In May, Hindman Auctions will hold two sales featuring items of interest to a wide range of collectors. The first, the sale of The Library of Jack Charles Davis, Sold to Benefit Charitable Institutions, will take place on May 3.

Davis, who died in 2020, was an attorney, collector and philanthropist dedicated to promoting economic and community development in his hometown of Lansing, Michigan. He and his wife, Susan, have contributed their time and resources to many non-profit organizations in the area. According to Davis’s wishes, his collection will be auctioned to support charities.

“Mr. Davis collected objects significant to his interests and his life,” said Gretchen Hause, vice president and senior book and manuscript specialist at Hindman. University of Wisconsin as an undergraduate.In this role, it hosted prominent figures including John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert Frost, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frank Lloyd Wright, and you can see each of these individuals well represented in its collection.

Highlights of the sale include beautiful first editions of two of John Steinbeck’s early novels, gold cup (1929, estimated $6,000-8,000) and Heaven’s Pastures (1932, estimated $6,000-8,000).

“Like many 20th century authors, John Steinbeck’s novels are fairly regularly auctioned; however, we usually see copies of his later works,” Hause said. “Less than 10 copies of gold cup have been seen at auction over the past decade, and it is rare to see a copy in its original unrestored dust jacket.

A first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story collection Jazz Age Tales (1922, estimated between $6,000 and $8,000), will also be included in the sale.

“Fitzgerald is an iconic author of the 20th century,” Hause said. “This work is of particular interest because Fitzgerald actually coined the term ‘Jazz Age’ to describe the ‘Roaring 20s’, a term which has become synonymous with the era.”

The sale will also feature a number of important works by Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, including a first edition of Faulkner’s Mosquitoes with an early “mosquito” pattern state jacket (1927, estimated $2,000–3,000). Rich offerings of works by Samuel Beckett, ee Cummings, TS Eliot, Henry James, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain, Robert Penn Warren and Tennessee Williams are also included in this sale.

Davis also had a keen interest in 20th century theater and his collection includes very thorough selections from important playwrights, such as Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Tom Stoppard and George Bernard Shaw.

Following Davis’ collection, Hindman will hold its sale of fine print books and manuscripts on May 4, including a large selection of Americana. Highlights of this sale include several fine Audubons from his birds of americaand printed Americana including rare works on the founding of the state of Georgia and several early maps of Virginia.

This sale will also include a session of President Ronald Reagan’s private library property being sold to benefit his alma mater, Eureka College. This collection from Reagan’s personal library includes works listed by their authors in Reagan, including works by Charles Schultz, William F. Buckley, Benjamin Netanyahu, Richard Nixon, and Ed Koch.

“We are honored to have the opportunity to put Mr. Davis’s collection up for auction,” Hause said. “These books are beautiful copies of many of the most important works of the 20th century in unrestored condition, and we are delighted that the sale will benefit charities. We are also delighted with the May 4 sale, and in particular the Eureka College collection, and the wide range of Americana we have the opportunity to offer at auction.