Paris - In its Comic Strips sale on November 21, 2020, Artcurial will reveal an exceptional and highly original item: the artwork by Georges Rémi, known as Hergé, designed for the cover of the 1936 album Le Lotus bleu.

Deemed too costly to reproduce with the four-colour technique used in 1936, the design was turned down by the publisher Casterman. This original artwork, new to the market, has been rediscovered today by Artcurial. Hergé gave it to the young son of publisher Louis Casterman. The boy kept it tucked away in a drawer, carefully folded in six.

This initial cover design for Le Lotus bleu, Tintin’s fifth adventure and the album that marked a turning point in Hergé’s career, is undoubtedly one of the most evocative covers of any of the young reporter’s adventures. After becoming friends with Tchang Tchong-Jen, the only real person other than Al Capone to be incorporated into the adventures of Tintin, Hergé’s style changed, becoming more assured.

This artwork in Indian ink, watercolour and gouache on paper is estimated at 2 – 3 M€ / 2.3 – 3.4 M$. It will be presented across Europe, exhibited in Artcurial’s gallery in Monaco from 15 July to 11 September, in Brussels from 22 September to 2 October, in Munich from 3 to 6 November and finally in Paris on 19 and 20 November, before coming under the hammer on 21 November at Artcurial.

The leader in this field, Artcurial currently holds eight of the top ten auction prices for work by Hergé, including the world record price for a comic strip drawing by any artist, achieved on 24 May 2014 for the inside cover pages of a Tintin album (2.6M€ / 3.6M$). The sale of the rare and unique artwork for Le Lotus bleu promises to create a stir once again, for the delight of all fans of the 9th art.

“This artwork is a genuine masterpiece encaspulating Hergé’s genius and is probably the most beautiful Tintin album cover ever!” —Eric Leroy, Expert Comic Strips, Artcurial

Austin, TX — A collection of 35 gelatin silver prints by photographer Aaron Siskind (American, 1903–1991) has been donated to The University of Texas at Austin’s Harry Ransom Center to enrich the study of photography. The collection, through the Department of Art and Art History in the College of Fine Arts, is gifted to the university by Adam and Susan Finn, noted Houston-based photography collectors. Adam Finn is also an alumnus of UT Austin.

“The gift underscores the role of private donors in contributing to the university’s research holdings, providing new materials for scholarship and discovery in the arts and humanities,” Ransom Center Director Stephen Enniss said.

A photographer and educator, Siskind holds a distinguished place in the history of American photography. From his early career as a social documentarian with the New York Photo League in the 1930s to his later work emphasizing the photograph as an abstract form of expression, Siskind transformed the medium of photography.

“As Aaron Siskind was previously represented in the Ransom Center’s collection by only a few photographs, this gift is transformative,” said Jessica S. McDonald, the Ransom Center’s curator of photography. “It also dramatically expands our holdings of examples of photographic abstraction.”

The 35 photographs were created by Siskind between 1947 and 1990 and join other prints by the photographer already at the center, as well as materials by influential post-war artists such as Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Robert Heinecken and Joan Lyons.

Siskind’s works are held in other major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Currently UT Austin’s Photography & Media program is led by Professors Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler.  Hubbard and Birchler are internationally recognized for their collaborative work in photography and filmmaking, and they have been instrumental in the acquisition of this donation.

“We are thrilled about Adam Finn’s generous gift of the Aaron Siskind photographs to the Photography & Media Area,” Hubbard said. “In our program, there is a long-standing relationship to documentary photography and the Aaron Siskind Foundation. Over the years, a number of the program’s graduate students and faculty members have been recipients of the Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship. This portfolio is an exciting teaching and research tool for our students working in photography.”

Once cataloged, the Adam and Susan Finn Collection of Aaron Siskind Photographs will be available for research in the Center’s reading and viewing room.

Amherst, NH — Hosted live from our New Hampshire offices, this installment of RR Auction's annual elite Remarkable Rarities sale is one for the ages. From extraordinary Civil Rights Movement artifacts to handwritten equations by Albert Einstein, these specially curated materials are sure to astound the most discerning collector. Sketches by Cezanne and Magritte. Letters from Edgar Allan Poe and F. Scott Fitzgerald. A lock of Lincoln's hair, folded into a telegram from the night of April 14, 1865. Beethoven and the Beatles. A brief history of world culture is presented here.

