Major Literature and Americana Collections Offered at Freeman’s
Theodore Roosevelt and his Cabinet, photograph signed by the president and his 9 cabinet members, photographic collage by George Prince. Estimate: $12,000 to $18,000.
Sponsored by Freeman's
Two major sales at Freeman’s Chicago and Philadelphia locations this spring and summer will bring many highpoints of literature and Americana under the hammer.
The first offering, at Freeman’s Chicago location on May 14th, is the library of Stephen J. Farber, a 300-lot collection formed over sixty years, spanning major collection categories but with a particular emphasis on literature in fine condition.
Included in the Farber sale are the first appearance of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven in near fine original wrappers, a first edition of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in pristine condition with the rare printed wrap-around band, a first edition, first impression set of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and the first English edition of Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia.
Christopher Brink, Senior Specialist in Books & Manuscripts at Freeman’s, said of the Farber collection, “I am particularly excited to offer this library in its entirety, as it tells the story of one collector’s lifelong passion—an almost sixty-year pursuit of the books and manuscripts he most deeply loved—and of the new stewards who will, in turn, cherish them with the same care and devotion.”
The Farber sale will be followed by a June 30th auction at Freeman’s Philadelphia location, “How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X,” which will serve as the culminating event of Freeman’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Caren has been called “The Babe Ruth of Historical Collecting,” as he assembled a collection of one million original items, including rare newspapers, books and pamphlets, broadsides, manuscripts, early photographs, ephemera, and printed records documenting pivotal moments in American and world history. The collection tells a broad and compelling story of America, highlighting communities and individuals whose voices have too often been overlooked. What distinguishes this sale is not only its scale and rarity, but the distinctly American narrative it presents.
The Freeman’s sale marks the tenth major auction of Caren’s extensive and carefully curated holdings. The previous nine sales have attracted international attention and strong institutional and private bidding.
“It is an honor not only to put together an auction from the over one million items in Caren’s collection, but also to be able to personally choose the material with him that illustrates American history shown through objects unrelated to one another, and that were typically never intended to survive,” said Darren Winston, Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia.
Both collections will be on view at Freeman’s New York gallery, April 28th to May 1st, during the New York Antiquarian Book Fair.
