AbeBooks Lists Their Top 10 Highest Prices for April-June
- by Michael Stillman
An Esther scroll tops the list.
AbeBooks has prepared their latest quarterly report of the most expensive sales on their book listing site during the past quarter, April-June. The shift to more European material at the top end that has developed over the past couple of years continues. We are unsure if this represents a shift in the location of the buyers or of the type of material collected, but it has certainly been pronounced. Europe does have an advantage in that the oldest material, naturally enough, comes from the Old World, but many of these European items are not that old. From the U.S. comes only one of the Top 10 prices this quarter, though it does have a North American compatriot, just one from the more northern reaches of North America. Here is the latest AbeBooks Top 10 list.
10. Southern Tibet by Sven Anders Hedin. This is a 12-volume set published from 1916-1922. Swedish explorer Sven Heden traveled through Tibet from 1906-1908, discovering much about the geography of the land unknown in the West at the time, as well as its botany and geology. $10,150.
9. Lapidari by Joan Miro. This is the newest book on the list, published in 1981. It features etchings and acquatints by the artist, who has signed and numbered the book. $10,500.
8. Opera Omnia Anatomica & Chirurgica by Andreas Vesalius. This is a 1725 collected edition of the work of the pioneering anatomical researcher of the 17th century. $11,000.
7. Osnovi Himii by Dmitri Mendeleev. This is Mendeleev's Fundamentals of Chemistry in Hebrew, published in 1872. Mendeleev was the great Russian chemist who developed the Periodic Law, the basis for the periodic table we all studied in high school chemistry. $12,000.
6. Narratio Regionum Indicarum per Hispanos Quosdam Deuastatarum Verissima by Bartolomé de Las Casas. First Latin and illustrated edition of Las Casas' account of the atrocities the Spanish were perpetrating on the natives of America, published in 1598. Las Casas' pleas for intervention by the Spanish crown were politely ignored. $13,000.
5. Tractatus Perutilis et Completus de Fractura Cranei by Jacopo Berengario da Carpi. You certainly don't want a fractura cranei. This is a pioneering work on head injuries, a third edition of Berengario's work published in 1535. $13,950.
4. La Villanella Rapita Ou La Villageoise Enlevée by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Engraved sheet music to a Mozart opera published in 1789. It was signed by the publisher, Jean-Georges Sieber. $15,300.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Obviously, we have found the U. S. item here. This is a first edition from 1960 signed by the author. $15,500.
2. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. This is the other North American book. The follow-up to Montgomery's story about Anne at Green Gables, this brings the young Canadian woman to her years as a teacher. It was published in 1909, a year after Green Gables. $17,500.
1. An Esther Scroll. This is the second item on the list in Hebrew, two more than are normally found. This engraved vellum scroll was created around 1700 by a man with the surprising multicultural name of Shalom Italia. Italia was born in Italy but moved to Amsterdam where he executed his craft. $24,000.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