Highlights from the Civil Rights Movement section include; An "I Am A Man" poster that was made famous with the Memphis sanitation strike of February-April 1968. Shortly after two workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death in the back of their garbage truck, as many as 1,300 black sanitation workers in Memphis walked off the job in protest of horrible working conditions and racist discrimination by the city. Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled to Memphis to support the strike as part of his Poor People's Campaign, speaking before a large crowd on March 18 and leading a mass demonstration on the 28th. Mayor Henry Loeb III imposed martial law and brought in 4,000 National Guard troops. The following day, over 200 striking workers continued their daily march, carrying the iconic signs that read: "I Am A Man." The slogan emerged as a unifying theme, and this poster has become one of the enduring images of the Civil Rights Movement. (Estimate: $6,000+)

A Martin Luther King, Jr. signed photograph presented to Philadelphia's first black deputy police commissioner. The wonderful vintage semi-glossy photo of Reverend King, his lapel bearing a pin that reads, "I Believe in Human Dignity," signed and inscribed in black ballpoint, "To Captain Edwards, With Warm Personal Regards, Martin Luther King, Jr." Accompanied by a full letter of authenticity and a letter of provenance from the son of the recipient, stating that this "signed photo was a gift to my late father, Richard T. Edwards, during the mid-1960s. Dr. King presented this autographed photo to Captain Edwards for directing the security detail on his visits to Philadelphia. In 1964 my father was named Deputy Police Commissioner of Philadelphia, the first African-American to ever achieve such position." (Estimate: $5,000+)

Among Scientists and Inventors is Albert Einstein material is a remarkable pairing of items: a one-page typed letter signed "A. Einstein," on Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton letterhead, dated March 4, 1943, responding to Harold Feldman's request to "Prove that ABC is an isosceles triangle if the lines bisecting the angles B and C and going to the opposite sides are equal," in full: "Your little problem has amused me indeed. I was not able to solve it in a purely geometrical way. On the enclosed sheet, a proof is given in part algebraically."
Accompanied by the original mailing envelope and Feldman's original handwritten problem on an index card. Originally sold by Robert F. Batchelder in 1991, and accompanied by a letter to Batchelder from a research assistant associated with the publication of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, requesting photocopies of the materials.

Accompanied by the original mailing envelope and Feldman's original handwritten problem on an index card. Handwritten mathematical manuscripts by Einstein are rare—particularly in so complete a form—and, paired with Einstein's playful letter responding to the challenge, this is a particularly excellent example. (Estimate: $25,000+)

The Art, Architecture, and Design section includes; a Paul Cézanne signed letter with original sketches. The extraordinary one-page handwritten letter in French from Paul Cézanne, written on October 19, 1906, just three days before his death at the age of 67, which boasts a pair of boldly penned original ink sketches to the top and bottom portions; the upper sketch appears to be a self-portrait in profile, and the lower, which bears a resemblance to that of his unfinished work 'Les Grandes Baigneuses,' or 'The Bathers,' seems to show leaning branches or fencing through which the observer can detect a small structure in the distance. (Estimate: $50,000+) An original artwork by Belgian artist René Magritte from 1964 entitled 'Dessin pour Le sac à malice' ('Drawing for The Bag of Tricks'), accomplished in black ink on an off-white sheet of artist paper and signed in the upper left corner, "Magritte." Based on his own 1959 gouache painting, 'Le sac à malice,' the drawing depicts a large human heart set upon a short base—as if a trophy—with the open-air background scattered with the movement of clouds and wind.(Estimate: $100,000+)

The Literature section includes; a rare Edgar Allan Poe 1846 handwritten letter. The one-page letter signed "Edgar A. Poe," dated January 10, 1846, written from New York, a brief letter to collector "R. Leighton, Jr. Esq.," in full: "Dear Sir, It gives me pleasure to comply with your very flattering request for an autograph. Respectfully, Yr ob st." Archivally matted and framed with an engraved portrait and a passage from Poe's classic The Raven.

