Thoreau Pencil, Ravilious Woodblock, Lincoln Documents: Auction Preview

Here are the sales I'll be watching in the coming weeks:

On Wednesday, September 10, Hansons Auctioneers holds a sale of Fine Judaica & Theology (The Collection of Tim Lutz) & September Library Sale (224 lots).

At Freeman's | Hindman in Philadelphia on September 10, 297 lots of Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana. More lots from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation will be on the block, including an 1839 legal document written by Lincoln and signed by both Lincoln and Stephen Douglass as opposing attorneys ($40,000–60,000); an 1832 Lincoln autograph document written during the Black Hawk War ($30,000–50,000); and a copy of the official broadside printing of the Emancipation Proclamation ($30,000–50,000).

The RR Auctions sale of Fine Autographs and Artifacts Featuring the Collection of Dr. Joseph Matheu Part 2 ends on September 10; the 838 lots include a copy of the Patent Act of 1793 signed by Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State ($35,000+) and a copy of Andy Gray's Great Pop Stars (1973) signed by more than 100 famous musicians ($6,000+).

At Heritage Auctions on September 10-11, 385 lot of Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part III. Lots include a large collection of 266 Modern Library publications from 1939 to 1963 ($1,600–2,400) and an original Thoreau & Company pencil ($800–1,200).

Forum Auctions sells 298 lots of Books and Works on Paper on Thursday, September 11, with an original Eric Ravilious woodblock cut for the Golden Cockerel Press prospectus of 1933 rating the top estimate at £3,000–4,000. There will be much more of interest here for the Ravilious collector, as well. A 1669 Book of Common Prayer signed by a chaplain to Charles II and bound by the royal binder's workshop is expected to sell for £2,000–3,000.

At Bonhams Skinner on September 11, 156 lots of Photographs, with Doug and Mike Starn's Untitled #7, from Structure of Thought (2000) expected to lead the sale at $30,000–50,000. Ansel Adams's Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1941; printed 1973–1977) could sell for $25,000–35,000. Several Alfred Stieglitz portraits of Dorothy Norman are also included in this sale.

PBA Galleries sells the Photography Book Collection of Terry Etherton on September 11, in 476 lots. Emmet Gowin's self-published Concerning America and Alfred Stieglitz, and Myself (1965) inscribed by Gowin to photographer Dave Heath is expected to sell for $25,000–35,000. Joel-Peter Witkin's editions of Blake's Songs of Experience (2002) and Songs of Innocence (2003) are each estimated at $10,000–15,000.

Arader Galleries hold their September Auction on Saturday, September 13, in 161 lots. Pierre-Joseph Redouté's Les Roses (1817–1824), a large-paper copy of the first edition bound from parts, with an extra suite of prints in black, could sell for $600,000–700,000. Redouté's Les Liliacées (1802–1816) is estimated at $325,000–425,000.