London — London rare book dealer Peter Harrington has launched its new Masterpiece 2020 catalogue – one of its bi-annual curations of exceptionally rare and collectable books and artworks.

The summer 2020 catalogue features a collection of 50 fine books and manuscripts ranging from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, many of which have not previously come to market.

These include rare private correspondence, inscribed first editions with special literary associations, author’s personal copies of popular works and defining records of linguistic, inventive, exploratory, philosophical and artistic merit.

The release of the catalogue has been timed to coincide with Masterpiece Online, the inaugural virtual avatar of Masterpiece London Art Fair – the much-anticipated annual showcase of the finest works of art, design and collectables which was cancelled this year owing to coronavirus in favour of a digital-only exhibition due to run from June 22-28, 2020.  

Commenting on the new catalogue, Pom Harrington, owner of Peter Harrington said: “It has undoubtedly been an unusual couple of months, but we are pleased to say we have been incredibly busy and the proof is in this catalogue – a truly exciting collection of defining works from everyone from Isaac Newton to James Cook; presentation sets with wonderful associations and witty inscriptions from Joseph Conrad and Ian Fleming; and truly rare finds such as the oldest item in the catalogue -- the 1542 Jardin de las nobles donzellas, a pro-feminist treatise in the “mirror for princes” tradition, for Queen Isabel of Spain.

“It’s a testament to the enduring confidence within the rare book world that we continue to see robust interest in rare books and manuscripts of this calibre – a greatest hits of sorts from some of the most collectable names across numerous fields.”

Pom added: “We would have celebrated our 10th anniversary at Masterpiece this year, having exhibited at the fair since its inaugural edition in 2010. This selection of fifty fine items was conceived especially for Masterpiece 2020, and while we are sorry we will not be spending a few days at the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea this summer with clients and friends, we hope you enjoy browsing this incredible selection and the wonderful stories associated with each item as much as we have enjoyed curating it.”

All books in this catalogue will be on display at Peter Harrington’s Dover Street store in Mayfair from June 22 to June 28, 2020.

Highlights Include:

•    First edition, of Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, “the “greatest work in the history of science”, among the most significant and influential books ever published, in which Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of gravity, time, force, and motion- £450,000.

•    First edition of Bacon’s Novum Organum (a “new instrument” to replace the old Organon of Aristotle) - a monumental work on the philosophy of science, on the systematic organisation of knowledge, and on the inductive method - £65,000.

•    Complete set of the three voyages of James Cook, “The ablest and most renowned Navigator this or any country hath produced” - £39,500.

•    Six of Joseph Conrad’s major titles, each inscribed to his friend and fellow author H. G. Wells, a remarkable record of a literary friendship - £275,000.

•    Complete set of the Bond novels and stories, each lifetime presentation copy inscribed by author Ian Fleming - £500,000.

•    Wonderfully characterful pair of letters from Winston Churchill and Clementine relating to their long-term friendships with the great British painter Walter Sickert and his artist wife, Thérèse, reflecting Churchill’s very real emotional and intellectual investment in the practice of painting - £17,500.

•    Rare autograph letter by Charlotte Bronte to her closest friend Ellen Nussey, written when Charlotte was just 18 years old, exhibiting a style later to be found in her literary works - £65,000.

•    Rare second edition of Fray Martín’s Jardin de las nobles donzellas, a book of advice for Queen Isabel of Spain, a pro-feminist treatise in the “mirror for princes” tradition, “with references to the popular contemporary controversy of the battle between the sexes” - £30,000.

Other notable highlights include:

•    The only portion of the original manuscript of David Livingston’s Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa known to remain in private hands, Missionary Travels known to remain in private hands, together with the autograph letter of transmission from Livingstone’s sister, tipped into a copy of the first edition (£65,000).

•    The Principles of Mr. Harrison’s Time-Keeper - A handsome first edition of the primary account of the invention of the marine chronometer by John Harrison (£100,000).

•    One of only 20 French Deluxe copies of Gustav Klimt’s portfolio in French, featuring 30 collotype plates of Klimt’s work, including six of the paintings that were destroyed at the end of the Second World War. (£35,000).

•    Second, corrected edition of the official account of the first British Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, headed by George Staunton, Earl Macartney (£18,500).

•    Collection of 16 photographic albums of Arthur Stannard Vernay, an extraordinary personal archive of over 3,000 original photographs assembled by one of the most renowned naturalists and big-game hunters of the inter-war years, spanning Africa, the Middle East, India, and East Asia (£125,000).

