Lincoln funeral photo album records $27,025 sale at Cowan’s

Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.

CINCINNATI – An album of carte-de-visite photographs of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession was the top-selling lot of Cowan’s American History auction conducted Dec. 9. Composed of 97 CDVs, the album nearly tripling its $8,000-$10,000 estimate by selling for $27,025.

Auction proceeds totaled $665,000, with 508 bidders from six countries vying for 400 lots.

“Overall, I was very happy with the results of the auction. Though we offered fewer lots than we have in past American History sales, the quality of the merchandise was elevated, as evidenced by the high per-lot average,” said Wes Cowan, director of American History.

The Lincoln funeral procession album featured images of three of the nine cities on the funeral route: Columbus, Ohio, Chicago and Springfield, Ill. While valuable for its rarity as a whole, the album includes several cartes de visite that are exceptional individually, including an image of the processional arch in Chicago, and an image of Lincoln’s bedroom in his Springfield home. Additionally, several photographs are not illustrated in Twenty Days, Kunhardt and Kunhardt’s comprehensive 1965 account of Lincoln’s assassination and funeral.

A rare quarter-plate daguerreotype of Seneca Chief Governor Blacksnake by artist F.C. Flint of Syracuse, N.Y., realized $22,325, well above its $15,000 high estimate.

Born near Seneca Lake about 1753, this important Seneca war chief was known to his people as Chainbreaker; to Whites he was Governor Blacksnake. A young warrior, Chainbreaker/Blacksnake was influential as a Seneca leader during the American Revolution, Indian conflicts at the end of the 18th century, and the War of 1812. He was also at the center of one of the great transformational events in Seneca history: the formation of the Code of Handsome Lake, which incorporated elements of Christianity and traditional Iroquois culture. Reproduced in several publications, this image that represents seminal events in American history garnered spirited bidding from collectors.

Western photography and ephemera made up a significant portion of the auction, with several lots represented in the top-selling items.

The Julia Tuell collection of 19 Plains Indian photographs brought $21,150, exceeding its $12,000-$15,000 estimate. Tuell (1886-1960) settled in Lame Deer, Mont., with her husband, and became a keen observer of Northern Cheyenne daily life through her photographs. The collection was composed of several significant images, including photos of the Cheyenne Sun Dance and Animal Dance.

A California and Oregon Stage Line broadside on coated stock, circa 1866, described in Cowan’s catalog as “a cornerstone piece for any Western transportation collection,” drew significant interest from collectors. Rare for its early vintage and compelling image, the broadside sold for $14,100.

A comprehensive archive of the California Gold Rush, complete with gold nugget, garnered $11,750, within its $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Featuring approximately 175 items, including manuscripts and documents, the archive from an Ohio family provides a glimpse into the lives of Americans during the late antebellum years, when the great national issues of sectionalism and slavery met with an unprecedented mobility.

 

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan's Auctions, Inc.
Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc.

Pook & Pook offers hospitality to bidders traveling to Jan. 15-16 sale

Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – With contents that span literally all aspects of American history, Pook & Pook Inc’s Jan. 15-16 auction catalog might well be mistaken for a major museum inventory. That’s not so unusual, since the Chester County auction house is located in the tenderloin of Pennsylvania’s museum region. Pook & Pook’s management is encouraging visitors to their mid-January sale to explore local institutions as part of a very special hospitality package that includes being wined, dined and put up in a local hotel, and you can read more about how to qualify later on in this article. First let’s talk about the auction itself.

All sessions will feature Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The opening session on Friday evening, Jan. 15, begins with the collection of furniture, Oriental rugs and paintings from the legendary Elinor Gordon’s home located in the tony Philadelphia suburb of Villanova. Ms. Gordon, who died in July, was renowned for helping to elevate the status of Chinese export porcelain and for her knack in acquiring important pieces on behalf of collectors and museums. Included in the Gordon estate offering are pair of rare New York chairs, a Philadelphia compass-seat chair, paintings by Tait, Bishop and Enneking; and an N.C. Wyeth landscape of the artist’s own farm.

A large collection of English ceramics from both a Pennsylvania educational institution and a private New York collection will follow. Historical blue china including an Arms of Pennsylvania platter, an Arms of Delaware platter, and an Arms of Virginia covered vegetable will be sold. Other items are a Harrison White House plate, a rare Tucker ice water pitcher, Liverpool pitchers, mocha, Gaudy Dutch and many other items that have been out of the public eye for many years.

