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One map – Transylvania – is missing from Mercator’s 1636 atlas titled ‘A Geographicke Description of the Regions, Countries and Kingdoms of the World, through Europe, Asia, Africa and America.’ Nevertheless, it has a $30,000-$50,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Cartography collection gives direction to Hindman’s auction Aug. 12

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
One map – Transylvania – is missing from Mercator’s 1636 atlas titled ‘A Geographicke Description of the Regions, Countries and Kingdoms of the World, through Europe, Asia, Africa and America.’ Nevertheless, it has a $30,000-$50,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
One map – Transylvania – is missing from Mercator’s 1636 atlas titled ‘A Geographicke Description of the Regions, Countries and Kingdoms of the World, through Europe, Asia, Africa and America.’ Nevertheless, it has a $30,000-$50,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

CHICAGO – More than 20 early maps, all consigned from a private collection in Louisville, Ky., are expected to lead the way in Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ Fine Books and Manuscripts auction Thursday, Aug. 12. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding for the 450-lot auction, which will begin at noon Central.

An early world atlas by Gerard Mercator, published in Amsterdam in 1636, is the most important lot and has a $30,000-$50,000 estimate. The two-volume set contains 195 double-page maps and descriptions of the regions and countries of the world.

“This is a very rare set that’s been in a private collection for many years. We never see them,” said Mary Williams, director of Hindman Auctioneers’ Fine Books and Manuscripts department.

Another important title is Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s History of the Expedition under The Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the Sources of Missouri Thence Across the Rocky Mountains and Down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean Performed During the Years 1804-5-6. Edited by Nicholas Biddle, the two-volume set chronicling the famous expedition was published by Bradford and Inskeep in Philadelphia in 1814.

While Williams described the set as “a fabulous first printing,” she notes that it is not in its first state because it has a later issue of the large folding map laid into volume 1. It is considered a fine association copy, however, with ownership signature and presentation inscription to Elwood Evans, a notable early historian of the Northwest Territory and the third governor of the Washington Territory. The historic set warrants an $8,000-$12,000 estimate.

Carrying a $10,000-$15,000 estimate is a first edition, first printing, of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language … , which was printed by W. Strahan, London, in London 1755. The two-volume set has minimal foxing and a bright interior. Volume 1 bears an armorial bookplate of a John Daniel.

Records of the first 52 years of the Bethel Baptist Church, the first permanent church organization in Missouri and the first Protestant church west of the Mississippi, are written in a 91-page handwritten minute book, which is estimated at $6,000-$8,000.

Under Spanish rule, the territories west of the Mississippi in the 18th century were officially Catholic and, although a number of Protestants had settled in the districts of St. Louis, St. Charles and Cape Girardeau, Protestant services and baptisms were illegal. The church was founded on July 7, 1806 outside Jackson, Mo., in Cape Girardeau County. Various partial copies of the minutes exist in institutional collections.

Williams said her favorite items in the auction are nine lots of 16th-century engravings detailing plans, diagrams and maps of European military fortifications. Each lot has an estimate of $800-$1,200.

For details visit Hindman Auctioneers’ Web site: www.lesliehandman.com or contact Williams at 312-334-4236.

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.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Publication of his dictionary in 1755 brought Samuel Johnson fame and a degree from Oxford. This fine first edition, first printing has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Publication of his dictionary in 1755 brought Samuel Johnson fame and a degree from Oxford. This fine first edition, first printing has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

A later issue of the large folding map laid into volume 1 diminishes the value of this first edition of the history of Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Northwest Territory. Nevertheless, the desirable set published in 1814 is expected to sell for $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
A later issue of the large folding map laid into volume 1 diminishes the value of this first edition of the history of Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Northwest Territory. Nevertheless, the desirable set published in 1814 is expected to sell for $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

In fragile condition, this book contains records of the Bethel Baptist Church in Missouri, the first Protestant church west of the Mississippi. It has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
In fragile condition, this book contains records of the Bethel Baptist Church in Missouri, the first Protestant church west of the Mississippi. It has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

This uniformly bound set of the collected works of Charles Dickens consists mostly of first editions. Each book is bound in green morocco over cloth that is gilt stamped. The collection has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
This uniformly bound set of the collected works of Charles Dickens consists mostly of first editions. Each book is bound in green morocco over cloth that is gilt stamped. The collection has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.