Letter from Sojourner Truth [on meeting Abraham Lincoln] in The Liberator.. Boston, December 23, 1864

Sojourner Truth meets with Lincoln at the White House. This issue of the leading abolitionist newspaper The Liberator prints the famous letter from Sojourner Truth to her friend Rowland Johnson recounting at length her meeting with Lincoln on October 29, 1864.

$6,000

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, (1962)

FIRST EDITION of this landmark in the history of ideas, one of the most influential twentieth-century works in the history and philosophy of science. “One of the most influential books of the 20th century. … It singlehandedly changed the way we think about mankind’s most organized attempt to understand the world” (The Guardian).

$6,000

Der jüdische Gil Blas. Leipzig: Friese, 1834

First edition. This is the first printing of the legend of the Golem of Prague.  

$6,000

Netzach Israel. Jerusalem: Aynot, 5724 [1963]

First collected edition. Presentation copy inscribed and signed by David Ben-Gurion: “To Michael Levy on the occasion of your Bar Mitzvah, with blessings from Paula and David Ben-Gurion.”

$6,000

East Front of the Capitol. Washington, August 31, 1864

This rare photograph shows the East Front of the U.S. Capitol during construction. Sawhorses and construction debris are visible in the foreground, while a number of figures, perhaps builders and the architect, stand at the head of the main stairs beneath Thomas Crawford’s pediment of The Progress of Civilization.

$5,500

Original drawing of Walt Whitman. no date, no place, 19th century

This original pen and ink drawing of Walt Whitman is mounted at the front of an 1888 edition of Leaves of Grass. The likeness of a jaunty, casual, Whitman wearing his trademark slouch hat takes its cue from the famous 1855 Hollyer engraving, but here we see an older Whitman with a full beard.

$4,800

The Double Helix. In Atlantic Monthly. Boston, January and February 1968

FIRST EDITION of The Double Helix, preceding the publication in book form in late February 1968. Signed by James Watson on the front cover of each issue.

$4,800

Dred Scott decision – “Important Decision of the Supreme Court:” in National Intelligencer. Washington: Gales and Seaton, March 7, 1857

This is the announcement of the Dred Scott decision, brought as breaking news by a leading Washington newspaper.

$4,500

View of Rome from the Tiber River with Castel Sant’Angelo and Saint Peter’s Basilica. Rome, ca. 1870

$4,500

East Front of the Capitol. Washington, c. 1864

This photograph by Alexander Gardner shows the Capitol as it was during Lincoln’s presidency. Scaffolding, cranes, ladders, and other construction equipment are visible. The East Front of the Capitol was the site of Lincoln’s inaugurations in 1861 and 1865.

$3,800