Land, Sea, and Air
Important signed books and artifacts charting the exploration of the globe and space are coming to auction.
The Northwest Passage, an infamous mutiny, and NASA limited editions take pride of place at Potter & Potter Auctions’s Terrestrial and Celestial sale on April 18.
“Potter & Potter is excited to offer a broad collection of fine and rare books and other collectibles about terrestrial and space exploration,” said Gabe Fajuri, president and founder of the Chicago-based auctioneers. “We have rare books on polar exploration, rare and important books on Pacific exploration, including two scarce first editions by Captain William Bligh of the H. M. S. Bounty, and numerous books and artifacts from the American and Soviet space programs, many of which are signed.”
The search for the Northwest Passage forms the basis of Arthur Dobbs’s 1744 An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson’s Bay, in the North-West Part of America. Dobbs (1689-1765) backed an expedition led by Captain Christopher Middleton of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and this near-fine volume—with an estimate of $5,000-7,000—represents his condemnation of Middleton, whom Dobbs believed had deliberately scuppered the attempt for financial gain.
Among those who searched for what had happened to John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the region was Sir Edward Inglefield (1820–1894). Coming to sale is the scarce first edition of his account, A Summer Search for Sir John Franklin; With a Peep into the Polar Basin (London: Thomas Harrison, 1853), with a laid-in folding map. It has an estimate of $3,000-5,000. Two years earlier, Commander James Mangles (1786-1867) had also been on Franklin’s trail. The scarce second edition of his 1852 travel memoir Papers and Despatches Relating to the Arctic Searching Expeditions of 1850-51-52 … (estimate: $2,000-4,000) going under the hammer contains additional excerpts from letters, media reports, and official documents. A star in this section is a complete set of Sir William Parry’s four voyages, inscribed by Parry (1790-1855) to one of his brig captains, “Captain Matthew Liddon from his faithful friend Parry.” The estimate is $6,000-8,000.
The Mutiny of the Bounty is recounted in two scarce volumes in the sale by Captain William Bligh (1754-1817). A first edition of his personal account, A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board His Majesty’s Ship Bounty … (London: George Nicol, 1790), is accompanied by a first edition of his official record of the voyage and mutiny, A Voyage to the South Sea, Undertaken by Command of His Majesty, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies… Both have estimates of $15,000-20,000.
Atmospheric offerings come in the form of NASA memorabilia. A swatch of Kapton polyamide tape from the heat shield of the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, part of the spacecraft’s thermal protection system, is expected to make $1,000-1,500. Meanwhile, signed limited editions of the seven titles in the deluxe Easton Press Astronaut Library from the 1990s and 2000s, plus three additional volumes by astronauts for Easton Press, have an estimate of $2,000-3,000. Among them are Moon Shot by Alan Shepard; Lost Moon by James Lovell; Countdown by Frank Borman; The Last Man on the Moon by Gene Cernan; Schirra’s Space by Wally Schirra; We Seven by Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper and John Glenn; and Men from Earth by Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.
