Left: Sebastian Bauman, Plan of the Investment of York and Gloucester, engraved hand-colored map, Philadelphia, [February?] 1782. Estimate: $15,000 to $25,000.
Right: Charles II, King of England, Authorization for Edmund Andros to take possession of New York from the Dutch, Windsor Castle, England, 30 July 1674. Estimate: $100,000 to $150,000.
Early in our fall 2011 season, Swann will offer the first in what will be at least three auctions of historic material from the personal collection of Eric C. Caren, called “How History Unfolds on Paper.”
The collection has an interesting genesis. Caren has long sought to own a representative document from every important event in modern history, beginning with the earliest days of printing. Having completed this collection to his satisfaction, he began to assemble another one, freeing some of the earlier acquisitions for sale. The material that will be sold comprises just part of Caren’s vast collection, which spans European and American books, newspapers, manuscripts, photographs, broadsides and more, showcasing important material from the 16th through 20th centuries.
As proprietor of the Caren Archive, Eric Caren is a well-known collector and dealer of historic collectibles. The Newseum in Washington, D.C. acquired more than 30,000 of his newspapers to form the core of its permanent collection. He is also the CEO of Retrographics Publishing, author of numerous books, and former director of the Ephemera Society of America.
Among the highlights:
- The first printed baseball scorecard, from an 1866 championship game between Brooklyn and Philadelphia
- A rare 1789 illustrated broadside printing of Remarks on the Slave Trade
- An original plan of the R.M.S. Lusitania by its builders, John Brown & Company, 25 November 1907
- An impressive variety of newspapers from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
- A manuscript account of exchanges between George Washington and his personal physician James Craik, detailing the medical care of Washington, his family, and his slaves, 1786-89
- A broadsheet extra of the Boston Post-Boy, describing demonstrations at the Liberty Tree against the newly instituted Stamp Act, 4 November 1765
- Original photographs of 19th-century outlaws including Tiburcio Vásquez (signed), the Dalton Gang, and the James-Younger Gang.
Labels: baseball, Eric C. Caren, George Washington, Ho History Unfolds on Paper, Lusitania, Manuscripts, printed and manuscript americana, Rick Stattler
