Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana April 7, 2022

**Lot 240:** Robert Orr, letter about an arms inspection for Eli Whitney — with the earliest known reference to Uncle Sam, 1803. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

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 York’s Grand Central Station, and a volume of Colorado views. An interesting collection of Rhode Island ephemera—pamphlets, early lottery tickets, newspaper carrier addresses, and billheads — will appeal to all lovers of the Ocean State.

Other highlights include several Civil War diaries, an 1803 letter with perhaps the first known reference to “Uncle Sam,” a complete run of the first American Jewish periodical, and a remarkable photo album from Robert Peary’s 1899 expedition to Greenland. A nice selection of sports and sporting books is headed by the first two years of Porter’s Spirit of the Times (the first newspaper with extensive baseball coverage), and a group of important early books on Latin America will close out the sale.