August 2021 Catalogue

“I Had The Honor And Pleasure Of Displaying The Flag Of The Navy League At The Pole”: Typed Letter Signed By Robert Peary In The Year Of His Discovery Of The North Pole 43. PEARY, Robert. Typed letter signed. Washington, 1909. Letter measures 8 by 9-1/2 inches; handsomely framed with portrait, entire piece measures 15-1/2 by 19 inches. $3800. Typed letter signed by Robert Peary, dated December 1909, expressing his thanks for the use of a Navy League flag which he relates he flew upon his discovery of the North Pole in February of the same year. Framed with black- and-white photograph of Peary, shown on a ship’s deck bundled in animal skins. After leading several prior Arctic expeditions that fell short of the final goal, Peary set out on his last quest for the North Pole in 1908. Accompanied by MatthewHenson and four Eskimos, he made a final dash for the pole, which he claimed to have reached on Apr. 6, 1909. Fine condition. Rare 1700 Pennsylvania Land Purchase Document Boldly Signed By William Penn 44. PENN, William. Document signed. No place, 1700. One leaf of vellum, measuring 13 by 20 inches; floated on silk and framed, entire piece measures 27 by 20 inches. $7500. Pennsylvania land purchase document granting to John Kirton 500 acres in “… situated and being in the said Province of Pennsylvania …” in receipt of four pounds, boldly signed by Penn and bearing his armorial seal in red wax. In 1681 the King granted to Penn, as payment for a debt owed to the latter’s deceased father, a “great tract of land north of Maryland,’’ which the King insistedbenamedPennsylvaniainhonor of the elder Penn. This document, executed in 1700, is for the purchase of five hundred acres of land in Pennsylvania from Penn by John Kirton of Kensington. Penn was in Pennsylvania fromDecember 1699 until November 1701. With blue paper embossed seal and royal stamp in left margin. A bit of soiling, a few old repairs, mostly to center seam, only minimally affecting a few words, evidence of mounting on verso. An attractive document, beautifully presented. Two Beautiful, Large, Vintage Photographic Portraits Of Sioux Chiefs By Frank A. Rinehart 45. RINEHART, FrankA. Two largeNativeAmericanphotographicportraits. Omaha, 1896. One image measuring 12-1/2 by 15-1/2 inches, the other 13 by 16 inches; bothmounted on glass and framed together in old wooden frame, entire piece measures 33 by 20-1/2 inches. $12,000. Two splendid large photographic portraits of Native American (Sioux) chiefs—Chief Hollow Horn Bear of the Lakota Sioux, on the left, and Chief Afraid of Eagle, of the Oglala Sioux, who participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn, on the right—by renowned photographer FrankA. Rinehart. Both images are vintage enlarged negatives (internegatives) that would have been used by Rinehart or his studio for producing large prints, and show remarkable detail, clarity, and fine tonal gradation. In 1898 Smithsonian ethnographer James Mooney arranged for the Indian Congress to coincide with the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha so that the delegates could serve as a living ethnographic museum for the Exposition. Photographer Frank A. Rinehart, the Exposition’s official photographer, was commissioned to do portraits of some of the 500 Indian delegates, “many of the most famous Indians of the day. Rinehart and his assistant and successor, George Marsden, made exquisite prints from the negatives of the Indians” (Mautz, 179). Rinehart’s series of stunning photographs constitutes one of the most impressive visual records of Native Americans at the turn of the century. Bit of spotting and crackling to negatives, chiefly near edges; old wooden frame showing some scratches and wear, exceptionally good condition. Very scarce and desirable. F r a m e d ! 2 0 2 1 B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s 37 36