Following the demise of his short-lived newspaper the Broadway Journal, Poe, with his wife Virginia Clemm and her mother Maria, around May 1846, departed Turtle Bay and moved into a cottage on two acres of land in Fordham, New York. The rural setting and the cottage's quaint charms appealed to the family greatly, and Poe's final short story, 'Landor's Cottage,' published not long before his passing in 1849, is presumed to have been inspired by the home. It was also where Poe wrote the classic tale The Cask of Amontillado, the poems' The Bells,' 'Annabel Lee', and 'Ulalume,' and where he published his gossip series on 'The Literati of New York City.' Only our sixth handwritten Poe letter, and our first in five years. (Estimate: $50,000+)

And an F. Scott Fitzgerald Letter that contains a rare mention of his greatest work. The rare and significant one-page handwritten, no date [circa 1925-1926]. Fitzgerald writes from Paris to literary agent and editor William C. Lengel regarding plans for a stage adaptation of the Great Gatsby. In full: "Thanks for your letter about Gatsby. Have just had a wire from Brady asking for dramatic rights and wired my agent asking him to see what Brady's plans are—all this before your letter came, as it went to Cannes & Homer Croy whom I've never met. As soon as I get any word I will let you know. Perhaps he has no one in mind for the dramatization & in that case it would much better [sic] if it were done by someone like you who already has some plan in his head. With many thanks." After signing, Fitzgerald adds a postscript and signs again with his initials: "Word has just come that Owen Davis is going to do it for Brady. Thanks many times for your interest. F. S. F."

Fitzgerald's most famous novel, widely regarded as one of the finest in the English language, was published in spring 1925 to a rather unremarkable reception. Still, with the public's ever-increasing appetite for entertainment, newly published fiction provided an instant source of material for the stage and screen. With its dramatic force and colorful characterizations, it was only a matter of time before Gatsby would attract attention in showbiz circles, and it first made the jump from page to stage in a semi-successful adaptation by dramatist Owen Davis that ran for 112 performances in 1926. Later that same year, Gatsby, as played by Warner Baxter, made his debut on the silver screen. Letters mentioning Gatsby occupy a singular niche at the pinnacle of Fitzgerald's autograph material, and, indeed, among literary autographs as a whole. (Estimate: $30,000+)

The Classical Music section contains a Ludwig van Beethoven letter concerning sending his 'Missa Solemnis' to London. The one-page handwritten letter in German, signed "Beethoven," circa September 1823. Letter to Franz Christian Kirchhoffer, where he invites him to lunch at his flat on Sunday, with his nephew Karl: the weather appears promising, and his presence would be a great pleasure for both of them. In full (translated): "My dear Kirchhoffer: If it is not possible to send a packet through the English embassy to London, please inquire. I will therefore tomorrow send an answer or if you think it is good for the occasion? On Sunday we will certainly see you, my Karl and I at table, the weather seems to be favorable again and it will be very pleasant for us both to have you here." Accompanied by an export certificate from the French Ministry of Culture. (Estimate: $100,000+)

Online bidding for the Remarkable Rarities by RR Auction has begun and will be followed by a live sale on Saturday, September 12, at 1 PM ET. For more information, go to www.rrauction.com.

New York — Printed & Manuscript Americana is set to come across the block at Swann Galleries on Thursday, September 24. Covering a period of nearly five centuries and two continents, this auction is exceptionally varied in content and subjects covered, from colonialism and the Westward expansion of the United States, to Presidential material and first-hand accounts by ordinary people of important historical moments.

A strong selection of material relating to Native peoples starts the sale off, with scarce books in French, most notably a first edition of Voyage aux Prairies Osages, Louisiane et Missouri, Paris, 1844, by Victor Trixier, who accompanied three other Frenchmen to the Great Plains for a buffalo hunt with the Osage Indians in what are now Kansas and Oklahoma ($1,000-1,500). Rarely seen photographs include a group of eight photographs of a Civil War–era performing troupe in New York and Canada ($1,2000-1,800), and an early engraving of the Mohawk chief Sa Ga Yean Qua Rash Tow (Peter Brant) ($3,000-4,000).

