Fine Books & Manuscripts: November 2020 Highlights
At Auction November 17, 2020
Autographs
Americana
Featuring Revolutionary War-dated material by John Hancock and Alexander Hamilton, as well as items from Brigham Young, and a photograph postcard signed by Blackfoot chief Two Guns White Calf with his pictogram.
Autographs by Scientists, World Leaders, Entertainers & more
With material from various notable figures like Neils Bohr, Albert Einstein, Clark Gable, greeting cards from the King and Queen of Jordan, and others.
Autographs by Presidents
The sale includes a striking portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a young man, probably taken during his service as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and it is signed and inscribed by him to a friend. Another item comes from John F. Kennedy, who sat down in the U.S. Senate Restaurant on April 10, 1957, where he signed the front cover of a menu.
Autographs by Musicians
Including material from Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, and from Giacomo Puccini we have a remarkable autograph letter signed to his publisher, promising to complete the music for a work that night, likely a revision of La bohème.
Autographs by Writers
Including authors Ezra Pound, Antone de Saint-Exupéry, George Bernard Shaw, and others.
Autographs by Artists
Featuring material from Alexander Calder, Grandma Moses, René Magritte, and more.
19th & 20th Century Literature
We will again be offering Jane Austen first editions and scarce early printings of all her major works (lots 131 to 143). Virginia Woolf is well represented with several signed limited edition copies. A first edition of John Keats’s third and last book published in his lifetime, Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems; and Lord Byron’s Don Juan, Cantos I-XVI, complete in six volumes. Early George Cruikshank original drawings, many signed, feature as well.
Fore-edge paintings
From the nineteenth century is a large run of fore-edge paintings on a variety of subjects, a number of them in handsome period bindings.
Art, Press, and Illustrated Books
Among art and illustrated books is the deluxe issue, one of just 100 produced, of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, illustrated by Elihu Vedder.
What You Need to Know for Auction Day
This auction will be held live and conducted remotely by Swann auctioneers taking bids from multiple platforms. While there will not be bidding in the room, we will be accepting order bids, and interested buyers will be able to participate live online via the Swann Galleries App. The app is available in the App Store and on Google Play, and it can also be accessed on a desktop at live.swanngalleries.com.
Please note: limited phone bidding will be available for this auction. Phone bidding registrations will close the day before the sale at 4pm.
At this time, our exhibition and auction location at 104 East 25th Street is closed to the public. Private viewings are available by appointment only, and must be arranged in advance. To make an appointment please contact the specialist.
Specialists
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