BERKELEY, Calif. – PBA Galleries starts off March with nearly 500 lots of Americana, maps, and books featuring some extremely historic figures in U.S. history. The Thursday, March 7 catalog is now open for bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
Published between 1854 and 1858, Henry Lewis’ Das Illustrirte Mississippithal (The Illustrated Mississippi) is a collection of 80 color-lithographed and hand-finished illustrations of his travels up and down the mighty river. The highly sought-after book is estimated at $40,000-$60,000.
Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson inscribed a 1957 copy of his book Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age to John Frankenheimer, the noted film and television director. His inscription reads Dear John Frankenheimer, Please have my gratitude for your treasured friendship – Devotedly Yours, Bill Wilson. The director had just completed Days of Wine and Roses for CBS Playhouse 90, which included a prominent mention of AA. The book is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
Under the orders of the new United States government, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out to find the source of the Missouri River, and in doing so, charted a vast swath of the Pacific Northwest. Though the expedition ran from 1804 to 1806, their official account based on notebooks and diaries would not be completed and published until 1814. PBA has a two-volume first edition from an initial run of just 1,400 copies, and it is estimated at $6,000-$9,000.
Fidel Castro’s Cuban government sought to tell the story of its revolution in terms children might understand. The result was Ãlbum de la Revolucion Cubana: 1952-1959, published around 1960 by Revista Cinegrafico in Havana. It consists of 268 color picture cards in cartoon style giving the history of the Cuban Revolution. This example has 266 cards with one duplicate, and is a unique testament to Cuban history. It is estimated at $1,000-$1,500.