American Revolution material includes a 1778 letter written by Clement Biddle seeking Scull’s map of Pennsylvania for use by the army at Valley Forge—Biddle held an important role in starving the Continental Army at the encampment ($8,000-12,000); and a stamp from the Stamp Act of 1765—the act that sparked resistance from colonial legislatures and Sons of Liberty street protests in Boston, New York and beyond ($6,000-9,000).

The highlight of the Civil War section is a wonderful 1865 sketchbook by the soldier-artist John Richard, containing 55 drawings done in the closing months of the war ($25,000-35,000). Also of note is a group of 131 Civil War-era song sheets, most illustrated and in color ($3,000-4,000). Diaries, letters, broadsides and photographs from the period round out the selection.

The sale is led by three watercolor studies for the famous “Unfinished Portrait,” 1945, of Franklin D. Roosevelt by Elizabeth Shoumatoff ($40,000-60,000). The “Unfinished Portrait” became one of the most enduring images of the late president and was the basis for two completed portraits. Further material relating to Presidents includes a year-long continuous run (1800) of the Independent Chronicle of Boston, with several issues dedicated to the funeral of George Washington ($5,000-7,500); the first Thanksgiving proclamation issued by John Adams in March 1798 ($3,000-4,000); and an 1844 campaign flyer featuring jugate portraits of Whig ticket candidates Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen ($4,000-6,000).

A standout selection of items among Latin Americana feature the 1611 first edition of Vocabulario manual de las lenguas castellana, y mexicana by Pedro de Arenas, an important Spanish-Nahuatl dictionary ($12,000-18,000); a manuscript order by Hernán Cortés, refusing to meet with the King’s inspector, which reveals how disorderly, fragile and precarious Cortés’s control over Mexico was following the capitulation of the Aztecs ($20,000-30,000); a Nahuatl broadside announcing a new viceroy ($10,000-15,000); and a first edition of the first book of sermons in Nahuatl by Juan de la Anunciación ($6,000-9,000).

American Judaica includes Mordecai Noah's Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews, 1845, an address given at the New York Tabernale to an audience of Christians and Jews, anticipating the Zionist movement ($6,000-9,000), and Isaac Leeser's important 1845 Philadelphia translation of the Pentateuch into English, the first of its kind ($6,000-9,000).

Additional highlights feature the 1839–52 guest register for the legendary Catskill Mountain House hotel in upstate New York, an early tourist destination in its own right, signed by Hudson River School artists, as well as authors and political leaders who came to take in the view ($5,000-7,500); a 1779 volume of music by William Billings—the first American composer to issue a volume of his own music ($5,000-7,500); and a grisly diary of James W. Bentley, a cavalry officer protecting people traveling on the Overland Trail in 1865 ($15,000-25,000).

Limited previewing (by appointment only) will be available from September 21 through September 23, to be scheduled directly with the specialist in advance and conforming to strict safety guidelines. Swann Galleries staff will prepare condition reports and provide additional photographs of material on request. Advance order bids can be placed with the specialist for the sale or on Swann’s website, and phone bidding will be available. Live online bidding platforms will be the Swann Galleries App, Invaluable, and Live Auctioneers. The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at www.swanngalleries.com and on the Swann Galleries App.
 
Additional highlights can be found here.

Dallas, TX – Action Comics No. 7, published in December 1938, is noteworthy for a few reasons, chief among them it marked only the second time Superman appeared on a comic book cover. This was the issue that launched Superman’s bow as Action’s main attraction, per the orders of Detective Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld. That alone makes it a treasured milestone; that alone lands it at the No. 7 spot on Overstreet's Top 100 Golden Age Comics list.

It’s also rare in any grade. CGC, the comics-grading company, has seen and slabbed but 50 copies – and few higher than the FN- 5.5 Action Comics No. 7 that’s being offered as part of Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art event Sept. 10-13. It has been more than a decade since the Dallas-based auction house has offered an unrestored copy in such good condition.

But what makes this particular issue of Action Comics so special – a rarified piece of comic-book history – are the words stamped across its cover: “U.S. District Court Filed Mar 16 1939 S.D. of N.Y.” And: “Exhibit 18 U.S. Dist. Court S.D. of N.Y. Apr 6 1939.”

More than 80 years ago, this copy of Action was entered into evidence in the federal court case – titled Detective Comics, Inc. v. Bruns Publications, Inc. – that essentially determined what makes a superhero. This was the fight that pit Superman against a red-and-yellow-clad knockoff called Wonder Man – and rendered Wonder Man a one-issue obscurity.

