Those with a passion for travel will be enamoured by Bonhams' upcoming Fine Books & Manuscripts auction, which boasts a large selection of Pacific travel books including the enticingly titled, A Voyage of Discovery.
 Page from A Voyage of Discovery - Bonhams hopes to appeal to those local collectors who harbour a wanderlust |
Held on February 17 in San Francisco, the auction is timed to coincide with the 46th Annual California International Antiquarian Book Fair, which runs from February 15-17. Its lead lot will be A Voyage of Discovery, which is expected to sell for $20,000-30,000.
In the tradition of books of this age, the work's full title is A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World in which the Coast of North-West American has been Carefully Examined and Accurately Surveyed by Captain George Vancouver. It was first printed in 1798 by London publishers GG and J Robinson.
Perhaps the most interesting lot of the auction is one of particular local importance - a sterling silver, engraved menu card made from the Comstock Lode silver ore discovery especially for Nevada senator and San Francisco resident William Sharon (1821-1885). The piece was presented to Senator Sharon after he helped save the Bank of California following a drop in mining stock prices which resulted in a run on the bank. It will see bids in the region of $10,000-15,000.
Also featuring will be items from The Dictionary Collection of Thomas Malin Rogers, which hopes to expand on the $1.1m total achieved at the first auction of this collection, with was held on December 4, 2012 at Bonhams' New York showroom.
Paul Fraser Collectibles has a fantastic selection of rare books and literary collectibles for sale. For the results of this sale and more of the latest on book collecting, sign up to our free weekly newsletter.
