Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Discover Upcoming Auctions
Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Coronelli, Vincenzo Maria. "Epitome Cosmografica." With the 6 circular celestial and terrestrial charts. 7,000 – 10,000 USD
Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Hurley, Frank. Collection of 69 photographs taken during Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Expedition. 80,000 – 120,000 USD
Sotheby’s, Dec. 10: Sendak, Maurice. Original artwork for the inaugural "New York is Book Country" poster, 1979. 300,000 – 600,00 USD
Sotheby’s, Dec. 10: [Brontë, Emily, and Ann Brontë] — Ellis Bell and Acton Bell. An outstanding survival of the sisters' debut novels Estimate. 90,000 - 130,000 USD
Doyle, Dec. 5: Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). Yawning Tiger, conceived 1917. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert M. Kulicke (1924-2007). Full-Blown Red and White Roses in a Glass Vase, 1982. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). L’ATELIER DE CANNES (Bloch 794; Mourlot 279). The cover for Ces Peintres Nos Amis, vol. II. $1,000 to $1,500.
Doyle, Dec. 5: LeRoy Neiman (1921-2012). THE BEACH AT CANNES, 1979. $1,200 to $1,800.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Richard Avendon, the suite of eleven signed portraits from the Avedon/Paris portfolio. $150,000 to $250,000.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Flowers in Vase, 1985. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Nude, 1936. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Juniper, High Sierra, 1937.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven J. Levn (b. 1964). Plumage II, 2011. $6,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven Meisel (b. 1954). Madonna, Miami, (from Sex), 1992. $6,000 to $9,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: BLAEU (JOAN) ET BORGOGNIO (GIO TOMASO). Theatre des Estats de son Altesse Royale le duc de Savoye…, La Haye, 1700. €25,000 to €30,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: BROWNE (JAMES D. HOWE). Ten Scenes in the last Ascent of Mont Blanc including five Views from the Summit. London, 1853. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: FELLOWS (CHARLES). A Narrative of an Ascent to the Summit of Mont-Blanc. London, 1827. €30,000 to €40,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: HACQUET (BELSAZAR). Physikalisch= Politische Reise aus den Dinarischen durch die Julischen…, Leipzig, 1785. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: HAWES (BENJAMIN). A Narrative of an Ascent to the Summit of Mont-Blanc made during the summer of 1827 by Mr. William Hawes and Mr. Charles Fellows, 1828.
ALDE, Dec. 9: MARTEL (PIERRE) ET WINDHAM (WILLIAM). An account of the glacieres or ice Alps in Savoy, in two letters…, London, 1744. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: PITSCHNER (WILHELM). Der Mont Blanc Darstellung des Besteigung desselben am 31 Juli, 1 und 2 August 1859…, Berlin, 1860-1864. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: SCHEUCHZER (JOHANN JACOB). Natur-Geschichte des Schweizerlandes, samt seinen Reisen über die Schweitzerische Gebürge. Zurich, 1746. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: STUMPF (JOANNES). Gemeiner loblicher Eydgnosschaft Stetten, Landen, und Völckeren Chronicwirdiger Thaatenbeschreybung. Zurich, Christoph Froschauer, 1548. €2,500 to €3,500.
ALDE, Dec. 9: WALTON (ELIJAH) ET BONNEY (THOMAS GEORGE). The Peaks and valleys of the Alps. London, 1868. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Dec. 9: WYTTENBACH (JACOB SAMUEL). Vues remarquables des montagnes de la Suisse, avec leur description. Amsterdam, 1785. €15,000 to €20,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €5,500 to €7,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…, 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Signed by author, limited edition. €1,250 to €1,750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Fishing: Literal Translation into English of the Earliest Known Book on Fowling and Fishing, Written originally in Flemish and Printed at Antwerp in 1492. London (Chiswick Press) 1872. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Fishing: Blacker's - Art of Fly Making, etc., Comprising Angling & Dying of Colours..., Rewritten & Revised. Lond. 1855. €250 to €350.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Joyce (James). Finnegans Wake,, London (Faber & Faber Ltd.) 1939, Lim. Edn. No. 269 (425) copies, Signed by the Author (in green pen). €3,000 to €4,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Synge (J.M.) & Yeats (Jack B.) illus. The Aran Islands,, D. (Maunsel & Co. Ltd.) 1907, Signed Limited Edn. €4,000 to €5,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Meyer (Dr. A.B.) Unser Auer -, Rackel-Und Birkwild und Seine Abarten, Wien (Verlag Von Adolph W. Kunast) 1887. €2,500 to €3,500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Carve (Thomas). Itinerarium R.D. Thomas Carve Tripperariensis, Sacellani Maioris in Fortisima iuxta…,, Moguntia (Mainz) impriemebat Nicolaus Heyll, 1639. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2 vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. First Edition. €3,000 to €5,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Heaney (Seamus) & Le Brocquy (Louis) artist. Ugolino, D. (Dolmen Press) 1979, Signed Limited Edition No. 87 (125) Copies. €3,500 to €4,500.
The Million Book Project – Reaching the Least Likely Readers
- by Michael Stillman
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has set aside $5.25 million to bring books to people who are sorely lacking in access. These are real books, the physical type you can touch and handle, not some electrons floating around in an electronic gadget. It is known as the “Million Book Project,” and it is not designed to send books off to some far-off underdeveloped country where electronic readers are in short supply. The beneficiaries live right here in America, and yet they too have little access to electronic gadgets. It has to do with their living arrangements. These are prisoners, which are not in short supply in America.
