New York - Swann Galleries will offer an auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana on Thursday, March 28, featuring documents, letters, photographs and publications illuminating African-American history, from slavery and abolition to the civil rights movement and beyond.

A highlight of the sale is remarkable archive of 28 letters and 68 photographs from artist Charles White and Frances, his wife, to Melvin and Lorraine Williamson. The correspondences reflect the Whites’ lives in Pasadena, CA, shortly after they moved there in 1956 and continue through mid-1960. Most of the letters discuss Charles’ artwork-shipping works from ACA Galleries in New York, new work he has been creating, and an upcoming exhibition at Pacific Town Club in LA. Discussion of the Whites’ notable inner-circle includes Sidney Poitier and Lorraine Hansberry, with Charles wishing success for the duo and Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. Mentions of politics also fill the pages, with Charles noting, “…Rev. King on the cover of Times Magazine … I never felt so excited and enthusiastic about just being alive. And I think this feeling is being carried over into my work.” Photographs from the archive depict the couple’s new suburban life in Pasadena, as well as White’s studio and new works. The archive is expected to bring $4,000 to $6,000.

Also from the Melvin and Lorraine Williamson family comes Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the first play by an African-American woman and African-American director on Broadway, on the block at $3,000 to $4,000. The draft, signed “Lorraine’s Copy” (which Lorraine it refers to is unclear), and with manuscript notes throughout, comes from early in the script’s production-either late 1958 or early 1959-as the copyright date of 1959 has not yet been added, and permission for the title from Langston Hughes was still pending. Other literary works of note include a first edition of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, London, 1773, with an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000, and a possibly unpublished and nearly lost radio play, The Man Who Went To War, 1944, by Langston Hughes at $2,000 to $3,000.   

The top lot is a substantial archive of 164 correspondence to John Augustine Washington III relating to Mount Vernon, other Washington family estates, the heirs of America’s Founding Father, and most often discussing the enslaved people on whom their fortune was built ($20,000-30,000). Also of note is a document signed from Newport, R.I. that records the illegal act of an American captain agreeing to bring slaves from Africa to Havana in 1806. The Slave Trade Act of 1794 banned American merchants from engaging in the international slave trade, but the law was poorly enforced, especially in Rhode Island which was the main center of the trade ($4,000-6,000).    

Material relating to David Ruggles, one of the leading abolitionists in New York, includes the First Annual Report of the New York Committee of Vigilance, New York, 1837, estimated at $3,000 to $4,000. Ruggles helped form the committee in order to aid fugitive slaves and protect the city’s free black community from kidnapping, which made the city a major hub of the Underground Railroad. Volume one, number one, of the first black periodical published in the United States, The Mirror of Liberty, July 1838, of which Ruggles was the editor, makes its auction debut at $8,000 to $12,000. 

Civil War lots feature an 1864 autograph letter signed by Penrose Edminson, a soldier in the 25th United States Colored Troops, to his mother in which he notes, “We whipped the rebles [sic] 3 times and we will whip them tonight again” ($4,000-6,000), and a late-1866 signed albumen carte-de-viste of Preston Taylor as a drummer with the 116th U.S.C.T. Taylor would go on to found the short-lived Christian Bible College in New Castle, KY, which moved to Nashville, TN in 1882. He became a leader of Nashville’s African-American community, eventually playing a major role in the founding of Tennessee State University ($2,500-3,500.) 

A unique diary of a young Seattle woman, LeEtta Sanders, captures a snapshot of her life during 1915. Sanders was a Washington native, whose life seems to have been contained within a community of middle-class and professional African-Americans. The diary contains much of what one would expect from a 21-year-old woman mentioning matters of the heart and her day-to-day life, even describing herself as “just a flirt.” The diary carries an estimate of $2,000 to $3,000. 

The sale is closed out by an archive of Sister Makinya Sibeko-Kouate dating from 1940-1975. Sibeko-Kouate brought the first Kwanzaa celebrations to the Bay Area and went on to become of the holiday’s leading populizers, traveling to numerous states and African nations. In 2015 she was named Queen Mother of Kwanzaa ($6,000-9,000).

Dallas, Texas - An insert from the horror classic that has been called “the greatest sequel ever made” and a rare one sheet from a 1930s comedy classic will vie for top-lot honors in Heritage Auctions’ Movie Posters Auction March 23-24 in Dallas.

The Bride of Frankenstein (Universal, 1935) Insert (estimate: $50,000-100,000) casts a spotlight on the film now considered by many to be a monument of the horror genre. James Whale initially wanted no part of directing the sequel, and even after begrudgingly accepting the role, he felt Bride never could live up to the standard set by his 1931 classic, Frankenstein. So uninspired was Whale that he treated it as a farce, with elements of dark comedy … only to find that his approach was a huge hit with audiences. The film opened to rave reviews and was trumpeted as Whale’s “second masterpiece.” The offered insert is one of the most desirable posters in Universal’s now-legendary horror franchise, and one of very few copies known to remain in existence. The collage-style design features each of the main characters in a ghoulish light, which fits the film perfectly.

“What director James Whale was able to do with The Bride of Frankenstein is remarkable, as it became an enormously successful and popular film, and the images on the poster really capture the spirit of the film itself,” Heritage Auctions Vintage Posters Director Grey Smith said. “This is a must-have for any collector of horror film posters.”

A Red Headed Woman (MGM, 1932) One Sheet (estimate: $50,000-100,000) is a stunning piece around which serious collections can be built. Offered by Heritage Auctions for just the second time, this rarity represents an exceptional opportunity for collectors of pre-Code cinema. In this classic, star Jean Harlow trades in her signature platinum blonde locks for fiery red in her role as a conniving socialite. With a plot plucked from Katherine Brush’s 1931 novel of the same name, it was a hit with audiences, thanks in large part to Harlow’s stellar turn as Lil, the unrepentant gold digger with a balance of tackiness and charm. Once displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art, this rarity can be the centerpiece of any serious collection.

