KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —An important Southern Map and a Revolutionary War Orderly book are among the star lots at Case’s Summer Auction, set for Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, at its Knoxville gallery. The 1,300-lot cataloged sale also includes fine art, jewelry, silver, and decorative arts from prominent Southern estates, museums, and private collections.
"As we celebrate our country’s 250th birthday and our company’s 20th year in business, our Summer Auction reflects the passion for history our clients have come to expect," said John Case, president of Case Auctions. “We’re looking forward to the energy of a large in-person crowd, and also welcome online and phone bidders.”
Among the auction's most historically significant offerings is an early hand-colored map, A Draught of the Cherokee Country, based on Henry Timberlake's 1762 survey of East Tennessee and widely regarded as one of the foundational maps of early Tennessee and the Cherokee Nation. It is estimated at $18,000-22,000. There is also a recently rediscovered Revolutionary War era orderly book detailing activities of a number of Virginia regiments starting in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1776 and ending in Morristown, New Jersey with General George Washington in 1777; autographs of multiple Declaration of Independence signers; and a monograph by Isaac Shelby giving his perspective of the Battle of King’s Mountain. Civil War ephemera includes a rare large half plate ambrotype depicting nine Confederate soldiers from the 19th Georgia Regt. and a half plate tintype of the Ga. 19th’s Lt. Col. Thomas Coke Johnson, who went on to die in battle at Mechanicsville, Va. Also up for bid is a scarce War of 1812 related broadside from the Petersburg, Virginia volunteers and a 1918 World War I recruitment poster, Our Colored Fighters, produced by order of President Woodrow Wilson to encourage African American enlistment. Book collectors will have the opportunity to acquire signed first editions of Cormac McCarthy's The Orchard Keeper and Outer Dark, two of the author's most sought-after works, along with a rare 1931 horse racing book about the first Grasslands International Steeplechase by John Gourlay and a first U.S. edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species.
This sale also features several items from the pharmaceutical collection of the late Dr. Ian Mathison of Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Big Rapids, Michigan, including early records from the Upjohn company. The sale also features a collection of famous doctor’s autographs including Dr. Paul Ehrlich and Dr. Samuel Hahnemann; autographs from Andrew Jackson, Thomas Alva Edison, John F. Kennedy, and Napoleon Bonaparte; a John J. Audubon 1836 Sandpiper print, and a Native American themed lithograph by Bernard Julien after a portion of William H. Powell’s “Discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto”, one of only three extant examples known.
The complete catalog for the auction, featuring over 18,000 photographs with full descriptions and price estimate for the items, in the order in which they will be sold, can be viewed online at www.caseauctions.com . Case’s gallery is located at 4310 Papermill Drive in Knoxville. The live auction begins Saturday, August 1 at 9 am ET and Sunday, August 2 at 10 am ET. Persons wishing to preview the auction may do so by making prior reservations on the company’s website through Thursday, July 30, and a public preview will be held Friday, July 31. For more information, or to consign objects for a future auction, call the gallery in Knoxville at (865) 558-3033 or the company’s Nashville office at (615) 812-6096 or email bid@caseantiques.com .
