First Ever LGBTQ+ Rare Books Auction

“Queer history has long remained invisible,” writes Eric Marcus in the preface to a catalog of rare LGBTQ+ books and artwork headed to auction in New York on June 20. Little by little in the 50 years since Stonewall, that has changed, and in a bid for supreme visibility, Swann Galleries will host its inaugural “Pride Sale” of material focused entirely on LGBTQ+ creativity. Volumes that were once censored are now celebrated—and, with auction estimates in the hundreds and thousands, they are codified as collectible, perhaps the highest form of praise in the literary marketplace.

An example: In his bicentennial year, Walt Whitman is everywhere, including this auction. This heart-stopping lot is a first edition of his Memoranda of the War (1875-76), inscribed by Whitman “with his love” to Peter Doyle, long considered his most significant romantic partner. Not much is known about Doyle aside from the fact that he fought for the Confederacy while Whitman nursed Union soldiers. (A photograph of the two of them is currently on view at New York’s Morgan Library.) The auction catalog says it best: “A more important association copy of this title is difficult to imagine.” It is estimated at $50,000-75,000. > Read More