Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC will greet the warm weather with a little heat of their own, in the form of a huge, four-day American History & Hall of Fame Showcase auction, June 6th thru 9th, online and live in the gallery located at 3555 Airway Drive in Reno, starting each day at 8 am Pacific time. A staggering 2,335 lots will come up for bid.
“This auction boasts categories from several major collections, some more than fifty years in the making,” said Fred Holabird, the owner of Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC. “This sale closely follows a timed online-only auction last month that saw a lot of action, with some good rarities and some great buys. The timed auctions are getting more popular by the month.”
But the upcoming auction promises to be a blockbuster in every sense of the word. It will start with Day 1, on Thursday, June 6th, featuring 590 lots of Native Americana, jewelry and watches, collectibles, books / antiquarian, medical collectibles, advertising items, toys and kids’ items.
Native Americana will showcase 19th century photographs and autographs of Native American chiefs, Native American history books and more than 30 baskets from the Wedertz-Bridgeport-Bodie collection. Lot 1135 is a beautiful Panamint butterfly basket made by Molly Bellas of Lone Pine. It took her ten years to complete this work, which has four large butterflies adorning the sides. The tightly woven basket was a prize in the Wedertz collection (est. $1,000-$4,000).
Day 2, on Friday, June 7th, will contain 550 lots of maps, transportation and railroad (including two key railroad pass collections, one of them the Ron Lerch collection of Western railroad passes), and stocks (including banking, railroad and other). Lot 2097 is a railroad pass for the Bodie and Benton and Commercial Co. from 1887. The pass, #131 issued to W. H. Jones, Arizona & New Mexico Railroad, was signed by Thomas Falk, Gen. Supt. (est. $800-$2,000).
Day 3, on Saturday, June 8th, will be super busy, with 595 lots of Wells Fargo & Express, outlaws and lawmen, autographs, Rev War and early military, President Lincoln, the JFK assassination, Black Americana, Civil War, Gen. George A. Custer, presidential, firearms and weaponry, sports / Hall of Fame, baseball and basketball, boxing, football and other items.
Black Americana will feature a major discovery of a ferrotype of the founders of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee and the Anti-Slavery Society (the Underground Railroad). Lot 3253 is two bills of sale for Southern plantations, with items that include held slaves, giving the price for human beings alongside items like wheat bushels and horse harnesses (est. $300-$500).
The Civil War will be an active category, featuring an original Union soldier correspondence letter archive, original Confederate sympathizer correspondence from the Union side, a collection of notables on both sides of the war (including the execution of Lt. Wirz), and Union and Confederate illustrated covers, stamps and letter sheets – a treasure trove for collectors.
Lot 3303 is an exceptional historical record of Union Prisoners of War held in Columbia, S.C., compiled by Capt. A.A. Taylor of the 122nd Reg., Ohio Volunteers. The book contains more than 470 autographs of Union officers with identifying regiments and other anecdotal material (est. $8,000-$20,000). There’s also an autograph book of Confederate officers held in a Union prison.
Day 3 will also feature large collections surrounding President Abraham Lincoln, politically and regarding the assassination. Lot 3180 is a rare carte de visite of John Wilkes Booth, signed and inscribed by him circa 1859 on the reverse: “J. Wilkes Booth to James W. McDerman”. James McDerman was manager of the Merchant Hotel in Baltimore, 1859-1866 (est. $5,000-$10,000).
There is a large collection of Gen. George A. Custer personal material and a collection of Custer officers killed at Little Big Horn. Lot 3336 is a cabinet card signed by Sioux Chief Rain-In-The-Face, the man who personally killed Custer, as confessed to a missionary on his deathbed. The photo was taken in preparation of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 (est. $10,000-$20,000).
There are many original documents and photographs of well-known 19th century Western outlaws. These include signed documents of several of the brothers of the notorious James Gang; a large collection of documents related to Billy the Kid and the man who killed him, Pat Garrett; and a collection of signed documents by several members of the outlaw family the Dalton Gang.
There is also a collection of many 19th century California wanted posters from various counties. They include an original wanted poster for Bill Minor (the Grey Fox); a collection that includes two of the three different original Pinkerton wanted posters/circulars for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (est. $20,000-$40,000); and the absolute top Western wanted poster of all – the 1882 Black Bart Poet Stage Robber four-page circular and wanted poster (est. $10,000-$30,000).
Not everyone knows about the Lincoln County War, an Old West conflict between rival factions that began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory (later the state of New Mexico), and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the participation of William H. Bonney (“Billy the Kid”), Sheriff William J. Brady and other notables. A collection of 17 rare Lincoln County War documents, lot 32069, is up for bid with an estimate of $8,000-$20,000.
Day 3 will also feature John F. Kennedy material, including a collection of everything to do with the assassination and a collection of Kennedy political figures; a large library of rare Western history books; and baseball-related items, including documents and a program from the fixed 1919 World Series, known as the Black Sox scandal (est. $5,000-$10,000); and an autograph cut of Hall of Famer Roger Connor, the “Homerun King” of the dead-ball era (est. $5,000-$20,000).
Day 4, on Sunday, June 9th, will also be active, with 600 lots of mining, numismatics, tokens, World’s Fair memorabilia, bottles, saloon, tobacciana, gaming, cowboy, entertainment, music, photographs, ephemera and philatelic, a fitting end to a four-day auction packed with great stuff.
Noteworthy Day 4 lots include a choice purple color bottle for “A B Stewart / Druggist / Bodie, Cal.”. The bottle, never washed, displays beautifully, with only a very small ship (est. $500-$1,000); and a rare territorial token for “The Antlers / Prescott / A.T. (Arizona Territory) / L.A. Rub. Stamp Co. / Good For / 12 ½ Cents / At The Bar”, round, 21 mm, R9 (est. $400-$800).
Online bidding will be provided by iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Anyone owning a collection that might fit into a Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC auction is encouraged to get in touch. The firm travels throughout the U.S., to see and pick up collections. The company has agents all over America and will travel to inspect most collections.
To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC, and the four-day American History & Hall of Fame Showcase auction, June 6th-9th, at 8 am Pacific time each day, visit www.holabirdamericana.com.
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