Turns out, Wonder Man might have been invulnerable, like his Kryptonian counterpart. But in the end, he was extremely defenseless against federal judges.

That’s because Wonder Man’s origin story began in an office building, with Fox Publications namesake Victor Fox ordering writer and artist (and The Spirit creator) Will Eisner to create a Superman knockoff. Eisner and partner Jerry Iger fretted about the legality of the demand, according to former DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz in his 2015 book Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel.

“But both the dubious morality and the potential consequences were [clear]: If Fox pulled its business from Eisner and Iger, leaving a large debt unpaid, it might be enough to close the firm,” Levitz wrote. “Eisner created Wonder Man to order.”

Donenfeld sued – “faster than a speeding bullet,” Levitz wrote. And almost as quickly, he prevailed: In April 1940 a panel of federal appeals court justices ruled that “the only real difference between them is that Superman wears a blue uniform and Wonderman a red one.” Wonder Man didn’t live to see a second issue.

And it was this very issue of Action Comics No. 7 that helped put a stop to The Man of Steal.

New York — Guernsey’s is honored to bring to auction The Legendary Vladi Collection of Historical Maps. The auction, scheduled for September 23, will include over 300 examples of the finest quality antique maps, with proceeds benefiting MapAction, an organization that uses maps to aid those in disaster-stricken areas. In addition to a discerning collector of maps, Farhad Vladi, is the foremost international island broker, having sold more than 2,000 private islands over his near five-decade career. His interest in antique maps was born out of his interest in islands. Whenever he represented an island, he would seek out antique maps of that island to gift to his clients. What began as a generous gesture burgeoned into a world-class collection.

As a member of the International Map Collectors Society, Vladi has traveled the world in his quest to amass a collection of the finest, rarest, and most beautiful maps he could find. The collection he assembled is a true depiction of the history of European map making, encompassing four hundred years of cartographic development with a focus on maps predating the 19th-century. The collection features maps from the world’s most noted cartographers including Gerard Mercator, Willem Jansz Blaeu, Abraham Ortelius, Johann Baptist Homann, Sebastian Münster, and Matthäus Seutter.

The oldest map in the collection, Magna Germania, by Ptolemäus and dated 1486, marks the start of modern map making as the first map printed from woodblock. Hartmann Schedel’s “Nuremberg Chronicle”, an illustrated encyclopedia recording world events, is one of the very first works printed by Gutenberg himself in 1493 and is of unmatched historical importance. Chronologically, these two works serve as exemplary works marking the beginning of map making in the printed era.

The work of Sebastian Müller, particularly a map of Europe and a map of the World, leads the Collection into the 16th century. Many of the maps date from the 17th and 18th centuries when the use of copperplate engraving allowed cartographers the art and precision not formerly achievable. The legendary works of the Dutch baroque masters Blaeu, Stoopendahl, Hondius and de Wit, and 18th century cartographers Johann Baptist Homann and Matthaus Seuter continue the tradition of copperplate engraving.

In addition to individual maps, the collection includes atlases and map sets. The atlases in the collection by Ortelius and Mercator, the inventors of the modern-day atlas, are exquisite examples with very fine coloring. One of the most sought-after examples of the history of cartography is the set of maps by Willem Jansz Blaeu, all colored by hand, that depict the world as known to his contemporaries of the four continents.

With such an extensive collection in hand, Vladi found himself asking “what can we do to help the world with maps?” This question led to his close collaboration with MapAction, a humanitarian organization determined to provide maps and other critical data to disaster response teams globally. For nearly two decades, MapAction’s emergency mapping services have aided responders with every crisis imaginable, from earthquakes to armed conflicts to COVID-19. MapAction’s support ensures that first responders have the best information to coordinate their efforts, allowing aid to be delivered effectively and efficiently to save as many lives as possible. As an homage to his relationship with MapAction, a portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the organization.

The online-only auction is posted on three of our bidding platform partners: Liveauctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, and Bidsquare.com. Bidders can participate online, through absentee bidding, or phone bidding. For inquiries, please contact us at auctions@guernseys.com. or (212) 794-2280.

