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About Us
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Johns’ Western Gallery is located at 41 Sutter Street, Suite 208. Near Market street in downtown San Francisco. Open by appointment, we are easily accessible on foot and by public transit (we're just a short walk from the Montgomery Street BART station).
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Johns’ Western Gallery is managed by Doug Johns. A Westerner by birth, Johns is unabashed in his love and enthusiasm for the West. His forty years of interest in the West and twenty years of book auction experience is supported by a staff of specialist associates to assure premier expertise on property to be sold or appraised by the gallery.
Johns’ Western Gallery Chronology 2001-2008Intelligent service to both sellers and purchasers of Americana art and letters is the premise on which Johns’ Western Gallery was founded in 2001. Now, seven years later, it is timely and exciting to review the progress of the firm and the path developed adhering to the founding principle. Founder Doug Johns established the firm to return to his original interest, Americana and the West. Having spent almost twenty years actively involved in the sale at auction of books, maps and ephemera in many fields, Johns was drawn to return to his original interest in Americana before the end of his career. A later 2002 auction of pamphlets and documents began to define the firm’s direction as a specialist in rare and significant paper items. The final 2002 auction included selections from the library of Los Angeles Zamorano Club founding member, lawyer and occasional publisher Arthur M. Ellis whose grandfather, Asa Ellis, arrived in California in 1852. Among the significant and unique items included in the Ellis property was a pen holder of the noted Californio Pablo de la Guerra used to sign the original document at the 1849 California Constitutional Convention. To view catalogues:
2003 focused on the Los Angeles Small Renaissance represented in the Library of John H. Urabec, M.D. Much of the Urabec library was made up of volumes that were a product of that regional renaissance. John Urabec arrived in Los Angeles in 1933 to start his internship at the Los Angeles County General Hospital. At just this same period, the small renaissance movement began about 1930 when Jake Zeitlin commissioned Ward Ritchie to print Carl Sandburg’s Soo Line Sonata. Up to this time, most Los Angeles printing houses were simply job printers doing routine job
With Dr. Urabec’s Dawsoniana at hand, Johns' Western Gallery compiled and published a checklist, Publications of Dawson’s Book Shop, compiled by Dennis Kruska and Doug Johns. The original watercolor illustration above is from Dawson’s Trailfinder’s Edition of Don Perceval’s A Navajo Sketch Book, Johns & Kruska #138. Copies of the Dawson Checklist may be purchased at: http://www.johnswestern.com/servlet/the-4587/Bibliography-Reference-Booksellers/Detail John Urabec ultimately became a participant in the Small Renaissance, Los Angeles style, when he combined effort with Richard Hoffman in making fine all-rag paper. A major collection within the Urabec Library and the first listings in the sale catalogue represent Urabec’s books on the paper arts.
John D. Gilchriese Collection of Tombstone & the West
To learn how a premier collection is formed employing study, diligence and shoe leather, see "The John D. Gilchriese Collections, an Introduction," Wm. B. Shillingberg: http://www.johnswesterngallery.com/pdf/gilchriese_intro.pdf The “Introduction” continues: “Josephine’s letters to John H. Flood, Jr. are revealing far beyond the lines she writes. Many are shaded by intense expressions of emotion—primarily the anger from repeated frustration at failed attempts to achieve her desires. Wyatt, meanwhile, continually seeking and failing at improvement of fortune, appears much more resigned to the hand of fate. It is our hope that this catalogue will contribute to a more intimate understanding of this legendary couple. And, as is often the case, legend and reality are frequently at odds.” A cursory examination of the Prices Realized for this sale reveals that when fact and legend collide, legend prevails. The Vandenberg Military Collection World War II commanded attention with the Vandenberg Military Collection in 2005. This premier gathering included WWII documents, photographs and artifacts from the careers of Generals Hoyt S. Vandenberg and Leon W. Johnson. From a leaflet of which thousands were scattered in Morocco and Algeria, alerting the inhabitants to the impending allied invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch, to a group of “Short Snorters” signed by prominent WWII military and political leaders, the catalogue represents a unique group of significant mementoes from that era with an informative Introduction, “A Gathering of Generals,” by Wm B. Shillingberg. Dispersal of the Vandenberg collection initiated a real change in direction at JWG. Some important objects and documents failed to achieve their minimum bids as potential bidders failed to recognize a document or object’s importance. Following the sale, a number of these items were sold at private treaty and JWG has since recognized private sale of important properties as a viable option to simply offering them at auction. http://johnswesterngallery.com/pdf/Catalogue14.pdf
“Throw down the box!” For those who grew up in the era of Saturday western matinees, the preceding instruction is old hat as the stagecoach rounds the bend into the waiting outlaw gang with leveled six-shooters and shotguns. The box, several actually, arrived at JWG in late 2005 with the Frank Q. Newton collection of Wells Fargo & other Express Companies. The travels of this Treasure Box are attested by the numerous Wells Fargo stickers glued to the interior documenting the box’s travels to Tucson; Goldfield, Nevada; Auburn, Oroville, Yreka & Fresno, California; Silver City, New Mexico; Bowie, Arizona, etc. Estimated to fetch 8000/12000, the box fell under the gavel at just over $16,000.
