Rare Book Monthly

Articles - August - 2011 Issue

A Whale of a Sale

- by Bruce E. McKinney

Whaling Journal [lower right] sold in 40 seconds

The C. H. Booth Library Fair has done it again. A great spirit, plenty of volunteers, an energetic audience and voila you have a success. The mystery is in the elbow grease and good thinking.

In the run-up to the fair the promotional committee put out the word that a great book would be available for a great price to the first person coming through the door who called out “I’ll take it.” So how long did it take to sell this book? Forty seconds or thereabouts.

The Book? A whaling journal – dating to 1833-1836 kept by Second Mate William E. Percival offered for $3,500.

To be first in you had to be first in line. To be first in line you needed to line up the night before. Congratulations to the buyer and congratulations to the C. H. Booth Library Fair Committee.

The future of books is debated but so long as imagination is employed they who love books will materialize, even at 1:00 am to be first in line to buy books and manuscripts. For millions of people books are magic.

Rare Book Monthly

<center>Chiswick Auctions Books & Works on Paper September 25, 2019

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, FIRST EDITION, first issue, 8vo, 1997. £15,000 to £20,000

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Bible, Italian.- Malermi Bible, woodcut illustrations, folio, Lazaro de Soardi & Bernardino Benali, Venice,1517. £8,000 to £12,000

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Germany.- Homann (Johann Baptist). Atlas von Deutschland, engraved half title, hand coloured, 87 double page engraved maps, [folio, Erben, Nuremberg, 1753]. £8,000 to £10,000

<center>Chiswick Auctions Books & Works on Paper September 25, 2019

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: [Mirk (John)].- Liber festivalis et Quatuor sermons [bound with], [Le Roy (Pierre)] A Pleasant Satyre or Poesie, first edition in English, Widdow Orwin for Thomas Man, 1595, 8vo. £1,500 to £2,000

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Antoninus Florentinus (Saint Archbishop of Florence). Confessionale: Defecerunt…, 8vo, Pietro Quarengi, Venice, 15 February 1499. £1,000 to £1,500

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Jesuit Letters.- [Froes (Father Luigi) & et al.)] Avvisi del Giapone de gli anni 1582, 1583, 1584…, 1586 [bound with] Avvisi della Cina et Giapone…, FIRST EDITIONS, Rome. £1,000 to £1,500

<center>Chiswick Auctions Books & Works on Paper September 25, 2019

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Plutarch & Probus (Aemilius). Plutarchi Cheronei et Aemilii Probi Illustrium, folio, Nicolas de Pratis for Jean-Petit, Paris, 1521. £1,000 to £1,500

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Bible.- English. The Byble in Englyshe of the Largest and Greatest volume, elaborate woodcut border, text vignettes, folio, 1541. £1,000 to £1,500

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Fore-edge Painting.- Lord George Byron, The Giaour, a Fragment of a Turkish Tale, bound with 10 other titles, 4 plates marked 'Proof.', 1813. £800 to £1,200

<center>Chiswick Auctions Books & Works on Paper September 25, 2019

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Manson (John). Twelve by Sixteen Papers of John Mason, a collection of 50 sheets of paper, some watermarked, 12 x 16”, c.1978. £800 to £1,200

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Fleming (Ian). Dr. No, FIRST EDITION, original boards, dust-jacket, 8vo, 1958. £700 to £900

Chiswick Auctions, Sep. 25: Eliot (T.S.) Four Quartets, NUMBER 121 of 290 COPIES, signed by author, 1960. £400 to £600
Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, hand-painted collage. Sold for a record $20,000.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Charles Addams, Couple passing a giant bird house, watercolor cartoon for The New Yorker, 1948. Sold for $16,250.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Miriam Troop, Rain on Laundry Day, oil on canvas, cover for The Saturday Evening Post, 1940. Sold for $40,000.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Rockwell Kent, To All Fascists, ink broadside for The League of American Writers, circa 1937. Sold for $6,500.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Jo Mielziner, Pet Shop Drop, backdrop design for Pal Joey on Broadway, 1940. Sold for a record $55,000.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Lee Brown Coye, acrylic cover illustration for the 25th anniversary of Weird Tales, 1944. Sold for $18,750.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Virgil Finlay, The Outsider & Others, pen & ink dust jacket illustration for H.P. Lovecraft's book, 1939. Sold for $5,500.

