Look at Whaling History on Paper The adventure, romance, and sometimes horror of the whaling industry have never ceased drawing the attention of collectors. Here, Rick Stattler, director of books and manuscripts, shares a selection of lots that have sold at Swann with a connection to the industry.
Read more about Rick Stattler’s Auction Selections for Spring 2023 March 29, 2023 Books & Manuscripts Rick Stattler’s Auction Selections for Spring 2023 Spring has just about sprung, and Swann Galleries’ resident Americana specialist, and director of the house’s books and manuscripts department, is sharing a selection of lots from the 2023 auction schedule that will put you in the spirit for the season.
Read more about Printed & Manuscript Americana: April 13, 2023 Auction Highlights March 15, 2023 Printed & Manuscript Americana Printed & Manuscript Americana: April 13, 2023 Auction Highlights Our April 13 Printed & Manuscript Americana auction features an exciting an array of Civil War material represented by several diaries, including an officer on a desert expedition undertaken by…
Read more about Printed & Manuscript African Americana: March 30, 2023 Auction Highlights March 3, 2023 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Printed & Manuscript African Americana: March 30, 2023 Auction Highlights Our March 30 Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale will offer an outstanding manuscript broadside of the 13th Amendment ending slavery, signed by the Vice President and 111 congressmen. It…
Read more about Auctions 101: Provenance Research September 19, 2022 Printed & Manuscript Americana Auctions 101: Provenance Research Stattler explains the detective work that sometimes goes into researching an item’s history and provenance Auction houses keep one foot in the past, and one foot in the future. We are…
Read more about Printed & Manuscript Americana: September 29, 2022 Auction Highlights September 6, 2022 Printed & Manuscript Americana Printed & Manuscript Americana: September 29, 2022 Auction Highlights The highlight of our September Americana auction will be a large archive of family papers of Gideon Welles, who served as secretary of the Navy through the Civil War. Included…
Read more about Rick Stattler’s Specialist Picks: Two Unique Items from the April 7, 2022, Americana Auction April 1, 2022 Printed & Manuscript Americana Rick Stattler’s Specialist Picks: Two Unique Items from the April 7, 2022, Americana Auction The material that passes through Swann on a daily basis ranges in value and interest, sometimes we see an item crop up at auction consistently—a popular print, a highly sought…
Read more about At Auction March 24 — Selections from the Collection of Jack Greenberg March 15, 2022 Printed & Manuscript African Americana At Auction March 24 — Selections from the Collection of Jack Greenberg Offerings from the Collection of Civil Rights Attorney Jack Greenberg in our March 24 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana Our March 24 Printed and Manuscript African Americana auction…
Read more about Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana April 7, 2022 March 3, 2022 Printed & Manuscript Americana Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana April 7, 2022 This auction will have an emphasis on local highlights from different states and territories: an original Texas Ranger’s diary from the days of the Republic of Texas, blueprints from New…
Read more about Printed Manuscript & African Americana: March 24, 2022 Auction Highlights February 23, 2022 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Printed Manuscript & African Americana: March 24, 2022 Auction Highlights Our March 24 Printed Manuscript & African Americana sale will feature important material, from slavery through the civil rights era, as well as noteworthy literature and music, including iconic cornerstone…
Read more about Women & the Civil War September 24, 2021 Printed & Manuscript Americana Women & the Civil War Men did the bulk of the fighting in the Civil War, but women were involved on every level—from managing family farms and businesses in the absence of their soldier husbands,…
Read more about Selections From a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints April 6, 2021 Printed & Manuscript Americana Selections From a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints Our April 15, 2021 auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana opens with a noteworthy collection of historical prints which spins a narrative of America stretching from the arrival of Columbus to the…
Read more about Play Ball!: The Unlikely Tradition of Baseball Ephemera at Swann April 1, 2021 Swann Play Ball!: The Unlikely Tradition of Baseball Ephemera at Swann With the arrival of baseball’s Opening Day, spring is truly here. Swann does not handle baseball memorabilia in the traditional sense, leaving the encapsulated gem-mint rookie cards and game-worn jerseys to…
Read more about Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking to the SCLC Board in 1968 March 19, 2021 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking to the SCLC Board in 1968 Any piece of oratory by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a part of the nation’s heritage, but the speech offered in our March 25, 2021 sale of Printed &…
Read more about Early Black-Owned Business Ephemera March 19, 2021 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Early Black-Owned Business Ephemera “Surely you are not going to shut the door in my face!” Since the establishment of the Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale in 1996, Swann has offered a selection…
Read more about The First Feature Film Shot in Alaska: The Chechahcos September 15, 2020 Printed & Manuscript Americana The First Feature Film Shot in Alaska: The Chechahcos You may never have wondered about the birth of the Alaskan film industry. The first Hollywood film studio was launched in 1911, and from there the industry spread up and down the Pacific coast. Just 13 years later, The Chechahcos became the first feature film shot in Alaska. A melodrama set during the Klondike Gold Rush, no Alaskan or Wild West cliché was spared in its production. If you like glaciers, saloons, and damsels in distress, this is the film for you.
Read more about Collector’s Guide: Declaration of Independence June 30, 2020 Printed & Manuscript Americana Collector’s Guide: Declaration of Independence Probably the most common question we get in the Americana department is “I found an original copy of the Declaration of Independence—is it worth anything?” The short answer: it’s worth somewhere…
Read more about Old Diaries Tell the Stories of Overlooked Americans March 23, 2020 Books & Manuscripts Old Diaries Tell the Stories of Overlooked Americans The value of diaries on the market is largely driven by historical content and the quality of the writing. What could your diary be worth?
Read more about Before O. Henry: William Sydney Porter’s First Professional Commission March 2, 2020 Printed & Manuscript Americana Before O. Henry: William Sydney Porter’s First Professional Commission William Sydney Porter, best known to posterity as the author O. Henry, was raised in North Carolina and moved west to Texas as a young man in 1882. After a stint on a sheep ranch, he settled in Austin, TX, where he worked various odd jobs while exploring his interest in writing and drawing. Our winter-spring 2020 sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana on March 10 is set to offer O. Henry’s first professional commission. Here, Rick Stattler, the house’s Americana specialist, tells the story of the mining memoir that never came to be.
Read more about Documenting the Underground Railroad: The Story Behind the Shugart Family Papers September 13, 2019 Printed & Manuscript Americana Documenting the Underground Railroad: The Story Behind the Shugart Family Papers An extensive and detailed record of the Underground Railroad is set to come across the block in our upcoming sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana on September 26. Zachariah Taylor Shugart was a known agent of the Underground Railroad circa 1840-51.