CHICAGO.- On May 12, Hindman Auctions will present its spring Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana sale. The auction will showcase 368 lots of books, manuscripts, Americana, prints, and maps. The sale will feature fine collections of Bibles, fine press books, and American prints, including a very extensive collection of Currier and Ives. Property from the Historic Sengen House in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, the Collection of Jack Belcher, a Distinguished Midwestern Collection, and LSC Communications, Inc. will be included in the sale.

A large collection of Bibles will lead the auction. Highlighting the session is a copy of Robert Barker’s “He” Bible, the first edition of the King James Bible, published in 1611 (lot 7; estimate: $8,000-12,000). The collection features a very fine tall copy of the Rheims New Testament, the first edition of the Roman Catholic version of the New Testament in English, translated from the Vulgate by Gregory Martin under the supervision of William Allen (later Cardinal Allen) and Richard Bristow (lot 4; estimate: $6,000-8,000). The session will also offer several fine incunable printings of the Bible.

The American prints session of the auction includes a strong offering of Currier and Ives prints from a private collection. The collection contains many rarities, including Rocky Mountains – Emigrants Crossing the Plains, after Frances F. Palmer (lot 310; estimate: $10,000-15,000). Only one other example of this print has sold at auction in the last 60 years. The session also highlights prints by John James Audubon and Karl Bodmer.

A session of fine press books includes books printed by the Allen Press, the Grabhorn Press, the Book Club of California, and several books produced by the Logan Elm Press. Also featured in the session is a very extensive, and nearly complete, run of publications by The Limited Editions Club. This is one of the most comprehensive runs of Limited Editions Club works to appear on the market at auction in over 20 years (lot 82; estimate: $50,000-70,000).

Highlights from the Fine Books and Manuscripts session include several fine letters, including an autograph letter from English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to his publisher Charles Ollier (lot 220; estimate: $3,000-4,000) in which he discusses his masterpiece Prometheus Unbound, and a group of nine letters from Georgia O’Keeffe to Jean Ledoux (lot 202A, estimate: $3,000-4,000).

Bidding for the May 12 auction will begin at 10am CT. Bidders will be able to participate via absentee bid, by phone, or live online through the Digital Bid Room, Hindman’s recently launched online and mobile bidding platform. A private preview of the auction will be available at Hindman’s Chicago office by appointment only.