2/20/2020 - The Road West: The Steve Turner Collection of African Americana, Part I

Overview

Auction Date
Thursday, February 20, 2020 - 11:00 am ET / 10:00 am CT

Auction Location
Hindman Chicago
1338 West Lake Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607

Previews
Hindman Atlanta - Highlights Only
Thursday, February 6, 2020 | 12:00 - 5:00 pm (ET)
Friday, February 7, 2020 | 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (ET)

Cowan's Cincinnati
Thursday, February 13, 2020 | 12:00 - 5:00 pm (ET)
Friday, February 14, 2020 | 12:00 - 5:00 pm (ET)

Hindman Chicago
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 | 12:00 - 5:00 pm (CT)  
Thursday, February 20, 2020 | 8:00 - 10:00 am (CT)

PLEASE NOTE: All times are local

About the Auction
Cowan’s Auctions is pleased to be offering the Steve Turner Collection of African Americana for sale on February 20, 2020 held at Hindman Chicago. Comprised of over 300 lots, this remarkable collection tells the history of African Americans, especially their role in settling the western frontier in 19th and early 20th century. Items include photographs, broadsides, rare books, manuscript collections, pinbacks, and more. The subjects range from civil leaders to ordinary citizens to the black liberation movement of the 1960s and 70s. Especially noteworthy is an exceptional selection of early photography including an outstanding cabinet card portrait of Harriet Tubman (Lot 1), an unpublished CDV of Frederick Douglass (Lot 2), CDVs of black Civil War soldiers (Lot 20 & Lot 21), and extraordinary images of Buffalo Soldiers (Lot 27 & Lot 28, Lot 30 - Lot 33, Lot 36 - Lot 39, Lot 41), of special note Lot 31 a cabinet card of a Buffalo Soldier wearing a buffalo coat. The collection also includes photographs by groundbreaking African American photographers including Augustus Washington (Lot 59), the Goodridge Brothers (Lot 60 & Lot 61), A.S. Thomas (Lot 68), and James P. Ball (Lot 22, Lot 64 - Lot 67, Lot 140) including a cabinet card taken when he had ventured west to Montana (Lot 67). All of this in addition to exceedingly scarce and difficult to obtain images of African Americans in the frontier west.

Other highlights include Lot 4 Frederick Douglass’ Walking Stick, gifted to him in 1888 and a phenomenal painting Mitchell’s Point, Looking Down the Columbia River (Lot 97) by pioneering African American artist Grafton Tyler Brown. Rare imprints include the very scarce 1922 first edition of Events of the Tulsa Disaster (Lot 195), the second cookbook ever published by an African American, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (Lot 238), and the only known slave narrative published independently in California, The Life and Adventures of James Williams (Lot 102). Also featured is a noteworthy collection of sports and boxing items with several significant photographs, postcards, and more related to the landmark careers of Joe Gans (Lot 257 - Lot 264) and Jack Johnson (Lot 265 - Lot 278), and much more. 

Contact
Danielle Linn
danielle@cowans.com
513-871-1670 x236

Buyer's Premium
A 25% buyer's premium will be added to each lot purchased absentee, on the phone, on the floor, or on Cowan's Live. For all lots purchased through a third-party bidding platform, an additional 3% will be added by the third-party platform.