One of the most popular films of all time comes to life on this The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939) Half Sheet (estimate: $40,000-80,000). Produced in 1939, at a cost of $2.7 million during the Depression, it only earned just over $3 million at the box office, a modest return for the era. But a television revival of the film sent its popularity soaring, and it now is one of the most collected titles in the poster hobby. This is a very rare and beautiful poster with brilliant color and images commemorating a timeless classic film.

Whale’s classic sequel appears in another format in this The Bride of Frankenstein (Universal, 1935) Window Card (estimate: $30,000-60,000), which is so rare it never has been offered by Heritage Auctions before. A sensational find for collectors, this window card features a full-color image otherwise found only on the film’s Style H three sheet, of which none is known to exist. The image is dominated by Boris Karloff in his second run as Mary Shelly’s reanimated creation and is flanked by leading lady Valerie Hobson and the bride, played by Elsa Lanchester.

Amid dire financial troubles, there was talk in the 1940s at Universal Studios of abandoning horror film making, a strategy that thankfully was not pursued when it was realized that horror films were the studio’s only films sure to turn a profit. Lon Chaney, Jr., became the studio’s new star, and is featured on this The Wolf Man (Universal, 1941) Insert (estimate: $30,000-60,000). So successful was the film that it revived the studio’s horror cycle for another decade. Spotlighting a masterpiece that co-stars Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi and Warren William, this insert is considered the best format among the film’s posters, and it unquestionably is the most rare.

Other top lots include, but are not limited to:

The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939) Style B Half Sheet (estimate: $25,000-50,000)

Chain Lightning Original Art by Alfredo Capitani (Warner Brothers, 1949)  (estimate: $15,000-30,000)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Universal, 1923) Pre-War Belgian (estimate: $12,000-24,000)

The Man Who Laughs (Universal, 1929) Autographed German Posters (estimate: $12,000-24,000)

The Maltese Falcon (Warner Brothers, 1946) First Post-War Release French Grande (estimate: $8,000-16,000)

Amherst, MA -- The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art will celebrate the 50th birthday of The Very Hungry Caterpillar during its annual Very Hungry Caterpillar Day celebration on Sunday, March 24 from noon to 4 pm. The day-long celebration features special art projects, a visit from the Caterpillar costume character, a storytime by local author Angela DiTerlizzi, and a sale in The Carle Bookshop. The event also coincides with the final day of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Turns 50 exhibition.

Angela DiTerlizzi, author of Just Add Glitter and Some Bugs, will present a special storytime and book signing, and join The Very Hungry Caterpillar costumed character and museum guests in a Wiggle Jiggle Dance Party.Visitors to the Art Studio can contribute to a large collaborative caterpillar creation designed and facilitated by students from Holyoke Community College. The Caterpillar Lab (a non-profit organization based in New Hampshire that fosters an appreciation for the wonderful world of caterpillars) will share a Springtime Caterpillar Bonanza, where guests can learn about native caterpillars. Guests can meet and get their photo taken with The Very Hungry Caterpillar costumed character and join in a Wiggle Jiggle dance party. Also, all Very Hungry Caterpillar items in The Carle Bookshop will be 15% off (Members save 30%).

This day is also the last chance for guests to view The Very Hungry Caterpillar Turns 50 exhibition. It features work from every page and explores the origins of this classic children's book. Other highlights include the one-of-a-kind Very Hungry Caterpillar necklace Carle gave his late wife, Bobbie, as well as posters he made to commemorate earlier anniversaries of the book.

Since its publication in 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into 62 languages, most recently Yiddish and Mongolian. Fifty years later, a copy of the book sells somewhere in the world every 30 seconds! Carle believes this book stands out as such a beloved classic because it is about hope. "Like the caterpillar," he says, "children will grow up and spread their wings."

SCHEDULE:

12:00 pm

Museum opens to the public

12:30pm

FILM: Eric Carle: Picture Writer (30 min., Auditorium)

12:30 - 4:30pm

Springtime Caterpillar Bonanza with The Caterpillar Lab! (Great Hall) 

1:00 - 1:30pm

Meet The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Great Hall)

1:30 - 1:45pm

Wiggle Jiggle Dance Party with the Very Hungry Caterpillar (Great Hall)

2:00 - 2:30pm

Special Storytime with Angela DiTerlizzi (Auditorium)

2:30pm

Book signing with Angela DiTerlizzi (Great Hall)

2:45 - 2:55pm

Film: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Clip from episode 1721, (10 min., Auditorium)

3:00 - 3:30pm

Meet The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Great Hall) 

3:30 - 3:45pm

Wiggle Jiggle Dance Party with the Very Hungry Caterpillar (Great Hall)

3:45pm

FILM: House for Hermit Crab (9 min., Auditorium)

Ongoing activities: Special art project in the Art Studio, and a museum-wide Caterpillar Food Search scavenger hunt.

New York - Swann Galleries’ sale of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings on March 5 earned $2.7M, with property from the Ismar Littmann Family Collection of German Expressionism & European Avant-Garde forming the cornerstone of the auction. 

Of the Littmann Family collection Todd Weyman, Prints & Drawings Director and Vice President of the house, noted, “We are very pleased with sale of property from the Littmann Family. We surpassed the total low estimate for the collection and saw active bidding for items from both American and European private collectors alike with Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Mueller, Emil Orlik and Max Pechstein being standout artists.”  