It seems almost expected that in a collection of property involving stagecoach, express and treasure boxes the Earp name should appear and not to disappoint, Frank Newton’s holdings included a Virgil Earp autograph letter on the letterhead of Earp’s Detective Agency, Colton, Calif. Morgan Earp was assassinated and Virgil Earp was injured in an attempted assassination at Tombstone in late 1881 following the “street fight” commonly known as the gun fight at the OK Corral. And later, at the Tucson train station, while putting Virgil on the train to California, Wyatt discovered Frank Stilwell and promptly dispatched him—Stillwell was turned into a In the earlier description of the John Urabec Library, Dawson’s Book Shop and its publication program was noted. Dawson’s is synonymous with brothers Glen and Muir Dawson. The shop was founded by father Ernest Dawson in 1905 and though he began working in the shop as a teenager, it was in 1937 that Glen Dawson became a formal partner and continued to be so for the next 58 years, retiring from the firm in 1995. During the course of his association with Dawson’s Book Shop, Glen Dawson formed a collection of documents, pamphlets, maps, etc. relating to Los Angeles. In 2005 Johns' Western Gallery conducted the first in a series of auctions of the Glen Dawson Los Angeles Imprint Collection.
All three Dawson auctions—2005, 2006 & 2007—generated very strong prices and all were conducted as absolute auctions without any established minimums. A report which appears on americanaexchange.com provides a colorful narrative of the first Dawson Sale. “On December 2nd [2005] in the minutes leading up to the 10:00 am start of the auction of Glen Dawson's Los Angeles Imprints, 1843-1873 at Johns' Western Gallery in San Francisco, bidders were busy trying to be inconspicuous in a space not much larger than a hotel coatroom. Eight men and one woman completed their sign-up paperwork, looked once more at the small but exquisite collection of LA-iana and selected seats with unobstructed views of auctioneer Doug Johns who looked trim and confident. A few bidders, in paranoid preparation, identified to the auctioneer their bidding signals; the hand Finally, at lot 12 a gentleman in the room bidding more than twice the high estimate secured a funeral announcement in Spanish to break the mystery bidder's run. In the ensuing minutes it became apparent the phone bidder was not done, and in fact was not even breathless and so with renewed commitment the lots continued to fall one by one to him, always dropping close to zero before an opening bid was proffered. In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Portia says, and it applies here, "the quality of mercy is not [con]strained." Actually it was not visible at all. It was more like Tennyson's: Half a league, half a league, To go to americanaexchange.com from which the above article is excerpted:
To go to Dawson Sale I, Los Angeles Imprints 1843-1873, http://www.johnswesterngallery.com/catalogue.html?Id=5463
To go to Dawson Sale II, Los Angeles Imprints 1874-1879, To go to Dawson Sale III, 150 Early Imprints & other Rarities relating to Los Angeles & Southern California 1880-1900, http://www.johnswesterngallery.com/catalogue.html?Id=8267 2005 was a pivotal year for JWG as it witnessed the gallery’s serious entry into western art in partnership with Wrangler Gallery of Sun River, Montana. Given Johns’ Montana background, one of JWG’s art focuses is the work of the late Montana sculptor E.E. Heikka (1910-1941). Mastering his craft without benefit of formal training, Heikka’s gift as a sculptor became early evident and his increasing mastery of the art is apparent in even a cursory comparison of his early and late work.
