historical

Rare 1790 Census Up For Auction

Filed under: Auctions

This year's census was a massive undertaking but things were a little simpler at the time of the first census back in 1790. A rare copy of the 1790 census conducted under the direction of Thomas Jefferson will highlight the bi-coastal Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts Auction on October 4. Simulcast to New York, the Los Angeles based sale is comprised of fine and rare first-edition books, maps, manuscripts, and ephemera.

The census being sold is one of the rare copies signed by Jefferson on the final page. It has been handed down through the family of Gideon Granger, Postmaster General during Jefferson's administration, and is believed to be his copy. It is annotated with all sorts of calculations. This rare piece of American history is estimated to sell for $80,000 to $120,000.

The sale also includes historical photographs and maps and atlases including John Melish's Map of the United States with the Contiguous British and Spanish Possessions (1816) which is estimated at $50,000 to $70,000. Other items include a signed 1922, first edition, first printing of F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, The Beautiful and Damned; an original 4-panel daily strip of Charles Schulz's Peanuts and a single page printed and typed report detailing a blood test taken from Mohandas Gandhi ten days before his assassination, indicating that, although he is generally healthy, his white blood cell count is high. A New York preview is scheduled for September 23-25 and the Los Angeles preview will be held October 1-3.

Tags: bonhams, census, documents, historic, historic documents, historical, history, thomas jefferson

John Steinbeck's Personal Belongings Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

A variety of personal effects belonging to author John Steinbeck will be auctioned off at Bloomsbury Auctions in New York on June 23. The Travel Books, Autographs, and Literature auction will feature personal letters, manuscripts and photographs from his three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan where he lived until his death in 1968. The pieces are expected to bring a total of $200,000 to $250,000 and include his acceptance speech for his 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature and manuscripts written on lined yellow paper. His total library of around 800 books is being sold as a single lot with a pre-sale estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. A briefcase belonging to Edward Ricketts, Steinbeck's longtime friend and collaborator who was the inspiration for the character of 'Doc' in "Cannery Row" and "Sweet Thursday" is estimated to sell between $9,000 to $12,000 and it contains a Western Union telegram notifying Steinbeck of Ricketts' death.

The sale is also full of other treats ranging from ancient maps to a stock certificate from John D. Rockefeller, Benito Mussolini's signature and a drawing done by Jimmy Stewart. There are also many signed lots of playbills autographed by Laurence Olivier, Katherine Hepburn, Paul Newman and other greats of stage and screen.

[via Art Daily]

UPDATE: The auction brought in only $73,950.

Tags: historical, john steinbeck

Rare Lincoln Memorabilia Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

A variety of rare Lincoln memorabilia is set to go up for auction on Friday June 11 in Cincinnati. Cowan's Auctions is selling 24 lots that include a Mathew Brady photograph of the president, pocket watches, Lincoln White House china and some of Mrs. Lincoln's famous jewels. Mrs. Lincoln was an early proponent of retail therapy and shopped lavishly both before and after her husband's death.

As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, auction also has a darker side, documents showing the course of Mary Todd Lincoln's arrest and commitment to a private sanitarium are up for sale for an estimated $8,000 to $10,000. Mrs. Lincoln's son believed that his mother was mentally ill and committed her against her will, creating a family rift that never healed. The photograph shown at right , signed by President Lincoln, is estimated at $10,000 to $20,000 but could go higher.

The sale will feature other historical artifacts related to the Civil War and the history of the American West. There are several images of Annie Oakley posing with her gun as well as many images of soldiers from both sides of the war.

UPDATE: The Lincoln picture sold for $33,000 while the three documents showing Mrs. Lincoln's arrest and commitment to a sanitarium sold for $32,000.

Tags: abraham lincoln, historic, historical, Mary Todd Lincoln, memorabilia, president lincoln