Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2004 Issue

December Auctions <br>Lost in the Moment

This book was common in its time and very rare and important today.

This book was common in its time and very rare and important today.


By Bruce McKinney

The December book auctions offer this year, as in past years, an extraordinary array of books, manuscripts and ephemera for the collector to reward him or herself with something for the holidays. Twenty-four sales are scheduled in the United States and Europe offering, in total, more than 14,000 lots. Thirteen of them are at Sotheby's and Christies. The hammer prices will fall in the range of $50 to $1.0 million. Somewhere between these two numbers you should be able to find something to pursue, if not actually acquire. If you want to buy every lot expect to pay at least $25 million or if you want to spend this much without having to handle so much material simply wait for the next Gutenberg Bible. It's going to bring $30 million although I don't know when.

As you read this the curtain will be falling on Old World Auctions' sale of maps #109. The sale concludes on the 1st. Use our auction keyword search at the top of this page to identify material of potential personal interest in this and all other upcoming posted auctions. There are 818 lots. If you don't read this until December 2nd don't despair. No auction house succeeds in selling every lot in every sale. If you find something of interest contact them. It may be unsold and available at an attractive price.

On the 2nd there are 6 sales. PBA offers an angling library and other sporting material. Swann offers early printed and medicine & science books. Eldred offers ephemera. Christie's has 20th century books and manuscripts as well as a collection of material relating to Napoleon. Sotheby's is selling original oil portraits of Indians by George Catlin and, at a separate sale, important baseball memorabilia. If you plan to use your lottery winnings to pay for all you buy make sure you take the lump sum payment. You'll need it. A few Catlin portraits would brighten up any Americana collection and the kid in every grown man would like to have something from the golden age of baseball.

On the 3rd Sotheby's is holding three sales: fine books and manuscripts including Americana and Judaica, highly important manuscripts of Sir Isaac Newton and property from the library of the late Mrs. Insley Blair. The Newton material looks particularly interesting. There is also a Poughkeepsie item. This is a personal weakness. It's a Clement Moore autograph transcript of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" estimated at $200,000 to $300,000. The connection to Poughkeepsie is circumstantial. We'll see. The question of the day will be: can the Newton manuscripts defy gravity? These items are expensive but undoubtedly exceptional and they may not be seen again.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 746. Speed's Dual Atlas of Britain & the World with 96 Maps (1676). Est. $70,000 - $85,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 9. Visscher's Superb Double-Hemisphere World Map with Representations of the Elements (1658). Est. $4,750 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 58. One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1554). Est. $5,000 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 745. A Complete Example of Ortelius' Atlas of Ancient Geography (1624). Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 73. First English Map to Show California as an Island (1625). Est. $16,000 - $19,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 156. Bachmann's Dramatic View of the Mid-Atlantic Region (1861). Est. $1,800 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 741. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776). Est. $9,000 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 695. The First Printed Map Devoted to the Pacific (1589). Est. $8,000 - $9,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 733. Superb Image of the Presentation of Jesus in Hand Color (1502). Est. $700 - $850
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 52. Produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch to Encourage Surrender (1945). Est. $200 - $230
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia]. Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668. €22.000-€28.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto') - Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venezia: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Parigi: Claude Barbin, 1668. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: MERCATOR, Rumold (1545-1599) - [I continenti] - Europa; Africa; America Sive India Nova; Asia. Amsterdam: S.d. [ca. 1633]. €2.000-€3.000

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