Connecticut River Book Auction
Live and In-Person
Friday, August 13, 6 pm
South Congregational Church
949 Main Street
South Glastonbury, Conn.
860-908-8067
www.ctriverbookauction.com

Inspection begins at 1 pm Friday, August 13th. Auction starts at 6 pm

It’s mid-August and stretching from the Canadian border south to Long Island Sound farmers are in the midst of gathering this year’s crop of fruit and vegetables. Here at Connecticut River Book Auction, we have picked a nice selection of maps, books and art work to sell on Friday, August 13th as a live in-person auction in South Glastonbury, CT. With over 200 lots for sale, here is one item that might delight the cartographer – a 1902 wall map mounted on linen issued by the National Publishing Company depicting Vermont’s Villages, Post-Offices and Rail-Road Stations. For Atlas enthusiasts, there is a nice copy of Roe’s (1879) “Atlas of the Maritime Provinces of the Dominion of Canada.” For Civil War history buffs, we have a rarely found 1st edition inscribed copy of Francis’ (1879) “Narrative of a Private solider in the Volunteer Army of United States.” And we have not forgotten readers of fiction who might want to sit by a stream to read a 1st edition, 2nd issue copy of Twain’s immortal story of childhood “Tom Sawyer” or enjoy a signed copy of Pat Conroy’s first book, “The Great Santini.” For those in a dystopian mood, we have in dustjackets first American editions of “1984” and “Animal Farm.”  

To the items just mentioned, this sale offers a Claude Smith (1968) matted and framed original New Yorker cartoon, an oil by noted Nantucket and PA artist John Sharp (1950) “Winter in Pennsylvania,” and Cruikshank’s (1811) “Bonaparte” caricature. For ephemera lovers, two items stand out. The first is several Norwich, CT. lots that depict the life of Edna Jones and that of her father Dr. D. L. Jones that intertwine with the Backus family for whom the local hospital is named. The second is a collection of over 100 letters from, we believe, Saint Louis Brown’s Baseball Player Edward Murray to his fiancée covering the years of his military service in 1917 to playing ball in 1922. Oh, and did we mention the railroad books?