Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Brunk Auctions has been offering sales of fine and decorative art for over thirty years. Their upcoming sale, running from Thursday, July 16th to Saturday, July 18th, spans 1,176 lots, but for Rare Book Hub members, the selection of applicable material—books, maps, manuscripts, and ephemera—is a small portion of the sale. This preview will cover some of the categories of material and provide some examples of items for sale.
Beginning with lot 110, an excellent selection of natural history is offered. Various selections from Audubon, including a complete seventh edition of The Birds of America (lot 110, est. $10,000 – 15,000), and an autographed letter signed to his engraver, Robert Havell (lot 116, est. $4,000 – 6,000), are included. A set of three botanical prints by Basilius Besler, lots 133 through 136 are also standouts.
Americana is a particular strongpoint of the sale, featuring autographs from the likes of Washington (lot 141, est. $20,000 – 30,000), Jefferson (lot 142, est. $15,000 – 25,000), and Lincoln (lot 147, est. $4,000 – 6,000), as well as several others. Also present is a run of American maps. Included among these is a very significant item: a German copy of Thomas Hariot’s Virginia or Wunderbarliche doch Warhafftige Erklarung, von der Gelegenheit und Sitten der Wilden in Virginia (lot 190, est. $50,000 – 70,000). This edition contains the first map by an Englishman of any portion of North America. Other interesting items are lot 197, being the first English edition of Lewis and Clark’s Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean (est. $12,000 – 16,000), and lot 203, Carey and Lea’s A Complete Historical, Chronological, and Geographical American Atlas, Being a Guide to the History of North and South America and the West Indies (est. $3,000 – 5,000).
Further on in the sale, and closing out the portion of the sale featuring printed material are premium copies of various selections of literature. A veritable who’s who of important 19th and 20th century authors are present here: Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Joseph Heller, James Joyce, Herman Melville, Arthur Miller, and John Steinbeck, to name a few.
The entire catalog of Brunk Auctions’ sale can be found on their website here.
Bidding can be done in person in Asheville, North Carolina, as well via absentee bid, online, and telephone. Please visit Brunk Auctions’ bidding page for more information.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