•    First edition of one of 150 large paper copies of James Joyce’s Ulysses (£22,500).

•    First edition, with the plates in the proof state, of David Roberts’ The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia - “the apotheosis of the tinted lithograph”. No publication before this astonishing work had presented so comprehensive a series of views of the monuments, landscape, and people of the region (£57,000).

•    Scarce first edition in English of Heinrich Hoffman’s German children's Christmas picture book Der Struwwelpeter, among the rarest of all children's books due to the fragility of the publication (£18,500).

•    Rare first edition of Difesa, the second published work of Galileo in which he glories in his defeat of Baldassar Capra, who had plagiarised his work. He also describes the applications of his compass, his first significant scientific invention (£175,000).

•    First edition, Graham Greene’s personal copy of The Basement Room and Other Stories – Greene’s first short story collection – with his ownership inscription and manuscript annotations towards his screenplay for The Fallen Idol, the Carol Reed-directed adaptation of the lead story in this collection (£35,000).

•    Seven autograph letters signed from Aubrey Beardsley to Frederick Henry Evans, the photographer who took the defining Beardsley portrait (£32,500).

New York – Christie’s is pleased to report that the first dated printing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” achieved a total of $325,000 on Christie’s online sale platform. This rare newspaper printing was the first to appear at auction and was available for online bidding from June 2-18, 2020, as part of The Open Book: Fine Travel, Americana, Literature and History in Print and Manuscript auction during the Classic Week series of sales. The sale set a world auction record for a nineteenth-century newspaper.

Peter Klarnet, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts remarks “This extremely rare issue of The Baltimore Patriot & Evening Advertiser is one of three copies confirmed in existence—two of which are held by the American Antiquarian Society. We’re thrilled with the result of the sale of this duplicate issue from the Society’s extensive holdings, especially knowing that the hammer proceeds will benefit their collections acquisitions fund critically important collecting mission.”

Founded in 1812 by printer Isaiah Thomas in Worcester, Massachusetts, The American Antiquarian Society is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. Its primary mission is to collect, preserve, and make available material printed in what became the United States from the seventeenth century through 1876. In 2014, the Society was the recipient of the National Humanities Medal, "for safeguarding the American story. For more than two centuries, the Society has amassed an unparalleled collection of historic American documents, served as a research center for scholars and students alike, and connected generations of Americans to their cultural heritage.”

New York – The Morgan Library & Museum proudly announces a solo exhibition of work by the Los Angeles–based artist Betye Saar (b. 1926). Best known for incisive collages and assemblages that confront and reclaim racist images, Saar emerged in the 1960s as part of a wave of artists, many of them African American, who embraced the medium of assemblage. She went on to become one of the most significant artists working in this medium today. Opening at the Morgan on September 12, 2020 and running through January 31, 2021, Betye Saar: Call and Response is the first exhibition to focus on Saar’s sketchbooks and examine the relationship between her found objects, sketches, and finished works.

The daughter of a seamstress, and a printmaker by training, Saar brings to her work a remarkable sensitivity to materials, and she draws her imagery from popular culture, family history, and a wide range of spiritual traditions. Her creative process starts with a found object: a piece of leather, a cot, a tray, a birdcage, an ironing board. The objects she chooses are ordinary, used, and slightly debased—things most people would simply pass by. After identifying a primary object that calls to her, Saar surveys her stockpile of other found materials for use in combination. Once she h as arrived at a vision of the final work, she responds with a sketch in which she lays out her ideas for the finished work.

Saar has kept such sketchbooks throughout her career. She has also kept more elaborate travel sketchbooks containing exquisite watercolors and collages—often relating to leitmotifs seen across her oeuvre—from a lifetime of journeys worldwide. Betye Saar: Call and Response presents Saar’s sketches and corresponding assemblages alongside approximately a dozen of her travel sketchbooks. Selections cover a broad span of her career, from the 1970s through a sculptural installation made specifically for t his exhibition, in addition to collages from the Morgan’s collections that have never before been displayed.

Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the exhibition at the Morgan is coordinated by Dr. Rachel Federman, the Morgan’s Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Drawings. Federman said, “It’s an honor to present the work of Betye Saar, an artist I have long admired. By providing access to her sketchbooks, this exhibition will give visitors an unprecedented glimpse into Saar’s artistic practice.”  

