CHICAGO – Potter & Potter Auctions will hold a 382-lot sale of the collection of Robin and Kathryn Smiley, the co-publishers and editors of Firsts: The Book Collector’s Magazine, on Thursday, August 17, starting at 10 am Central time. The Smiley collection features modern firsts of literature, mystery and detective fiction, and western literature, with a special emphasis on books into film. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
First or limited editions of the world’s most iconic 19th-century publications may take several of the top lot slots in the August 17 auction. A particular standout is Herman Melville’s (1819-1891) Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, which is estimated at $20,000-$30,000. This first American edition, printed in New York by Harper & Brothers in 1851, features a visually striking binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. This firm was known for their luxurious bindings and master craftsmanship. This example from 1851 followed the three-volume English edition by a month and contains 35 passages not present in that earlier publication.
Translator William Morris’s (1834–1896) Love is Enough, published in Hammersmith by the Kelmscott Press in 1897, has an estimate of $4,500-$5,500. This edition is printed in Troy type and features two woodcuts by W. H. Hooper after Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It is a limited edition, one of 300 copies on Perch paper, and is one of only two Kelmscott Press books printed in three colors.
This sale also features important pre-war books such as Ernest Hemingway’s (1899-1961) A Farewell to Arms. Published in New York by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1929, this first edition, limited issue, estimated at $20,000-$30,000, is one of 10 presentation copies signed by Hemingway from a total edition of 510 copies, 500 of which were for sale. This example features a binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe and was originally from the library of American author Owen Wister Jr. (1860-1938). Wister became friends with Hemingway in the late 1920s and the two corresponded profusely.
A first American edition, first state example of J.R.R. Tolkien’s (1892-1973) The Hobbit or There and Back Again, with its original dust jacket, is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. It was printed in Boston and New York by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1938. This rarity includes what’s become known as the “bowing hobbit” on the title page, the color frontispiece inserted on a stub, and the endpapers bound opposite to the order of the list of illustrations.
Also featured is Ernest Vincent Wright’s (1873-1939) infamous tome Gadsby. A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter “E,” which has an estimate of $5,000-$7,000. This first edition was printed in Los Angeles by Wetzel Publishing Co. in 1939. Gadsby is a novel written as a lipogram and does not contain the letter “e,” which Wright ensured by tying the “e” key down on his typewriter. This is the only copy known to Potter & Potter’s specialists that retains its dust jacket.
Mid-century publications are also well-represented in this late summer event, among them Harper Lee’s (1926-2016) famed To Kill A Mockingbird, estimated at $10,000-$15,000. This first edition of Lee’s first work was printed in Philadelphia & New York by J.B. Lippincott Company in 1960, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. This example includes its first issue dust jacket with a photo of Lee credited to Truman Capote. It is offered with an ALS from Lee to the Smileys – thanking them for her first copy of FIRSTS, which she writes that she is subscribing to immediately – as well as the uncashed check for her subscription, signed “Nelle Harper Lee.”
Lot #332, Larry McMurtry’s (1936-2021) personal copy of E.B. White’s (1899-1985) Here is New York has an estimate of $4,000-$6,000. This first edition, printed in New York by Harper & Brothers in 1949, includes its original dust jacket and is inscribed by White to Mollie Panter-Downes (1906-1997). Downes was a British novelist and columnist for The New Yorker, known for her 1923 work The Shoreless Sea. White also worked at The New Yorker for many years.
[av_button label=’Click to view the auction catalog and sign up to bid’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/295567_the-library-of-robin-and-kathryn-smiley/?keyword=&page=1′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” size-text=” av-desktop-font-size-text=” av-medium-font-size-text=” av-small-font-size-text=” av-mini-font-size-text=” margin=” margin_sync=’true’ padding=” padding_sync=’true’ av-desktop-margin=” av-desktop-margin_sync=’true’ av-desktop-padding=” av-desktop-padding_sync=’true’ av-medium-margin=” av-medium-margin_sync=’true’ av-medium-padding=” av-medium-padding_sync=’true’ av-small-margin=” av-small-margin_sync=’true’ av-small-padding=” av-small-padding_sync=’true’ av-mini-margin=” av-mini-margin_sync=’true’ av-mini-padding=” av-mini-padding_sync=’true’ color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_grad_direction=’vertical’ btn_custom_grad_1=’#000000′ btn_custom_grad_2=’#ffffff’ btn_custom_grad_3=” btn_custom_grad_opacity=’0.7′ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_font_hover=’white’ btn_custom_font_hover=’#ffffff’ border=” border_width=” border_width_sync=’true’ border_color=” border_radius=” border_radius_sync=’true’ box_shadow=” box_shadow_style=’0px,0px,0px,0px’ box_shadow_color=” animation=” animation_duration=” animation_custom_bg_color=” animation_z_index_curtain=’100′ hover_opacity=” sonar_effect_effect=” sonar_effect_color=” sonar_effect_duration=’1′ sonar_effect_scale=” sonar_effect_opac=’0.5′ css_position=” css_position_location=’,,,’ css_position_z_index=” av-desktop-css_position=” av-desktop-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-desktop-css_position_z_index=” av-medium-css_position=” av-medium-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-medium-css_position_z_index=” av-small-css_position=” av-small-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-small-css_position_z_index=” av-mini-css_position=” av-mini-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-mini-css_position_z_index=” id=” custom_class=” template_class=” av_uid=’av-64hmta7′ sc_version=’1.0′ admin_preview_bg=”]
Click to view top auction results on LiveAuctioneers: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
