Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2014 Issue

Old World Auctions – an important sale ending on February 19th

 

Serious collectors of maps, take note. This month, Old World Auctions, an online-only auction house specializing in cartography, is holding the first of their four yearly sales. The focus will, of course, be on antique maps and atlases, but a healthy dose of books with maps, geographies, globes, antique prints, illuminated manuscripts, and reference books are also to be included in the 800 lot sale.

 

In the auction’s promotional information, OWA provided a brief write-up on two important collector-consignors, who wish to remain anonymous, that provided material for the auction. Together they combine for over 80 years of experience, and their lots make up a significant portion of the sale’s value. Their stories provide interesting perspective on collecting and how people go about doing it. Both were drawn to and collected maps. Both were initially focused on a specific area—Canada and Texas. From there, their stories diverge. The Canadian collector eventually gave up his collection of Canada on the advice of a well-known American map dealer, and turned to collecting original color maps of the world and the western hemisphere. Aesthetics was his primary concern, with condition and original color strong deciding factors. The other collector kept his eye on Texas and the southwest. For him, price and condition were important points when considering an item, but the vital decider was whether it fit his focus. Over the course of decades, both continued to grow their collections, and now their divergent stories come back together. Both have family uninterested in continuing the collections themselves, and both are selling in the last quarters of their lives. Items from their collections will be included in Old World Auction’s sales throughout 2014.

 

The following are ten highlights of the February sale:

 

ANCIENT MAP OF THE WORLD WITH DEPICTIONS OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS.  Universalis Tabula Iuxta Ptolemaeum, by Ptolemy/Mercator, circa 1730.  Estimate $2,750 - $3,500.

 

ORTELIUS’ MAP OF THE ARCTIC WITH SEVERAL MYTICAL ISLANDS.  Septentrionalium Regionum Descrip., by Abraham Ortelius, published 1573.  Estimate $2,400 - $3,000.

 

MAP OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES WITH SUPERB PICTURE FRAME-STYLE BORDER.  La Floride, Suivant les Nouvelles Observations…, by Pieter van der Aa, published 1729.  Estimate $1,700 - $2,000.

 

MAGNIFICENT CARTE-A-FIGURES MAP OF ASIA.  Asia Noviter Delineata, by Willem Blaeu, circa 1642.  Estimate $3,750 - $4,750.

 

SCARCE MAP OF STRAIT OF MAGELLAN BASED ON NARBOROUGH’S EXPEDITION.  A New Mapp of Magellan Straights Discovered by Cap. John Narbrough, by Samuel Thornton, circa 1706.  Estimate $1,600 - $2,000.

 

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 16TH CENTURY MAPS OF THE NEW WORLD.  Tabula Novarum Insularum, quas Diversis Respectibus Occidentales & Indianas Vocant, by Sebastian Munster, published 1559.  Estimate $5,500 - $6,500.

 

ORTELIUS’ INFLUENTIAL MAP OF THE NEW WORLD – SECOND PLATE.  Americae Sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio, by Abraham Ortelius, published 1579.  Estimate $6,000 - $7,500.

 

SYLVANUS’ RARE AND SIGNIFICANT CORDIFORM WORLD MAP.  [Untitled - World], by Bernard Sylvanus, published 1511.  Estimate $60,000 - $75,000.

 

PITT’S RARE CARTE-A-FIGURES MAP IN FULL ORIGINAL COLOR.  Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula, by Moses Pitt, circa 1680.  Estimate $11,000 - $13,000.

 

ORTELIUS’ CORNERSTONE MAP OF AFRICA.  Africae Tabula Nova, by Abraham Ortelius, dated 1570.  Estimate $1,900 - $2,200.

 

Bidding on the sale opens on February 5th and closes at 10PM on February 19th. Registration for the sale can be done via this link: https://www.oldworldauctions.com/ssl/register.asp

 

Old World Auctions offers a 100% money back guarantee on the authenticity and condition of every item in the auction. They feature a 10-minute rule at the close of the auction, which keeps lots with active bidding open for an additional 10 minutes, until there are no bids on the lot for a full 10 minutes.  All of their packaging and shipping is done in-house, and they ship to over 70 countries each year.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.

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