Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 68

The June 30th Manuscript and Collectibles Auction

Americana

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 168		Austin, Stephen F (1793-1836) Known as the "Father of Texas"; founded the first Anglo-American colony in the Tejas province of Mexico and lived to see Texas become an independent republic. Autograph Letter Signed ("Step:n F. Austin"), 5 x 7¾ in., March 10, 1811. Written by 17-year-old Stephen to Mr. M. Ruggles: " Dear Sir Please to let the bearer have one hundred pounds of Flower and place the same to acc of M. Austin. Yours &c Step:n F. Austin." Paper is unevenly toned; horizontal fold has several small breaks and upper edge has a few chips, but the letter is boldly penned and signed. In the spring of 1810, Austin had returned to Potosi, Missouri, from two years at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and helped his father, Moses, in the general store which Moses had set up. The flour which Stephen ordered was probably to be sold in the general store. Moses, who is mentioned in this letter, was also involved in mining, smelting, and manufacturing lead. When the family business failed, Moses received from the Spanish governor in San Antonio a land grant of 200,000 acres, on which he intended to settle 300 colonists. In 1820, on his way back to the United States to recruit colonists, Moses became ill and died. Stephen took over his father's dream. Estimated Value $3,000 - 3,500. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $1,800
Lot 169		Curtis, E.S. "Wisham Female Type". Hand-pressed Photogravure "From Copyright Photograph 1926 by E.S. Curtis," 12½ x 9½ in. (plate mark is 8¾ x 5¾ in.). Blind embossed in upper border, "University of Oregon Library / Eugene, Oregon." Curtis (1868-1952) spent 30 years recording the life of the North American Indian west of the Missisisippi, publishing the results in 20 volumes titled The North American Indian. Each volume contained 75 hand--pressed photogravures and 300 pages of text. Each volume was accompanied by a corresponding portfolio containing at least 36 photogravures. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $168
Lot 170		*[The Death of Jesse James] Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 22, 1882.* New York, 16½ x 11¾ in., pp 129-144. The front page is taken up with a photo of Jesse James, "the notorious desperado, killed at St. Joseph, April 3d." Page 135 has the story of James' funeral, covering a total of about three-quarters of a column. Pall-bearers included the marshall, the sheriff, and a deputy sheriff. The story recounts that Governor Crittenden of Missouri was being criticized for offering a reward of $10,000, dead or alive for James, and that Robert Ford ["that dirty little coward"] killed Jesse for the reward. James' personal effects were sold at auction, including the chair on which he was standing when shot in the back; it sold for $5. Page 136 devotes a full page to an illustration of a sketch showing the wagon bearing Jesse's coffin being mired in a swamp. A photo of Robert Ford is at upper left and Charles Ford (his brother and a member of the James Gang) at upper right. Some foxing, otherwise very good. Estimated Value $700 - 900. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $780
Lot 171		[Pancho Villa] Knife Attributed to One of Pancho Villa's Bandits. 11¾ knife with 7¾ in. carved blade, engraved "VIVA MEXICO." With hand-made leather sheath. Housed in a custom-made wooden case with a photo of Pancho Villa and a placard that says, This Knife belonged to one of Pancho Villa's bandits…." We have no reason to doubt this. Frame measures 14½ x 8¼ in. Estimated Value $500 - 750. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $1,020
Lot 172		Western Bookends by Gerry Metz. Each bookend consists of a bronze sculptured bust of an early American West figure. The trapper is 7" high and the warrior is 6½" high. Each is set in a dark oak base, which measures 9 x 6½". Estimated Value $250 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $172
Lot 173		1884 Sailor's Logbook and Knife. Logbook of H.V. DeHart, able seaman on the ship "Charger," which left San Francisco on May 1st, 1884, bound for Antwerp. Logbook with marbled covers and ruled pages, 8½ x 3½ in., total of 70 pages, 61 written during the voyage and the remainder c. 1888-1894, including details of his work experience. Large ink stains on three pages, otherwise legible, with many observations about life on board, sailors, the weather, etc. A later 1888 observation notes that he has been on 28 vessels and crossed all oceans with sailors of all nations and he finds them no more drunken, boastful, or different from other men. A large business card for Dehart & Stafford, selling bars, iron, steel, etc., is enclosed. Accompanied by a knife with a dancing sailor and "Jack Tar" underneath and "1884" carved on the other side, attached to a long braided rope which he probably tied around his waist. Estimated Value $250 - 350. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $204
