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3315

Charles and J. Frank Duryea are, at lea

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:98,000.00 USD Estimated At:125,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD
Charles and J. Frank Duryea are, at lea
THE WORLD’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF ITS KIND THE MEN, THE CARS, AND THE COMPANIES OF THE DURYEA BROTHERS<Br>Charles and J. Frank Duryea are, at least in folklore, considered the fathers of the American automobile. They variously designed the first car to be mass produced predating Ford by many years, won the first auto race in America, and formed the first American company for manufacture of automobiles. The story of the Duryea brothers is steeped not only in automotive and industrial history, but has become part of Americana itself. Their rise from tinkerers to inventors, from dreamers to builders, laid the foundation for the birth of the modern industrial age. Formed over a period of decades, this archive is the most comprehensive collection in private hands relating to the brothers and their myriad activities. A catalogue of its contents consumes some 78 pages. In fact, the collection traces, through the Duryea materials, the evolution of self-propelled vehicles from well before, to well after the turn-of-century period of the Duryeas' greatest prominence: Original letters and manuscript notes of Charles discuss the origins of ground propulsion, with references as far back as the seventeenth century; later Duryea ventures, such as the Gem automobile, overlap the golden age of motoring, of the Teens. Listed below are just a few highlights of the collection, with much-abbreviated descriptions:

* Actual drawings by J. Frank Duryea of the motor and friction drive of the very first Duryea automobile of 1892-93, with holograph notations in his hand. These are the only known surviving items of their kind, their content not reflected in the published body of knowledge on Duryea, and may be said to collectively be the Magna Carta of the American automobile;
* Large array of original sales literature and printed materials representing some 32 Duryea-related companies, nameplates, and business activities almost all of their ventures spanning two centuries;
* The earliest known American auto racing broadside, 1897, mentioning the Duryea, and signed by Frank;
* Original company records of Charles' best-known venture, the Duryea of Reading, Penna., including their own copy of certificate of incorporation, manuscript notes on inception of production, and much more detail not found elsewhere. Including numerous signatures of Charles and his partners;
* Examples of every book published by Charles and Frank, even including variant bindings of Charles' works;
* A group of documents from Frank's personal files, used in his running battle with Charles to refute his brother's claims, including Frank's personal, handmade book containing printed copies of his manuscript and typewritten evidence gathered to counter Charles' claims. (In fact, Charles appropriated much of the credit, setting off acrimony that endured beyond their respective lifetimes.)
* The only sketch in Charles' hand ever encountered, a drawing of Nathan Read's steam boiler c. 1790;
* The only signed photograph of Charles ever encountered, ironically inscribed "For historic truth...";
* Official program of an auto show including a Duryea, Boston, 1898, predating the 1900 New York show popularly thought to be the first auto show in America;
* Original photo of Duryea's last car, possibly signed by Charles himself - in a last-stand marketing effort in 1920 - several years later than known to Kimes. Among the cities represented by period materials are Peoria, Springfield, Stamford, Reading, Chicopee Falls, Saginaw, Rochester, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Bayonne, New York City, and Coventry, England. Many of the marques with which Charles and Frank were associated are very obscure: Emerson & Fisher (builders of the Duryea in the 1896 Barnum & Bailey Circus), the Klock/International (Stamford, Conn.), the Crowther-Duryea (a short-lived partnership with an associate of Henry Ford), and the Duryea Truck (Saginaw, the item signed by Charles) just to name a few. Most of the items representing such names in the archive are rare, sometimes excessively so, and in some cases are the only examples ever encountered in decades of active collecting. With numerous contemporary magazines, books, publications, ephemera, as well as research files compiled in the second half of the twentieth century. In all, a major property, assiduously gathered. Such a comprehensive collection could never be amassed again. Request 84-page description, 20.00 by postal mail.
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