As an early champion of Saar's work, the Morgan acquired a series of six collages that will be displayed in full for the first time as part of this exhibition. A Secretary to the Spirits (1975) is the outcome of an invitation by author and activist Ishmael Reed (b. 1938) to create a series of collages for his poetry book of the same name. In another form of “call and response,” each of Saar’s collages is based on and named for one of Reed’s poems. Saar employed a layered approach to echo Reed’s poetry, which combines references to the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the mundane.

The Morgan’s Director, Dr. Colin B. Bailey, said, “After a few somber months, we are excited to open our fall season with this incredible, poignant body of work by Betye Saar. Her assemblages, in combination with the tremendous creative repository of her notebooks, provide audiences with an opportunity to look closely at and consider the relationship between the found objects she uses, her sketches, and the completed works.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by an array of engaging public programs. Details will be announced soon.

Edinburgh — One of the few first edition copies of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, inscribed and signed by J.K. Rowling was sold by Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers in Edinburgh on June 17 for £125,000.  The price is a new European auction record.

Famously the first edition, first impression hardback of the first Harry Potter book was only printed in 500 copies. Of these around 300 were given to libraries and schools and are typically in poor condition while of the remaining 200 copies only handful were then inscribed by the then unknown author for friends, acquaintances, and family members.

This copy, surviving in fine condition, includes the note “For James, Kate and Laura, with best wishes, J.K. Rowling and the date 6-9-97” (September 1997), less than three months after the book’s publication in June of that year. It attracted competitive bidding from across the globe before selling to an international buyer at a price very close to the world record for a copy of The Philosopher’s Stone.

The Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs auction on June 17 – a sale held ‘live online’ with bids received by telephone, absentee and across four live bidding platforms - welcomed the book back to the city widely regarded as the ‘home of Harry Potter.’ Specialist Cathy Marsden says, “we were delighted to have the opportunity to handle this iconic volume here in Edinburgh, a beautiful copy of a very rare book made even more special by J.K. Rowling’s inscription.  The huge levels of interest it received from around the world shows Harry Potter remains a global superstar!”

The first impression of the book has four key issue points that were changed in later editions. They include a title page with copyright information from 1997, the misspelling ‘Philospher’s’ on the back cover and on page 53 duplicates ‘1 wand’ on Harry’s shopping list.

Dallas —  First issues of milestone titles. Debut appearances of beloved and immortal superheroes. And a comic book from the days before there were such things.

There are more than 1,300 lots in Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art event, which takes place July 9-12 at our world headquarters in Dallas and online. But the expanse of historic issues alone feels almost endless.

For this supersized event, it’s best to begin at the beginning: a DC Comics title pre-dating the first appearance of Superman by three years – the very birthplace of the Golden Age.

New Fun No. 5, in FN/VF condition, is a hard-to-come-by early-days landmark – the fifth issue of the first title that collected all-new stories featuring characters created specifically for a single title. The handiwork of pulp writer and U.S. Army Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, founder of DC’s predecessor National Allied Publications, New Fun was oversized and overstuffed with stories, among them the ongoing adventures of Texas Ranger Jack Wood, the first recurring hero in the comics company’s stable.

This copy of self-proclaimed Big Comic Magazine is notable for countless reasons, among them its condition – 85 years old yet its pages show only light wear. Wheeler-Nicholson also edited and wrote several stories for this issue, the title’s penultimate before changing its name to More Fun in the winter of ’36. It’s also the last issue of New Fun that appeared on stands without contributions from two promising young creators named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Speaking of …

Superman No. 1, the first title ever devoted to a single superhero, is going to be the centerpiece of any comics auction in which it appears – and this sale has three issues, among them a CGC VG/FN 5.0 that’s one of the 10 best copies of the title CGC has ever certified. It featuring the first four Man of Steel stories Siegel and Shuster contributed to Action Comics, as well as a new origin story and four previously unpublished pages.

The other half of the World’s Finest team is well represented in this auction with several highly coveted issues, chief among them a VG/FN 5.0 copy of Batman No. 1, published in 1940 after the Dark Knight’s initial swing through Detective Comics. Eighty years after publication, this No. 1 holds up as one of the greatest Batman issues ever published. It’s as grim and gritty as any modern-day offering. And, this issue contains the first appearances of The Joker and Catwoman, known then only as The Cat.