In their mission statement, the Mellon Foundation states they believe “that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there.” Your immediate reaction may be...prisoners? Undoubtedly, they would like freedom, but beauty and transcendence?” Our image of prisoners tends to be of unsavory characters, tough guys with few redeeming social values. That is reinforced by the type of prisoners they seek to reach, at least the male ones. These aren't slick politicians and wealthy business people residing in minimum security prisons. These are often men from the streets, either those in medium security or the most hardened of criminals in maximum security prisons. Are they logical readers for the “poetry, literature, history, and social thought” in the books to be made available? The Mellon Foundation thinks they are.
Mellon obviously is not too impressed with the workings of the criminal justice system in the U. S. They note that incarceration in America has quadrupled since the early 1980s. They attribute this to policing practices with regard to drug laws, mandatory sentencing, racial profiling, and high cash bail. “The United States holds the world’s largest prison population—approximately 2.2 million people,” they say, continuing “Mass incarceration is, of course, inextricably linked to mass undereducation.” They point to well-below average education rates among the prison population compared to the population at large.
One other thing we know about the prison population is that it is poorer and more highly concentrated in minorities than the general population. Those who grow up in upper middle to upper class households, are white, and receive good educations, do not end up in prison at anywhere near the rate of those who do not start life with these societal advantages. Obviously, not everyone in prison will be turned around by access to literature, but how about all those people who would not have ended up in prison in the first place had they started life with those advantages? The potential is there to be solid citizens if they are given a chance. The Mellon Foundation hopes to give them at least a portion of that chance they have been denied in life.
The aim of the Million Book Project is to provide 500-book curated collections to all medium and maximum security men's state prisons, all women's state prisons, and at least one juvenile detention center per state. That is 1,000 prisons in all (and if you are counting, yes, that is 500,000 books, meaning “million book” is either a bit of an understandable exaggeration or the project is only half way there).
Can the works of great thinkers, whether historic or of today, and the voices of social justice turn around some of those people whose lives have hit the bottom? Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander explains, “Reading is a transformative, dignity-affirming act that reveals who we are to ourselves and strengthens our shared humanity.” Perhaps another way of saying this is if we expect people to act like civilized human beings, we need to treat them like civilized human beings. That is not happening in our prisons, so it is not surprising that recidivism is so high. Now, all the Foundation is saying is give books a chance.
High Bids Win, Nov. 20 – Dec. 5: Quarter Case with Lead Penline Flourishes.
High Bids Win, Nov. 20 – Dec. 5: Quarter Case with Lead Cents and Pound Signs.
High Bids Win, Nov. 20 – Dec. 5: Wooden type cabinet 27” w by 19” d by 38” h.
Dominic Winter Auctioneers Printed Books, Maps & Ephemera Printing Woodblocks by Thomas & John Bewick 12 December 2024
Dominic Winter, Dec. 12: Gell (William). The Topography of Troy, and its Vicinity, 1804. £2,000 to £3,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 12: Low (David). The Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Islands, 1842. £1,500 to £2,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 12: North America. Moll (Herman)..., This Map of North America..., circa 1725. £1,000 to £1,500.
Dominic Winter Auctioneers Printed Books, Maps & Ephemera Printing Woodblocks by Thomas & John Bewick 12 December 2024
Dominic Winter, Dec. 12: Bible [English]. [The Holie Bible conteynyng the Olde Testament and the Newe, 1568]. £3,000 to £5,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 12: Chaucer (Geoffrey). The Workes of Our Ancient and Learned English Poet, newly Printed, 1602. £1,500 to £2,000. £1,500 to £2,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 12: Cuffee (Paul). Memoir of Captain Paul Cuffee, A Man of Color, Liverpool, 1811. £300 to £500.
Dominic Winter Auctioneers Modern First Editions & Illustrated Books, Playing Cards, Toys & Games 13 December 2024
Dominic Winter, Dec. 13: Milne (A. A.) The House at Pooh Corner, signed limited edition, 1928. £3,000 to £5,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 13: Huxley (Aldous). Brave New World, limited signed edition, 1932. £2,000 to £3,000.
Dominic Winter Auctioneers Modern First Editions & Illustrated Books, Playing Cards, Toys & Games 13 December 2024
Dominic Winter, Dec. 13: Rowling (J. K.). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1st edition, 1st impression, 1997. £30,000 to £50,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 13: Tolkien (J. R. R.) The Lord of the Rings, 3 volumes, 1st edition, 1954-55. £2,000 to £3,000.
Dominic Winter, Dec. 13: Wells (H. G.) The War of the Worlds, 1st edition, 1st issue, 1898. £1,000 to £1,500.
Doyle, Dec. 6: An extensive archive of Raymond Chandler’s unpublished drafts of fantasy stories. $60,000 to $80,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: RAND, AYN. Single page from Ayn Rand’s handwritten first draft of her influential final novel Atlas Shrugged. $30,000 to $50,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: Ernest Hemingway’s first book with interesting provenance. Three Stories & Ten Poems. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: Hemingway’s second book, one of 170 copies. In Our Time. $15,000 to $25,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: A finely colored example of Visscher’s double hemisphere world map, with a figured border. $12,000 to $18,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: Raymond Chandler’s Olivetti Studio 44 Typewriter. $10,000 to $20,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: Antonio Ordóñez's “Suit of Lights” owned by Ernest Hemingway. $10,000 to $20,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: A remarkable Truman archive featuring an inscribed beam from the White House construction. $8,000 to $12,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: The fourth edition of Audubon’s The Birds of America. $8,000 to $12,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: The original typed manuscript for Chandler’s only opera. The Princess and the Pedlar: An Entirely Original Comic Opera. $8,000 to $12,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: A splendidly illustrated treatise on ancient Peru and its Incan civilization. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, Dec. 6: A superb copy of Claude Lorrain’s Liber Veritatis from Longleat House. $5,000 to $8,000.