Lot 174		A Fine, Working Edison Standard Phonograph. Orange, New Jersey, circa 1010. Model D, with last patent date of Aug. 29, 1906. Massively built to last! In rugged oak case, with detachable, handled lid. The machine the height of simplicity, with hand-cranked spring-would motor, with speed regulator. The spindle frame for the geared drive heavy and rugged, with swing out arm for removing and centering the recorded cylinder, plus a latch for disengaging the belt drive. The "reproducer," the audio diaphragm also with a swivel latch for precise lowering of the needle on to the cylinder, along with black metal horn for sound amplification. In excellent condition, and in full working order, complete with black hard wax cylinder, lid and horn. Case width: 16". Horn length: 14". Estimated Value $750 - 1,000. From a prominent Beverly Hills estate. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $443
Lot 175		Early 19th Century Cased Set of Scientific Drawing & Measuring Instruments. Wooden case, 7 x 3¼ in. with year "1813" and "J.J. Fisher" penned inside. Brass and steel instruments fill six compartments; a large compartment taking up one side of case holds an ivory rule and two other measuring tools, as well as a brass compass. Case closes with two brass latches. An attractive set. Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $234
Lot 176		The Great Chicago Fire, October 8-10, 1871. The October 10, 1871 issue of the New-York Tribune, 8 pp, 23¼ x 18 in., reports on the great fire that supposedly started in the O'Leary's barn, killing some 300 people, making 100,000 people homeless, and doing $200 million worth of damage. Details on the damage and on relief efforts take up most of page 1, as well as 2 columns on page 7. Page 1 has an 11 x 5½ in. diagram of the burned area. Tape repairs on page 2 do not affect this story; otherwise, fine. Housed in a custom-made folder of black buckram with burgundy spine; the name of the paper, the date, and "The Chicago Fire" are in gilt lettering. Estimated Value $400 - 600. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 177		Late 18th-Early 19th Balance Scales. Equal arm scales, brass and copper, made by Thomas Beach, a small workshop in Birmingham, England that manufactured by hand steelyards and beam scales. With five nested brass cup-shape Troy weights. In original wooden case. With equal-arm apothecary scale and four apothecary weights. In original wooden case. Condition of both: fair to good. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $135
Lot 178		Late 18th/Early 19th Century Telescope. Brass and wood (possibly mahogany), probably British. 12 in, extending to 26 in. Original screws except for one replacement. Estimated Value $275 - 325. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 179		Playboy Magazine - Collection of 52 Early Magazines. A collection of 52 issues of Playboy magazine, including all issues from 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959, as well as the January and September issues from 1954. Additionally: the 1964 issue of "The Best From Playboy" featuring "The Complete Janye Mansfield," and the 1970 "The Best From Playboy"which includes a retrospective tribute to Marilyn Monroe, an article by Philip Roth and Bernard Malamud, and an interview of Fidel Castro. Playboy was founded by Hugh Hefner in Chicago in 1953. It featured nude pictures of women, tame by today's standards, as well as journalism and fiction. The first issue in December 1953 featured Marilyn Monroe. Many well-known writers have contributed to Playboy, including Vladimir Nabokov, Jack Kerouac, Ian Fleming, Alberto Moravia, Roald Dahl, Ben Hecht, Jules Feiffer, and P.G. Wodehouse. Cartoonists such as Jules Feiffer and Shel Silverstein also contributed. Total of 52 magazines, all in very good to fine condition. Estimated Value $800 - 1,000. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $528
Lot 180		Puck Magazine November 29, 1882, Vol. XII. - No. 299. Published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, New York, pages 193-208, 13¾ x 10½ in. Front cover illustration by F. Graetz. Back cover illustration by F. Opper. Famous political satire weekly magazine, dealing with the issues of the day and advertisements in the back. Mostly clean except for some soiling to covers, heavier to back. Covers are partially detached; some edge chips, affecting nothing. Estimated Value $50 - 100. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $31
