Vendue Masters: Stories from within the Walls of America's Oldest [Hardcover]

Roland Arkell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2006

On November 12 , 1805 Tristram B. Freeman was appointed to the office of auctioneer for the city of Philadelphia. It was at the Merchant's Coffee House that Tristram Freeman first encountered members of the business and maritime communities who gathered there not for refreshment but to cut deals, chew the fat of current affairs, read newspapers and attend auctions. The Vendue Masters marks the 200th anniversary of Freeman's, America's oldest auction house. The archives of this auction house allow us to explore the real life-cycle of the Philadelphia community. Through them we encounter the estranged relationships, the waxing and waning of economic fortune, debtors and creditors, the evolving industrial base, the personalities and the changing faces of taste and fashion. Items that were previously sold at Freeman's include: a Dunlap Declaration of Independence, an entire WWI boom town, Impressionist paintings, four US Navy ships, the Centennial exhibition, a chess-playing Turk, two Canadian provinc

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This voluminous history of Philadelphia's Freeman's auction house offers insight into the profession as well as the evolution of Philadelphia and America. Whether it's warship building materials during WWI, $100 million estates, or presidential portraits, Freeman's vendue masters (read: auctioneers) have handled some of the most prestigious and exclusive transactions in America. Arkell and Saunders-Watson deftly weave the story of the auction house with that of Philadelphia, interspersing the book with anecdotes of memorable auctions. Among these is the story of the discovery of one of the first printings of the Declaration of Independence, unearthed by an employee who was cataloguing the contents of a closed used bookstore, which sold for $404,000; and the heated auction of a 1750s desk that may or may not have belonged to Benjamin Franklin. These and other stories pepper the book, providing history buffs with an uncommon angle. Scores of photographs give added depth to the episodic narrative, though the layout is cumbersome lacks a sense of flow. The book's greatest appeal will be for Philadelphians and those already familiar with the auction house.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Samuel T Freeman And Co (January 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1851494901
• ISBN-13: 978-1851494903
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,783,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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