Top lots from the collection included Sommer I, 1912, by Max Pechstein, which surged past its high estimate of $15,000, bringing $81,250, a record for the work, as well as Pechstein’s Reisebilder: Italien-Sudsee, 1919, which earned $25,000. A pair of color lithographs from 1926-27 by Otto Mueller-Lagernde Zigeunerfamilie mit Ziege and Zwei Zigeunerinnen (Zigeunermutter mit Tochter)-brought top prices at $32,500 and $25,000, respectively. Emil Orlik’s oil on board, Still leben, 1914, topped its low estimate at $16,250, and a 1905 charcoal figure study by Käthe Kollwitz garnered $27,500.  

The afternoon portion of the sale did not slow, bringing the top lot of the auction: Van Gogh’s only etching, Homme à la Pipe: Portrait du Docteur Gachet, 1890, with $106,250. Salvador Dalí followed close behind with the watercolor, Don Quichotte e Sancio Panza, 1964, at $100,000, while La Conquête du Cosmos I & II, a 1974 complete set of 12 color drypoints by the artist, brought $31,200. 

Additional works by Modernist stalwarts included Roses et Mimosa, a color lithograph from 1975 by Marc Chagall at $27,500; Joan Miró’s color aquatint, Le Permissionaire, 1974, with $47,500. Picasso’s Tête sur Fond noir, sold for $25,000, a record for the 1953 lithograph. Also of note was Sonia Delaunay’s exuberant color pochoir and watercolor illustration of Blaise Cendrars’ poem La Prose du Transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France, 1913, which earned $87,500.

Edvard Munch was well represented in the sale with a run of lithographs: Harpyie, 1899, which depicts the denizen of the underworld over a skeleton brought $30,000, and Alfas død, 1908-09, whose composition bears similarities to Munch’s iconic Scream garnered $22,500; both were record-setting prices for the works. August Strindberg, an 1896 portrait of the Swedish poet, writer and close friend of the artist was won for $30,000.

Italian masters were present with Giorgio Morandi’s 1956 etching, Natura Morta con Cinque Oggetti, which exemplified the primary focus of the artist’s oeuvre, brought $47,500, and Femme nue, a 1915 pencil drawing by Amedeo Modigliani earned $33,800.

Additional highlights included Winslow Homer’s line-based etching of rural women, Mending the Tears, 1888, which set a record with $30,000, and Illustrations of the Book of Job, 1826, by William Blake, a complete set of 22 engravings, saw a price of $87,500.

The next auction of Prints & Drawings will be held on May 2 with Old Master Through Modern Prints. Visit www.swanngalleries.com or download the Swann Galleries app for catalogues, bidding and inquiries.

Image: Lot 258: Vincent van Gogh, Homme à la Pipe: Portrait du Docteur Gachet, etching, 1890. Sold for $106,250.

New York - Christie’s is honored to present The Collection of Drue Heinz, which encompasses a remarkable selection of fine art that will be offered throughout Christie’s New York Impressionist and Modern Evening and Day Sales in May. The collection of Drue Heinz is a reflection of her keen observation and innate eye. Heinz was married to H.J. (Jack) Heinz II - CEO of the H. J. Heinz Company - from 1953 until his death in 1987, and she made most of her acquisitions over the course of their three decades of marriage. Throughout her life, Heinz enjoyed nothing more than taking on new endeavors that advanced the work of emerging artists of all kinds. Her spirit is very much reflected within her collection, and as such, proceeds from its sale will go to support her beloved Hawthornden Literary Retreat among other charitable projects. From these and other benefactions one takes away the overall impression of an energetic collaborator who took a personal interest in undertakings that she felt were important to nourishing the human spirit. Works from the collection will also be offered across the Spring Sales of Post-War and Contemporary and Latin American Art. Further, A striking range of decorative arts will be sold in a dedicated sale taking place in London on June 4.

Jessica Fertig, Head of Evening Sale, Impressionist and Modern Art, New York, remarked: “The collection of fine art that Mrs. Heinz assembled includes the most important artists of the early modern period —Picasso, Modigliani, Giacometti, Monet, Magritte and Matisse. From Bonnard’s Une terrasse à Grasse, one of the finest and most sumptuous examples of the artist’s terrace series, or in the suspended drama of Picasso’s Course de taureaux, through to the intimate dimensions of Cézanne’s pencil study of five bathers, related to the celebrated Basel painting of the same subject, or the quietude of an exquisite Morandi still-life. In every case, the art reflects careful, informed selection. And it was displayed in the Heinz homes so that at every turn the eye would fall on something thought-provoking and beautiful.”

Over the years, Drue Heinz became a great advocate for literature and writers. She also assumed the role of a thoughtful supporter and board member at a number of prestigious art museums: the Carnegie in Pittsburgh, the Royal Academy in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. She was known for asking difficult questions, and seizing the opportunity if a project needed funding, as well as being mindful that room should be left for other ardent supporters to contribute.

Mrs. Heinz founded Ecco Press in 1971 and served as publisher of the Paris Review from 1993 to 2008. She was responsible for funding the Monday Night Lectures in Pittsburgh, which continue to draw America’s top literary writers to the lectern and she provided sustained sponsorship of the Lincoln Center Review, which illuminated the vital function of the theatrical canon to the modern world.  The Drue Heinz Literature Prize, endowed in 1981 in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Press, enables the publication of short fiction and serves as an enormous source of encouragement for writers to continue their work.  It is an esteemed annual award for those who submit a collection of short stories.  The prize is monetary but the exposure of having the writer’s first collection published is invaluable.

