Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies … the Second Impression. London: Printed by Tho. Cotes, for Robert Allot, 1632

This is an excellent example of the Second Folio, the second edition of Shakespeare’s collected plays. This is “incomparably the most important work in the English language” (Jackson, Pforzheimer Catalogue).

$475,000

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 note signed, concerning abolitionist and first African American officer Martin Delany, to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. [Washington], February 21, 1865

Abraham Lincoln promotes black Americans’ efforts to fight for their own freedom with this important note leading to Martin Delany’s appointment as the first African American military field officer. Lincoln writes in full: “Hon. Sec. of War, please see this very intelligent colored man, Mr. Delany – who wants to assist in raising colored troops. A. Lincoln. Feb. 21, 1865.”

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The Federalist: a collection of essays written in favor of the new constitution. New York: John and Andrew M’Lean, 1788

FIRST EDITION. A splendid association copy from Grimké family library.

$275,000

The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: Newly Translated. London: by Robert Barker, 1613-1611

The Great “She” Bible, the “authorized version” or King James Bible, one of the greatest monuments of English literature.

$270,000

Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America . . . the third edition [bound with:] Large Additions to Common Sense. Philadelphia: R. Bell, 1776

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING sheets of Common Sense, here with the third edition title page and prefatory leaf. “It is not too much to say that the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, was due more to Paine’s Common Sense than to any other single piece of writing” (Streeter).

$250,000

Signed autograph manuscript drawing of the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission. [Cincinnati], n.d.

ICONIC DRAWING OF AN EPOCHAL MOMENT IN HISTORY.

Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the Moon, illustrates key elements of the Apollo 11 moon landing in this rare drawing. He notes the rotation of the Earth, marks the “dark” side of the moon, and shows the direction of the Sun’s rays. A dashed line around the Moon indicates the command module’s path in orbit, and the curve at the lower left of the Moon shows the path of the lunar module approaching the landing site.

$175,000

History of the Indian Tribes of North America. With biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Philadelphia: Greenough [and] Rice & Clark, [1838-1844]

A handsome set, with original wrappers, of this landmark of American publishing history, “one of the most costly and important ever published on the American Indians”

$125,000

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. London: Printed by Eliz. Holt, for Thomas Basset, 1690

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE (with the integral Eliz. Holt title-page). An excellent, fresh copy of this classic of philosophy, the first modern attempt to analyze knowledge. “Few books in the literature of philosophy have so widely represented the spirit of the age and country in which they have appeared, or have so influenced opinion afterwards” (Fraser).

$120,000

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