Darwinia Collection Sold for $621,440 at Auction
On the Origin of Species
The 37-lot Braydon C. Guild Collection of Charles Darwin at the Freeman’s Books & Manuscripts auction has sold well past its presale estimate for a combined total of $621,440.
Top lot of the collection was geologist, physicist, educator, and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology William Barton Rogers’ personal first edition copy of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species which more than tripled its presale estimate, selling for $256,000. Rogers (1804-1882) was among the earliest American scientific readers of the book, writing to his brother less than a month after its publication that he found the book “truly admirable.” In March 1860, the Boston Courier published his review in which he predicted that Darwin's arguments would "command the earnest attention of scientific men" and recognized that the book had opened what he called a "grand contest of observation and argument."
Other highlights from the collection included a first edition of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s joint announcement of the theory of natural selection ($217,600), and first editions of the three parts of Darwin’s Geology of the Beagle ($32,000)
“It was an honor to be entrusted with the Braydon C. Guild Collection of Charles Darwin. Many of these important works had not appeared on the market since the 1980s, and the results speak for themselves,” said Christopher Brink, Freeman’s Associate Vice President of Books & Manuscripts and Head of Sale.
The top lot in the Americana category was a first edition of The Book of Mormon, printed on the eve of the church's formal organization. This copy was not recorded in the Book of Mormon census which helped the book sell for $140,800, nearly ten times its presale estimate. Elsewhere, a pair of manuscripts from Theodore Bryant Comstock (1849-1915) recounting his exploration of the Yellowstone wilderness sold for $64,000, more than six times their presale estimate.
Other highlights from the auction included:
- a first edition of John Gould's first ornithological monograph , A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans, 1833-35 ($44,800)
- a copy of Perth Assembly by David Calderwood, 1619 ($28,800)
- a land deed document signed by two Pilgrims and the Native American Sachem Quechataset, and acknowledged in the hand of John Alden, the last surviving male passenger on the Mayflower ($28,800)
- an autograph endorsement signed by President Abraham Lincoln in response to an anonymous letter accusing General Ulysses S. Grant of drunkenness ($25,600)
“Coming in the midst of an election cycle and a turbulent week on Wall Street, it was encouraging to see collectors remain undeterred, with strong bidding throughout the sale,” said Brink. “These results are worth keeping in mind as we consider where to place our assets, particularly as rare books and manuscripts have continued to demonstrate their stability year after year.”
