Rare Books, Autographs & Maps

• Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 10am

• Including the Fred Rotondaro Collection of Americana and the Ken Harte Collection of Natural History

• Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions

NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle will hold an auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 10am offering a wide range of fascinating material spanning many centuries. Lots 1-34A comprise a diverse group of early printed books, English and Continental, with a number of items of Shakespearian interest (lots 3-6) in the first category, and a fine copy of Van Dyke’s Icones (lot 24) heading the Continental portion. Following this section lots 35-46 are an exceptionally interesting selection of text and illuminated manuscripts that includes such delights as the Prayer Book of Jehan Bernachier, an exquisite illuminated manuscript (lot 38), an important breviary in Middle Dutch (lot 42) and a 14th century Rules of St. Augustine from an English priory (lot 44). Then follow bookbindings, lots 47-61, highlighted by a remarkable extra-illustrated set of Shakespeare from the library of Irving Berlin (lot 57), and a set of the great fashion periodical, the Journal des Dames et des Modes (lot 61).

With a change of theme, lots 62-106 focus on natural history, and include the ornithological library of Ken Harte, with many important ornithological works including those by Audubon (lots 64-66), Dresser (lots 78-80), Elliot (lot 81) etc. This section also has some interesting travel, including Henderson and Hume’s Lahore to Yarkand with the successor volumes from the second mission (lot 105); the Pollen and Van Dam’s travels to Madagascar (lot 93) etc. From there we move to maps and travel (lots 107-139), which incorporate Bouchette’s great wall map of Lower Canada (136) and other maps of American appeal. Lot 108 is a fascinating manuscript account of South America in 1759-1764, apparently unpublished, by a French voyager.

Private press and book arts come next, lots 140-152, and include the Cranach Press Hamlet (lot 143) and some interesting Rockwell Kent (lots 148-151). Then follows literature and children’s books, lots 153-219, with A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books, both signed and unsigned (lots 194-198), an inscribed Thomas Pynchon (lot 200), a Tolkien calligraphic quotation (lot 210) and much else of great appeal.

Americana covers lots 220-227, which includes a copy of Marshall’s Life of Washington annotated by Washington’s aide-de-camp James McHenry with an account of the Battle of Monmouth (lot 227). The important Rotondaro collection of material pertaining to slavery and emancipation, and the Black experience extends from lots 228 through 269. This is followed by lot 270, an extraordinary Thomas Jefferson letter written as President, on Toussaint Louverture and his fears of “a war of extermination” on Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, with two related letters (lots 271-272). Then follows a selection of American presidential signatures (lots 273-299). General autograph material follows (lots 300-317), with some attractive Churchill pieces (lots 303-306) and a signed Einstein (lot 307). A selection of costume designs by Edith Head runs from lots 318 to 326, and the sale concludes with a selection of 19th and 20th century art and architecture, lots 327-356.

The Fred Rotondaro Collection of Americana

The Fred Rotondaro Collection offers rare books and manuscripts on a range of subjects touching the African American experience in the United States over three centuries. The earliest materials include The Will of General George Washington, who freed his slaves upon his death, and the 1787 Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, an institution for which Benjamin Franklin served as president. The collection includes rare and desirable works by Abraham Lincoln such as the Emancipation Proclamation as printed for Union Generals and the exceedingly rare first book edition of his poignant Gettysburg Address. Books related to Frederick Douglass, the Dred Scott case and Nat Turner rebellion highlight the experience of African Americans in the antebellum and reconstruction periods. Into the 20^th century, the collection offers a rare typed copy of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Board of Education signed by Earl Warren, modern literature, and fine illustrated works. 

The Ken Harte Collection of Natural History

In about 1950, Ken Harte started collecting field-guides and reference books to inform his birding hobby – but this turned to collecting in 1964 with the purchase of his first Audubon elephant folio plate, the Cedar Bird (bought in a Massachusetts antique shop for just $60!). Goodspeed’s Book Shop in Boston was frequently visited as his collection of ornithological and natural history books grew. In the summer of 1977, on a three week birding and family trip to Sri Lanka, Mr. Harte came across a copy of Legge’s A History of the Birds of Ceylon and was gob smacked by the quality of Keulemans' plates, how he had so amazingly captured the birds he was seeing on his travels, not with the dramatic flourishes of Audubon, but with a deep insight into the essence of his avian subjects. In the spring of 1978, Mr. Harte managed to locate a copy of this work, at Wheldon & Wesley in the U.K., and thus started collecting books with plates by this artist.  Favorites in the collection include the pair of Dresser Monographs, Bee-eaters and Rollers, as well as his monumental History of the Birds of Europe which was found at Parker's Book Shop in Sarasota, Florida. Another favorite is the Sharpe Kingfisher monograph, which beautifully captures the color and spirit of this world-wide family. 

It wasn't until 1991 that a copy of the magnificent Elliot Hornbill monograph was located.  A later find in 2001 was the Shelly Sun-Birds, with a tipped-in apologetic note from the author to the original owner, Lady Theodora Guest - an artist and Life Fellow of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - who hand-colored the 121 plates herself! Although birds were his favored subjects, Keulemans executed many fine mammal paintings and other favorites include the Mivart Canidae and the Alston Mammalia volume from the monumental Biologia Centrali-Americana. Beyond the Keulemans illustrated works, the collection includes sets of Audubon’s Birds of America and Quadrupeds of North America, and a fine set of Alexander Wilson’s American Ornithology in the original binding.

SALE NOTICE
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PAYMENT
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We Invite You to Auction!

Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.

For information, please contact Peter Costanzo at 212-427-4141 ext 248, Edward Ripley-Duggan at ext 234, or Noah Goldrach at ext 226, or email Books@Doyle.com