Freeman’s February 17 Books and Manuscripts auction is an Americana collector’s delight, with highlights led by an extremely rare Northwest Territory Land Ordinance from 1785; a previously unrecorded campaign handbill from the 1796 Thomas Jefferson and John Adams presidential election; as well as a fine lock of President George Washington’s hair, cut shortly after his first inauguration in 1789. Freeman’s continues to lead in historic Philadelphia material, including the only known photograph of William A. Leary, Sr., founder of the legendary Leary’s Book Store, and a first edition of the first Catholic Bible printed in the United States, printed in Philadelphia in 1790. With works by such Black luminaries as Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, and Sojourner Truth, literary giants Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe, and surveyors of the natural world Charles Darwin and John James Audubon, the auction also offers a diverse selection of Fine Bindings, Prints, and Art, as well as rare opportunities for collectors of Children’s & Illustrated, Sporting, and Military History books.
Lot 1
[African-Americana] Baldwin, James Nobody Knows My Name, More Notes of a Native Son
Sold for $4,410
Estimated at $1,500 - $2,500
Lot 2
[African-Americana] Douglass, Frederick My Bondage and My Freedom...
Sold for $4,725
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 4
[African-Americana] [Douglass, Frederick] Lithographic Portrait
Sold for $2,268
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 5
[African-Americana] Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk, Essays and Sketches
Sold for $9,450
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 6
[African-Americana] Harper, Frances E.W. Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted
Sold for $6,930
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 8
[African-Americana] Washington, Booker T. Group of 2 Titles
Sold for $1,386
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 10
[Americana] Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union...
Sold for $2,520
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 12
[Americana] Eisenhower, Dwight D. Signed and Inscribed Edition of "The White House Years"
Sold for $1,764
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 13
[Americana] Franklin, Benjamin Autograph Letter, signed
Sold for $35,280
Estimated at $12,000 - $18,000
Lot 14
[Americana] Franklin, Benjamin The Way to Wealth or Poor Richard Improved
Sold for $2,142
Estimated at $2,000 - $3,000
Lot 17
[Americana] [Harvard College] Group of 3 Harvard College Graduation Theses Broadsides
Sold for $2,268
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 18
[Americana] [Jefferson, Thomas, and John Adams] Printed 1796 Presidential Campaign Handbill
Sold for $63,000
Estimated at $15,000 - $25,000
Lot 19
[Americana] Lincoln, Abraham Photographic Portrait
Sold for $2,520
Estimated at $1,500 - $2,500
Lot 22
[Americana] [Northwest Territory] Land Ordinance of 1785
Sold for $201,600
Estimated at $80,000 - $120,000
Lot 23
[Americana] Paine, Thomas The Writings of Thomas Paine...
Sold for $1,260
Estimated at $2,000 - $3,000
Lot 25
[Americana] [Roosevelt, Theodore] The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments...
Sold for $2,142
Estimated at $400 - $600
Lot 32
[Americana] Thomas, Isaiah The History of Printing in America...
Sold for $1,134
Estimated at $1,200 - $1,800
Lot 33
[Americana] [Thomas, Isaiah] Smith, Charlotte Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Poems
Sold for $819
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 34
[Americana] Washington, George Rare Portrait on Silk
Sold for $10,080
Estimated at $5,000 - $8,000
Lot 39
[Art] [Tanguy, Yves] Peret, Benjamin Dormir dans les pierres
Sold for $1,008
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 42
[Autographs & Manuscripts] Rachmaninoff, Sergei Typed Letter, signed
Sold for $3,024
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 43
[Autographs & Manuscripts] [Shelley, Mary] Rossetti, Lucy Madox Mrs. Shelley
Sold for $4,410
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 46
[Children's & Illustrated] [Anderson, Alexander] The Child's Book of the Ocean
Sold for $2,142
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 47
[Children's & Illustrated] [Austen, John] Douglas, Norman South Wind
Sold for $409
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 49
[Children's & Illustrated] [Barbier, George, etc.] Group of 17 Issues of "Gazette du bon ton"
Sold for $2,142
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 50
[Children's & Illustrated] [Barbier, George, etc.] Les artistes du livre...
Sold for $1,890
Estimated at $1,500 - $2,500
Lot 53
[Children's & Illustrated] [Cardew, Gloria] Carlyle, Thomas Sartor Resartus
Sold for $2,142
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 56
[Children's & Illustrated] [Cole, Timothy] One Engraved Woodblock and 5 Titles
Sold for $409
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 57
[Children's & Illustrated] [Cruikshank, George] Group of 3 Titles
Sold for $693
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 59
[Children's & Illustrated] Flint, Sir William Russell Drawings
Sold for $473
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 60
[Children's & Illustrated] [Kent, Rockwell] Group of 6 Titles
Sold for $599
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 63
[Children's & Illustrated] [Pop-Up Book] Dean's New Scenic Books, No. 3, Cinderella
Sold for $1,638
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Lot 66
[Decorative Arts] Wathner, Joseph Der vollstandige kenner der gisenwaaren und ihrer zeichen...
Sold for $945
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 67
[Finance] (Hemming, Henry G.) Hemming's History of the New York Stock Exchange...
Sold for $1,638
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 69
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] [Erotica] Bilder-lexikon der erotik
Sold for $630
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 70
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Fontaine J. de la Tales and Novels in Verse
Sold for $1,008
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 71
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Hawthorne, Nathaniel The Scarlet Letter
Sold for $4,410
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 73
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Irving, Washington The Alhambra
Sold for $819
Estimated at $300 - $500
Lot 74
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] [Lindsay, Norman] Norman Lindsay's Pen Drawings
Sold for $945
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 75
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Louys, Pierre The Songs of Bilitis
Sold for $473
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 77
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Reade, Charles Peg Woffington
Sold for $2,772
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 78
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Tennyson, Alfred Lord Poems
Sold for $3,024
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 79
[Fine Bindings] [Bennett] Tristram, W. Outram Coaching Days and Coaching Ways
Sold for $882
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 80
[Fine Bindings] [Birdsall] Hervey, Thomas K. The Book of Christmas
Sold for $3,276
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 82
[Fine Bindings] C(hevigné), (Louis) Le C(om)te de Les contes remois
Sold for $347
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 83
[Fine Bindings] [Club Bindery] Field, Eugene Echoes from the Sabine Farm
Sold for $4,410
Estimated at $1,500 - $2,500
Lot 84
[Fine Bindings] [Club Bindery] Louys, Pierre Byblis
Sold for $1,197
Estimated at $1,500 - $2,500
Lot 85
[Fine Bindings] Dumas, Alexandre The Three Musketeers
Sold for $2,268
Estimated at $400 - $600
Lot 87
[Fine Bindings] Kipling, Rudyard The Works of Rudyard Kipling
Sold for $4,095
Estimated at $2,000 - $3,000
Lot 88
[Fine Bindings] [Morrell] Byron, Lord The Works of Lord Byron...
Sold for $1,764
Estimated at $600 - $900
Lot 89
[Fine Bindings] Parkman, Francis The Oregon Trail, Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life
Sold for $2,772
Estimated at $500 - $800
Lot 94
[Food & Drink] Carême, Antoine Group of 3 French Cookbooks
Sold for $1,512
Estimated at $800 - $1,200
Lot 95
[Food & Drink] E. Kidder's Receipts of Pastry and Cookery, For the Use of his Scholars...
Sold for $2,016
Estimated at $1,200 - $1,800
Lot 96
[Food & Drink] Group of 3 Manuscript Recipe Notebooks
Sold for $2,016
Estimated at $500 - $800