BERKELEY, Calif. – PBA Galleries will hold an auction of Americana, Travel, Natural History and Maps on February 24. The sale comprises nearly 550 lots of books, manuscripts, maps, photographs and ephemeral materials, providing an overview of the history, culture and societal development of the United States and the world at large. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Deserving of special attention is Visscher’s New England with view of New York City, a striking map of New England and New York, called ‘Nova Belgii Novaeque Angliae.’ Dated from 1656, it has an engraving of the Dutch settlement on Manhattan, and is one of the earliest published views of New York City. It is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.

Lots with links to presidents and statesmen are led by an Italian edition of Winston S. Churchill’s A History of the English-Speaking Peoples in four volumes, with the second volume signed by Churchill. It carries an estimate of $3,000-$5,000. Another example of great work in the same field is the book Kosmos – Moskau – Berlin, 1961, a pictorial tribute to Russian cosmonaut German Titov, the second man to orbit the earth. It is signed on the title page by U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the Russian cosmonaut German Stephanovich Titov (or Titow), and it is signed on page 6, at the end of the foreword, by Walter Ulbricht, the de facto head of the East German government from 1950 to 1973. Its estimate is $3,000-$5,000.

Another standout is a 1935 book on surfing in Hawaii by Thomas Blake, titled Hawaiian Surfboard. The book covers ancient surfing legends to modern techniques and surfboard technology, and retains its original tapa-cloth covered binding. It is estimated at $2,000-$3,000.

Other sale highlights include an 1866-1869 work about exotic ornithology by Philip Sclater and Osbert Slavin, estimated at $5,000-$8,000, and also Maris Pacifici by Abraham Ortelius, the first printed map of the Pacific, representing the 1603 issue of the map first published in 1589. It carries an estimate of $6,000-$9,000.

PBA continues to safeguard the health of employees and clients and is open by appointment only. For more information about upcoming sales, to schedule a Zoom preview or phone bidding for a future auction, please contact the galleries at 415-989-2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.

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