NEW YORK – Bloomsbury Auctions New York will open the 2008 fall season with its largest sale to date Sept. 17-18. The two-day Bibliophile sale will consist of Americana, maps, literature , fine bindings, original art and art books, and the remarkable Fred M. Meyer collection of L. Frank Baum and related Oziana.

The sale commences with the Meyer material, which is especially well regarded among Oz collectors since Meyer is executive secretary of the International Wizard of Oz Club Inc. Over a period of more than 40 years, Fred Meyer amassed a wealth of first editions, manuscripts, printer’s proofs, rare toys and games, and drawings by W. W. Denslow, John R. Neill and others.

Day one continues with a fine group of original artworks and art-related books. Highlights from this section include a rare, full series of La Gazette du Bon Ton in original wrappers estimated at $50,000 – $70,000. This groundbreaking Parisian fashion periodical contains hundreds of pochoir plates by George Barbier, Raoul Dufy, George Lepape, Umberto Brunelleschi, A. E. Marty, Paul Iribe and many other masters of the Art Deco age of elegance. The day concludes with the sale of literature and fine bindings.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-A major Tennessee pottery discovery, a rare complete Audubon octavo set, fine art and numerous Southern antiques are among the highlights of Case Antiques’ Sept. 27 Fall Auction. Among more than 300 cataloged lots is an extensive offering of Southern and European furniture, silver, samplers, paintings, and exceptional engravings.

One of the star lots of the sale is expected to be a rare 19th century Greene County, Tenn., redware jar stamped “J.A. Lowe” (John Alexander Lowe, 1833-1902). A pottery site attributed to Lowe was located and excavated near the Harmon Cemetery near Blue Springs in the 1990s, with thousands of shards recovered. “What makes this piece so exciting is it’s the first and only known intact piece of his pottery ever to surface,” said company president John Case.

“There’s also the interesting story of Lowe himself, who joined the Confederate army two days after his fellow potter, Christopher A. Haun, was hung for his role in the burning of the Lick Creek railroad bridge,” Case continued. “In a letter to his wife written hours before his death, Haun urged his wife to have ‘Bohanan, Hinshaw or Low’ finish off some of his wares. It’s a fascinating connection.”

Case specializes in Great Road Pottery, which includes most of the early pottery of Tennessee, and holds the current auction record for a piece of Great Tennessee pottery. In 2008 the company sold a redware pitcher attributed to the Cain Pottery of Sullivan County, Tenn., for $22,550.

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LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – On Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 at 12 noon (EST), the Rago Arts and Auction Center will host an auction dedicated to the furnishings and design of the early 1900s. The sale will be of particular interest to collectors of American art pottery, Gustav Stickley, lamps and Continental pottery, porcelain and glass should be particularly attentive.

The 1,000-lot sale reflects Rago customers’ ongoing interest in the decorative arts of Europe, in lighting from Tiffany and other great makers, as well as fine American Arts & Crafts.

American Art pottery is, as ever, a strong suit at Rago’s. Headline lots include a collection of ceramics from the Strong Museum in Rochester, N.Y., a private collection of decorated Marblehead, and third collection comprised of works by George Ohr. The latter includes a large crumpled bowl covered in gun-metal and green mottled glaze (presale estimate $7,000-10,000) and a twisted bulbous vase covered in two distinctive glazes (presale estimate $4,500-6,500).

Buyers will find a large selection of Dedham and Chelsea Keramic Art Works pottery, with many experimental vases by Hugh Robertson, including one covered in red, green, and blue mottled oxblood glaze (presale estimate $2,500-3,500) and much crackleware, including three very rare Crab plates (presale estimate $1,000-1,500). Also exceptional: a tall Grand Feu (California) vase covered in mahogany flambé glaze (presale estimate $6,000-9,000). At 13 inches by 6 inches, it is the largest example Rago’s has seen from this superior pottery (and is joined by other spectacular pieces by the same maker).

Other potteries/potters whose work will be sold: Grueby, Rookwood, Newcomb College, Rhead, California Faience, Fulper, Weller, Merrimac, Teco, Van Briggle, Pisgah Forest, Arequipa, North Dakota School of Mines, Roseville, Volkmar and Clewell.

Arts and Crafts furniture of import includes a circa-1901 Gustav Stickley trapezoidal china cabinet (presale $15,000-25,000), a Gustav Stickley Director’s table (presale $12,000-18,000) and a Gustav Stickley inlaid drop-front desk in its original ebonized finish (presale $20,000-30,000). In all, more than 100 fine examples of Stickley furniture will be offered, as well as more from L. and J.G. Stickley, Limbert, Roycroft, Lifetime and Old Hickory.

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. – More than 300 lots of outstanding, fresh-to- market merchandise in a broad array of categories will be offered on Saturday, Sept. 27 at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery in Pittsfield.

“This auction will feature hundreds of wonderful items from prominent area estates,” said John Fontaine of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery, “and it’s just one of four great sales planned for the rest of the year.” The other sales are the Henry Brownell Estate Auction (Saturday, Oct. 18); an Important Antique Clock Auction (Saturday, Nov. 8); and a Discovery Auction (Saturday, Dec.8).

