Fall 2019: Printed & Manuscript Americana

Upcoming Highlights

At Auction September 26

embroidered commemorative display of the Great White Fleet, with embedded portraits, and patriotic insignia
Large embroidered textile of the Great White Fleet, with portraits of Theodore Roosevelt, Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans and his successor Charles Stillman Sperry, 1908. $3,000 to $4,000.

Complete Catalogue Coming Soon


Covering five centuries and the entire Western hemisphere, here we see strong selections of material on the Civil War, Judaica, as well as Mormonism and Utah. An impressive series of 12 different printings of the Declaration of Independence includes a pristine example of the important Force-Stone printing of 1833. Latin Americana features Inquisition decrees, cookbooks, and a manuscript map of Mexico City, 1779.

Two of the most important lots are archives relating to slavery and abolition. The Kanawha Saline salt works in West Virginia was a large-scale industry; offered here are four large boxes of their correspondence and business records from before the Civil War—much of it relating to the dozens of enslaved people who operated their furnaces and wagons. Booker T. Washington lived near the salt works after abolition, and his stepfather Washington Ferguson makes several appearances here, as do several members of the Burroughs family, which enslaved his mother, Jane. Another archive documents the Shugart family of Michigan, notable for their active role in the Underground Railroad, with an account book listing dozens of “passengers.” Also in the sale is a letter written from Liberia in 1866 by prominent African-American emigrant Henry Johnson.


Revolutionary War

the declaration of independence
William J. Stone, Declaration of Independence, Force printing, 1833. $15,000 to $25,000.
Liberty Triumphant or the Downfall of Oppression, hand-colored, depicting the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party, circa 1774.
Liberty Triumphant or the Downfall of Oppression, hand-colored, depicting the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party, circa 1774. $12,000 to $18,000.

Slavery & Abolitionism

Shugart family papers including documentation of the Underground Railroad, 63 items, 1838-81.
Shugart family papers including documentation of the Underground Railroad, 63 items, 1838-81. $30,000 to $40,000.
Records of the Dickinson & Shrewsbury salt works, more than 2000 items, including extensive slave labor correspondence, legal records, receipts, memorandum books, 1801-1908.
Records of the Dickinson & Shrewsbury salt works, more than 2000 items, including extensive slave labor correspondence, legal records, receipts, memorandum books, bulk 1820-1865. $80,000 to $120,000.

Latin Americana

book spread with two illustrations of a bird - natural history of north america, 1635.
Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Historia naturae, maxime peregrinae, libris XVI distincta, Antwerp, 1635. $6,000 to $9,000.
manuscript map of Mexico City from colonial era, 1779.
Antonio de Mayorga, manuscript map of Mexico City, 1779. $6,000 to $9,000.

Nineteenth Century

illustration of a native american person in tribal outfit, thomas l. mckenney & james hall, 1842-44.
Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 120 hand-colored lithograph plates, three volumes, Philadelphia, 1842-44. $25,000 to $35,000.
Samuel Walker, diary kept during the entire first cruise of the USS Kineo, a gunboat on the Mississippi, 1854-69.
Samuel Walker, diary kept during the entire first cruise of the USS Kineo, a gunboat on the Mississippi, 1854-69. $10,000 to $15,000.
Scrapbook on early Stanford football, including letters from Walter Camp, 1893-95 and 1931.
Scrapbook on early Stanford football, including letters from Walter Camp, 1893-95 and 1931. $8,000 to $12,000.

Twentieth Century

typescript by glora steinem, living the revolution
Gloria Steinem, typescript for her speech Living the Revolution, with related letters and documents, 1941-77. $5,000 to $7,500.

Exhibition Open September 21–26

The exhibition is free to attend and open to the public. We welcome special and educational groups with advance notice–send an inquiry to rsvp@swanngalleries.com.

 

Exhibition Hours

Saturday, September 21 — 12 pm to 5 pm

Monday, September 23 — 10 am to 6 pm

Tuesday, September 24 — 10 am to 6 pm

Wednesday, September 25 — 10 am to 6 pm

Thursday, September 26 — 10 am to 12 pm

 


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