Highlights from the Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art to include: Leading the collection is Amedeo Modigliani’s Lunia Czechowska (à la robe noire), 1919 (estimate: $12-18 million)- pictured on page 1, right. Modigliani was infatuated with his subject, a young Polish émigré, who was married to a close friend of the artist’s dealer, Léopold Zborowski, and would ultimately go on to paint her likeness in ten known paintings. Czechowska was 25 when she sat for the present portrait, a canvas that Joseph Lanthemann praised for being “plein de noblesse, de beauté et de communion”. Czechowska’s fine, delicate features bespeak a discerning intelligence and a rare sensitivity, which perfectly suited the artist’s fascination with this type. Her serious demeanor and youthfully lithe, feminine figure lent themselves well to the primary influences the artist liked to incorporate and show off in his portraits—the elongated forms of the 16th century Italian Mannerists Parmigianino and Pontormo, filtered through his modernist attraction to aspects of African tribal art. 

Pierre Bonnard’s La Terrasse ou Une terrasse à Grasse, 1912 (estimate: $6-9 million) is a pageant of high-keyed color and luxuriant, Mediterranean vegetation. This idyllic scene — one of Bonnard’s earliest tours de force on the theme of the terrace — depicts the grounds of the Villa Antoinette at Grasse, some twelve miles north of Cannes, where the artist and his future wife Marthe stayed on holiday from January to May 1912. La Terrasse is one of the two largest canvases that Bonnard painted during his exceptionally productive stay at Grasse, both major decorative statements visualizing the Côte d’Azur as a modern-day Arcadia. In La Terrasse, Bonnard creates a private, enclosed world that evokes the sultry heat and languorous reverie of a Mediterranean afternoon. Marthe is now subordinate to the colorful profusion of vegetation, her motionless figure registering to the viewer within the composition only after a slight, almost imperceptible delay; her sun-dappled blue jacket and brown cloche hat seem to merge, wraithlike, with the surrounding ground of the terrace. “This dreaming feminine presence, Marthe,” Sasha Newman has written, “who so often appears in cutoff views—glimpsed on a balcony, through a door, or reflected in a mirror—is central to the underlying air of mystery in much of Bonnard’s art.” 

Henri Matisse painted Nu à la fenêtre (estimate: $7-10 million) - also known as Nu nacré (Pearly Nude) for the iridescent quality of its light—in his new studio during the first part of 1929 and sold the canvas to Bernheim-Jeune that September. The painting was reproduced shortly thereafter in two important monographs, one by Florent Fels and the other by Roger Fry, which paid tribute to the artist on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday in December 1929; it was first exhibited publicly at the Kraushaar Galleries in New York the following fall. The focal point of this luminous,canvas is the nude model, the subject par excellence of Matisse’s exemplary Nice period. “The Odalisques were the bounty of a happy nostalgia, a lovely vivid dream, and the almost ecstatic, enchanted days and nights of the Moroccan climate,” the artist recounted. “I felt an irresistible need to express that ecstasy, that divine unconcern, in corresponding colored rhythms, rhythms of sunny and lavish figures and colors”. Here, Matisse depicted a sultry brunette named Loulou, one of several ballet dancers from the Compagnie de Paris who populated the artist’s private pictorial theater in 1928-1929. The paintings that Matisse created in early 1929 represent the culmination of his work at Nice during this transformative period. 

Pablo Picasso, a lifelong aficionado of the heroism and pathos of the bullfight, executed Course de taureaux in 1900 (estimate: $4-6 million), capturing the brief, electrifying moment immediately before the bull charges into the corrida, its every nerve-ending fired with the anticipation of combat. Picasso rendered this scene, laying down pastel in vivid hues and with a material density that conjures the physicality of the impending encounter, in mid-1900, the artist was just eighteen years old, ablaze with youthful
ambition and preparing for his own dramatic entry into a new arena. The previous year, he had returned home to Barcelona after a brief stint at the prestigious but stiflingly traditional Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid; now, ever more forceful and independent, he was just months away from his first trip to Paris, determined to prove his worth in the very center of the art world. 

The dedicated London sale of Decorative Arts on June 4: 

The contents of Mrs. Heinz’s London mews house and Manhattan townhouse will be offered in London on June 4. The London mews was purchased by Mr. & Mrs. Heinz in the late 1950s and is particularly special as it has at its core one of the most charming and untouched John Fowler interiors remaining, with a second phase of development and decoration in the 1980s by Renzo Mongiardino. He masterfully integrated a neighbouring mews property, formerly car showroom, into the home creating a theatrical ballroom, the walls of which are completely painted with vistas inspired by the Villa Falconieri in Rome. The top lot of the sale is from the London property, a massive George II giltwood pier mirror, circa 1750, in the manner of Vardy (estimate: £150,000 - 250,000), and further highlights from London include Swimming Pool by David Hockney, O.M., C.H., R.A., signed, dedicated and dated 'For Drue and Jack with love from David H. Feb/1982' (estimate: £70,000-100,000). 

The New York townhouse was an earlier Mongiardino creation dating to 1976 and was published anonymously in Architectural Digest shortly after its completion. Notable lots from New York include a Regency specimen marble bronzed and parcel-gilt centre table circa 1810 (estimate: £15,000-25,000); a pair of Chinese Export black and gilt-lacquer wardrobes the lacquer panels early 19th century and adapted from a screen (estimate: £6,000-10,000); a Victorian oak letter box, late 19th century, by W. Thornhill (estimate: £2,500-4,000); the two latter lots both depicted in the in-situ interior shot, left). The collection sale as a whole comprises Impressionist & Modern, Modern British and Contemporary works of art alongside Old Master Paintings, English and Continental furniture and objet d’art, silver, Chinese porcelain and decorative furnishings many of which were supplied either by Colefax & Fowler or Mongiardino. 

London — The archive of Tony Benn (3 April 1925 - 14 March 2014), Labour’s longest-serving MP, has been negotiated to the nation, accepted in lieu of inheritance tax and permanently allocated to the British Library, in accordance with the condition attached to its offer. 

