Printed & Manuscript Americana

In one letter, salt-maker and businessman William Dickinson said to his partner Shrewbury, “Edmund & Mary are both spoilt quite so, I think. I better come down & move Mary & her children up to the R.&S. place, and put them to business as Negroes should be.” The statement is taken from one letter, among thousands in correspondence with the Dickinson & Shrewsbury salt works in West Virginia. If read between the lines, one will understand how daunting and exasperating life was for the company’s slaves. This September, Swann Auction Gallery will present a detailed record of the Dickinson & Shrewsbury salt works company, especially concerning the lives of slaves and abolition. Many other historic collectibles will also be available.

The collection includes prints & manuscripts from various sources as history is explored through the lots. One of the highly important items is the “History of the Indian Tribes of North America” by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall. It comes with 120 hand-colored lithograph plates and 17 pages of facsimile subscriber signatures. The book traveled with McKenney as he painted portraits of American Indian delegates visiting Washington from 1821 to 1830. Ranging in estimate from $250 – $120,000 with the curation of 329 lots, this auction also features a hand-colored engraving symbolizing liberty triumphant or the downfall of oppression. Find more intriguing items at Swann Auction Gallery.