John M. Steinbrugge, born in 1923 and still going strong, is selling at auction his fine library of books on the Pacific Northwest and most notably Oregon, which he built over a span of thirty years of avid collecting. PBA Galleries in San Francisco is handling the sale of the books, which include such landmark works as a first edition of The History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, two volumes, 1814, with the rare map; a complete set of Captain James Cook’s three voyages, 9 volumes including the folio atlas to the third voyage; and Paul Kane’s Wanderings of an Artist Among the Indians of North America, 1859. The auction will be held on May 29th in San Francisco.
Though born in Arizona, Mr. Steinbrugge was raised in Oregon, and graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Civil Engineering. His profession drew him southward to California, where he specialized in earthquake engineering, designing and analyzing many multi-story buildings in Orange County, including the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. At ten stories high without columns and an exterior skin of glass, it is a marvel of earthquake country.
His heart, however, was still in the lush green hills of Oregon, and much of his reading revolved around the history of the Northwest. A flyer from the Arthur Clark Co. advertising reprints of books on the west that were originally published over a hundred years ago sparked his interest, and he began seeking out earlier, first hand accounts by those who had participated in the expansion across the Mississippi into the west. He was soon buying books from the leading antiquarian book dealers in the United States: Michael Ginsburg, Oregon Territorial Books, Jack Rittenhouse, William Reese, Kurt Bohling, and many others.
Steinbrugge’s collection grew as he added treasure upon treasure, but, by his own account, he had no acquaintances or friends who were interested in antiquarian books. He had no outlet for sharing the books until one day he was having dinner with his brother Karl, also an engineer. Normally when the two got together there was much to discuss, so they never got to their hobbies. But on this occasion, by chance, he discovered Karl’s passion for collecting antiquarian books on the exploration of the Pacific and northwest coast of America. They had both been collecting on the northwest, Karl from the waters of the west, John from the lands of the east, without either being cognizant of the other’s passion. They bought from the same dealers and occasionally the same auction houses, at times in competition with one another, unbeknownst to themselves. Karl sold his collection though PBA Galleries in 1996.
Some twelve years later John Steinbrugge is following the same course, in his words, passing the valuable and important works on to the next generation. Besides the Lewis and Clark, Cook and Kane, these include four different editions of Patrick Gass’s Journal of the Voyags and Travels of a Corps of Discovery; Johnson and Winter’s Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California, 1846; John Ledyard’s A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage, 1783; John B. Wyeth’s Oregon: or a Short History of a Long Journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Region of the Pacific, 1833; and many others.
All lots in the sale may be viewed at the PBA Galleries website, www.pbagalleries.com
About PBA Galleries
PBA Galleries is the only specialist auction house in the West devoted to rare books, manuscripts, and maps. Focused primarily on personal collections and exceptional books, recent offerings have included the sale of maps and atlases from the Ernst W. Gerber collection; the library of Ford Mitchell: Early Americana, Texas & the West; John Dunlap’s collection from the estate of William Randolph Hearst; and many more. PBA Galleries provides clients the benefits of its staff of appraisers, online and printed catalogues, and biweekly gallery auctions where clients can bid in person, email, and in real time from their computer. We welcome you to follow the auction and bid in real time by clicking on the Real Time Bidder button at the PBA Galleries website. Bidders will have to register before the auction. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
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