Doyle New York will hold an auction of Rare Books, Maps and Autographs on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 10am. The sale will offer property in a variety of categories, including Americana, manuscripts, inscribed first editions, color plate books, livres d’artiste and original artwork.
THE LIBRARY OF OMAR SHAKESPEAR POUND
A special section of the sale features books from the Library of Omar Shakespear Pound (1926-2010), son of the great American poet Ezra Pound and his wife, Dorothy Shakespear, one of Wyndham Lewis’s group of Vorticist artists. Omar Pound was himself a poet and translator of Arabic and Persian verse. He co-edited three volumes of Ezra’s letters and a bibliography of Wyndham Lewis, and was a founding trustee of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial Trust.
Books from the Estate of Omar Shakespear Pound include a rare signed copy of Ezra Pound’s A Lume Spento, a copy of W.B. Yeats’s 1893 book on Blake’s poetry inscribed by Yeats to Dorothy Shakepear’s mother, and a copy of A Draft of XVI Cantos (bound with A Draft of the Cantos 17-27), inscribed O.P. certified 1948 Ezra P. Other highlights include a miniature portrait of the young Ezra Pound by Winnifred Mabel Newberry Brunton, one of four copies of A Draft of the Cantos 17-27 printed on Roman vellum, and a variety of other books by Pound and his circle.
AN IMPORANT ALBUM OF MUSICAL MANUSCRIPTS
Certain to attract attention is an important album of musical manuscripts. In the mid-1850s, when Arnold Wehner was director of music at Gottingen, the Romantic ferment in European music was approaching its apogee. Orchestras had grown in size, to accommodate the rich harmonies and chromatic lyricism of the new generation of composers. Also growing was a public fascination with music, now a far more public and democratic phenomenon than in the previous century. Germany was an especially rich milieu; so many of the new stars in the musical firmament originated from Austro-Hungary. Musicians and composers alike traveled extensively from venue to venue, and they frequently relied on fellow musicians to host them and fete them. Wehner was one of these, and they left evidence of their gratitude in his album amicorum. Featured are musical manuscripts of Brahms, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Anton Rubinstein, and about 40 other musical quotations and compositions (est. $8,000-12,000).
LITERATURE
In addition to the Ezra Pound material, the literature section is strong. Included an inscribed copy of Ernest Hemingway’s Across the River and into the Trees, a signed first edition of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, a rare first edition of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet and autographs of Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. Also featured are several significant association copies, among them a copy of T.S. Eliot’s Prufrock and Other Observations presented as a gift by Eliot’s brother to his wife-to-be.
AMERICANA
In Americana, highlights include a rare Paul Revere engraved trade card, a first edition of John Knox’s 1769, An Historical Journal of the Campaigns in North-America, an important letter by the Marquis de Lafayette to the the American Secretary of War James McHenry warning of alliances with England during the XYZ Affair, and a signed first edition of Stride Toward Freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King’s first book.
THEATER AND HOLLYWOOD
Selections from the theatrical autographs collection of Robert Pearlstein include signed curtain calls from Rudolf Nureyev and playbills by Tennessee Williams as well as numerous signed photographs of classic Hollywood stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Paul Newman.
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Of interest to young and old alike will be the Fred M. Meyer Collection of L. Frank Baum and The Wizard of Oz. This 30-lot section features a range of rare Oziana and Baum material including John R. Neill’s original typescript and numerous original illustrations for The Wonder City of Oz. The section also includes first editions of several Baum and Wizard of Oz books, original illustrations and typescripts from other Oz authors and artists, and a large amount of rare printed Oz ephemera.
ILLUSTRATIONS AND CHILDREN’S BOOKS
In other illustrations, a trove of material from illustrator Harold B. Lentz is highlighted by a series of martian drawings for a story titled Twink Just Beyond the Moon and also offered are original pieces by Louis Wain, Arthur Szyk and others. Children’s books on offer include a rare copy of Kay Thompson’s Eloise signed by both artist and illustrator (Hilary Knight) and a first edition of J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy signed by both Barrie and early Peter Pan actress, Pauline Chase.
ARTIST BOOKS
Artist books include a copy of Andy Warhol 25 Cats named Sam and One Blue Pussy; a long run of issues of Derrière le Miroir, including Marc Chagall’s 1954 Paris; and Joan Miro’s 1962 illustrations for Saccades, La Lumière de la Lame, and Anti-Platon, a boxed set limited to 85 copies, each volume signed and numbered by Miro.
EARLY MANUSCRIPTS
Early books in the sale include an illuminated manuscript, a Ferial Psalter possibly prepared for use in Ireland, and a 15th century Southern German devotional manuscript for convent use, and several leaves and cuttings. Featured in this section is a fine miniature (Northern France, circa 1450) from a series of the Labors of the Months for November, showing the gathering of fuel for the winter.
AUTOGRAPHS
An exceptional autograph offering is a group of three partial pages from the account books for Christopher Wren’s reconstruction of Hampton Court, two of which are signed by Wrenand others. There are two major photographs inscribed by Einstein to the daughter of one of his lovers, and an exceptionally attractive large format Mark Twain photograph with a wonderfully inscription.
