Swann Galleries Auction Preview- Americana Part 1

Specialist Rick Stattler Discusses Highlights of the June 5 Auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana. The centerpiece of this large sale is an 1823 facsimile of the Declaration of Independence on paper engraved by William James Stone. Two hundred official copies were issued on vellum, and a small number of additional copies on paper. This is the third example on paper to come to auction.

Notable items pertaining to religion include the celebrated Aitken Bible, two volumes in one, Philadelphia, 1782 and 1781. This was the first printing of the complete Bible in English in America, and fewer than 100 copies are estimated to have survived. Also known as The Bible of the Revolution, it is the only Bible ever to be authorized by Congress.

Among desirable books of political import are Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, first edition in English, London, 1787, containing the map, hand-colored in outline.

The auction contains a number of legal documents relating to well-known figures. Of local New York City interest is Ann Pritchard Proceedings in Partition, a 1742 document dividing 400 acres of the Stuyvesant family's Manhattan estates between the two surviving grandchildren of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch ruler of New York, and awarding his granddaughter Ann Pritchard a lot that included modern Gramercy Park—and the land on which Swann Galleries sits today.

Works on travel and exploration include Patrick Gass's A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery, under the Command of Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke, a first edition of the earliest account of the expedition, Pittsburgh, 1807.

Other subject areas well represented in the auction include American Indians; the American Revolution; Arctic exploration; Canadian exploration and history; early American imprints, primers and children's books; archives of correspondence related to General George Armstrong Custer; documents relating to railroad baron Jay Gould; Texas and the Mexican War; and items pertaining to individual states.

The sale concludes with nearly 100 lots of Latin Americana, including rare books on Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico; important letters from the Dominican Republic; and early examples of Mexican printing from 1590.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• swann
• Galleries
• Auction
• printed
• manuscript
• Americana
• Chile
• Colombia
• Clara
• Barton
• Lincoln
• Thomas
• Jefferson
• Bibles