Rounding out DC’s Trinity, of course, is Wonder Woman, whose earliest breakthrough moments are represented in this auction. There’s her very first appearance in 1942 (All-Star Comics No. 8, CGC VG/FN 5.0 issue), her first cover (1942’s Sensation Comics No. 1, CGC GD/VG 3.0) and the first issue of her eponymous title bowing in 1942 (Wonder Woman No. 1, one of the finest copies ever brought to auction).

There are other issues of All-Star Comics in the summer sale, among them one of the most important copies (and covers) in the medium’s history, All-Star No. 3 (CGC VG 4.0), containing the first meeting of the Justice Society of America. The gold standard for DC’s Golden Age starring Green Lantern, Flash, the Spectre, Doctor Fate, Hourman, Sandman and the Atom.

The JSA’s successors, the Justice League of America, made their debut 20 years later in The Brave and the Bold No. 28. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Flash and Martian Manhunter team up in a Silver Age spectacular represented here with an extraordinary CGC VF/NM 9.0 copy.

For those collectors who make theirs Marvel, the summer event features no shortage of major milestones – beginning, appropriately, with the comic book that introduced readers to The Marvel Age: Fantastic Four No. 1 (CGC Qualified VF+ 8.5), published in 1961 and the comic whose art, characters and tone defined the company for generations.

“I was really interested in the characters as people,” artist Jack Kirby once said of his first co-creations with Stan Lee. “I have a genuine feeling for real people, and what I do is recreate them in a fantastic formula.”

Which, shortened, became the Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, the first family of the new Marvel Comics.

Then there is the first Avenger himself, Captain America.

Captain America Comics No. 1 (CGC VG- 3.5), published in 1941 by Marvel’s predecessor, Timely Comics, is among the most coveted titles in comicdom for good reason: the iconic Jack Kirby-Joe Simon cover featuring Cap punching out Hitler, the introduction of Steve Rogers’ star-spangled super-soldier and sidekick Bucky, the first appearance of the Red Skull. It is the torchbearer for a Golden Age.

But as Heritage Auctions’ Vice President Barry Sandoval points out, “You could almost fill out an Avengers lineup here,” given the copious Marvel Age titles in the summer sale.

There’s the first appearance of Iron Man found in Tales of Suspense No. 39 from 1962 – represented here by three copies, including one so highly graded (a CGC NM 9.4) that there are only a handful of copies in existence in better condition. Like all iconic Marvel pieces, it bears a Kirby cover (and Don Heck interior), as he designed the first suit of armor. A prized piece worthy of Tony Stark’s collection.

You’ll find, too, The Incredible Hulk No. 1, also from 1962 – the debut of the man or monster (or both!) created by Kirby and Stan Lee, when Bruce Banner’s alter-ego was still a pale shade of gray. Another Kirby classic, represented here with an issue in graded CGC FN/VF 7.0.

The Mighty Thor wielded his Mjölnir for the first time in 1962’s Journey Into Mystery No. 83, one of the most sought-after Silver Age offerings long before he turned into a movie star. Two issues are available in the summer event, including one graded CGC VF 8.0.

That same year, 1962, saw the first appearance of Hank Pym in Tales to Astonish No. 27 – back when the Ant-Man didn’t have his costume and was known only as “The Man in the Ant Hill.” It wasn’t the most successful launch in Marvel’s history, and for a bit Ant-Man was rechristened Giant-Man – maybe bigger would be better. Yet this title ranks No. 11 on Overstreet's list of Top 50 Silver Age Comics – proof that from small things, big things one day come.

A year after Thor’s bow, Marvel published one of the most popular (and, thanks to co-creator Steve Ditko’s artwork, beautiful) comics of all time: The Amazing Spider-Man No. 1 (CGC VF+ 8.5), the Web-Slinger’s first standalone title following his introduction in Amazing Fantasy No. 15. Five icons for the price of one: Spidey and the Fantastic Four, on one of the most reproduced and replicated covers of all time.

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are here, too: Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and Wasp in The Avengers No. 1 (CGC FN+ 6.5), published in 1963. First, a comic book; not yet the launching pad for the most successful movie franchise ever created.

Collectors, assemble.

