May 20, 2020Kelsie JankowskiPrinted & Manuscript African Americana Swann Ushers in a New Era of Live Online Sales with Printed & Manuscript African Americana Read more about Swann Ushers in a New Era of Live Online Sales with Printed & Manuscript African Americana Our Thursday, May 7, 2020 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana was held live online and was conducted remotely. “This was a strong auction regardless of the circumstances. The… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Printed & Manuscript African Americana: Rescheduled for May 2020 April 16, 2020 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Printed & Manuscript African Americana: Rescheduled for May 2020 Among the highlights will be an 1836 autograph book with inscriptions by noted early African-American orators Moses Roper and Peter Williams. The large section on slavery and abolition will include several runaway broadsides and a miniature printing of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation (the only one produced in pamphlet form) intended for soldiers to distribute among the freedmen in the south. Military papers include material written by African-American soldiers, including a Civil War letter and a Spanish-American War diary. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Romare Bearden’s Letters to Art Historian Harry B. Henderson, Jr. March 26, 2020 African-American Fine Art Romare Bearden’s Letters to Art Historian Harry B. Henderson, Jr. Here we take look at letters, postcards and greeting cards from Romare Bearden to his longtime friend and collaborator Harry Henderson, as well as touch on the 2005 sale of Henderson’s art collection that made the establishment of our African-American Fine Art Department possible. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Old Diaries Tell the Stories of Overlooked Americans March 23, 2020 Books & Manuscripts Old Diaries Tell the Stories of Overlooked Americans The value of diaries on the market is largely driven by historical content and the quality of the writing. What could your diary be worth? Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Listen to Tapes of a 1961 Interview with Leaders of the Atlanta Student Movement March 20, 2020 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Listen to Tapes of a 1961 Interview with Leaders of the Atlanta Student Movement On June 8, 1961, a journalist for The Protestant Hour, a long-running and widely syndicated weekly radio program out of Atlanta, sat down with four leaders of the Atlanta Student Movement to discuss their work in nonviolent direct action. Two reel-to-reel tapes were created as a result of the interview. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about The History of Books & Manuscripts at Swann Galleries October 7, 2019 Auctions 101 The History of Books & Manuscripts at Swann Galleries Bibliophiles of every denomination—Americana, autographs, art books, archives, atlases, ephemera, literature, maps—can find their niche at Swann Galleries. Originally founded in New York as a book auction house, we hold regular specialized sales devoted to books, printed material and manuscripts. Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana April 2, 2019 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana A Record for The Negro Travelers’ Green Book Among Printed & Manuscript African Americana at Swann Our Printed & Manuscript African Americana on Thursday, March 28 saw a sell-through rate of 90%, a record for the category. Enthusiastic bidding was seen across all… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript African Americana February 23, 2019 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript African Americana At Auction March 28 Complete Catalogue A highlight is volume one, issue one of the Mirror of Liberty, July 1838–the first African-American periodical–edited by David Ruggles, and believed to be… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana April 2, 2018 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana Institutional purchases dominated the buying field at our auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana on March 29. The top lots of the auction were almost entirely manuscripts, archives, early… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Huey Newton’s Portraits & The Founding of the Black Panthers March 23, 2018 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Huey Newton’s Portraits & The Founding of the Black Panthers New findings in our March 29 auction of Printed & Manuscript African-Americana clarify information behind iconic portraits of Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton. Ensconced in a wicker… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Printed & Manuscript African Americana January 16, 2018 Printed & Manuscript African Americana A Look Inside the Catalogue: Printed & Manuscript African Americana On March 29 we will offer Printed & Manuscript African Americana, an array of material that encompasses a wide range of the African-American experience, from letters by Frederick Douglass to his… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 31, 2017 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript African Americana On Thursday, March 30, our annual auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana exceeded $1M for the first time in the department’s 20+ year history. The success was largely due to… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about John Augustine Washington III & Mount Vernon March 27, 2017 Printed & Manuscript African Americana John Augustine Washington III & Mount Vernon From the catalogue for our March 30 sale of Printed & Manuscript African Americana. The sale will feature a run of 16 lots of letters and ephemera from Mount Vernon… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about J. Mortimer Lichtenauer: The Diary of an American Art Student in Paris June 20, 2016 Printed & Manuscript African Americana J. Mortimer Lichtenauer: The Diary of an American Art Student in Paris Every now and then we have an item come in that seems tailor-made for a Swann auction. In Tuesday’s sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana we offer the diary kept by J. Mortimer Lichtenauer,… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Remembering Inge Hardison April 4, 2016 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Remembering Inge Hardison After the close of our Printed & Manuscript African Americana auction last week, we were saddened to learn about the passing of artist Inge Hardison. A multitalented artist, writer and… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Countdown to Eternity: A Photographer’s Look At Dr. King’s Final Year March 22, 2016 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Countdown to Eternity: A Photographer’s Look At Dr. King’s Final Year New York City-born photographer Benedict Fernandez is know for his documentary photography, which has depicted everything from protest movements to cultural explorations in Puerto Rico, Russia and Japan. Perhaps one… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about Reflections on 20 Years of Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 14, 2016 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Reflections on 20 Years of Printed & Manuscript African Americana The following is an excerpt from the introduction written by Swann Galleries’ Printed & Manuscript African Americana Specialist Wyatt Houston Day for his 2016 catalogue–the 20th annual African Americana sale at Swann. The… Share Facebook Twitter
Read more about A Tour Through Harlem With E. Simms Campbell and Cab Calloway March 10, 2016 Printed & Manuscript African Americana A Tour Through Harlem With E. Simms Campbell and Cab Calloway It takes more than artistic skill to capture not only the look of a place, but the feel of it. It takes an intimate knowledge, a love, and that’s exactly what… Share Facebook Twitter
March 25, 2014 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Significant George Washington Carver Archive Coming to Auction Among the highlights of Thursday’s auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana is an extraordinary archive of letters written by George Washington Carver between 1925 and 1937. This lot contains… Share Facebook Twitter
March 28, 2013 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Top Lots: Printed & Manuscript African Americana Our annual auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana, held on March 21, featured an outstanding array of material devoted to the Civil War, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights… Share Facebook Twitter
March 13, 2013 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Notes from the Catalogue: The Emancipation Proclamation Reading the Emancipation Proclamation, steel engraving by J.W. Watts, Connecticut, 1864. “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal” declares the extraordinary document brought… Share Facebook Twitter
April 19, 2012 Autographs Top Lots: Revolutionary Americana & Autographs Tuesday’s sale of Revolutionary Americana from the Allyn Kellogg Ford Collection, followed by a sale of Autographs, broke over 15 auction records, and doubled the low estimate for the sale as… Share Facebook Twitter
March 11, 2011 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Yesterday’s Top Lots: African Americana Our 16th annual Printed & Manuscript African Americana auction was the most successful to date. The top lot, which sold for $43,200, was Charles Harris Wesley’s published and unpublished writings, correspondence,… Share Facebook Twitter
March 9, 2011 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Frederick Douglass’s Narrative, Bound at the North Star Offices One of only five known copies of Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, and bound by Douglass at the North Star offices… Share Facebook Twitter
March 3, 2011 Printed & Manuscript African Americana Carved Ballast Stone Recovered from a 16th Century Slaveship The March 10th Printed & Manuscript African Americana auction includes a very unusual carved ballast stone, which was recovered from the wreck of a 16th-century slave ship in 1992. This… Share Facebook Twitter
January 29, 2010 Printed & Manuscript African Americana James Amos Porter Archive Comes to Auction Among the highlights of our 15th annual auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana is an incredible archive comprising James Amos Porter’s African-American Art History Reference materials. The lot contains… Share Facebook Twitter