An historic collection of thoroughbred racing books from the library of Sir Roderick William Cameron, a founder of the American Jockey Club, will be auctioned (including bids online) by Christies on June 12, at Rockefeller Center in New York. Lot 133 is one of 230 lots of rare books and manuscripts being offered that day, including a limited issue, first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, estimated to bring $400,000 to $600,000.

The Cameron offering, at an estimated value of $3,000 to $5,000, includes 12 volumes of The General Stud Book (London), 1832-1873, including seven that are first editions, as well as turf guides, and sale and stud catalogues with annotations and pedigrees personally recorded by Cameron, a central figure in the revival of horse racing in New York, following the Civil War.

In 1865, Cameron imported from England what is arguably the single most influential group of horses in the history of the American turf, including the stallion Leamington (1853-1878), which Cameron stood at his Clifton Stud on Staten Island. Among Leamington’s offspring were Aristides, the first winner of the Kentucky Derby, and Iroquois, the first American-bred horse to win the Epsom Derby.