NEW YORK, NY.- The Thursday, March 21 auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana at
Swann Galleries will be the house’s largest offering of the material to date. The sale includes important documentation of the abolition movement, catalogues and posters for exhibits by leading Black artists, previously unseen Black Panther material, material on Black-owned businesses, and more.
From the abolition movement is a rare pamphlet by David Ruggles, The Abrogation of the Seventh Commandment, by the American Churches, 1835 ($6,000-9,000); an autograph letter signed by Frederick Douglass discussing the role of the Quakers in the abolitionist movement from 1885 ($12,000-18,000); and a bound volume of The Liberator, 1865, that spans the five Civil War years ($10,000-15,000).
Material related to the Civil War includes a badge issued to a private in the “Glory” regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, who was wounded at Fort Wagner, circa 1864 ($12,000-18,000). Also of note is a large archive of personal and official papers of a lieutenant with the 22nd United States Colored Troops dated from 1849 to 1904 ($12,000-18,000), and a group of four eloquent letters of Lieutenant George G. Smith, an officer of Colored Troops, to his cousins, one describes “the death hour of the rebellion” at Appomattox, from 1864-65 ($10,000-15,000).
Black Panther posters include Move On Over or We’ll Move On Over You, circa 1966 ($6,000-9,000); a pair of Detroit Black Panther signs printed on cardboard, circa 1972 ($1,200-1,800); a selection of wide-ranging newspapers, from 1968, and 1972 to 2001 ($800-1,200); and a group of 11 news photographs relating to Huey Newton and his trials from 1968-70 ($800-1,200).
Material on Black-owned businesses features Green Book-related material with a 1958 edition of Victor H. Green’s The Negro Travelers’ Green Book ($12,000-18,000), and records of Pittsburgh's Green Book-listed Ellis Hotel and Shangri-La Lounge, including guest receipts from 1948-59 ($4,000-6,000).
Lots celebrating entertainers are led by a circa 1900 poster for opera singer Sissieretta Jones ($5,000-7,500). Further items include an 1840 broadside for Ira Aldridge’s performance of Shakespeare at the George Inn Assembly Room in provincial Penrith in northern England ($3,000-4,000); and a group of 90 disco club fliers, tickets and cards from 1972-75 ($2,500-3,500).
Catalogues and posters for exhibits by leading artists include 37 Negro Artists at Fort Huachuca in 1943 ($1,200-1,800), Richard Hunt exhibitions from 1963 and 1968 (together, $1,00-1,500), and a 1971 AfriCOBRA II exhibition catalogue ($1,000-1,500) among others.
Historic material related to baseball is on offer with an 1899 photograph of famed baseball team of the 25th United States Infantry ($4,000-6,000), and diaries from 1913-14 of a Buffalo Soldier in the Philippines that note ballplayers Bullet Rogan and Oscar Charleston ($2,500-3,500).
Exhibition hours are 12 pm to 5 pm on Saturday, March 16, and Monday, March 18 through Wednesday, March 20. Bidding is available through online platforms, absentee, the phone, and live in-person. Live online bidding platforms will be the Swann Galleries App, Invaluable, and Live Auctioneers.