Chicago — Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce their Circus, Sideshow, and Oddities sale to be held on Saturday, September 26th starting at 10am at the company's gallery, located at 3759 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60613. This event will be conducted entirely online, streamed live from Potter & Potter's gallery, and held on www.potterauctions.com. Bids can be placed on the company's website. Phone and absentee bidding are available as well. All lots are available for preview now on Potter & Potter's website.

Stunning, original photographs taken of legacy 19th and 20th century performers take several of the top lots in this sale.
•    Lot #223, Diane Arbus' Albino Sword Swallower and Her Sister, is estimated at $10,000-20,000. This gelatin silver print photograph, featuring performer Sandra Reed and her sister Doreen, is from the session that produced Arbus’s well-known photograph Albino sword swallower at a carnival, Md. 1970. This print is from Sandra Reed’s personal collection.
•    Lot #231, Diane Arbus' Group Portrait at Hubert’s Museum, is estimated at $10,000-20,000. This c. 1965 image on Agfa marked paper features the talent Congo the Jungle Creep; Woogie, Princess Wago; Woogie’s husband, Charles Lucas; Russian midget Andrew Ratouchett; Manzini the Strong Man; and Harold Smith, the Water Glass Musician.  
•    Lot #417, a c. 1884/85 Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull, and Wild West troupe members photograph from 1874 is estimated at $1,000-1,500.  This albumen print is a cropped version of a portrait that originally showed two additional subjects including Adirondack (a naturalist) and a young Johnny Baker (later known as the “Cowboy Kid” in the Wild West Show and foster son to Cody).  

This event features a collection of outstanding and enormously scaled sideshow banners certain to make a mighty big impression with collectors worldwide.
•    Lot #279, Fred Johnson's Magical Mystery Tour. Girls, produced in Chicago by O’Henry Tent & Awning in the 1940s, is estimated at $8,000-12,000. This c. 93" x 232” artist signed banner features silhouettes of three nearly-naked women and text heralding The Girls of Enchantment/The Girls of Excitement/The Girls of Illusion. Presented Live in Person. This example was featured in the classic reference on sideshow banners, Freaks, Geeks, and Strange Girls.
•    Lot #278, a c. 1930s/40s sideshow banner, Cavalcade of Wonders. Freaks Past & Present, is estimated at $6,000-9,000. This painted canvas example measures over 20 feet wide and 90" high and depicts a snake charmer, magician, three-legged man, tattooed man, Ubangi “savages,” frog boy, little people, fire-eater, sword swallower, half man, and others. It is unsigned, but attributed to Fred Johnson.
•    Lot #280, a c. 1960 sideshow banner for the famous three-legged man, Frank Lentini, is estimated at $2,000-3,000. This 93" x 118” unsigned example features the performer dressed as a football player at the center of the canvas, inside a decorative frame.  

Also on offer are a number of archives from extraordinary people in the entertainment industry.  These collections are ideally suited to provide researchers, museums, and institutions remarkable, first hand materials for study and collection building.
•    Lot #236, ten scrapbooks and other ephemera owned and kept by sword swallower Sandra Reed, is estimated at $2,500-3,500. This collection includes images, clippings, and publicity materials. It is an extensive record of the career of Reed, and covers the circuses and carnivals she and her husband, Harold “Big Jim” Spohn, traveled and toured with in the 1970s.  
•    Lot #241, “Pop” Haussman’s collection of signed circus performer photographs from the 1950, is estimated at $1,500-2,500. It is presented in 13 albums filled with c. 442 signed and/or inscribed photographs. Haussman once boasted of having the “world’s largest circus autograph collection." These 13 volumes are from an archive that originally spanned 34 volumes.
•    Lot #530, an archive on the carnival company James Strates Shows from the 1930s-2010s is estimated $1,500-3,000.  This assemblage includes over 50 three-ring binders filled with photographs, slides, clippings, correspondence, ephemera, and research and notes pertaining to Strates. It is probably the single largest privately-held collection on the show ever assembled.  

