(Berkeley, California, August 11th, 2021) – PBA Galleries announced an auction of Americana – Travel & Exploration – World History – Cartography to be held on August 19th, 2021. The catalogue includes nearly 600 lots of rare, interesting, and uncommon material, ranging from scarce local histories to the science and valor that put men and women into space and to the moon. There is much on California from the time of the gold rush to the creation of the freeways of today; a large selection on the African American experience, from the struggles against slavery to the movements of the 1960’s and the Black Panthers; Mexico; Cookery; Hawaii; U.S. Presidents; Texas, and more, with sections on Space Exploration; Travel & World History; and Maps.
Highlights include Novísimo Arte de Cocina, 1831, possibly the first cookbook printed in Mexico, published the same year as a competing gastronomical work, with Mexican specialties as well as European fare with a Mexican flair (Estimate: $4,000-$6,000). The cookery section also features Pauline’s Practical Book of the Culinary Art, the first edition, published in Omaha in 1919, regarded as the third cookbook written by an African American woman, Carrie Pauline Lynch (Estimate: $2,000-$3,000).
Travel stands out in the sale, with noteworthy lots such as Adam Olearus’ Voyages and Travells… to the Great Duke of Muscovy, and the Kings of Persia, 1669, the second English edition of this detailed account of the first German trading mission to Moscow, Persia, India and beyond (Estimate: $3,000-$5,000). Die Einwanderung nach U.S.A., an official German guide for Jews emigrating from Germany, published in 1940, covers procedural steps and legal technicalities necessary to be observed by Jews seeking to emigrate to the United States from Nazi Germany (Estimate: $1,500-$2,500).
Rare accounts from world history also feature in the sale: The Grasslands International Steeplechase, John Gourlay’s account of the inaugural running of this short-lived American steeplechase, illustrated by Paul Brown was limited to 200 copies (Estimate: $5,000-$8,000). A rare Mexican decree from 1842, by Antonio Lópes de Santa Anna, sets the rules under which foreigners can purchase property in Mexico, and allowing them to buy mines (Estimate: $1,000-$1,500).
Other standouts include a photograph of astronaut Ed White, signed and inscribed on the image by the first American to walk in space, who tragically died when Apollo I went up in flames in 1967 during pre-flight testing (Estimate: $1,000-$1,500). Map of Joiner Area, Rusk County, Texas, 1930 is a hand-colored blue line map showing the Joiner subdivision and locating the famed Daisy Bradford well number three, the largest oil field discovered up to that time (Estimate: $2,500-$3,500).
PBA continues to safeguard the health of employees and clients by remaining closed to the public. PBA will limit live auction participation to online or phone bidding. For more information about upcoming sales or to schedule a Zoom preview or phone bidding for a future auction, please contact the galleries at 415.989.2665 or [email protected].