Straight from Abraham Lincoln’s personal library was this 1849 first edition copy of William W. Campbell’s The Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton (New York: Baker and Scribner), signed by Lincoln on November 19, 1860, which earned top-lot status at $64,400 ($20/30,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
NEW YORK CITY — Encompassing more than 200 lots of books, manuscripts and original illustrations spanning “centuries of antiquarian interest” was The Collection of a Florida Bibliophile, sold by Doyle on June 25 in an auction that earned a 97 percent sell-through rate and totaled $556,544. “The collector was a connoisseur of military history and collected deeply into Nineteenth and Twentieth Century European and American color plate and costume books,” shared Peter Costanzo, Doyle’s director of rare books, autographs and photographs.
Marketing specialist Louis Webre added that the sale’s “Bidders were a combination of private buyers and trade from across the US, as well as Canada, Great Britain, the European Continent and Asia.” The top ten or so lots were won by bidders in the US, Great Britain and the Continent, he reported.
Topping the sale at $64,000, and more than doubling its $20/30,000 estimate was an 1849 first edition copy of William W. Campbell’s The Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton (New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849) from the personal library of Abraham Lincoln. The book was inscribed and signed by the former president on November 19, 1860, less than two weeks after his election to the presidency.
Of the top lot, Costanzo added, “The signed book from Abraham Lincoln’s library was special on several levels. First, it associates Lincoln to De Witt Clinton, the early Nineteenth Century New York politician known as the builder of the Erie Canal, who also abolished slavery in New York. Second, the book was signed by Lincoln and dated at Springfield in the period between his election to the presidency and leaving for Washington. Thirdly, the book had been offered as part of the important Lincoln collection assembled by Charles E. Feinberg in 1968, then was sold in the inscribed book collection of Harry J. Sonneborn in 1980, where it was acquired and spent nearly 50 years in this collection.”
Written by George Wilkins Kendall and illustrated by Carl Nebel was this portfolio of color plate images titled The War Between the United States and Mexico Illustrated (New York City and Philadelphia: Appleton, 1851), which made peace for $14,080 ($10/15,000).
Other lots of interest in the Americana category included a “fine copy” of well-known journalist George Wilkins Kendall’s The War Between the United States and Mexico Illustrated (New York City and Philadelphia: Appleton, 1851), which included 12 hand-colored lithographic plates done by Carl Nebel. Nebel was an artist who “had accompanied the American army at most of the major battles” in the Mexican American War, according to catalog notes. Landing within its $10/15,000 estimate, the book made $14,080.
Costanzo also noted a “scarce” first issue Confederate imprint of the 1861 Uniform and Dress of the Army of the Confederate States that was acquired by the consignor from the William Reese Company in 2003 and marched to $9,600. Comprising 15 lithographs illustrating the Confederate army uniform code by E. Crehan, the work was published in Richmond, Va., by Colonel Blanton Duncan, a Confederate Army officer in the First Kentucky Regiment.
Notable English and Continental books included first edition, first issue printings of The Martial Achievements of Great Britain from the Year 1799 to 1815 and The Naval Achievements of Great Britain from the Year 1793 to 1817, both by James Jenkins and illustrated by William Heath and Thomas Whitcombe. Considered “Two of the great military picture books of the era in their most desirable state,” these were one of 100 possible sets printed on large paper. The lot, which sold over estimate at $16,640, also included an original watercolor for one of the plates of the Martial Achievements by Heath, who was “the foremost British military watercolorist of the day.”
These first edition, first issue printings on large paper of Martial Achievements and Naval Achievements by James Jenkins, illustrated by William Heath and Thomas Whitcombe, were accompanied by an original watercolor by Heath (pictured right) and sailed to $16,640 ($7/10,000).
Also attracting bidders was a 1795 or later edition of Recueil D’Estampes Satiriques et Plaisantes Gravé A L’Occasion De La Grande Revolution Opéré en L’Année A Jamais Memorable by Aubert Parent, “an extraordinary visual account of the French Revolution,” explained Costanza. The collection of 84 engraved or etched satirical prints by various artists featured notable moments of the French Revolution, including the fall of the Bastille, the march on Versailles and other events, arranged chronologically. The account surpassed its $5/8,000 estimate to bring in $12,160.
Realizing $14,080 was a first edition of what catalog notes detailed as “The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan.” Published by Hering & Remington (London) in 1848, The Costumes of the Various Tribes, Portraits of Ladies of Rank, Celebrated Princes and Chiefs, views of the principal fortresses and cities, and interior of the cities and temples of Afgahaunistan was penned by James Rattray, Esq, who served as a second lieutenant in the Second Grenadiers, Bengal Army, and illustrated with 29 hand-colored lithographs by Robert Carrick and others after Rattray’s initial sketches. The lot was also accompanied by “Gool Mohammed Khaun King of the Ghilgies,” the original watercolor drawing of plate 25.
Tableux des armées de l’Europe, a suite of 17 hand-colored engraved plates depicting the armies of Europe, earned the second highest price of the day, and led objects in the European history category. Printed by Ludwig von Kleist (Dresden) circa 1840-45, the collection of engravings, primarily by Georg Emmanuel Opiz, depicted the armies of Russia, France, Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Prussia, Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, Würtemberg and the Grand Duke of Hesse. Selling for $25,600, the collection had provenance to Christie’s London’s October 1988 sale of The Property of a Member of a European Royal Family and may be the only known set of this suite in private hands; only two exist in institutions, one in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, and another at the Kungliga biblioteket, Stockholm.
Shooting down a $25,600 finish was Tableux des armées de l’Europe, a suite of 17 hand-colored engravings and one watercolor depicting the armies of Europe printed by Ludwig von Kleist (Dresden, circa 1840-1845) and illustrated by Georg Emmanuel Opiz (1775-1841) ($30/50,000).
In the English history category, Costanzo highlighted an original panoramic illustration in watercolor, ink and pencil, completed for the 1822 hand-colored aquatint panorama “Coronation of King George IV,” both of which were included in the lot. Both completed in 133 numbered sections, measured approximately 367 inches long altogether and were housed in later cardboard Goldsmiths’ and Silversmiths’ Company boxes. The lot was also accompanied by a 1911 autographed letter from Sidney Colvin, the British Museum’s keeper of prints and drawings, which confirmed the authenticity of the watercolor as the print’s source material. Rolling out for $7,680, the two works landed on the high end of their $5/8,000 estimate.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Doyle’s timed online auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps closes August 13. For information, www.doyle.com or 212-427-2730.
