Even between sales the back row looked ready to bid.
A few of the important items, both of which sold at the reserve, were the William Heartsill which brought $30,000 and the David Woodman which brought $15,000. Here are how they were described:
28. HEARTSILL, W. W. Fourteen Hundred and 91 Days in the Confederate Army.... [Marshall: Privately printed, 1876]. 61 original albumen photographs (portraits, including Heartsill in his leopard-skin britches). 8vo, original black cloth with silver lettering and ruling on spine. First edition, limited edition (100 copies). Basic Texas Books 89: "The rarest and most coveted book on the American Civil War... One of the most vivid and intimate accounts of Civil War battle-life that has survived." Howes H380. ($30,000-50,000)
64. WOODMAN, David. Guide to Texas Emigrants. Boston, 1835. Copper-engraved plate, folding copper-engraved map with original hand-coloring. 12mo, modern three-quarter morocco over marbled boards. First edition. Fifty Texas Rarities 12. Graff 4737. Howes W647. Phillips, Sporting Books, p. 413. Sabin 105111. Streeter 1177. Vandale 197. ($15,000-30,000)
The second Sloan sale, No. 15, was 225 lots of Californiana, the collection of Dan Volkmann of San Francisco. Two hundred and five lots sold at auction and in the following few days. The aggregate hammer price was $914,335 and the average lot realization $4,460. Lot 132, an unsold lot from the Volkmann Zamorano sale two years ago again failed to find a buyer at the $225,000 reserve which Ms. Sloan acknowledged after the sale, was set by the consignor, not by the auction house and was linked to what he paid rather than to the current market value. Even as the lot went unsold, Ms. Sloan asked for offers from the floor. None were forthcoming although three offers, after the sale, have since been reported. Mr. Volkmann will apparently continue to own this item. An example of this map is featured in Schwartz and Ehrenberg's "The Mapping of America" on page 277 [1980 edition].
Ms. Sloan, veteran auctioneer and book dealer, expressed satisfaction. "We sold 89% of the lots in both sales. This suggests our estimates and the market are in sync." In 2004, on average among the almost 400 auctions AE covered, 75% of lots offered in book sales sold.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
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.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
