A long-lost John Brown daguerreotype garnered national attention before the auction, yet it was a fine copy of the Maxwell Code that topped Cowan’s Western and historic Americana sale December 6‷.
The Maxwell Code is the first book printed in the Northwest Territories and fetched $103,500 to become the top lot among more than 1,000 lots.
James Maxwell printed the Laws of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio in Cincinnati in 1796. Legal practitioners grew tired of the long name and began referring to it as the Maxwell Code in honor of its printer. The copy up for sale was one of the few copies in known existence and even fewer copies not in an institutional collection.
Day one of the sale featured various items from the West. Photographs of American Indians were popular with the bidders: a large collection of photographs taken by Alexander Gardner sold for $86,250. This collection featured images of Red Cloud and his braves.
A lot of ten photographs featuring William Clarke Quantrill and his “Raiders” beat its preauction estimate of $6/8,000 to fetch $13,800. Quantrill is best known for his style of guerilla warfare that he developed during the Civil War.
Wild Bill Hickok was another legendary figure of the Old West to garner bidders’ interest. A cabinet card of Hickok by Forney also beat its estimate and sold for $9,775. Hickok was a lawman that fought for the Union Army during the Civil War.
Day two of the sale had all eyes on the John Brown daguerreotype. A bidding war took place for the image and ended with a final price of $97,750; it had been estimated at $60/80,000. The daguerreotype had been passed down through descendants of the Brown family. The image was taken by African American photographer Augustus Washington in 1846 or 1847. Experts believe it was taken at the same time as the famous image of Brown displayed in the Smithsonian Institutions National Portrait Gallery. Both were taken at Washington’s Hartford studio.
Another daguerreotype catching bidders’ interest was an image of Philadelphia by William G. Mason that realized $18,400. The scene depicted in this image is a view from Mason’s home in Philadelphia.
Henry Tanner’s 1825 New American Atlas sold for $46,000. The atlas contained maps from several states of the North American Union. A map of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, circa 1734, by Mark Catesby tripled its preauction estimate when it fetched $16,100. This map was bound in Catesby’s Natural History , which included illustrations of plants, animals, birds, fish and insects of America.
“We were very pleased with the results of this sale,” said Wes Cowan, owner of Cowan’s Auctions. “Considering the uncertain economic climate today, the results just prove the strength of this market.”
All prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium.
Cowan’s next Western and historic Americana auction is slated for June. For information, www.cowanauctions.com or contact Wes Cowan at 513-871-1670.