The thorough archive was accumulated by Benn during his lifetime, beginning in his early youth, when he first started to keep a formal diary and associated papers (the earliest volume was written by Benn at the age of 9). It then spans the rest of his life, providing rich documentation of his active political career as well as a substantial collection of source material reflecting the history of the UK during this time. 

“We are pleased that this substantial archive with its considerable research value will be added to the British Library collections of contemporary archives, available to all those interested in post-war British politics and society, into the Labour Party and the labour movement, as well as into the long and influential career of Tony Benn himself,” commented Ruth Cornett, Director, Heritage and Taxation Advisory Service, and Thomas Venning, Head of Department, Books & Manuscripts of Christie’s. 

Benn was a Member of Parliament for 47 years and served as a Cabinet minister in the Harold Wilson and James Callaghan administrations in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1960 he inherited a peerage on his father’s death (as 2nd Viscount Stansgate), which prevented him from continuing to serve as an MP. This spurred his campaign to renounce his title and remain in the House of Commons, leading to the creation of the Peerage Act in 1963. 

In the Labour government of 1964-7 he served as Postmaster General and then Minister of Technology. In 1971-2 he was Chairman of the Labour Party, and during the Labour government of 1974-9 he returned to Cabinet, first as Secretary of State for Industry and then as Secretary of State for Energy. Throughout the 1980s, when Labour was the opposition again, Benn emerged as a prominent figure on its left wing, during which the term “Bennite” was coined and used to describe those associated with radical left-wing politics. 

When Benn eventually left Parliament in 2001 he became President of the Stop the War Coalition, which he led until his death in 2014. He has been described as “one of the few UK politicians to have become more left-wing after holding ministerial office”. 

The archive is especially rich in audio and video content, with thousands of hours of audio diaries recording Benn’s fresh, unedited impressions over many years. It represents a uniquely valuable resource for biographers, researchers and historians, particularly in the context of the British Library’s extensive oral history collections relating to UK politics and government. 

Christie’s has been instrumental in the negotiation of this work to the nation. For nearly 50 years, Christie’s Heritage & Taxation Advisory Service has built up extensive experience, helping numerous Christie's clients with transactions that have resulted in over 10,000 chattels of pre-eminent national interest being acquired by public museums, galleries or institutions, through a private treaty sale or in lieu of inheritance tax or other death duties. 

The acceptance of this archive settled £210,000 of tax. 

Boxborough, MA — Flamingo Eventz is pleased to announce the return of the popular Boxborough Paper Town - The Vintage Paper, Books & Advertising Collectibles Show. This is the original Boxborough Paper Show where you’ll find all things Paper - from classic Ephemera to Books, Board Games, Postcards, Advertising, Classic Vinyl, and more! A long time favorite of both dealers and customers, we continue to make changes and improvements to ensure continued growth and success. We’re bigger, better, more diverse, and with lots of new dealers…this is the paper show to attend for the rare, unusual and hard-to-find treasure!

Scheduled for Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Boxborough Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Boxborough, MA, Exhibitors from across the Northeast will gather to present an outstanding array of fine, rare & unusual old books, maps, postcards, autographs, prints, posters, advertising, and much, much more. Plus, we have appraisals by well-known appraiser John Bruno, star of the PBS series Market Warriors, and guest appraisers from 1-3pm. Interested parties - both dealers & customers - should contact Flamingo Eventz at 603.509.2639 / info@flamingoeventz.com.

Exhibitor Specialties include: Advertising Covers, African American, Americana, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Auctions, Autographs, Aviation, Baseball, Books, Bibles, Black History, Black Power, Calendars, Calling Cards, Christmas, Circus, Civil War, Cook Books, Charts, Children’s Books, Cocktails, Design, Dogs, Die Cuts, Documents, Engineering, Engraving, Ephemera, Erotica, Esoterica, Fantasy, Fashion, Fishing, Floridiana, Folklore, Folk Music, Foreign Language, Furniture, Games, Gardens & Horticulture, Graphics, Historic Documents, Horses, Hunting, Illustrated Books, Interior Design, Japan, Judaica, Letters, Logbooks, Manuscripts, Maps, Maritime, Medicine, Middle East, Military, Modernism, Music, Native American, Natural History, Nautical, Naval, New York City, New York State, New Jersey, Novelties, Olympic Games, Pacifica, Photographs, Photography, Pochoir, Polar, Pop-Ups & Moveable Books, Poetry, Postcards, Posters, Presentation Copies, Presidential Archives, Press Books, Prints, Pulitzer Prize Winners, Psychedelica, Puppetry, Puzzles, Railroad, Reference, Revolutionary War, Russia, Scholarly, Science, Science Fiction, Sports, Sporting, Technical, Theatre, Theology, Trade Cards, Trade Catalogues, Travel & Exploration, Travel Brochures, Typography, U.S. Coastal History, Vanity Fair Prints, Valentines, Voyages, Watercolors, Whaling, Wine, Yachting. These, and many other specialties, will be found at this event. Be sure to check our website, FlamingoEventz.com, for complete details and easily downloaded Discount Coupons.

Date/Hours: Saturday, April 6, 2019, 9am-3pm

Location: The Boxborough Regency Hotel & Conference Center, 242 Adams Place, Boxborough, MA 01709. Directly off I-495, exit 28.

Admission: Adults: $7 ($1 Discount with Ad or Website Coupon), Young Collectors 12-21: $4, plenty of free parking.

Appraisals: By John Bruno, Star of Market Warriors, and guest appraisers 12-2pm at $5/Item.

Directions: I-495 Exit 28, East on Massachusetts Ave (Rt. 111), right on Adams Place to Hotel. Check our website: flamingoeventz.com for easily downloaded maps.

Miscellaneous: Food & refreshment available at the Hotel restaurant during show hours.

Information: For Dealer or Customer information, please call or click 603.509.2639 / info@flamingoeventz.com.

