Auction 15
Following are some of the iconographic highlights of our Auctions 14 & 15,
with links to fuller decriptions and more iconography. Our.Auction 15 with its
225 lots, many illustrated, offers the collector more in the way of iconography,
but Auction 14 features sketches by Bernhardt Wall as well as the captivating
vignettes adorning one of the all-time great California maps in Venegas. Below
are short descriptions with an example graphic. Simply click on the links to
see more. Some long load times may be involved, depending on your connection.
Given the nature of these collections, there will be some overlap between photography,
iconography, and cartography.
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78.
[FLEMING, G. A.]. California: Its Past History; Its Present
Position; Its Future Prospects..... London, 1850.
Engraved title page, 2 engraved plates, map (all vividly hand-colored
and with gesso highlights). “The hand-colored plates are of exceptional
quality and the engraved frontispiece is one of the glories of Gold Rush
literature.” |
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14-63.
WALL, Bernhardt. The Odyssey of the Etcher of Books. Sierra
Madre, California, 1945. 261 etchings on heavy laid paper (almost all in
colors), many of the etchings signed by Wall. The Odyssey contains the etchings Wall considered
his best and most representative work, including his dramatic large-size
portrait of Abraham Lincoln, generally conceded to be his top print.
($3,000-6,000) Click on the picture for more on this lot, or click the following link for both Wall Etchings lots: More>> |
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37.
CHAVANNES DE LA GIRAUDIÈRE, H. de. Les Petits Voyageurs en Californie.
Tours: Ad Mame, 1853. [2] 188 pp., 8 chromolithographs.
Among the notable plates are a charming view of San Francisco and
another showing the trio calmly killing a grizzly. One plate is an early
illustration of the giant redwoods. ($500-1,000) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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28.
[CALIFORNIA PICTORIAL LETTER SHEETS]. Album containing 18 California
pictorial letter sheets, mostly by Britton & Rey. A well-rounded group
of prints, including an early street map of San Francisco, two rare double-sheet
bird’s-eye views of San Francisco, mining towns (including some first or
early views of those towns), mining operations, gambling, Chinese miners,
life in the mines, and Gold Rush humor. ($7,500-15,000) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>>. See also our Auction 15 Lots 29-32 for more California pictorial letter sheets. |
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40.
CHORIS, Louis. Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, avec des
Portraits de Sauvages d’Amérique, d’Asie, d’Afrique, et
des Iles du Grand Océan.... Paris: Didot, 1820, 1822.
2
charts, 1 folded map, 105 plates; a fine, tall copy (41.5 cm; 16-1/4
inches), with fresh, vibrant coloring. ($100,000-150,000) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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10.
[BAKER, S. F. or Peter Browning (attributed)]. Outline History
of an Expedition to California: Containing the Fate of the Get All You Can
Mining Association. Designed and Engraved by XOX. New York: H. Long
& Bro., 1849. 32 pp. printed on one side only, every page with mordant
illustrations of the Gold Rush. ($3,000-6,000). Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> See also, on that same page, our Auction 15 Lot 9 for more early California iconography. |
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59.
VENEGAS, Miguel. Noticia de la California, y de su conquista
temporal, y espiritual hasta el tiempo presente.... Madrid: Viuda de
Manuel Fernandez, y del Supremo Consejo de la Inquisición, 1757.
The Mapa de la California
su Golfo was skillfully engraved by Manuel Rodríguez and adorned with
captivating vignettes. ($10,000-20,000) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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210.
VISCHER, Edward.
Vischer’s Pictorial of California Landscape, Trees and Forest
Scenes. Grand Features of California Scenery, Life, Traffic and Customs.
San Francisco, April, 1870. [San Francisco,1870]. Vischer’s
album is a unique contribution to the iconography of California. ($7,500-15,000) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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68.
DUPETIT-THOUARS, Abel Aubert. Voyage Autour du Monde sur la
Frégate la Vénus pendant les années 1836-1839....Paris: 1840-1844.
The magnificent plates are a credit to a country where those printing
arts had already been brought to a high level. Many colored lithographs
of scenes, people, flora & fauna of the New World. ($50,000-100,000). Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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143.
M’ILVAINE, William, Jr. Sketches of Scenery and Notes of Personal
Adventure, in California and Mexico. Philadelphia, 1850. 16 lithographed
plates, including illustrated title, by the author (10 views of Mexico,
California, and the Gold Rush: San Francisco, Sacramento, Fort Sutter, Sutter’s
Mill, Kanaka Creek, Stockton, scenes in the gold region, Acapulco, Chapultepec,
Mexico City) ($5,000-10,000) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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178.
San Francisco News Letter. Seven Christmas issues
(1882-1888). Numerous colored lithographs and text illustrations (scenes
and views, life in San Francisco, architecture, fanciful subjects, portraits
ads). This profusely illustrated
fin de siècle San Francisco periodical has attributed covers lithographed
by A. L. Bancroft, Britton & Rey, Edward Bosqui, and Dickman, Jones
& Hettrich. All issues but one contain either chromolithographs or lithographs
on tinted grounds by Britton & Rey, Edward Bosqui, or Max Schmidt. ($750-1,500) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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123.
[LETTS, J. M.]. A Pictorial View of California; Including a
Description of the Panama and Nicaragua Routes, with Information and Advice
Interesting to All.... 48 lithographed plates on toned grounds (including
frontispiece) of scenes and views in the California Gold Rush, Mexico, and
Central America after original drawings of George Victor Cooper. ($600-1,200) Click on this link or the picture for more: More>> |
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89.
GERSTÄCKER, F[riedrich Wilhelm Christian]. Scènes de la Vie
Californienne. |
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