Upcoming Highlights: Printed & Manuscript Americana April 7, 2022



Lot 240: Robert Orr, letter about an arms inspection for Eli Whitney — with the earliest known reference to Uncle Sam, 1803. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.

This auction will have an emphasis on local highlights from different states and territories: an original Texas Ranger’s diary from the days of the Republic of Texas, blueprints from New York’s Grand Central Station, and a volume of Colorado views. An interesting collection of Rhode Island ephemera—pamphlets, early lottery tickets, newspaper carrier addresses, and billheads — will appeal to all lovers of the Ocean State.

Other highlights include several Civil War diaries, an 1803 letter with perhaps the first known reference to “Uncle Sam,” a complete run of the first American Jewish periodical, and a remarkable photo album from Robert Peary’s 1899 expedition to Greenland. A nice selection of sports and sporting books is headed by the first two years of Porter’s Spirit of the Times (the first newspaper with extensive baseball coverage), and a group of important early books on Latin America will close out the sale.


Lot 199: William Rigdon, large archive of photographs kept by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman’s White House aide, pictured above is FDR with Haile Selassie, Emporer of Ethiopia, circa 1942-1953. Estimate $2,000 to $3,000. 
Lot 28: Photograph album from the 1899 Peary Relief Expedition, depicting famed explorer Matthew Henson, 1898-99. Estimate $7,000 to $10,000. 

Related Reading: Old Diaries Tell the Stories of Overlooked Americans



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Lot 182: Volume of early Grand Central Terminal blueprints and reports, 1910-1917. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000. 
Lot 93: Francis A. Thuis, View of Cumberland Gap and the encampment of the 91st Indiana Infantry, 1864. Estimate $2,000 to $3,000.

Related Reading: Selections from a Noteworthy Collection of American Historical Prints



Latin Americana

Lot 327: John Phillips & A. Rider, Mexico Illustrated in Twenty-Six Drawings, 1848. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000. 
Lot 325: Frederick Catherwood, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, 1844. Estimate $20,000 to $30,000.