Friday’s group of scrimshaw from the Cumberland County Historical Society includes two dated whale teeth and many other interesting items. This will be followed on Saturday by three newly discovered Nathaniel Finney scrimshaw walrus tusks. These fully carved pieces represent the epitome of this well-known San Francisco scrimshaw artists’ work.

A cache of letters of great historical interest will be sold Saturday. Correspondence to Colonial William Church, founder of the NRA, from presidents Buchanan, Johnson, McKinley, Taft, Tyler and Roosevelt are included.  Especially interesting is a letter from Teddy Roosevelt written from San Juan complaining about the “slander” of reports that Rough Riders were killed by friendly fire. Other letters from Samuel Clemens, Edwin Booth, General Custer, Admiral Dewey, Peary, Sherman and others, along with Confederate ephemera, will be offered as part of this fascinating window into American culture at the turn of the 20th century.

A selection of fine pre-colonial American silver comes with provenance from a pioneer collector. A Newport tankard by Samuel Vernon will compete with a teapot by Potwine, a tea caddy by Van Voorhis & Schenk, an unusual child’s cann by Jacob Hurd, two caudle cups – one by Henricus Boelen – later pieces by the Richardsons of Philadelphia, and an extraordinary tureen by Hyde & Goodrich of New Orleans.

Saturday’s session will include two fully carved highboys, one a previously uncataloged cherry bonnet-top example with unusual relief bird carvings and signed “S. Henszey 1767.” The other is a wonderful Philadelphia example featuring shell-carved drawers.

Other remarkable pieces of Pennsylvania furniture in the sale include two wainscot chairs, a rare Pennsylvania hanging cupboard with exceptional hinges – from the collection of the late H. Richard Dietrich – a silver-face Philadelphia barometer by Fisher, and more than 20 tall-case clocks. One clock is the only known example by Abel Cottey, who died in 1711. This clock comes from the collection of Mrs. Joseph Carson. Other notable clock makers represented are Jos. Wills, Jacob Godshalk and Thomas Stretch. Additionally, there are two painted New England cases.

While there are many Chippendale and Federal pieces of furniture in the sale, those who appreciate folk art will appreciate several fine dower chests that have been cataloged, including a vibrant Soap Hollow example, a Center County chest with a rare blue background, a curly maple Dutch cupboard, redware plates, weathervanes and a fully furnished Victorian dollhouse.

Textile collectors will be well served by two vibrant Baltimore album quilts, a monumental Quaker sampler from New Jersey, and a dozen other needleworks, a 1775 bargello pocketbook, Boston mourning pictures and much more.

Last minute consignments not to be overlooked include a miniature portrait by Sully, a pair of watercolor-on-ivory miniature portraits of George and Martha Washington attributed to Trumbull, two elaborate French automata, and a collection of jewelry from a Philadelphia Main Line estate.

A fascinating slice of American history is the small collection of 10 Diamond Disc records made by Thomas A. Edison for his Florida neighbor, the industrialist Henry Ford.

Pook & Pook, Inc. will be celebrating their 25 years of success with a very special offer of free accommodations, food and admission to numerous area museums for those bidders who spend a minimum of $1,000. That’s not hard to do when the merchandise is as special as what is being offered in this sale.

In order to qualify, one must register before Jan. 15. Pook & Pook will pick up your tab (up to $100) at one of many participating local hotels or b&b’s for one night. Extra nights available at a special discounted rate.

Pook & Pook will wine and dine their special guest on Friday evening with top-shelf cocktails, fine wine and wonderful food. All will be encouraged to visit the many internationally acclaimed institutions in the area, including Winterthur, Brandywine River Museum, the Hagley Museum & Library, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Chester County Historical Society – all with admission paid by Pook & Pook.

Those participating in the special offer will also receive the $40 auction catalog absolutely free. Pook & Pook will dole out cash refunds after the $1,000 (hammer, before b.p. and sales tax) purchase requirement. For further information visit the company Web site at www.pookandpook.com or call 610-269-4040.

Visit the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

#   #   #

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.
Image courtesy of Pook & Pook.

Dirk Soulis to sell 1541 copy of Western world’s 1st cookbook Dec. 29

Caelius Apicius’ ‘De Re Culinaria’ is considered the oldest printed cookbook in the western world. It has a $300-$500 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
Caelius Apicius’ ‘De Re Culinaria’ is considered the oldest printed cookbook in the western world. It has a $300-$500 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
Caelius Apicius’ ‘De Re Culinaria’ is considered the oldest printed cookbook in the western world. It has a $300-$500 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.

