Source : Jenkins

Source Title Various Catalogues of the highly esteemed dealer John H. Jenkins
Description John Holmes Jenkins was one of the most colorful booksellers the world has ever known. He came to Austin in 1958 to attend the University of Texas, and stayed on as he developed a great love of history, Texas history in particular. He opened a bookshop in Austin and grew to be one of America's top dealers. He handled much in the way of fine material, but his most notable coup was purchasing the inventory of Eberstadt and Sons of New York when that legendary firm closed down in 1975 (the reported price was in the millions of dollars).

Along with being a great historian and author of scholarly history books, he was a crusader against book theft. He came to the cause after someone tried to unload some very valuable Audubon illustrations stolen from Union College in Schenectady, New York, on him. He received an honorary degree from Union for his efforts. In 1980, he was elected President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), where he served until 1982.

However, Jenkins had another side. He was a flamboyant personality and a world-class poker player, winning large prizes in Las Vegas. He was suspected of fraud and forgery in some of the items he sold, and the three fires at his insured premises also generated deep suspicion. In 1989, Jenkins was found dead in Texas' Colorado River near Bastrop. It was ruled a suicide though the gunshot was in the back of his head and the gun was not found.

Whatever his personal oddities, Jenkins compiled some outstanding catalogues during the 1970s and 1980s.
Scope of Text
Total Records in AED 628
  • Sotheby’s
    Selections from The Jay T. Snider Collection of Benjamin Franklin
    Live Sale 24 June
    Sotheby’s, June 24: (Benjamin Franklin). The founding—and funding—of the Pennsylvania Hospital. $150,000 to $200,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 24: Benjamin Franklin, "the Day of the Declaration of Independence is everywhere annually celebrated”. $80,000 to $120,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 24: Benjamin Franklin, “probably the most fundamental thing ever done in the field of electricity”. $75,000 to $125,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 24: Benjamin Franklin. One of Franklin's very earliest surviving letters. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 24: Roger More and Benjamin Franklin. The only complete copy known of Poor Roger. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 24: John Jerman. The American Almanack ... for 1731 — the only known copy in private hands. $25,000 to $35,000.
  • June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
    Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
    June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
  • Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
  • Leland Little, June 12: The First Illustrated Edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
    Leland Little, June 12: John Morton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Signed Pennsylvania Land Survey.
    Leland Little, June 12: The Scarce Jansson Edition of a Remarkable Early View of London.
    Leland Little, June 12: Signed Limited Edition of The Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
    Leland Little, June 12: Faden’s Important and Scarce Map of the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution.
    Leland Little, June 12: William J. Tate (NC, 1869-1953), Archive of the "Original host to the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk.”