May 27: The First Atlas Map of America and more at Ketterer Kunst
- by Thomas C. McKinney
Ketterer Kunst offers a variety of material in their upcoming May 27 auction
May 27this a date many a high roller collector will want to bookmark in their calendars. Ketterer Kunst, the Munich-based auction house, will be hosting a sale of Rare Books in Hamburg that will not disappoint. With 492 lots on offer, they are divided categorically:
Renaissance and Humanism Discovery of the World Literature and Art The Modern Book Modern Book Art Printed and Written Words Geography and Travels Early Prints and Manuscripts Natural Sciences
There are several items carrying six-figure estimates, but the highlight of the sale is undoubtedly Geographie opus novissima traductione by Claudius Ptoelameus. Ketterer notes that this 1513 edition has been previously referenced as “the most important,” as it is the first atlas ever to include a map of America. This first “modern” atlas is complete, with 26 double page and one single page woodcut maps after Ptolemy by Martin Waldseemüller. This collection centerpiece is estimated at €140,000 as lot 23.
Two dozen books and portfolios with illustrations by Marc Chagall from a private German collection are also included in the sale. Chagall’s Cirque stands out, being one of 250 numbered copies of “the fantastic and gaudy world of the circus through the eyes of Marc Chagall” (lot 87, €120,000). Copies of ancient texts illustrated by Chagall, like Longus’ Daphnis & Chloé (lot 189, €130,000) and Homer’s l’Odyssée, are also being offered (lot 90, €35,000).
Natural history, always a popular collecting target, is very well represented in the sale. Pierre Joseph Redouté’s Les liliacées (lot 39, €120,000), eight volumes in four, includes 486 botanical plates. Meanwhile, Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands (lot 35, €50,000) by Marcus Elieser Bloch, is arguably the main ichthyological work of the 18thcentury. Complete copies, as this one is, are quite rare. Over 400 copper plates make up the work. And if fish are not your cup of tea, then perhaps birds? Getting off the well-known paths of Audubon and Gould, Ketterer offers two striking lots that would fit right at home in an ornithological collection. Lot 33, Histoire naturelle des oiseaux by Georges Louis LeClerc Buffon is a monumental work, this copy with 998 (of 1008) colored plates. The following lot, Cornelius Nozeman’s Nederlandsche vogelen, is slightly less ambitious, with “only” 250 plates. Both are magnificent, and both are estimated €30,000.
With the recent pro-socialist developments in Spain, it seems appropriate to include the first edition, first volume of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. Volume I is the only one printed in Marx’s lifetime. It seems fitting that the book, printed in Hamburg, returns to its origin city for resale. It is estimated €30,000 as lot 52.
There is evidently a great variety of material coming to the rooms at the end of May courtesy of Ketterer Kunst, and this brief preview is just a snapshot. I encourage you to browse their online catalog, which offers efficient navigation by sale section as well as even more defined topics of interest. The catalog can be accessed here. The sale will take place in Hamburg on Monday, May 27 (US Memorial Day).
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.
