Here's another look at National Book Auctions' sale on January 9 2011.
Four pieces of handwritten correspondence from Theodore Roosevelt and one from Susan B. Anthony are among the featured items from the collection of the Howland family of Central New York.
The Howlands, a Quaker family, arrived in Central New York in the late 1790s and became an important influence in the history of Cayuga County, with William serving as a representative in the government and as a judge among other key roles.
Howland's sister, Emily Howland, was active in the suffrage and the abolitionist movements.
First is a text by Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Historical Discourse, Delivered Before the Citizens of Concord, 12th September, 1835, On the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town.
Presented in a modern library binding of maroon cloth-covered boards and bright gilt lettering to the spine, and appearing with two other volumes, this antique work is a scarce copy of Emerson's first separately published substantial publication, preceded only by the pamphlet and broadside printings of his 1832 Letter from the Rev. R. W. Emerson, to the Second Church and Society.
The rarity of this publication is said to be explained by the small number of copies and a fire in the town clerk's office that destroyed many of them.
Secondly there is a printing of The Life and Death of King John by William Shakespeare from 1632.
This antique work contains the complete play of King John, from the Second Folio of Shakespeare's work, printed in 1632. The volume includes a woodcut headpiece of the title of the play and a woodcut initial, and the text is in two columns. The text has been rebound in a stiff paper-covered folio, with a paper label on the front board. It remains a great alternative investment.
This January 9 catalogue also includes a number of important antique and vintage volumes on the history of golf. Among the volumes are a 1960 first edition of Richard Tufts's The Principles Behind the Rules of Golf and an author-signed copy of Charles Blair Macdonald's Scotland's Gift - Golf.
The auction takes place in New York and online.
- Click here to view our books & manuscripts for sale
- Learn how you can get pleasure and profit by investing in first editions
- Read all the latest Books & Manuscripts news
Join our readers in over 200 countries around the world - sign up for your free weekly Collectibles Newsletter today