The handsome lithographed broadsides available through this sale offer a glimpse into the competitive traveling entertainment industry at the turn of last century.
•    Lot #171, a c. 1912 poster advertising a film featuring scenes from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, is estimated at $1,200-1,800. It features four Native American Indian men in full headdress.
•    Lot #185, a c. 1914 broadside from Tompkins’ Real Wild West showing two cowboys roping cattle, is estimated at $1,200-1,800.
•    Lot #170, a c. 1912 poster from the  Buffalo Bill-Pawnee Bill Film Company advertising a three-reel silent film short by Paul Panzer on the life of the Wild West showman is estimated at $1,200-1,800. It pictures a Native American family, a teepee, and Buffalo Bill on a horse.

Circus and carnival related merchandise adds an entertaining perspective to this expertly curated sale. Circus highlights include:
•    Lot #291, a c. 1976 blanket made for the Circus Vargas' "Hattie" the elephant is estimated at $300-600. This sequined, patriotic accessory measures 123" x 133” and is accompanied by five smaller sequined and rhinestone decorated pieces for elephants or other animals.
•    Lot #321, a lot of six items owned by the famous juggler Rosani (Joseph Stadtmuller, 1868-1944), is estimated at $200-400. This grouping includes three sticks/batons, three metal and wooden axes, and a framed panoramic image entitled: Chautauqua, NY, performed to 7,000, Aug. 25/26, 1903./J. Rosani.
•    Lot #290, a circus ringmaster coat owned and worn by Al Leonard of the Royal Hanneford Circus, is estimated at $200-400. This red and black felted wool jacket is decorated with rhinestones and is accompanied by two color photos of Leonard wearing the jacket and a vintage whistle found with the jacket, presumably used by Leonard.  

While carnival highlights include:
•    Lot #390, a trio of c. 1960s/70s carnival knock-down “punks” is estimated at $200-300. These stuffed, heavy canvas figures are in the form of clowns and a cat, are detailed with thick wool fringe, and stand on wood and leather bases.
•    Lot #316, a mid-century Whirlwind cotton candy machine made by Gold Metal Products of Cincinnati, is estimated at $250-350. This still working example was reputedly used at Chicago’s Riverview Park amusement park, which closed in 1967.  
•    Lot #531, a massive scale model carnival by John Sapita, re-creating the James Strates show, is estimated at $1,000-2,000. It includes five inter-connecting wooden panels  with two canvas tents, a network of tracks, and assorted figures attached; eight painted and stenciled wooden crates filled with hand-painted HO scale model train cars and props, including Pullman cars, vehicles, wagons, and other assorted pieces. This is an astonishing model representing countless hours of skillful labor.  

As expected, can't look away oddities and bizarre "freak show" rarities are well represented at this sale.
•    Lot #556, a mid-20th century articulated human skull produced for medical study is estimated at $1,000-1,500. It is signed by Clay-Adams of New York on its left side and comes somewhat ironically in a hinged pine storage box.
•    Lot #573, an early 20th century mortician’s embalming kit in its original case, is estimated at $250-350. It is in well cared for condition and includes 22 tools, six embalming fluid bottles, a make-up set with milk glass jars, comb, and wool applicator pads, a hand air-pump, and bottle stoppers with spouts.
•    Lot #563, a mid to late 20th century “Swamp Man” creature sideshow display head, is estimated at $250-350. This strange and frightening lifelike humanoid creature, covered with black horsehair, and detailed with glass eyes, a bulbous head shape, frog-like lips, and a pointed chin, is affixed to a wooden base.

Native American artwork, taxidermy, ephemera, and other intriguing merchandise bring this can't miss sale full circle.
•    Lot #612, an Inuit antler and bone Seal Spirit sculpture made by Nick Sikkuark (1943–2013) is estimated at $1,000-1,500.
•    Lot #352, a lot of four American c. 1930s/40s tattoo flash sheets featuring angels, nurses, Buffalo Bill and George Washington, sailors, flowers, shields, skulls, and other classic designs, is estimated at $400-600.
•    Lot #628, a full mount taxidermized aardwolf - a small insect eating mammal native to East and Southern Africa - is estimated at $1,200-1,800.
•    Lot #536, a marvelous collection of 120+ early Halloween postcards from the 1900s-1930s depicting colorful images of black cats, Jack-O’-lanterns, witches on broomsticks, cauldrons, children in costumes, and spooky scenes, is estimated at $1,200-1,500.
 