Chicago – On June 23, Hindman’s Books and Manuscripts department will present their spring Fine Books and Manuscripts including Americana auction in their Chicago saleroom. The sale will offer 294 lots of books, manuscripts, Americana, prints, and maps representing a variety of collecting categories including: fine bindings, artists’ books, literature, medicine, travel and exploration, signed books, and natural history. Following 2019, the department’s most successful year since the firm’s founding in 1982, this sale kicks off what is expected to be another strong year for Director and Senior Specialist Gretchen Hause and her team.
 
Hindman is proud to offer as part of this auction, the collection of Rhoda Hertzberg Clark and the Monastery Hill Bindery. Clark, a collector and businesswoman, became the fourth generation of her family, and the first woman, to helm Monastery Hill when she became President of the firm in 1974. Monastery Hill Bindery originated in 1868, when Clark’s great-grandfather, master bookbinder Ernst Hertzberg, emigrated to Chicago and found work at Ringer’s, a bindery with rooms over Henrici’s restaurant downtown. Hertzberg quickly became partner and eventually sole owner. The original shop was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and several years later, Hertzberg reestablished his firm in its current location in Lakeview, at the corner of Belmont and Ravenswood, where they still operate today. The Monastery Hill Bindery is one of the oldest family-owned companies in Chicago.  Her collection, offered here in over 75 lots, includes many fine examples of Monastery Hill Bindery bindings, finely bound extra-illustrated books, and other fine 20th-century bindings.
 
Among the highlights of this collection include Lot 30, a fine set of Ainsworth’s Historical Romances, in a very fine exhibition binding by the Monastery Hill Bindery (ca 1904). Lot 252, Garrison’s 8 volume work, William Lloyd Garrison. The Story of his Life, was also bound by the Monastery Hill Bindery. Bound in are several original documents from notable political figures and abolitionists. The extra-illustrated work is expected to sell between $4,000-6,000.
 
Highlighting the Printed & Manuscript Americana session of the auction is Lot 287, a very extensive collection of 203 autograph letters, letters, documents, and signatures signed by 16 Chief and 93 Associate Justices, 1789-2017. The most complete collection of Justice’s signatures to ever be offered at auction, the collection is expected to fetch between $20,000 and 30,000. Complete from John Jay through William Rehnquist, the collection contains excellent examples of even the rarest justices, including James Iredell, Alfred Moore, Robert Trimble, John Catron, John McKinley and Peter V. Daniel; also included are examples from three justices nominated but never confirmed: Robert Hanson Harrison, Ebenezer R. Hoar, and George H. Williams. The collection also includes examples from 9 justices from the Rehnquist and Roberts Courts.
 
Additional auction highlights include Lot 101, a limited edition collection of four Tiber Press Artist’s books comprising, The Poems, by John Ashbery with prints by Joan Mitchell; Permanently by Kenneth Koch with prints by Alfred Leslie; Odes by Frank O’Hara with prints by Michael Goldberg and Salute by James Schuyler with prints by Grace Hartigan. Each beautifully illustrated volume is signed by poet and artist and the collection is estimated at $6,000-8,000. Also being offered is Lot 191 an engraved and hand-colored map of the United States from 1777 by Jean de Beaurain. This exceptionally rare first edition, first issue map of the thirteen American colonies, was published in France as the nation prepared to enter the Revolutionary War and is estimated at $5,000-7,000.
 
The auction will be held on June 23 from Hindman’s Chicago saleroom at 10:00 am CT.  Bidders are encouraged to bid remotely by phone, by using online bidding platforms, or to register for absentee bids on Hindman’s website HindmanAuctions.com. Preview will be available by appointment only.
 
The catalogue can be viewed here.

Minneapolis — Minnesota Center for Book Arts is delighted to announce the 2020 McKnight Book Artist Fellows, Paula McCartney and Lisa Nebenzahl. These inaugural fellows mark the beginning of MCBA’s partnership with the McKnight Foundation’s Artist Fellowship program, which has offered support for individual Minnesota artists working in a range of disciplines, from film to ceramics, since 1981.

McCartney and Nebenzahl have each been awarded a year-long fellowship, which runs from August 2020 to July 2021. The award includes $25,000 in unrestricted funds, studio access through MCBA’s Artist Collective, and opportunities to professionally engage with nationally renowned book artists, curators, and critics, among other benefits. The artists will share their work at a public artist talk during their fellowship year.