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Al Hirschfeld, Paul Robeson as Othello, illustration for The New York Times, 1942. Sold for $68,750

Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art: Frederic Remington, pen & ink illustration for A Scout with the Buffalo Soldiers in The Century magazine, 1889. Sold for $17,500.
Bonhams, Sep. 17: EARLY AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE. Chronicling 20th century aviation from the earliest Wright Brothers images through commercial and military applications. $50,000 to $70,000.

Bonhams, Sep. 17: SPUTNIK-1 EMC/EMI LAB MODEL, 1957. Full scale vintage test model of the Sputnik-1 satellite, Moscow, [February, 1957]. $400,000 to $600,000.

Bonhams, Sep. 17: FIRST TELEPHONE CALL TO THE MOON. Partial transcription signed by Apollo 11 astronauts and President Nixon. $20,000 to $30,000.

Bonhams, Sep. 17: Apollo 11 Beta cloth crew emblem, SIGNED BY THE ENTIRE APOLLO 11 CREW. $8,000 to $10,000.

Bonhams, Sep. 17: GEMINI 1/8 SCALE MODEL. Rarely seen large-scale contractor's model. $3,000 to $5,000

Bonhams, Oct. 23: SMITH, CHRISTOPHER WEBB. 1793-1871. Indian Ornithology. [Patna, India]: 1828. $50,000 to $80,000.

Bonhams, Oct. 23: DUPRÉ, LOUIS. 1789-1837. Voyage à Athènes et à Constantinople, ou Collection de portraits, vues et costumes grecs et ottomans. Paris: Dondey-Dupré, 1825. $60,000 to $90,000.

Bonhams, Oct. 23: ADAMS, JOHN. Autograph Letter Signed ("J Adams"), [to Dr. Perkins?] while recovering from his small pox inoculation, [late-April, 1764]. $30,000 to $50,000.

Bonhams, Oct. 23: AUSTEN, JANE. Autograph Letter Signed ("J. Austen"), to her sister Cassandra, 4 pp, "Thursday – after dinner," [September 16, 1813,] Henrietta St. $80,000 to $120,000.

Bonhams, Oct. 23: AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 1785-1851. The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories. New York & Philadelphia: J.J. Audubon & J.B. Chevalier, 1840-1844. $20,000 to $30,000.

Bonhams, Oct. 23: DODWELL, EDWARD. 1767-1832. Views in Greece. London: Rodwell and Martin, 1821. $20,000 to $30,000.

Bonhams, Oct. 23: JAMES, JESSE. Autograph Letter Signed ("Jesse W. James"), to Mr. Flood demanding Flood retract spurious accusations, 3 pp, June 5, 1875. $200,000 to $300,000.
Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. September 26, 2019

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Joyce (James). Dubliners, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1914. £100,000 to £150,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: The Beatles.- Baker (Geoffrey.) 3 Autograph Letters and 1 Autograph Card signed to Ann Gosnell, addtionally sgn’d by George Harrison, John Lennon, Cynthia Lennon and others, 1968. £5,000 to £7,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Pilgrim Press.- Dod (John). A plaine and familiar exposition of the tenne commandements ..., [Leiden], [William Brewster], 1617. £15,000 to £20,000

Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. September 26, 2019

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Automaton Chess Player & Mechanical Illusion.- Reynell (H., printer). “The Famous Chess-Player, No.14, St.James's-Street, next Brooks's,” broadside advertisement for "The famous Automaton", [1784]. £2,000 to £3,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Clemens (Samuel Langhorne). Life on the Mississippi, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1883. £8,000 to £12,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Arctic Sledge Flag.- Fulford (Reginald Baldwin). Sledge flag... HMS Discovery, 1875. £4,000 to £6,000

Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. September 26, 2019

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, first edition, first printing, 1997. £20,000 to £30,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Piranesi (Giovanni Battista). Le Antichità Romane, 4 vol., 1756. £20,000 to £30,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal, called). Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus Celebriores, 3 parts in 1, Richard Ford's copy, Venice, Giovanni Battista Pasquali, 1751. £10,000 to £15,000

Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. September 26, 2019

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Atlases.- Speed (John). A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World, bound with The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, 1631-27. £12,000 to £18,000

Forum Auctions, Sep. 26: Anatomical illustration.- Aselli (Gaspare). De lactibus sive lacteis venis... dissertatio, first edition, Milan, Giovanni Battista Bidelli, 1627. £20,000 to £30,000

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