Twain typewriter, Titanic rescue paintings push Heritage sale to $1.9M

Mark Twain’s (aka Samuel Clemens’) own Williams No. 6 typewriter, $106,250. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Mark Twain’s (aka Samuel Clemens’) own Williams No. 6 typewriter, $106,250. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Mark Twain’s (aka Samuel Clemens’) own Williams No. 6 typewriter, $106,250. Courtesy Heritage Auctions

DALLAS – A pair of paintings by an artist who was aboard a ship that tried to rescue survivors from the Titanic sold for $112,500, and a typewriter that belonged to one of the most popular and successful authors in American history reached $106,250 to lead Heritage Auctions’ Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction to $1,926,019 on February 22.

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African American magazine archives shared by Smithsonian and Getty

Singer James Brown is captured off stage around Memphis, Tenn. (Ted Williams/Johnson Publishing Company Archive). Courtesy Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution
Singer James Brown is captured off stage around Memphis, Tenn. (Ted Williams/Johnson Publishing Company Archive). Courtesy Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution
Singer James Brown is captured off stage around Memphis, Tennessee. The image comes from the Johnson Publishing Company archive, which will be shared between the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Getty Research Institute. Photo credit: Ted Williams/Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution

WASHINGTON and LOS ANGELES – A consortium comprising the Ford Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution, announced July 28 the official transfer of ownership of the acclaimed Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) archive to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and to the Getty Research Institute, a program of the Getty Trust.

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Works by Ethan Allen, Mark Twain were bestsellers at Potter & Potter sale

First American edition, first state copy of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,’ $21,600
L-R: First American edition, first state copy of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,’ $21,600; Ethan Allen’s 1779 memoir, $78,000; May 1965 copy of Ebony magazine signed and inscribed by Dr. Martin Luther King, $13,200
L-R: First American edition, first state copy of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,’ $21,600; Ethan Allen’s 1779 memoir, $78,000; May 1965 copy of Ebony magazine signed and inscribed by Dr. Martin Luther King, $13,200

CHICAGO – Potter and Potter‘s 620-lot Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana sale, held on February 26, was a best seller in all regards, with classics by Mark Twain and Arthur Conan Doyle performing markedly well.

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