New York - Swann Galleries’ March 21 sale of Autographs promises an assortment of hard-to-find items from world leaders, scientists, innovators and other notable figures.             

An extraordinary run of material by Diana, Princess of Wales, includes a group of six autograph letters signed to her friend, the editor of British Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, Elizabeth Tilberis. The group comes from the late 80s and early 90s and discuss a number of topics including Diana’s cover of the December 1991 issue of British Vogue, as well as Tilberis’s move to Harper’s Bazaar and the United States (Estimate: $5,000-7,000). Additional cards signed and inscribed by the late royal include a selection of Christmas cards featuring photographs of the family, estimated at $700 to $1,000 apiece. Also of note is a photograph signed by Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, from 1976, and an 1884 ALS from Queen Victoria to Alfred, Lord Tennyson expressing her sorrows over the death of her son, Leopold ($1,000-2,000 and $3,000-4,000, respectively).  The sale is led by a 1776 ALS from Joseph Brant, Thayeadanegea, the leader of the Mohawk people and military, and British Loyalist. At the time of the American Revolution both the Colonies and British military were vying for Native American support: in his letter Brant explains that he had been in England meeting with King George III recounting the events that had taken place in America. The letter is expected to bring $20,000 to $30,000. 

Additional Americana highlights include a letter signed from 1793 by Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury to the President and Directors of the Bank of the U.S. expressing that they will receive an appropriation for giving advances to the U.S. Mint, and a 1783 autograph document by Elbridge Gerry, from which the term “gerrymander” is derived, discussing the landscape of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey for placement of the Capital ($4,000-6,000 and $3,500-5,000, respectively).  

George Washington leads the selection of presidential signatures with a signed ticket for the Mountain Road Lottery from 1768 at $5,000 to $7,500. Theodore Roosevelt is present with a number of typed letters signed: one from November 1912 expressing his hopes for the future of the Bull Moose Party shortly after being shot while giving a speech, and a group of five to his sister, Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, in one of which he expresses that he “…cannot give a position to anyone simply because he is a friend,” ($1,200-2,500 and $3,000-4,000, respectively). A partly-printed document signed by Abraham Lincoln appointing John T. Hogeboom as Appraiser of Merchandise in April of 1864 rounds out the assortment at $4,000 to $6,000. 

Scientists and inventors feature prominently in the sale, including a rare signature from Edwin Hubble, one of the most influential astronomers and the namesake for the Hubble Telescope, estimated at $1,500 to $2,500; a letter signed by Swiss mathematician Johann “The Elder” Bernoulli, in which he states that Paris seems to think him dead, is expected to bring $4,000 to $6,000; and an ink and wash portrait by Charlotte Berend-Corinth of Albert Einstein, signed by the physicist ($4,000-6,000). Nikola Tesla is on offer with a dated and signed correspondence card that bears his Art Deco monogram ($3,500-5,000), as well as an ALS from Alexander Graham Bell to Eliza Catherine Scidmore accepting an invitation to tea during his only trip to Japan ($1,000-2,000).  

Unique combinations of autographs include a 1950-56 guestbook from Lüchow’s-a popular New York City restaurant that was a meeting place for the city’s entertainers, artists, musicians and athletes. The book contains over 400 signatures from the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Al Hirschfeld, Grace Kelly, Joan Miró, Cole Porter, Eleanor Roosevelt and Barbara Streisand and carries an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. Charles B. Driscoll’s personal copy of his book Doubloons features over 500 signatures and inscriptions from authors, artists, entertainers and others from the 1930s-40s. Notable figures include Al Capp, James Montgomery Flagg and Burne Hogarth; Albert Einstein, Aldous Huxley and Thomas Wolfe all signed on the same page ($3,500-5,000).  

Musicians, writers and artists round out the sale with autograph material from Glenn Gould, Friedrich Hölderlin, Claude Monet and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. 

York, PA - Just as superheroes have leaped off the pages of comic books to take over the motion picture industry, original comic art has confidently moved into the ranks of “legitimate” art. Hake’s has been instrumental in bringing fine comic art to the auction marketplace and will present yet another outstanding selection in its March 13-14 sale. 

“It is not at all uncommon to see original art from comic book pages or covers included in important collections,” said Alex Winter, president of Hake’s Americana. “If an artwork in one of our auctions was created for a cover that illustrates a turning point in a significant storyline or marks the first appearance of a major character, we know there will be bidding competition from traditional art collectors.”

A case in point is Rob Liefeld’s original pen-and-ink art for Page 27 of New Mutants #98, published by Marvel in February 1991. This artboard is from the issue that introduces the wildly popular antihero Deadpool, who went on to star in countless comics, video games, and blockbuster films. Original page art from issue #98 is especially rare because Deadpool appears on only seven pages. A unique artwork held privately since shortly after the issue’s publication, it makes its auction debut with a $20,000-$35,000 estimate. 

An original acrylic-on-canvas painting by legendary sci-fi/comic book artist Greg Hildebrandt depicts one of Marvel’s most infamous villains, Thanos, striding over skulls as the cosmos swirls around him. The 27.5 by 39-inch artwork was painted in 2018 for a limited-variant cover for the first issue of Infinity Wars Prime. Artist-signed at lower right and in near-mint condition, it is expected to make $10,000-$20,000.

Another major work offered in the auction is the original art for Page 33 of Sandman Vol. 2, #14 (DC Vertigo, March 1990), penciled by Mike Dringenberg and inked by Malcolm Jones III. Few Sandman pages have appeared for public sale, and this seven-panel page from early in Neil Gaiman’s iconic Sandman series is initialed and dated by Dringenberg. It has never before been offered at auction and is estimated at $5,000-$10,000.