LONE JACK, Mo. – De Re Culinaria by Caelius Apicius is believed to be the oldest printed cookbook in the western world. This 1541 Gryphium edition of the culinary classic is just one of the antiquarian rarities that Dirk Soulis Auctions will bring to the block on Dec. 29. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

“Collections like this are rare, and we’re very pleased to handle such historic pieces,” said auctioneer Dirk Soulis.

Other scarcities include Kircheri’s China Monumentis of 1667 and Caroso’s ultra-rare edition on Renaissance dance of 1600, illustrated with 35 engraved illustrations.

Fifty of the volumes in this old estate collection were printed prior to 1800. Many are medical related and date from 1670 to 1782. Fore-edge painted books include a 1930 edition of Moby Dick, with a detailed whaling scene and Rockwell Kent illustrations.

There are early Republic items, first editions by Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington (signed), signed H.G. Wells, an extensive archive of Rudyard Kipling autographs and illustrations, a large group of first editions by Kenneth Patchen and George MacDonald Fraser and several early editions by Mark Twain.

In addition, Soulis will offer early prints by George Caleb Bingham and others, plus paintings, decorative arts, furniture, clocks and much more – for a total of 532 lots.

For details call 816-697-3830.

Live and online bidding is available at: www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

Click here to view Dirk Soulis Auction’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Late Renaissance Italian court dances are outlined in this illustrated guide published in 1600. It has a $2,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
Late Renaissance Italian court dances are outlined in this illustrated guide published in 1600. It has a $2,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
Athanasii Kircheri’s 1668 book provides an accurate commentary on the Chinese language, geography, flora and fauna, and early Christian missions to China. The plates created a vogue for Chinese subjects in European gardens, ornaments and engravings. The 1667 book has a $3,000-5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
Athanasii Kircheri’s 1668 book provides an accurate commentary on the Chinese language, geography, flora and fauna, and early Christian missions to China. The plates created a vogue for Chinese subjects in European gardens, ornaments and engravings. The 1667 book has a $3,000-5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
English herbalist John Parkinson’s ‘Theatrum Botanicum’ (est. $2,500-$5,000) contains more than 2,700 woodcut illustrations. The 1,755-page volume was printed in 1640. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
English herbalist John Parkinson’s ‘Theatrum Botanicum’ (est. $2,500-$5,000) contains more than 2,700 woodcut illustrations. The 1,755-page volume was printed in 1640. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
This is the only edition of Franklin's writings, other than his scientific works, to be printed during his lifetime. The 574-page volume has an $800-$1,200 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.
This is the only edition of Franklin’s writings, other than his scientific works, to be printed during his lifetime. The 574-page volume has an $800-$1,200 estimate. Image courtesy of Dirk Soulis Auctions.

Hibbard winter landscape may heat up Gulfcoast’s Dec. 20 auction

Aldro Hibbard was an Impressionist landscape painter who paid great attention to light and shadow. His oil painting ‘Vermont Stream’ is estimated at $18,000-$20,000. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.
Aldro Hibbard was an Impressionist landscape painter who paid great attention to light and shadow. His oil painting ‘Vermont Stream’ is estimated at $18,000-$20,000. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.
Aldro Hibbard was an Impressionist landscape painter who paid great attention to light and shadow. His oil painting ‘Vermont Stream’ is estimated at $18,000-$20,000. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A quintessential Aldro Thompson Hibbard winter landscape tops a large estate that Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry will sell at auction Dec. 20 beginning at noon Eastern. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The Hibbard painting, titled Vermont Stream, measures 31 inches by 24 inches framed. It carries an $18,000-$20,000 estimate.

Born in Falmouth, Mass., in 1886, Hibbard grew up in Boston, where he displayed early artistic talent. He studied art at the Boston Museum School and won the Paige Traveling Scholarship to study abroad. Hibbard’s tour was cut short in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I. He painted many rural snow scenes in the early 1920s when he lived at Jamaica, Vt., in the scenic West River Valley. He also painted New England coastlines and the Canadian Rockies. He was one of the founders of the Rockport Art Colony and also was an instructor in the art department of Boston University. Hibbard died in 1972.

The auction will consist of high fashion and vintage jewelry, a wide variety of collectibles and art.

