Papers of the Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary, one of the most renowned Arctic explorers from the golden age of exploration, included diaries, correspondence, lecture notes and more. The lot led the sale, realizing $57,500.
Review by W.A. Demers; Photos Courtesy Swann Auction Galleries
NEW YORK CITY — Papers of the Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary, including diaries, correspondence, lecture notes and more led Swann Galleries’ September 28 sale of printed manuscript Americana, realizing $57,500. Peary (1856-1920) was one of the most renowned Arctic explorers from the golden age of exploration, completing several expeditions to northern Greenland, and in April 1909 claiming victory in the race to the North Pole. This lot included several folders of Peary’s correspondence, four of his early pre-Arctic diaries, numerous typescript and manuscript articles and speeches, a small but interesting selection of photographs, a small collection of artifacts and a portion of his original reference library.
Most notable in the collection is a letter signed by former president Theodore Roosevelt to Peary dated September 11, 1911: “I was genuinely pleased to receive your telegram, and I think it mighty nice of you to have remembered me. I can hardly overstate to you how proud I am that I should have had some connection, however remote and insignificant, with helping you to perform your great epochal feat.”
A related lot pertained to Peary’s daughter, Marie Ahnighito Peary (1893-1978), who was born in northern Greenland above the 77th latitude north — the furthest north of any white child. From birth she was dubbed the “Snow Baby.” The collection, which sold for $20,000, contained some of the original materials from the children’s book Children of the Arctic, by the Snow Baby and her Mother — Josephine Diebitsch Peary (1863-1955) — published in 1903. The book is credited as a collaboration between mother and daughter, written in the tone of a children’s book of the period, interspersed with letters and diary entries by Marie.
Marie Ahnighito Peary, daughter of Arctic explorer Robert,, from birth was dubbed the “Snow Baby.” A collection of original materials from the children’s book “Children of the Arctic” by the Snow Baby and her mother sold for $20,000.
The sale total was $715,726, offering 335 lots, with 253 sold for a 76 percent sell-through rate by lot. Swann had 12 new buyers and 270 registered bidders. Of the top 29 lots, 16 went to dealers, 9 went to collectors, and four went to institutions. At least 50 lots sold to a total of 24 different institutions (in addition, most likely, to several other lots purchased via dealers).
Letters by early Mormon converts Edward and James Wingate brought $13,750 ($1/1,500); a photo album of a medical mission to northern Labrador brought $10,000 ($800-$1,200); the rare 1605 Mexican legal work Primera parte, de la politica de escripturas sold for $13,125 ($1/1,500).
Records included the pre-Revolutionary pamphlet The Other Side of the Question: or, A Defence of the Liberties of North-America at $1,875 ($632, Northeast Auctions, 2004); $21,250 for a group of Thomas Penn letters was the highest ever paid for any of his manuscripts ($,9600, Bloomsbury, 2008). A first edition of Mary Baker Glover Eddy’s Science and Health, accompanied by later editions, brought $6,500 (the previous record being $6,463, Christie’s, 2002). Among the Latin Americana, a 1565 first edition of Molina’s Confessionario Mayor brought $40,000 ($21,250, Swann, 2019).
A long run of Gold Rush letters by Ralph C. Worthington signed to his sister Cornelia S. Worthington Ford, her husband William Roderick Ford and other relatives in Hinsdale, Mass. included passages on claim jumpers, an Indian massacre and a map of Sacramento. The lot brought $16,250.
The Molina Mexican imprint was notable as it was a first edition of Alonso de Molina’s full-length confessional manual, with instructions on the administration of the sacraments; it sold for $40,000. Bilingual in both Nahuatl and Spanish, it was designed for the Nahua penitents, literate Nahuas and preachers and confessors with experience in dealing with their Indigenous flock.
From the American Revolution, the sale included a manuscript diary by Thomas Contee (circa 1729-1811) recounting meetings with Washington and Hancock in the midst of the retreat from New York. The document comprised 15 manuscript diary pages, plus 21 pages of memoranda, and was bid to $23,750. Contee was a tobacco merchant who owned the plantation Brookefield near Nottingham, Md., northeast of Baltimore. An active patriot in the years leading up to the Revolution, he served on the Committee of Observation, and was a major in the Maryland militia.
Fetching $21,250 was a lot of 15 letters from Thomas Penn (1702-1775), the proprietor of Pennsylvania, to his agent, discussing Benjamin Franklin, the Indian wars and more. Thomas Penn was a son of Pennsylvania founder William Penn. The letters discuss Penn’s American land dealings in detail, including ongoing negotiations with the American Indians. Penn and Franklin had a bitter relationship, and several passages appear to relate to Franklin, who was becoming increasingly involved in the colony’s affairs. In a December 8, 1758, passage, he expresses frustration with Franklin’s machinations: “I hope we have ended all correspondence with him, which we could not carry on after knowing how he had treated us.”
A remarkable artifact from the childhood of one of the seminal figures of the American colonies, this partial New Testament given to John Winthrop, an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as a 12th-birthday gift by his father in 1599 commanded $16,250.
A partial New Testament given to John Winthrop (1587/88-1649), an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as a 12th birthday gift by his father in 1599 commanded $16,250, four times its high estimate, fitting for a remarkable artifact from the childhood of one of the seminal figures of the American colonies.
Another Mexican imprint to bring notable results was a musical composition by Juan Navarro Gaditanus (circa 1550-1610), a Franciscan monk from Cádiz who wrote a setting of the four passions. Catalog notes state that the dealer Lathrop Harper, who handled a copy in 1968, believed this to be “the first music by a New World composer printed in the New World.” It was designed for use in Indian missionary parishes under mendicant supervision. It left the gallery at $16,250.
The same price was obtained for a long run of Gold Rush letters by Ralph C. Worthington signed to his sister Cornelia S. Worthington Ford (1824-1901), her husband William Roderick Ford and other relatives in Hinsdale, Mass. Contents included passages on claim jumpers, an Indian massacre and a map of Sacramento.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For more information, www.swanngalleries.com or 212-254-4710.