As if that were not enough to send comic art collectors into a tailspin, Hake’s will also offer Frank Quitely’s original cover art for All-Star Superman #6 (DC Comics), from a series that ran from November 2005 through October 2008. The poignant scene depicts Superman standing at the gravestone of his adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, with his canine companion Krypto alongside him. “All Frank Quitely original art is highly sought after and rarely comes to auction, especially a piece of this caliber. Collectors won’t find a better example than this,” said Winter. Estimate: $5,000-$10,000

Premium-quality comic books are a staple in all Hake’s sales, but the March 13-14 selection is especially exciting because it features 200+ CGC-graded examples, including the first 100 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man title published from 1962 through 1971. A litany of memorable villains passes through the pages of those 100 issues, including Mysterio, Green Goblin, Kingpin, Lizard, Shocker, and more.

Four especially desirable CGC-graded Spider-Man issues lead the grouping, starting with Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), which introduces The Amazing Spider-Man (Peter Parker), as well as Aunt May and Uncle Ben. With a Jack Kirby cover and Steve Ditko art to illustrate Stan Lee’s story, this CGC 3.0 (Good/VG) issue should easily reach the $10,000-$20,000 range. 

J. Jonah Jameson and The Chameleon make their first appearances in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), with the additional bonuses of the first Fantastic Four crossover and a recounting of the origin of Spider-Man. A key Silver Age Marvel comic CGC-graded 6.0 (Fine), this issue is estimated at $10,000-$20,000. Two other issues to watch are The Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July 1963), CGC 7.5 (VF) with the first appearance of Doctor Octopus, $5,000-$10,000; and The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963), CGC 6.5 (Fine+) with the first appearance of the Vulture and the Terrible Tinkerer, $2,000-$5,000. 

Of the memorabilia that exists from the legendary first “Negro League World Series” of October 1924, perhaps no other item is as cherished as the panoramic photo taken prior to Game 5 and showing both teams with their managers and owners. The picture includes 41 individuals including eight future Baseball Hall of Fame selectees, more than are seen in any other surviving original Negro League Baseball photograph. It is believed that the original photographic prints were distributed directly to participants of the 1924 Series. Hake’s will present one of the extremely rare 7 by 35-inch photographs in its March auction, with a $25,000-$35,000 estimate. Also for baseball fans, there are 150 Cracker Jack collector cards produced in 1914-15, including the rare “Shoeless” Joe Jackson card.

Over 100 Star Wars action figures and other collectibles will be auctioned, including 60+ examples from the peerless Russell Branton collection. Among the highlights are an AFA-graded 75 EX+/NM Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - Bespin Alliance 3-pack series, $10,000-$20,000; a Sears exclusive AFA-graded 80 NM Star Wars Cantina Adventure Set with the elusive blue Snaggletooth figure, $5,000-$10,000; a life-size (6ft 6in) Don Post Studios Boba Fett figure, $5,000-$10,000; and a Star Wars double-telescoping Luke Skywalker figure on 12 Back-A blister card, AFA-graded 80 NM (archival case), $10,000-$20,000.

Political memorabilia, a category Hake’s first brought to the collector marketplace more than 50 years ago, will be sizzling with highlights, including a 26-star, pre-Civil War Henry Clay, T. Frelinghuysen and Joseph Markle Pennsylvania coattail campaign flag; and an important 1860 parade flag emblazoned “For President, Abram Lincoln - For Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin,” which has been in private hands for more than a half-century. Each is estimated at $20,000-$35,000. Topping the political buttons and pinbacks section are a 1940 Wendell Willkie/FDR “Out At Third” baseball-theme button, $10,000-$20,000; and a similarly estimated Truman lithographed button showing Harry Truman’s face on an 8-ball, a reference to his being behind the 8-ball as he headed into the 1948 presidential race.

Chicago — Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce its 600+ lot Gambling Memorabilia sale to be held on Saturday, March 30th, 2019 starting at 10am at the company's gallery, located at 3759 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60613. The sale features the collection of Tom Blue, an avid enthusiast with a keen eye for the extraordinary. Blue assembled one of the most comprehensive and finely curated gambling collections in the United States over the course of several decades. All lots from this upcoming event will be on display and available for public preview on Wednesday, March 27th, Thursday, March 28th, and Friday, March 29th from 10:00am to 5:00pm in the Potter & Potter facility. All times noted are CST. 

Outstanding antique books and publications on poker, playing cards, cheating, and advantage play represent many of the top lots in this auction.  Collectors are certain to discover many titles of interest among the 300+ selections on offer. Lot #35, a first edition of SW Erdnase's The Expert at the Card Table is estimated at $6,000-9,000. This tightly bound, clean, and crisp example is illustrated with over 100 drawings “from life” by Marshall D. Smith.  According to Gabe Fajuri, President of Potter & Potter Auctions, "This is unquestionably the single most mythologized book related to gambling, cheating, and card sharping ever produced, since its initial publication in 1902 by the mysterious author "Erdnase," this treatise on the "science and art of manipulating cards" has never been out of print." Lot #151, FR Ritter's Combined Treatise on Advantage Card Playing and Draw Poker from 1905 is estimated at $6,000-9,000. This absolute rarity is heavily illustrated with halftones showing blot-out, shade, line, scroll, and other marked cards, hold-outs (including the first-known published photograph of a Jacob’s Ladder-style sleeve hold-out), false cuts, and deals. In May, 2016 Potter & Potter sold another copy of this legacy book for $12,000. Lot #39, a first edition of Gerritt Evans' How Gamblers Win from 1865 is estimated at $4,000-6,000. This exceeding rare first edition is one of the earliest American works to describe the techniques of crooked gamblers, and perhaps the first to focus heavily on cheating in poker. It is one of a mere handful of copies known, two of which are institutional holdings. And bidders are likely to look favorably upon lot #219, Abraham De Moivre's The Doctrine of Chances: or, a Method of Calculating the Probabilities of Events in Play.  This first edition from 1718 is a landmark work in the theory of probability, with many of the concepts illustrated with and applied to gambling with cards and dice. De Moivre dedicated this work to his close friend, Isaac Newton.  

