In addition, Williams wrote 17 lines of free verse on the book's front free endpaper and a pencil draft of a story published in 1948 as Desire and the Black Masseur.
Why Williams felt obliged to use the book as writing paper is not known. It is expected to sell for $1,500 to $2,500, according to the $16 illustrated catalog.
An even higher price, $2,500 to $3,500, is expected for the work printed by Franklin, William Sewel's The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People Called Quakers. Although Franklin's name is not mentioned, the book was printed in 1728, when Franklin had come to Philadelphia from Boston. The publisher was Samuel Keimer, whose firm later became Franklin & Meredith. (The Merediths continue to be in the print business in Quakertown.)
One reason for the price is the book's good condition, according to David Bloom of Freeman's, who catalogued the sale along with Joe Huenke.
A four-figure price, $2,000 to $3,000, also is expected for a first limited-edition copy of William Roderick James' Lone Cowboy: My Life Story. Printed in 1930, it comes with an original drawing by the author, who was known for his western stories.
The top price in the sale is expected to go for a print: a color-printed proof lithograph done around 1899 by Edouard Vuillard. Titled La Naissance d'Annette (The Birth of Annette) it is expected to sell for $5,000 to $8,000.
The Thursday book sale is the first to incorporate prints. Previously, Freeman's had a separate auction about twice a year exclusively devoted to works on paper in general.
Other prints of interest included a Kathe Kollwitz lithograph done in Berlin around 1919 that is expected to sell for $1,000 to $1,500; a Roualt color aquatint titled Christ and Disciples that is expected to sell for $1,500 to $2,500; and European advertising posters selling for as little as $30 to as much as $200.
There also are five lots of Japanese color woodblock prints.
