Source : Johnson

Source Title The Barbara Johnson Collection
Description The Barbara Johnson Collection: Books & Manuscripts on Whales, Whaling and Related Subjects in two parts.

Part I, Auction Sales conducted October 28 and 28, 1996 (Sale #1737).

Part II, Auction Sales conducted September 25th, 1997  (Sale #1766).

Both sales conducted by Swann Galleries in New York City.
Scope of Text "If the adage "too much of a good thing" has any merit, it would ideally describe The Barbara Johnson Collection. The strengths of the collection are manifold. As a private library of printed literature on Whaling worldwide from the 16th century to the present, it is unsurpassed. The same is easily said for the manuscript portion of the collection, and for the print collection as well. In addition to the classics on whales and whaling, there are hundreds of rarely seen pieces. There are rarities for collectors in many fields, including travel and exploration, early printed books, illustrated books, natural history, economics, literature, and children's books.

The manuscript material includes every type of whaling document, from the much-prized crew lists to uncommon and virtually unknown types of invoices and receipts. There are large archives relating to particular ships, some of them well-known, covering single voyages and multiple voyages over many years."

From the Cataloguer's Preface to Vol. I.
Total Records in AED 1415
  • Sotheby’s
    By a Lady
    1-15 October 2025
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Queen Elizabeth I. A queen’s defense of the realm, and the birth of the British Empire. $500,000 to $700,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. A long and intimate autograph letter signed ("JA"), to Cassandra Austen. $300,000 to $400,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. “Lines on Maria Beckford,” autograph manuscript signed ("Jane Austen"). $100,000 to $150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.
  • Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
    17 and 18 Oct
    Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
    17 and 18 Oct
    Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
    17 and 18 Oct
  • Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: These are the Times that Try Men's Souls, Thomas Paine. $80,000-$120,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Manuscrpit from Aboard The Discovery, Signed by George Vancouver. $80,000-$120,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Exceedingly Rare Holograph Fragment of James Cook's Logbook. $80,000-$120,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Thomas Lechford: Important First-Hand Account of Life in New England. $40,000-$60,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: The First Expanded Edition of Common Sense, Thomas Paine. $30,000-$50,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Album of Exceptional California Lettersheets. $20,000-$30,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: An Exceptional Group of Gold Rush Letters, c. 1849-1850. $20,000-$30,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Mather's King Phillips War Tract 1639-1723. $15,000-$25,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: The First Contemporaneous Account of the Salem Witch Trials, Cotton Mather. $15,000-$25,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Poor Richard's Almanack 1749, Benjamin Franklin. $15,000-$20,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Fruits of Mormonism by Nelson Slater. $15,000-$25,000
    Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin, Across the Plains in '49 by Emanuel Goughnour. $12,000-$18,000
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