Breathtaking selections of gambling accessories and devices are also well represented in this sale, with nearly two dozen temptations on offer. Lot #525, a 23" tall,  c. 1910 American made gaffed mahogany keno goose is estimated at $2,000-3,000.  This handsomely turned example features a hidden internal compartment that holds a second set of keno balls. High or low numbers can be dispensed depending upon the desired outcome of the game.  Lot #604, a c. 1931 Mills 10 cent front slot machine is estimated at $1,00-1,500.  This 14k example is in working condition and includes its original gold award tokens.  Lot #529, a c. 1900 boxed mechanical Jeu de Course horserace game is estimated at $400-600.  This professionally restored rarity is decorated with imitation French Francs, a flag ornament, and a metal horse head on its box top lid.  And its case closed with lot #530, a c. 1940 All-In-One-Game housed in its original handled chest.  Roulette, Market, Put & Take, Poker, Chuck-a-Luck, Horse Races, Bunco, and Faro are just some of the games that can be played on this versatile, tin lithographed device. It is estimated at $250-350.

This auction's ephemera, poster, and print selections are a royal flush. Headlining this category just might be lot #577, five mid-20th century gambling-themed photographs of actors and actresses. Estimated at $100-150, the celebrities included in this collection include Barbara Stanwyck, Bob Hope, Ronald Coleman, Vilma Banky, and Salvatore Baccaloni. Lot #566, David Klein's 1960s-era Las Vegas Fly TWA travel poster is estimated at $500-700. This fabulously rendered, linen backed example comes to life with a playing card queen enjoying a glass of champagne with images of Las Vegas life inside her robes. And lot #76, a collection of gambling ephemera spanning the 1890s-1940s timeframe, is estimated at $150-250. It includes advertisements for playing cards, games on paper, pamphlets on gaming, excerpts from magazines, advertisements for stores, and others. 

Rolling along, this sale offers nearly 50 lots of dice and related apparatus. Lot #470, a pair of gaffed leather “butterfly” dice cups made by Bill Gusias around 1970 is estimated at $1,200-1,800.  This as new duo consists of one straight cup and one gaffed with a secret compartment; the performer switches from one to the other by pressing on a sweet spot on the bottom of one of the cups and twisting.  Lot #443, an American made 19th century loaded dice jig is estimated at $1,000-$1,500. This device was used by crooked gamblers to drill into a die and add lead to weight the desired side. This jig was obtained by the consignor from the famed Old West gambling collection of Bill Williamson and was the actual example used to illustrate the cheating section of “The Gamblers” in Time-Life’s Old West series (1978), p. 131. And its hip to be square with lot #459, a collection of  248 mid-twentieth century crooked dice. The grouping, estimated $800-1,200, includes 23 weights, 166 tops and bottoms, 20 flats, and 39 matching fairs, all housed in a leatherette case. 

This sale also has the upper hand in the playing card category. Lot #448, an all original c. 1880 Will & Finck brass sleeve holdout is estimated at $4,000-6,000. This fine, early Jacob’s Ladder-style holdout delivers a card into the gambler’s hand when his elbow is bent, and retracts when his arm is straightened. This actual example was used to illustrate the cheating section of “The Gamblers” in Time-Life’s Old West series (1978), p. 124.  Potter & Potter sold a similar Will & Finck brass sleeve holdout in May, 2018 for $12,000.  Lot #335, a complete set of Jazaniah H. Ford “Lafayette” playing cards from c. 1824 is estimated at $3,000-5,000. This deck commemorated the 1824 return of Marquis de Lafayette  to the United States. He was invited by President James Monroe in part to celebrate the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of our nation’s founding. Ford was the first Boston-area manufacturer of playing cards, and the first to issue a deck commemorating American history.  And lot #334, a deck of Grover Cleveland campaign playing cards from 1888 is estimated at $2,000-3,000.  This presidential caliber rarity, the only one extant, depicts Cleveland as King, running mate Allen Thurman as Jack, and First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston as Queen.  

The nearly three dozen lots of antique poker chips and sets round out this comprehensive gambling sale. Lot #448, a late 19th century White Mansion mother of pearl gambling chip set from Paris is estimated at $800-1,200. The chips include 60 dark blue plastic $25 chips, 60 aqua plastic $50 chips, 60 rectangular red plastic $100 chips, 28 rectangular mother of pearl $500 chips, and 28 oval mother of pearl $1,000 chips. The plastic chips are engraved “M.W." while the mother of pearl ones are engraved “White Mansion.” Lot #493, a late 19th century German royal flush gaming set is estimated at $500-700. This collection includes 450 enameled brass chips in lavender, blue, white, and yellow encased in a handsome, dark wooden box with wooden storage pegs. And the chips will fall where they may with lot #494, c. 1900 American made royal poker set, estimated at $300-500. The set features its original wooden box and lock, 51 brass $10 chips, 99 nickel $5 chips, 47 copper $25 chips and a complete 1920s U.S. Playing Card Co. art deco “Butterfly” deck signed by artist Mollie Macmillan.   

According to Gabe Fajuri, President at Potter & Potter Auctions, "Tom Blue spent a lifetime pursuing books on gambling and associated subjects in a way perhaps no other collector has. His library features all of the classics, alongside the rarities, and many of the works are represented by what I would call "top copies" - superlative condition, signed, or otherwise unusual or fine in some way. Anyone interested in this subject should find something in the auction to make his or her head spin."