FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Items pertaining to President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy during the years they occupied the White House, first editions and original drawings from the renowned illustrator and author Tasha Tudor; and a limited-edition book of 16 screen-printed and signed photos by Lewis Baltz will be auctioned in northern Virginia on Thursday, September 10.
These items represent just a few of the 418 lots of fine and rare books, photographs, autographs and ephemera entered in Waverly Rare Books’ catalog auction #266. The event will commence at 6 p.m. Eastern time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Books, notes and sketches signed and inscribed by President and Mrs. Kennedy to J. B. West, Chief White House Usher from 1957-1969 and author of the best-selling book, Upstairs at the White House: My Life With the First Ladies, and items from the collection of Helen Lempart Westbrook, White House staffer for Jackie Kennedy, are expected to spark fierce bidding wars.
From the J. B. West estate collection comes a copy of the book The White House: An Historic Guide, signed and inscribed by JFK and Mrs. Kennedy and dated “Christmas 1962” (est. $8,000-$1,200). A group lot from same collection contains 31 notes and other items either partly or entirely handwritten by Mrs. Kennedy around 1962 and having to do with the redecoration of the White House and Oval Office (est. $4,000-$7,000).
Photo highlights include two royal portraits, one of Britain’s King George VI (1895-1952, reigned 1936-1952), and one signed by Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Consort of George VI and Queen Mother to Elizabeth II. Both photos have their original backings and are presented in contemporary frames. The two will be offered as one lot and are expected to bring $1,000-$1,500.
A group lot from the Westbrook collection (shown at top) consists of a 1966 Jacqueline Kennedy handwritten letter and three associated hand-drawn “farewell” sketches – one by Jacqueline Kennedy, one by Caroline Kennedy and one by “John John” Kennedy – and is estimated at $2,000-$3,500. Also, a gold vermeil over sterling cigarette case from Tiffany & Co., inscribed in 1966 by Jacqueline Kennedy to Helen Lempart (Westbrook), could reach $500-$800.
Cartoons and caricatures, always a hit with collectors, will be featured in the sale. There are 97 lots of political cartoons, caricatures and cartoon reference works, all from the collection of William Haworth. One lot is an 11-volume set in first-edition book form of The Scourge (or Monthly Expositor of Imposture and Folly), dating from 1811-1816 (est. $1,000-$1,200).
Lewis Baltz (1945-2014) was a visual artist and photographer who became an important figure in the New Topographics movement of the late 1970s. His compilation titled Venezia Marghera – a limited edition (40/40) containing two text pages (one signed) and 16 screenprint images (signed in pencil on verso) is an anticipated star of the modern photography category (est. $8,000-$12,000).
Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) was one of America’s most beloved illustrators and writers of children’s books. Forty works hand-signed by Tudor will be sold. They include a hand-drawn, hand-colored advent calendar, (est. $8,000-$12,000); and a first-edition copy of her book Corgiville Fair, which has an original pen, graphite and watercolor rendering of a corgi dog and a rabbit and is dated 1971 (est. $1,000-$1,500). Both are shown below.
Examples from the very early years of printing should get the crowd’s attention. Expected top lots include a Czech Bible (below left) with 149 biblical woodcuts (one thick woodcut border and 148 Bible illustrations within the text, some hand-colored), produced circa 1570 (est. $1,500-$2,500); and (below right) an early English edition of The Magna Carta, or The Great Charter, circa 1541 (est. $600-$900).
Waverly Rare Books is a division of Quinn’s Auction Galleries. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers. For additional information on any item in the sale, call 703-532-5632 or email info@quinnsauction.com.