Lot 181		Sinking of the Titanic. The Times, London, Monday, April 2-Saturday, June 29, 1912. Nos. 39,861-39,938, 77 issues, full folio, bound in one volume. (24 3/8 x 19 in.; 610 x 500 mm.). Missing first eight pages of April 2nd issue and two pages of the June 29th issue, affecting no Titanic reports. Few occasional short tears mended, papers clean and white with none of the browning normally seen contemporary U.S. newsprint. Boards worn and loose. Altogether a very fine volume. A three-month run of this highly important newspaper covering the full period of the maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" Titanic which foundered on the morning of April 15, 1912, in the North Atlantic after colliding with an iceberg. Most issues reporting on the Titanic tragedy are United States newspapers that have virtually no accounts of the Titanic's actual sailing, nor any advertisements for its Maiden Voyage. On April 10th, the largest liner afloat (in fact, the largest moving object ever built) left Southampton for New York with 2,206 passengers and crew including John Jacob Astor and his bride, Benjamin Guggenheim, Canadian railroad executive C.M. Hays, Col. Archibald Butts and many other millionaires and dignitaries. Steaming at full speed on the evening of April 14th, the luxurious vessel "sideswiped" an iceberg, eventually sinking at 2:20 a.m. on April 15th. 1,503 people lost their lives in the tragedy while 703 were picked up by the Cunard steamer Carpathia. The ship had been woefully equipped with lifeboats, one of the key items debated in both the American and British Courts of Inquiry on the tragedy. The disaster has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries, and feature films, the latest becoming a major motion picture which has caught the intense interest of moviegoers worldwide. In 1985, an expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard located the lost liner lying some 2 1/2 miles below the ocean's surface. He later descended onto the deck of the ghostly wreck to see chandeliers still hanging in place and identifiable articles strewn about the ocean floor. Excepting a few issues in early April, virtually every paper contains some account of the disaster including the full testimony in the Courts of Inquiry which went through June. Every issue excepting the April 2nd issue contains a White Star Line advertisement--the first to announce the Titanic's Maiden Voyage, the vessel's next planned passage from Southampton, and finally, the day after the headlines announced the disaster, only the mention of the Olympic's schedule (the Titanic's sister ship). For many, the excitement is in reading the articles describing the ship and passengers of note about to make the fateful maiden voyage. Among the numerous reports, articles, commentary and even a map of the sinking area, is the following: "THE TITANIC - The White Star liner Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, left Queenstown yesterday. She had a good passage from Cherbourg and arrived at the Irish port shortly before noon. On her departure at 1:30 she had on board 350 saloon, 300 second, and 740 third-class passengers, 903 crew, and 3,814 sacks of mails." The Times issues from 1912 are considered very scarce. Although occasional American newspapers are located with Titanic reportage, British issues do not often surface. And, it is the English newspapers, notably the great London Times, that report on the Titanic's maiden voyage before the disaster occurred, as the vessel was considered the pride of British engineering. Probably the most complete coverage of the entire affair to be found in any newspaper. A remarkable volume suitable for both entertainment value, and scholarly research. Estimated Value $5,000 - 6,000. View details and enlarged photos	Unsold
Lot 182		[Titanic] Millvina Dean - Last Survivor (1912-2009) The last surviving passenger of those aboard the Titanic; only 2 months and 13 days old when the Titanic sank, she was the youngest passenger on board. Millvina, her father, Bertrand, her mother, Georgette, and her brother, Bertrand, were passengers in third class, on their way to Wichita, Kansas where her father planned to go into business with a cousin there. They were not supposed to be on the Titanic but were transferred to the Titanic because of a coal strike. Millvina, her mother and brother were put on lifeboat 10 and and were among the 706 survivors; her father was one of the 1517 who drowned. Color postcard of the Titanic signed "Millvina Dean" in black ink. Matted with a 1912 wheat penny and a plaque for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, handsomely framed to an overall size of 16½ x 13½ in. Pristine condition. Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $185
Lot 183		White Wash Broadside Mentioning "the President's house in Washington," c. 1820. Broadside titled "Incombustable Wash, And Stucco White Wash," 10 x 6½ in., n.p. (Hagerstown, Md.?), n.d. (1819-20?), describing how to "make fluid for the roof and other parts of wooden houses to make them incombustable, and coating for brick, tile, stone and rough cast to render them impervious to the wate and give them a durable and handsome appearance" and how to "make a brilliant stucco White Wash for buildings, inside and out, " adding, "The east end of the President's house in Washington is washed with it." Minor creasing and toning. Matted and framed to an overall size of 15 x 11¼ in. A typed note on the back of the frame says that there is a note on the verso of the broadside that this was printed in Hagerstown in 1819 and there is only one item in Rink related to white wash--an 1821 broadside. Estimated Value $800 - 1,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold