CHICAGO – Hindman set a house record on November 9-10 when its fine printed books and manuscripts, including Americana auction achieved a sales total of $1.5 million, the most ever for a various owner fine books and manuscript auction in the company’s 39-year history. The 686-lot auction saw competitive bidding from around the globe that resulted in lots consistently soaring past their estimates on both days.

The strongest category of the sale was printed and manuscript Americana, which accounted for eight of the 15 highest prices of the auction. A first edition of the Federalist Papers published in 1788 took the top honor, selling for $175,000, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $40/60,000. Written under the pseudonym “Publius” by Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, the collection of 85 essays is widely considered to be instrumental in garnering public support for the framework that would become the US Constitution.

An expanded review of this sale will follow.