Three distinguished jurors —Tia Blassingame (Scripps College), Clifton Meador (Appalachian State University), and Marcia Reed (Getty Research Institute) —reviewed applications, conducted virtual studio tours with the finalists, and ultimately selected McCartney and Nebenzahl from an impressive pool of mid-career book artists living and working in Minnesota. Mid-career is a stage defined as “beyond emerging,” meaning artists not only exhibit exceptional merit, but have created a substantial body of work over a sustained period of time.

Juror Marcia Reed notes that both Nebenzahl and McCartney have "affinities to nature and geometry," likening Nebenzahl's photographic sculptures to crystals. She describes McCartney’s books as “invitingly designed... mov[ing] back and forth from recording nature, then witnessing, or even occasionally creating the man-made interactions.” The bonus, she adds, is her humor.

Paula McCartney makes artist's books, photographs, and ceramics that illustrate her collaborations with the natural world and consider ways that light activates both objects and environments. McCartney holds an MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and has received grants from the Women’s Studio Workshop, the Aaron Siskind Foundation, the McKnight Fellowship for Photographers (2007, 2013), and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her books are included in the collections of the Walker Art Center, Museum of Modern Art, Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University, New York Public Library, UCLA Arts Library, Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection at SAIC among many others. She has two published monographs: Bird Watching (2010) and A Field Guide to Snow and Ice (2014).

Lisa Nebenzahl creates work that ponders themes of resilience and fragility, loss and persistence, and the passage of time. She explores these ideas using shadow and light, working with the natural world of plants, water, and sky. Her interest in this imagery affirms the beauty of change and is a reminder of the temporal condition, embracing the interplay of chance and surprise that comes from observing and responding to the natural world. Nebenzahl’s multidisciplinary practice includes historical printing processes, sculpture, installation, and collage/montage. Her work has been exhibited nationally and in Oaxaca, Mexico. Nebenzahl is a three-time recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant and holds a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Worcester, MA — The Council of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) announces that Scott E. Casper has been chosen to be the next president of the national learned society and research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Casper will be the eighth president in the 208-year history of the Society, succeeding Ellen S. Dunlap, who will retire in late fall of this year.

The AAS Council unanimously elected Casper at a special meeting on June 4, 2020. Casper’s appointment comes after an extensive national search. John Herron, Jr. chair of the Council and head of the search committee, said, “After the extremely successful 28-year tenure of Ellen Dunlap, we are thrilled that Scott Casper has agreed to become the next President of the American Antiquarian Society.”

Herron further commented, “Our nation's past - both its promise and its contradictions - is as present as ever in this important time in our country’s civic life. As a scholar, administrator, mentor and more, Scott is unusually well prepared to further leverage the Society's long standing commitment to evidence-based history and to preserving and sharing the stories of all Americans as they are recorded in the unparalleled collections of the American Antiquarian Society.”

“From the week I arrived thirty years ago, the American Antiquarian Society shaped my intellectual journey, as it has done for countless others,” said Casper. “Now more than ever, telling America's complex, contested stories is essential, as are the collections that bring those histories to life. Working alongside the Society's peerless staff, I am delighted to advance this mission and extend the AAS's scholarly and public reach.”

Dr. Casper is a historian of American book culture and nineteenth-century studies. He is the author of two books Sarah Johnson’s Mount Vernon: The Forgotten History of an American Shrine (2008) and Constructing American Lives: Biography and Culture in Nineteenth-Century America (1999). The latter won the best book in the history of the book prize from the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing. He has also co-authored and edited five scholarly volumes and three textbooks. Casper served as visiting editor of the William and Mary Quarterly (2008-09) and as contributing editor of the Journal of American History (2008-18).

Casper has a long association with AAS, having first come to conduct research in the collections as a Kate B. and Hall J. Peterson Fellow in 1990. He has since served on the advisory board of the Society’s Program in the History of the Book in American Culture (PHBAC). He served on the editorial board for the five-volume A History of the Book in America, and co-edited Volume III in that series, entitled The Industrial Book. Casper co-directed and co-taught the PHBAC Summer Seminar, entitled “Teaching and Learning American Book History,” and served on and chaired the committee on the James Russell Wiggins Lecture series.

An active public historian, Dr. Casper has been advisor to George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Center for Civic Education, and a board member of the Maryland Humanities and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. Active in pre-collegiate history education, Casper has led various K-12 teacher education institutes and programs.

