Exceptional catalogues: <br>Livres Anciens and Livres Precieux
- by Bruce E. McKinney
Chamonal: Lot 32 [Duflot de Mofras]. Album Amicorum de Emilia de Botella.
No. 50 For those who lack space but have an appetite for books there is Gastronomie - Miniscule. Printed in Paris in 1810 this is a small book. Look at your thumb. This book is half the size. The good news is you aren't going to need to build any shelves. This volume and a hundred more like it will fit comfortably in a shoe box. 6,000 euros without the shoebox.
No. 162 For those who have been waiting for Waldseemuller's 1507 Cosmographie Introductio Chamonal offers a nice copy. The price has been omitted to allow you to lie to your spouse. If pinned down by your better half you can point out this book will probably be the cover item at auction when your collection goes on the block. That is unless you are also hiding a Columbus Letter. [P.O.R.]
These are a few of the many, many interesting items offered. The Chamonal perspective is international.
The Clavreuils' effort is different. Here the most obsessive book-collector meets the charming but equally determined book dealer across the pages of a presentation that makes statements at many levels. This is not a catalogue. It is a declaration of quality. To me it says "we sell the greatest books to the greatest collectors. Bring your collecting ambition, your determination and intelligence to a discussion with us and you will take home books that will remain satisfying to own for the rest of your life." I've done that and many of the books I've bought from them remain, after many years, unrivaled for quality, provenance and importance. Investigate all the lots using the search box provided at the end of this article. Did I mention that the catalogue is in French?
In case you find yourself reaching for your checkbook the entire contents of this catalogue will cost $5.5 million. Here are some of the items.
Item no. 1 is a 1482 Cosmographia by Ptolemaeus. It was issued during the last days of pre-Columbian understanding of the world. This copy will deserve its own first class seat on the airplane home. It is priced at 800,000 euros. Figure that a euro is worth about $1.30.
No. 8 is a Bible printed in Paris in 1537 by Simon de Colines. It is Libri Prophetarum....Relie avec : Machabaeorum Libri Duo. A President taking the oath of office in January would garner a bit of extra attention [and strengthen our national bonds with France] by taking the oath on this book. The price is 18,000 euros.
For 80,000 euros you can buy no. 14, one of the earliest new world imprints. This one is Alonso de Veracruz' Speculum Coniugiorum aeditum...printed in Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1556. That's right. The first books printed in the new world were in Latin. Today they speak Spanish and you can pay in euros.
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…
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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. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![Chamonal: Lot 32 [Duflot de Mofras]. Album Amicorum de Emilia de Botella.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/ArticleImages/chamone.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.](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.")
