Chiswick Auctions’ forthcoming sale of Printed Books on 30 May
- by Announcement, Rare Book Hub staff
Highlights from Chiswick Auctions' May 30 sale
Chiswick Auctions sale on May 30th will feature many classic and highly collectable editions, in sought-after dust-jackets together with rare inscribed copies. English and American literature included in the sale are first editions of popular titles by Ernest Hemingway: In Our Time, first edition one of 170 copies, original printed boards, 1924. est. £15,000 - £18,000, first editions in original dust-jackets of A Farewell to Arms, inscribed by Hemingway, 1929. est. £4,000 - £6,000 and Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, 1930. est. £8,000 - £12,000.
Children’s literature includes; Anna Sewell: Black Beauty, first edition, 1877. est. £3000 - £4000 Beatrix Potter:The Tale of Peter Rabbit, first edition, one of 250 copies privately printed, 1901, together with a 1902 first published edition of the same title, est. £12,000 - £15,000 GBP, plus other Beatrix Potter titles, Lewis Carroll’s The Nursery Alice, first edition inscribed by the author to the dedicatee 'Marie Van de Gucht, with the Author's love. Mar. 25. 1890’. 1890. est. £8,000 - £10,000, a complete set of Winne the Pooh Books and a complete set of Harry Potter Deluxe Editions.
Full descriptions.-
Hemingway (Ernest)
In Our Time, first edition, number 137 of 170 copies, woodcut frontispiece by Henry Strater, original decorated boards with newspaper cuttings design, edges uncut, light rubbing to head and tail of spine, usual browning to endpapers, bookplate to front pastedown, tall 8vo., Three Mountains Press, Paris, 1924
Hemingway (Ernest) A Farewell to Arms, first edition, inscribed by the author 'To Mike Murphy, Good luck, Ernest Hemingway' on fly-leaf, original black cloth, printed label on upper cover and spine, top edge trimmed other edges uncut, book-plate to front paste-down, original dust-jacket, very light rubbing to extremities and labels, custom slipcase, 8vo., New York, 1929
***Mike Murphy was a Hemingway biographer and scholar. A loose note explains that this copy was inscribed by Hemingway in Havana.
Hammett (Dashiell) The Maltese Falcon, first edition, original decorated cloth, top edge stained blue/green, original pictorial dust-jacket, light damp stain to inner margin first few leaves not affecting text, small chip to base of dust-jacket, with some other minor wear to extremities, price-clipped 9as usual, preserved in quarter morocco fold-over box, 8vo., New York, 1930
***A very good copy of the most influential of detective fiction novels.
Sewell (Anna)
Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions. The Autobiography of a Horse. Translated from the original Equine, FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece, 8 pp. publisher's advertisements at end, some overall foxing, text-block almost broken between gatherings G and H, original red cloth with gilt and black design [variant of Carter's B binding], hinges split, extremities worn, preserved in a red morocco folding case, 8vo, Jarrold and Sons [1877]
Carroll, Lewis [Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge]
The Nursery Alice, FIRST EDITION, inscribed 'Marie Van de Gucht, with the Author's love. Mar. 25. 1890.' on the half-title, to the dedicatee, printed in brown throughout, illustrations in colour by John Tenniel, original cloth-backed pictorial glazed boards, foxing to title-page and frontispiece, end-papers slightly browned, slightly rubbed and soiled, spine frayed at head and tail, 1890
*** Dodgson first met Maria on July 24th., 1885. On July 29th., 1885 Dodgson asked her if she would like to accompany him to Eastbourne. She initially said 'yes' with her mother's consent, but she lost courage. On April 10th., 1886 Dodgson took her to see The Mikado at the Savoy Theatre and also spent time together in Eastbourne and Guildford. The only other known dedication copies of this book being the Liddell/Hargreave copy, and another copy sold at Sotheby's July 2012. The printed dedication is hidden in the dedicatory verse 'A Nursery Darling' using the second letters of each line to spell out the name Marie Van der Gutch.
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 36. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 49. One of the First Lunar Globes to Show the Far Side of the Moon (1963) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 5. The First World Map with Lavish Allegorical Vignettes of the Continents (1594) Est. $15,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 55. Anti-British Propaganda Map with Churchill as an Octopus (1942) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 197. One of the Most Influential Maps of Westward Expansion (1846) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 10. Scarce Pitt Edition of Carte-a-Figures Map of the World (1680) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 220. A Fine, Early Rendering of San Francisco (1874) Est. $2,200 - $2,500
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 707. Hand-Colored Image of the Presentation of Jesus with Gilt Highlights (1450) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 80. One of the Most Important Maps Perpetuating the Myth of the Island of California (1680) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 725. Homann's Atlas Featuring 26 Folio-Sized Maps in Original Color (1715) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 169. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T). The Costume of Turkey
Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: DALVIMART, Octavien ou d’ALVIMAR(T)]. CLARK. The Military Costume of Turkey
Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: HOMMAIRE DE HELL, Ignace-Xavier. LAURENS, Jules. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse
Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 11: POSTEL, Guillaume. De la République des Turc
Forum Auctions Online: India Ends 19th February 2026
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 40 Ramasvami (Kavali Venkata). A Digest of the Different Castes of India, 83 charming hand-coloured lithographed plates, Madras, 1837. £5,000-7,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 50 Watson (John Forbes) & John William Kaye. The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations...of the Races and Tribes of Hindustan, 8 vol., 480 mounted albumen prints, 1868-75. £4,000-6,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 53 Afghanistan.- Elphinstone (Hon. Mountstuart). An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, first edition, hand-coloured aquatint plates, a fine copy, 1815. £2,000-3,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 57 [Album and Treatise on Hinduism], manuscript treatise on Hinduism in French, 31 watercolours of Hindu deities, Pondicherry, 1865. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 62 Allan (Capt. Alexander). Views in the Mysore Country,
[1794]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Online: India Ends 19th February 2026
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 76 Bird (James). Historical Researches on the Origin and Principles of the Bauddha and Jaina Religions..., first edition, lithographed plates, Bombay, American Mission Press, 1847. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 100 Ceylon.- Daniell (Samuel). A Picturesque Illustration of the scenery, animals, and native inhabitants, of the Island of Ceylon: in twelve plates, 1808. £5,000-7,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 123 D'Oyly (Charles). Behar Amateur Lithographic Scrap Book, lithographed throughout with title and 55 plates mounted on 43 paper leaves, [Patna], [1828]. £3,000-5,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 139 Gandhi (known as Mahatma Gandhi,) Fine Autograph Letter signed to Jawaharlal Nehru, Sevagram, Wardha, 1942, emphasising the importance of education in rural communities. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions Online: India Ends 19th February 2026
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 140 Gantz (John). Indian Microcosm, first edition, Madras, John Gantz & Son, 1827. £10,000-15,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 146 Grierson (Sir George Abraham). Linguistic Survey of India, 11 vol. in 20, folding maps, original cloth, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1903-28. £2,000-3,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 195 Madras.- Fort St. George Gazette (The), No.276-331, pp.493-936 and Index to all of 1834 at end, modern half calf, Madras, 2nd July - 31st December 1834. £2,000-3,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 205 Marshall (Sir John) and Alfred Foucher. The Monuments of Sanchi, 3 vol., first edition, 141 plates, most photogravure, [Calcutta], [1940]. £3,000-4,000