Two works by popular Fort Myers artist Charles Vavrina will be sold. The larger, 38 inches by 26 inches, depicts a beach scene lined with brightly colored umbrellas. The framed oil painting has a $2,400-$2,500 estimate.

The other Vavrina, a 27- by 22-inch oil painting of a cottage and garden, has a $2,200-$2,300 estimate.

A Vavrina retrospective was recently held in Fort Myers to honor the longtime local Impressionist painter who died in June.

A porcelain sleigh carrying Napoleon and another passenger and pulled by a three-horse hitch is 14 inches long by 8 inches high. The bottom of the sleigh is incised “10763” and is stamped “Germany” on the bottom. In excellent condition, this finely detailed piece is estimated at $1,100-$1,400.

Collectibles will include approximately 20 lots of vintage Hummel figurines.

For details call 239-939-5636.

View a fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

Click here to view Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

The brownish green center stone in this platinum diamond ring is a colored diamond. It is surrounded by eight European cut diamonds. The estimate is $3,500-$3,900. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.
The brownish green center stone in this platinum diamond ring is a colored diamond. It is surrounded by eight European cut diamonds. The estimate is $3,500-$3,900. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.

‘Germany’ is stamped on the bottom of this porcelain scene of a horse-drawn sleigh carrying Napoleon and another passenger. This late-19th-century piece has a $1,100-$1,400 estimate. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry
‘Germany’ is stamped on the bottom of this porcelain scene of a horse-drawn sleigh carrying Napoleon and another passenger. This late-19th-century piece has a $1,100-$1,400 estimate. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry

Charles Vavrina’s ‘Beach Scene’ is 38 inches by 26 inches. It is estimated at $2,400-$2,500. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.
Charles Vavrina’s ‘Beach Scene’ is 38 inches by 26 inches. It is estimated at $2,400-$2,500. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry.

This Hummel Call to Worship Clock (est. $1,400-$1,500) with stand and original box is in like new condition. The clock face is on the opposite side of the tower. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry
This Hummel Call to Worship Clock (est. $1,400-$1,500) with stand and original box is in like new condition. The clock face is on the opposite side of the tower. Image courtesy of Gulfcoast Coin & Jewelry

Byzantine Gospel of St. Mark manuscript deemed fake

CHICAGO (AP) – University of Chicago researchers say a parchment paper manuscript kept in an underground vault and once believed to be written as early as the 14th century is likely a fake.

The university bought the hand-illustrated Gospel of St. Mark manuscript called “Byzantine” from a Greek family in the 1930s. The delicate blotchy pages are written in Greek and university officials kept the treasured manuscript in a climate-controlled underground vault.

But suspicions arose in the 1980s when researchers found that blue pigment on the pages wasn’t available until the 1700s.

So scholars and scientists at the university took a closer look by using carbon dating and microscope technology.

Professor Margaret Mitchell says it appears the manuscript was fabricated for the antiquities market.

___

Information from: Chicago Sun-Times,

http://www.suntimes.com/index

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-CS-12-16-09 0741EST

 

 

 

Michigan State to build world-class art museum

The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, completed in 2003, was London architect Zaha Hadid’s first American work. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, completed in 2003, was London architect Zaha Hadid’s first American work. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, completed in 2003, was London architect Zaha Hadid’s first American work. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan State University’s trustees have approved the start of construction for a new world-class art museum on the East Lansing campus.

The school says it will break ground March 16, 2010 for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. It is expected to open in early 2012.

In 2007, Michigan State alumnus Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, donated $18.5 million toward building the museum. The couple also gave $7.5 million to commission a sculpture, buy art works and fund operations and an endowment.

The university says the $26 million gift is its largest ever and that the facility will enable the museum to increase its visibility, showcase more of the permanent collection, and organize and exhibit larger and more significant exhibitions.

London-based architect Zaha Hadid won an international design competition for the museum in January 2008.

___

On the Net:

http://www.broadmuseum.msu.edu

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-CS-12-15-09 1535EST

University of Minnesota making a case for Sherlock Holmes

'Sherlock Holmes,' a watercolor by Barry Moser (b. 1940), was used for an illustration in a 1992 Harper Collins editon of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book. Image courtesy of Bloomsbury Auctions and Live Auctioneers Archive.

'Sherlock Holmes,' a watercolor by Barry Moser (b. 1940), was used for an illustration in a 1992 Harper Collins editon of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book. Image courtesy of Bloomsbury Auctions and LiveAuctioneers Archive.
‘Sherlock Holmes,’ a watercolor by Barry Moser (b. 1940), was used for an illustration in a 1992 Harper Collins editon of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s book. Image courtesy of Bloomsbury Auctions and LiveAuctioneers Archive.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Anyone searching for clues about the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes need not look only to his headquarters on London’s Baker Street.

