The Federalist: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution. New York: John and Andrew M’Lean, 1788

First edition. This splendid example of The Federalist is one of a very small number of special deluxe copies printed on thick paper.

$450,000

Autograph letter signed as President to Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas [with] American flag bunting from Lincoln’s box at Ford’s Theatre. Washington, Executive Mansion, May 27, 1861

Abraham Lincoln, writing at the outset of the Civil War, recommends that the Army admit three volunteers from the highly divided city of Baltimore. He advises Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas, “I hate to reject any offered from what is called a Southern State.” [offered with] Bunting from the presidential box at Ford’s Theatre.

two items: $275,000

Ambrotype Portrait of John D. Rockefeller. Cleveland, Ohio: Wiliam C. North, c. 1857-1858

This famous portrait of John D. Rockefeller at age 18 is the earliest known photograph of the greatest titan of American business and industry.

$150,000

United States flag flown to the Moon on Apollo 11. NASA, July 16-24, 1969

This American flag, flown to the Moon on Apollo 11, is one of the most sought-after relics of space exploration.

$150,000

History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, performed during the years 1804-5-6. Philadelphia: Bradford & Inskeep, 1814

FIRST EDITION of “the definitive account of the most important exploration of the North American continent” (Wagner-Camp-Becker). This is “the most important of all overland narratives. . . . American explorers had for the first time spanned the continental United States and driven the first wedge in the settlement of our new far western frontier” (Grolier 100 American Books).

$115,000

A New American Atlas containing maps of the several states of the North American union … Projected and Drawn on a Uniform Scale …. Philadelphia: H. S. Tanner, 1823

First edition of “the most distinguished atlas published in the United States during the engraving period” (Ristow). Tanner’s greatest work, A New American Atlas was painstakingly produced and issued in installments between 1818 and 1823. Few complete sets have survived. Tanner’s use of a uniform scale of 15 geographical miles to the inch and his careful selection of sources resulted in a comprehensive American atlas of unprecedented detail and reliability which was the standard by which American atlases were measured until the modern era. This was by a considerable margin the greatest American atlas up to its time.

$65,000

De la Democratie en Amerique. Paris: Charles Gosselin, 1835, 1840

FIRST EDITIONS. The most influential commentary on America in the nineteenth century, Democracy in America was based on Tocqueville’s travels in the United States in 1831 and 1832. Tocqueville came to America to study the American prison system on behalf of the French government. The book resulting from these investigations is generally considered the 19th century’s most insightful commentary on the development of our unique American culture and political system.

$42,000

Flowers from My Garden. Sketched and Painted from Nature. [New York], [1864]

FIRST EDITION, a unique pre-publication copy with 18 fine watercolors, the original art used as the basis for the lithographs in the published edition.

$37,500

Carey’s American Atlas. Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1795

FIRST EDITION of the first true American atlas, the earliest atlas of the United States engraved and published in America. This important volume contains several important state maps including the first American map representing Virginia after statehood. In the preparation of this atlas, Carey drew primarily on existing sources including Guthrie’s Geography. Many of the maps were drawn by Samuel Lewis.

$35,000

Important Pair of Daguerreotypes: Black Nurse with White Baby and the Child’s Parents. Talbot County, Maryland or Texas, c. 1853

This striking pair of daguerreotypes evokes the complex relationships between slaves and slave owners in the American South, especially between white families and the trusted slaves who cared for their children.

the pair: $25,000