The North American Indian and Keats's Love Letters Lead Sotheby's Book Week

Sotheby’s Book Week this month includes a standalone auction on June 24 marking the most significant collection of Benjamin Franklin material to appear on the market in more than a century.
 
The June 25 Fine Books and Manuscripts sale will feature the group of eight newly rediscovered love letters from John Keats to Fanny Brawne (estimate: $1.5m-$2.5m), artist Andrew Wyeth’s beautifully preserved copy of Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian, and a letter written by George Washington 87 days into his presidency.
 
The North American Indian, Portfolios 1-20 and Volumes 1-20 by Edward S. Curtis is a complete early subscriber’s set on Japan Vellum, later owned by Andrew and Betsy Wyeth (estimate: $1.5m-$2.5m). Published between 1907 and 1930, Curtis’s monumental project comprises 20 text volumes and 20 portfolios with more than 2,000 photogravures, following decades of fieldwork documenting Native American life across the United States and Alaska. Fewer than 257 sets were ultimately completed, and intact examples are increasingly scarce, particularly those that have remained outside institutional collections. 

In the autograph letter written by George Washington on 26 July 1789 (estimate: $250,000-$500,000
) he writes to his confidant Dr. David Stuart on the pressure of establishing precedent in a republic wary of monarchy, noting that “ … the eyes of America – perhaps of the world – are turned to this Government … ”. He recounts congressional advice that “ … the President of the U.S. should neither give, or receive invitations; some, from a belief … that there was no other way of commanding permanent respect … ” before firmly rejecting “ … an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty … ”.

Also going under the hammer is Brigham Young’s personal copy of the 1871 Book of Mormon (estimate: $20,000-$30,000), first printed in Salt Lake City, with Young's signature on a preliminary leaf. This copy was gifted to Major Anson Mills.

Other highlights include:

• an unrecorded contemporary manuscript account in French of Captain Cook's third voyage to Hawaii, circa 1785 (estimate: $40,000-$60,000), a fair copy of Jean-Nicolas Démeunier’s abridged translation of Cook’s final journey to the Pacific that appears to be untraced in standard bibliographies
• an inscribed copy of The Wizard of Oz (estimate: $20,000-$30,000) with the signature seahorse monogram of W.W. Denslow, the illustrator of The Wizard of Oz, the inscription reading: “To Mrs. Frank Pixley, with sincere regards of W. W. Denslow, July 16th, 1901”
• a selection of Forty Highlights from the Stock of Richard C. Ramer Old & Rare Books comprising examples from highly respected antiquarian bookseller Richard Ramer who died earlier this year and specialized in books and manuscripts relating to Portugal, Brazil, former Portuguese possessions in Asia and Africa, Spain, the Philippines and Latin America