According to Gabe Fajuri, President at Potter & Potter Auctions, "I look forward to our annual circus, sideshow and oddities each year with anticipation. Assembling, cataloging, and photographing these sales is endlessly fascinating for not only our bidders, but staff, too. This year's offering features what I consider the finest Fred Johnson sideshow banner we've ever offered, and the Arbus photos are especially significant, as they showcase the talents of one of the twentieth century's most lauded photographers, but also cast a "fine art" shadow over what many - who, honestly, haven't studied the subject - consider a lowbrow form of entertainment. The archival material offered is significant, too, and overall, I couldn't be happier with what is, undoubtedly, a well-rounded auction filled with rarities."

Connecticut — All of the important Churchill lots at the start of the sale sold over estimate. Some of the high spots included lot 9 a typescript newspaper article, first line "Is a European war becoming more probable? " with comments on the "United States of Europe", with original hand-written corrections. [Avignon, France: sent 10th August 1931]. for $6930; lot 10 was a 6-page typed carbon-copy article, starting '“Although at first sight one would notice the important differences of sex, ago, appearance, and culture between Mr. Bernard Shaw and Lady Astor, they have at least one intensely marked quality in common. They like to have everything both ways", [N.p.: probably written in July/August 1931]  for $12821; lot 11 an original carbon-copy typescript of an article, starting "There has rarely been a crisis in which Hope and Peril... ,  with manuscript corrections. [No place: undated but March 1936]. for $6930; lot 13 an original carbon copy article, starting “How fares the United States under the bold schemes of President Roosevelt? This is a question which we ask ourselves from time to time in this island with a curiosity born both of sympathy and interest. Our economic life as a world-wide trading community is profoundly affected by the fortunes of the other great branch of the English-speaking peoples.  Their prosperity is our refreshment. Their joys feed our hopes.” [No place: undated but April 22, 1935 for 4851; and lot 14 contained typescripts of two articles on 1.Hitler and the invasion of the Rhineland (1936) and 2. the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931), this sold for $6064.

A selection from the rest of the sale: there were a number of books and artwork of sporting interest, lot 21 a very fine 1st edition of Hutchinson on Golf made $1100, whilst the Frank Benson etching (lot 56) of a leaping salmon made $440. Fine bindings from various eras were represented: lot 38 a well-restored example of the work of Thomas Gosden made $660; lot 93 a fine example of a Scottish 18th-century ‘wheel’ binding sold for $525 – unfortunately this was volume 2 only from a two-volume set; lot 144 was unusual: a very fine French morocco ‘jaune’ binding richly tooled in gilt, but on a red-ruled copy of a Baskerville edition of Catullus (etc.) Opera or works, this sold for $1100; even rarer was an original publisher’s desktop red morocco bookcase made to contain and display a set of four of Mrs. Ellis’s ‘lifestyle’ works – Ellis’s life and work is currently being reassessed and the combination of renewed demand and the rarity of the bookcase pushed this lot to $1733. There was some very nice manuscript material: lot 32 a small archive of letters, the majority form an early settler in Central City, Colorado, made $2200; and, from the anti-Vietnam War era, lot 76 R.A. Parker and J F Mahony’s manuscript re-worked the Declaration of Independence, the 10 foot 4 inch long scroll, was  titled ’In Tarrytown, July 4, 1971 / A Declaration of Peace’  and sold for $880. Classic European literature was present and sold: lot 200 was a true first edition set of V. Hugo’s Les Miserables which made $1042. A very rare Children’s classic, lot 196 Ann Taylor’s best known poem ‘My Mother’, sold for $990, whilst a forgotten slice of early colonial American history, a single issue of Mercuriius Politicus including a report from Boston, Mass., made $550. Last but not least, two lots that it is difficult to categorise: an original concept design from vanden Plas for a pre-war Alvis fastback automobile made $660, and lot 219 sold for $354.20 (a vintage fabric sample book from Peter Macarthur & Co. of Scotland containing 252 samples of tartans).

All in all, a pleasing result during difficult times – the next single-owner sale focusing on Photographs, Albums, Archives including photos and Photobooks will take place in October (see https://antiquarianauctions.com/ for more details.)