Records & Results: Printed & Manuscript Americana On Thursday, April 27, our tenth consecutive auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana exceeded $700,000. Much of the top material was unique or extremely rare, including diaries, letters and archives, many of which had never previously been seen at auction. Lot 180: Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, first edition, Palmyra, 1830. Sold April 27, 2017 for $52,500. A first edition Book of Mormon, 1830—the only edition to list Joseph Smith as the “author and proprietor” rather than as the translator—led the sale at $52,500. Other stand-out lots included a pair of legal documents, 1842, signed by Smith while he was the Mayor and Justice of the Peace in Nauvoo, Illinois, in a case against the postmaster of the town, which flew past its high estimate of $3,500 to $23,750, as well as a recognizance document from the following year, ordering a nurse to pay $100, which reached $15,000, above a high estimate of $1,800. Each of the seven offered lots related to Mormonism sold above their estimates. Lot 341: Hernán Cortés, Autograph Letter Signed to Majordomo Diego de Guinea, Mexico December 21, 1538. Sold April 27, 2017 for $32,500. The top five lots all went to private collectors. A rare letter by Hernán Cortés to his property manager, instructing him to be hospitable to a visiting bishop, was purchased for $32,500; no other letters from the conquistador have appeared at auction in the last 30 years. Lot 125: William J. Stone, The Declaration of Independence, Force printing, engraving, Washington, circa 1833. Sold April 27, 2017 for $21,250. Further highlights included a Force printing by William J. Stone of the Declaration of Independence, 1833, a cornerstone of Americana collecting, at $21,250, and a large archive of Milwaukee sculptor John Severinus Conway that reached $12,500, above a high estimate of $3,000. A circa 1811 manuscript speech on the formation of New York’s College of Physicians and Surgeons by Samuel Bard sold for $8,750. Lot 81: Edward W. Syle, manuscript diary of an American missionary in Shanghai and San Francisco, 1851-56. Sold April 27, 2017 for $7,250. Journals included the accounts of a diary by missionary Edward W. Syle in Shanghai and San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1850s at $7,250, as well as the translated manuscript of a Japanese soldier’s last days in World War II ($3500). The bound diary of a wealthy Manhattan orphan in the mid-nineteenth century reached $2,250. Lot 73: Combined San Francisco Call-Chronicle-Examiner, issued immediately following the 1906 earthquake, April 19, 1906.Sold April 27, 2017 for $1,375, a record. Among the records set was $1,375 for the iconic San Francisco Call-Chronicle-Examiner on the 1906 earthquake; the previous record of $840 was set in 2008. Additionally, the first complete set of Amos Doolittle’s engravings of the Prodigal Son parable to be sold at auction in nearly 30 years sold for $6,500. Lot 335: Archive related to a pulque bar in Mexico City, manuscript, Mexico, 1639-1780. Sold April 27, 2017 for $7,280. Institutions acquired important material, including an archive of a Mexican pulque bar that spanned nearly a century, which was purchased by a university. A different institution purchased the first edition of Esther Levy’s Jewish Cookery Book, 1871, the first Jewish cookbook published in the United States, for $11,250. The next auction of Printed & Manuscript Americana will be held on September 28, 2017. Now accepting quality consignments. Browse the catalogue for full results. Share Facebook Twitter April 27, 2017Author: Swann NewsCategory: Printed & Manuscript Americana Tags: Americana Amos Doolittle Declaration of Independence Edith Brevoort Edward W. Syles Esther Levy Force Printing Hernán Cortés John Severinus Conway Joseph Smith Mormons New York City New York's College of Physicians and Surgeons Printed & Manuscript Americana Records & Results Samuel Bard San Francisco William J. Stone World War Two Previous What is a Cosway-Style Binding? Next Masters of Early Engraving Recommended Posts Nicholas D. Lowry’s Specialist Picks: Favorite Lots from The Subculture Sale Vintage Posters January 31, 2024 Records & Results: Contemporary Art Contemporary Art May 24, 2018 John Augustine Washington III & Mount Vernon Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 27, 2017