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tant historical material out of peoples closets, attics and storage facilities and
made them available to the wider world to be seen and appreciated by scholars,
collectors and the general public.
Over the years, innumerable pieces, both printed and manuscript, have been
acquired by collectors and institutions, filling important historical gaps in their
historical holdings. It has been a great honor for me and a tremendous learning
process to have been able to handle, catalogue and attempt to place sensible
estimates on so much incredible material.
There are two people whom I’d like to acknowledge as being inspirational as
well as educational for me. The first is Charles F. Heartman, a Southern dealer in
Americana who created a catalogue of African-American material in 1947, which
I recommend to anyone seriously interested in this field of study. Heartman’s
catalogue of 2,282 items was my homework and education for many, many
nights and still a reference for me now. The second person I’d like to acknowledge
is the collector, or “black bibliophile,” as I know he prefers to be called, Charles
Blockson, whose extraordinary collection resides in Temple University’s Sullivan
Hall. First published in 1990, Charles’s catalogue contains over 10,000 entries,
and that was only “as of” 1990. His catalogue is often cited, in much the same
way Sabin is cited for general Americana. Lastly, we at Swann would like to
thank you, all of the faithful readers – and we hope successful bidders – for your
interest in these catalogues over the years.
Wyatt Houston Day