Four lots in the Sept. 27 sale are capable of hammering at $50,000 or more. They are:

A rare and beautiful Louis Comfort Tiffany carved walnut corner armchair in very good and clean condition, with original finish. The top-crest rail is heavily carved, with a panel showing acorns and oak leaves. The chair has a nice tapestry seat, with padded arms and back (est. $50,000-$75,000).

A high-quality Petit & Boh Company 20-piece carved oak dining set, with carvings that are intricate, proportional and deep. The suite comprises a two-piece cabinet, sideboard, 60-inch table, server and 16 matching chairs, in very good condition, with original finish (est. $50,000-$75,000).

A gorgeous J. & J.W. Meeks pierce-carved, marble-top rosewood etagere in very good condition, with clean original finish. The piece features a nice carved flowing center crest over a bonnet top with filigree and scrolled carvings centered with a double rose (est. $45,000-$65,000).

A Tiffany Studios 22-inch banded Dogwood floral table lamp on an American Indian bronze base signed on the bottom plate “Tiffany Studios New York 529.” The leaded-glass shade shows a geometric shade throughout, created by green and white striated glass (est. $45,000-$55,000).

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PHILADELPHIA – Final preparations are under way for the National Liberty Museum’s annual Glass Now gala auction of art glass, with proceeds benefiting the museum’s mission to inspire heroes and defuse violence. The museum’s major fundraiser, Glass Now: Generation to Generation, will take place Sept. 20 at Philadelphia Marriott Downtown starting at 5:00 p.m. More than 300 works of glass sculpture, and a stellar array of fine art jewelry will be included in both live and silent auctions. The live portion will also feature real-time Internet bidding via the Internet. This year’s benefit auction includes works from art glass giants such as Harvey Littleton, Dale Chihuly, Paul Stankard, Therman Statom and Steve Tobin, as well as up-and-coming young visionaries.

The annual Glass Now auction was started in 2000 to support the crucial education programs of Philadelphia’s National Liberty Museum. The museum is the only institution in the world that uses art glass as a symbol for liberty: beautiful and strong, yet fragile.

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FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Wittlin & Serfer Auctioneers, based in Ft. Lauderdale, have announced details of their 2008 Fall Contemporary Art Auction, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20 and 21.

Highlights of the 605-lot auction include artworks by Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Keith Haring, Robert Rauschenberg, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí.

The sale will also incorporate paintings by the most desirable of names from the new genre of artists, including the most prominent member of the collective dubbed the “Young British Artists,” Damien Hirst, and cutting-edge Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami.

A Murakami signed and numbered 2006 lithograph titled 727-272 is estimated at $5,000-$6,000; while a second Murakami litho from 2006, titled And Then Golden DOB, carries a presale estimate of $2,500-$3,000.

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LONDON – At the end of June, Sandy Stagg closed the shutters and padlocked the doors of her famous Antique Clothing Shop in Portobello Road for the last time. Now collectors will be able to own an item of vintage fashion or accessories from the well-known shop when more than 350 lots are offered at Kerry Taylor Auctions’ A Life in Vintage sale, to be held Wednesday, Sept. 17. Absentee and live Internet bidding will be available in this auction (see link at bottom).

The store closure was a poignant moment, as Stagg has spent the best part of her life lovingly collecting and trading in vintage clothes. Indeed, she was one of the first to specialize in the field, opening her first vintage boutique – the gone but not forgotten shop called Amelia Earhart Clothing Shop – in 1970.

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FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ACNI) – Had People magazine been in business back in the early 17th century, it’s quite likely they would have chosen the love triangle centered around Pilgrim hottie Priscilla Mullins as a cover story. Mullins (b. circa 1602, d. circa 1680, sometimes spelled Mullens) was a Mayflower passenger and Plymouth Colony Pilgrim settler who won the affection of both Capt. Miles Standish and government official John Alden. As immortalized in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem The Courtship of Myles Standish, Mullins married Alden in what was the third “Mayflower” wedding in the New World. Mullins subsequently bore anywhere from 10 to 15 children; historical accounts vary on that point.

The Mullins-Alden union is considered a highly significant one in America’s history, as several distinguished families can trace their lineage back to Priscilla and John. Antiques associated with Alden descendants carry an automatic pedigree, one of them being a hand-stitched sampler to be auctioned on Sept. 13 at Quinn’s Auction Galleries.

The alphabet sampler, dated July 27, 1805, was crafted by 8-year-old Betsy Shaw, believed to be a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. Also stitched into the sampler is the maker’s name and the name of a now outer-Boston suburb, Abington. The sampler is estimated at $800-$1,200, but its possible provenance could inspire a much bigger payday at Quinn’s.

“It’s from a collection of 13 samplers consigned by a single collector in Williamsburg, Virginia,” said Quinn’s partner Matthew Quinn. “We spend a lot of time researching the Shaw sampler, and we believe collectors will see the value in it.”

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Not many people are familiar with the name Isaac Lefevers, but in pottery circles, he’s known as the James Dean of North Carolina pottery.

Like the actor known for Rebel Without a Cause, Lefevers was talented and died young. The Lincoln County potter also was his own kind of rebel, dying in 1864 at the age of 33 of an injury suffered in the Civil War. Because he died so young, few of his pots survive and even fewer are available for sale.

But on Sept. 28, a pot that Lefevers may have thrown will be one of about 200 pots auctioned at a benefit for the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, a museum that’s in the midst of a $100,000 fundraiser. Supporters believe the auction could raise as much as $20,000.

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