Deep in an underground cavern at the University of Minnesota lies the world’s largest collection of Holmes memorabilia – a cache sure to expand with material from the new Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. as the pipe-puffing super sleuth.

To many, it’s a mystery how this trove of tens of thousands of books, toys, games, posters and recordings – from copies of the Holmes stories owned by the last empress of Russia to an original manuscript page of The Hound of the Baskervilles – ended up at a Midwestern university, half a world away from the foggy London streets of Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The answer is elementary, according to Tim Johnson, curator of special collections and rare books at the University of Minnesota Libraries: A “happy series of accidents” involving a retired university librarian, a Nobel Prize laureate and a Holmes fan who took a “vacuum cleaner” approach to collecting.

“People think the Holmes collection ought to be in London. So it’s ‘why Minnesota?’ And it’s really just this series of happy events that occurred over time,” Johnson said.

Sherlock Holmes, already out in Britain, is being released Christmas Day in the U.S. Directed by Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), the film stars Downey (Iron Man) as a man-of-action Holmes unraveling a nefarious plot by Lord Blackwood in Victorian England with the help of his sidekick Dr. John Watson, played by Jude Law.

The Holmes collection in Minnesota has between 15,000 and 16,000 volumes, and other pieces bring the archive to 60,000 or more, Johnson said. They are kept in a cavern, fitted out for storage, about 85 feet below ground at the Elmer L. Andersen Library, where temperatures and humidity are controlled.

On metal shelves sit memorabilia including magnifying glasses, an ice-cream carton with a cartoon cow wearing Holmes’ iconic deerstalker cap and a pillow with an image of Sherlock Hemlock, a Muppet character from Sesame Street.

Los Angeles attorney Les Klinger, who wrote The Annotated Sherlock Holmes series and was a consultant on the new movie, has donated his papers to the university’s collection. Other major Holmes or Doyle archives are at Harvard University, the Toronto Public Library and Portsmouth, England.

But Klinger calls Minnesota’s collection the “first stop for anybody doing research, because if you’re looking for something, it’s probably in the collection.”

Johnson says he believes retired university librarian E.W. McDiarmid, a Holmes fan, “whispered in the ear” of Johnson’s predecessor that the university ought to have a collection of first-edition Holmes stories.

The school began amassing the Sherlock Holmes Collections in 1974, buying collector James C. Iraldi’s library of Holmes first editions – 160 volumes and a similar number of periodicals. Four years later, Johnson said, the widow of Mayo Clinic doctor Philip S. Hench donated his Holmes collection.

Hench, who shared the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing cortisone to treat pain in arthritic patients, had died in 1965. His Holmes collection was 10 times larger than Iraldi’s – about 1,800 books and 1,500 periodicals – and was full of amazing rarities,” Johnson said. That included four copies of Beeton’s Christmas Annual, which has the first appearance of Holmes in print, the novella A Study in Scarlet, from November 1887. Only about 30 copies of Holmes’ debut are known to exist, Johnson said.

With the donation of the Hench collection, “the Sherlockian world sat up,” Johnson said. One Holmes fan who visited the university was John Bennett Shaw, a collector from Santa Fe, N.M., who acquired Holmes pop culture items such as restaurant menus and board games.

“Shaw had the collecting sensibilities of a vacuum cleaner. It was like anything and everything that had to do with Sherlock Holmes, Shaw collected it,” Johnson said.

The university made Shaw a fellow of the library, and he donated his collection to it in 1993. A sign from Shaw’s front yard reading 221B Baker Street – the London address of Holmes and Watson – now stands in the hallway of Andersen Library.

Other collections pulled in by the “gravitational field” of the Hench artifacts include the scripts and broadcast recordings of Edith Meiser, an actress and scriptwriter who did Sherlock Holmes radio plays in the 1930s and ’40s.

The collection is open to the public by appointment and will accept nearly anything people want to donate, Johnson said.

He echoes Shaw’s philosophy: “Don’t throw it away – send it to me.”

___

On the Net:

The Sherlock Holmes Collections:

http://special.lib.umn.edu/rare/holmes.phtml

Sherlock Holmes movie:

http://sherlock-holmes-movie.warnerbros.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-CS-12-16-09 0625EST