Closing its cover for $49,600, the highest price of the sale, was this fourth American edition of Joseph Smith’s The Book of Mormon published in 1842 in Nauvoo, Ill. ($12/18,00).
Review by Kiersten Busch
SUDBURY, MASS. — On September 8, Tremont Auctions conducted its 558-lot Summer Estates and Collections auction, which resulted in 91 percent of lots sold and realized $356,513 total. The sale offered an eclectic mix of items from local New England estates, including 200 lots of jewelry, early English and American silverware, artworks and decorative items and an array of autographed first edition and antique books, historical letters and documents, and ephemera. According to Cameron Ayotte, auction manager at Tremont, the buyers were a mix of international and domestic.
Ayotte also shared that the firm had “a great group of books and historical documents sell in this auction, including an Alexander Hamilton letter, a Robert E. Lee letter and a John Quincy Adams letter.” However, it was an 1842 fourth edition of Joseph Smith’s The Book of Mormon (Nauvoo, Illinois: Joseph Smith) that made its way to the top of the sale, selling to a domestic buyer for $49,600 against a high estimate of $18,000. According to the auction catalog, this book, which featured late Nineteenth Century leather binding, was “a scarce edition with limited printings and the last edition printed during the lifetime of Joseph Smith.”
Returning to the signed letters, signing off at $8,330 — almost seven times its high estimate — was the Alexander Hamilton letter, which was signed twice by the former treasurer. Dated June 18, 1792, Hamilton wrote to a Revolutionary War soldier named Benjamin Walker, from New York. In addition to the signatures, the “Free Frank” correspondence had a hand inked name heading.
Dated June 18, 1792, this letter from Alexander Hamilton to Revolutionary War soldier Benjamin Walker wrote home for $8,330, far exceeding its $800-$1,200 estimate.
A letter from Robert E. Lee to Maryland Historical Society founder Brantz Mayer, dated December 26, 1865, saluted a $6,985 finish, the second-highest price of the sale. The letter was accompanied by three photos of General Lee in uniform, two of which were CDV-sized, unmounted ovals. The third was a 6½-by-8½-inch photograph mounted to a larger board; all three had light wear to them.
Rounding out the top three best-selling lots was a John Quincy Adams secretarial letter, which was accompanied by a small book plate engraving. The written correspondence was signed by the former president and went for $6,200, far surpassing its $800 high estimate.
Buyers went down the rabbit hole for a collection of illustrations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Salvador Dalí (Maecenas Press, Random House: New York, 1969), which earned more than five times their high estimate. The lot included a portfolio of 12 woodcut illustrations and an original etching by Dalí, accompanied by text from the novel. The frontispiece etching and title page were both signed by Dalí, and all illustrations were present. Despite a missing leaf from the “Down the Rabbit Hole” section and some condition issues on the portfolio’s binding, the book went for $5,334.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.tremontauctions.com or 617-795-1678.