To view Tu artwork, including the California Art Club’s 95th Annual Gold Medal juried exhibition award winner, Morning Light: The Little Big Horn & Beyond: David Humphreys Miller http://www.johnswestern.com/servlet/the-David-Humphreys-Miller/Categories
New Year 2008 introduced a show of Native American Art including the work of Ponca artist Brent Greenwood, Zuni artist Michael Horse and Cherokee artist John Balloue. Native American shows will be a standard New Year exhibition in the future. Johns' Western Gallery is currently working on several other major projects; one, involving C.M. Russell and Frederic Remington, and a second dealing with collegiate athletics. Both will be announced at www.johnswesterngallery.com when availability is publicly announced. |
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JWG conducted its first auction on May 17, 2002, that included the first school book printed in California, Tablas para los ninos…, an 1836 printing by Agustin Zamorano of a small arithmetic book. The little arithmetic generated some fair numbers as it fell at $57,500. Also offered in that first auction were a number of important titles on California and the West from the locked case collections of the Burbank Public Library. To view Sale 1 catalogue: 
The explosion of World War II was followed by an explosion of interest in regional history and the arts in Los Angeles. Interest is only one component as it supplies demand; the additional components are writers to produce material and publishers to undertake production of books. The postwar writing field in Los Angeles was fertile indeed. An inseparable element in all of this postwar publishing energy was Dawson’s Book Shop of Los Angeles. As a part of his substantial library, John Urabec made the decision to collect the publications of Dawson’s Book Shop and of the 339 titles published by Dawson’s before his death, Urabec had 313 in his library.
Wyatt Earp and Tombstone dominated JWG activity in 2004 and 2005 with the sale of property from the late John D. Gilchriese collection of Wyatt Earp, Tombstone and the West. Gilchriese spent almost seventy years collecting and studying Earpiana. Among the unique items from his collection was a group of four of Earp’s own diagrams of his gunfights—Street Fight of October 26, 1881 (Commonly known as the Gunfight at the OK Corral), illustrated at left and knocked down at $115,000; original diagram of the killing of Frank Stilwell, diagram of the killing of Curly Bill Brocious and the diagram of the killing of John Ringo, all knocked down at $57,500 each.
The Gilchriese collection also included early photographs and 60 original autograph letters of Wyatt and Josephine Earp to John H. Flood, Jr., the Earp’s unpaid advisor and amanuensis. These letters provide an intimate portrait of the Earps. The “Introduction” to Catalogue 12 poses a question: “What kind of people were Wyatt and Josephine Earp? The lots offered in this catalogue provide remarkable insight into the personalities of both Wyatt and Josephine, most of it provided in their own words.”
Today, we regard Wells Fargo as a bank and, despite the stage-coach logo, easily forget the company’s very important express activities in the late 19th century. As a part of that express activity, Wells Fargo, until 1897, provided mail carrying service for many remote communities not then served by a U.S. Post Office. The Well’s Fargo & Co.’s Express Letters box here illustrated is one of only two known original company mail boxes. Assigned a pre-sale estimate of $10,000/15,000, the gavel knocked at just under $22,000—probably more than the aggregate of all the express charges earned by letters dropped in the box during its years of service. 
virtual human colander as Wyatt and “Doc” Holliday perforated him with shotguns while Warren Earp and an associate sighted-in their revolvers on Stilwell. In this letter, Virgil Earp writes as Constable of Colton to the San Francisco Chief of Police on August 30, 1887. The expectation of 5000/8000 seems retrospectively feeble as the price climbed to almost $21,000 before the crack of the hammer. 
Chinese-American artist Zhiwei Tu was discovered by Johns’ Western Gallery in 2006 when gallery manager Doug Johns saw a magazine illustration of Tu’s Gold Miners’ Day End. This exceptional heroic painting, 72” x 86” in size, vividly portrays a group of Chinese gold miners cleaning up at the end of the workday. The scene could only be Chinese as they were the only ethnic group who practiced daily bathing round the calendar. The reward of this hygiene was a far lower incidence of disease in the Chinese camps than the Caucasian. Johns' Western Gallery introduced the painting to the Crocker Museum and it is now hanging in the Crocker in Sacramento, California. The museum and Johns' Western Gallery are currently assembling benefactors to assist in making the painting a part of the Crocker’s permanent collection where it will join Charles Christian Nahl’s quintessential gold rush painting, Sunday Morning in the Mines. Those who have interest in participating in the Crocker purchase project to are urged to contact the gallery.
A May, 2008 project involving the Crocker saw Johns’ Western Gallery facilitate the gift of eleven California paintings to the museum. Premier painting in the group was this 20”x29” oil on canvas entitled Vaqueros by Alexander Harmer. The benefaction, which will total around $200,000 will add significantly to the Crocker holdings.
The Miller collection heralded a new era for the gallery when the decision was made to market the collection of over 100 sketches, 25 oil paintings, research files, photographs and artifacts totaling over 2,200 items as a single collection. The collection is priced for sale at $1.8 million. A more attractive price might be arranged for a purchaser buying to gift to a qualified institution. For more information, contact the gallery.
