Nearly 300 rare items from a vast private collection of historical papers are being put up for auction in New York City. They include a document celebrating Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe in the 16th century and a book considered one of the earliest printed in America.
The artifacts are from the collection known as the Caren Archive, owned by Eric Caren of suburban Westchester County. The items being auctioned April 7 at Bonham's in Manhattan include rare Revolutionary War newspapers and a Butch Cassidy mug shot.
The 54-year-old Caren began collecting old newspapers as a boy growing up in New York's suburbs. He has amassed what's believed to be one of the largest private collections of historical documents in the U.S., with more than 1 million items.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
