The Library of Dr Rodney P Swantko

Name: The Library of Dr Rodney P Swantko | Books & Manuscripts | Sotheby's
Start: 2024-06-26T14:00:00Z
Location: New York

The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko, compact and highly personalized, is nevertheless one of the most significant private libraries to appear at auction this century. Small, perhaps, in number, but massive in impact, these books, manuscripts, and drawings meticulously integrate great rarities and significant presentation copies representing the most celebrated and most read authors of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: from Frank Baum to Walt Whitman, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to F. Scott Fitzgerald, and from Edgar Allan Poe to Vladimir Nabokov. The printed books are complemented by vitally significant autograph manuscripts and original and iconic literary drawings.

The works range from novels of fantasy initially intended for children to some of the most significant experimental writings of the Lost Generation and the Beats, and from an inscribed copy of one of the leading candidates for the crown of “Great American Novel” to manuscripts that chronicle the development and codification of the sport of golf. For such a tight collection, the range of subjects represented in the Swantko library is remarkable—as is its roster of authors: in addition to those already mentioned, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, and Walt Whitman are all represented by spectacular examples.

Among the many highlights in the collection are the Martin-Self copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems ($400,000–600,000), as well as three autograph poetical manuscripts by Poe, including the first eight stanzas of “For Annie” ($400,000–600,000); the autograph manuscript signed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of the second Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of the Four ($800,000–1,200,000); Sidney Paget’s original pen and ink and wash drawing of the illustration “The Death of Sherlock Holmes” for the short story “The Final Problem” ($250,000–350,000); a fine presentation copy of the first edition of The Great Gatsby, in jacket, inscribed by Fitzgerald to his sister-in-law and her husband, signed “Scott and Zelda” ($180,000–250,000); and first and first American editions of Lolita inscribed by Nabokov, respectively, to Graham Greene and Vera Nabokov, each with a butterfly drawing.

Rodney Swantko (1940–2022) was born in Indiana and became a specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery. He conducted his book collecting almost entirely by telephone bidding at major auctions and maintained a low profile in the book world, although he was a generous benefactor to both the Lilly Library at his alma mater, Indiana University, and the Newberry Library, Chicago. While undoubtedly part of the fabric of the book-collecting world, Swantko remained very private about this collection. Many people were familiar with some of what he had, but no one really knew all of what he had. It is Sotheby’s privilege and pleasure to reintroduce Rodney Swantko and his library, whole, to the book world.

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Richard Austin

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Books & Manuscripts

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Selby Kiffer

Senior Vice President