Dr. Casper is currently the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), a position he has held since 2013. In this capacity Casper oversees the work of 300 full-time and 200 part- time faculty and more than 100 professional staff in 27 academic departments and programs, five research centers, and three undergraduate honors cohort programs in arts, humanities, and public affairs. During his tenure, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences created the Center for Social Science Scholarship and created both an undergraduate minor in public humanities and a master’s program in community leadership.

Before joining UMBC, Dr. Casper was the Foundation Professor of History, Chair of the History Department, and Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada, Reno. Casper holds an A.B. in History from Princeton University and a M.A., M Phil., and Ph D. in American Studies from Yale University.

New York — A 13-page handwritten and signed letter from Ludwig Wittgenstein to Moritz Schlick discussing Gödel's incompleteness theorems, set a new world record for a Wittgenstein letter at Bonhams online-only Essential Genius: Ten Important Manuscripts for Modern Times sale. It sold for $137,575.

Written in 1935 when Wittgenstein was a Fellow at Trinity College Cambridge, this much- debated letter on Gödel's incompleteness theorems reveals Wittgenstein at the height of his philosophic genius and is regarded as a central document in the philosophy of mathematics.

Other sale highlights included:
    •    A beautiful and very rare early Renaissance manuscript of two of Plato’s greatest dialogues, Phaedo, known to ancient readers as On the Soul, and Gorgias, translated from the Greek by Leonardo Bruni. This was the first Bruni-Plato manuscript of comparable quality to be offered at auction in the past 50 years, achieving $187,575.
    •    Two unpublished handwritten pages of Isaac Newton’s notes on Van Helmont’s 1667 book on the plague, De Peste. The manuscript is the most substantial written statement Newton is known to have made about the plague. In analyzing and distilling Van Helmont’s first-hand and medical knowledge, Newton records both causes, modes of transmission, and cures, identifies symptoms and their identification, as well as prescriptions for avoiding the plague.

Fine Books and Manuscript specialist at Bonhams New York, Darren Sutherland said: “This was a fascinating sale celebrating thinkers and ideas that have transformed the world. We are very pleased it attracted interest from around the world and, of course, delighted with the remarkable record for the Wittgenstein letter.”

Berkeley, CA – PBA Galleries announced world record-breaking results from their June 4th auction of Comic Books: Pre-Code Horror, Silver Age Marvel, and Undergrounds. The sale was PBA’s inaugural comic book auction under the direction of Ivan Briggs, whose catalogue showcased “the best overlooked gems in the world of comics, all the good stuff that hasn’t been vacuumed up by the big guys yet.”

“It’s a niche that no other auctioneers have filled, and PBA is glad to step up and lead the way,” said Briggs. Bidders communicated their appreciation with their paddles, closing the sale with a tremendously successful 96% sale rate. Overall revenue exceeded expectations, and many individual lots achieved either auction highs or auction records.

Horror comics attained historically momentous prices, driving steep competition for the fantastically eye-catching and compelling covers. Weird Mysteries #5 (CGC 7.5), featuring one of the most lurid covers of the pre-Code era, established a new world-record price for its grade at $19,200, beating the previous high price of $15,600 established in August 2019. Similarly, Weird Mysteries #7 (CGC 9.2) sold for $9,000, thus realizing the best result ever for this comic in any grade. The sale price far surpassed the comic’s previous high price ($2,272 for a 7.0 copy) by a significant margin.

Other world-class sale records included those for The Thing! #15 (7.0), whose final price of $3,000 represents the best result by far in any grade, obliterating the previous record of $1,701 from December 2018. When the gavel landed at $3,600, the Tomb of Terror #5 (9.0) sold for a world-record result that was over $2,000 higher than any other CGC copy in any grade, and the result was repeated with #13 and #16 of the series.

Other sale highlights included Shock Illustrated #1 (CGC 6.5): When the winning bidder took the sale for $3,600, they attained the best-ever result for a non-Gaines file copy, and the second-highest price in any grade, only exceeded by a 9.6 Gaines file copy ($4,995, April 2009). The Mister Mystery #12 (5.0) sold for $1,920, achieving a record price in this grade and beating the previous record for CGC 5.0 copy ($1,650, Feb. 2020).

PBA looks forward to continuing to achieve world-class results in future comic auctions, and is currently accepting consignments of comic books, original comic art, or comic-related ephemera and literature. For more information or to inquire about consigning, please contact the galleries at 415-989-2665 or email Ivan Briggs at ivan@pbagalleries.com.