Doyle held its first rare book auction of the Fall 2020 season, Fine Literature featuring The Library of Duncan Cranford, on September 30.186 lots were offered in an Internet-only auction format, to minimize concerns in the era of Covid. The sale began with an interesting miscellany from various consignors. Featured in this first section (lots 1-132) were 1920s- and 30s-era literature in dust jackets; books illustrated by Edward Gorey; material from the library of the popular author Dorothea Benton Frank; and several books from the library of the celebrated Doubleday editor Jason Epstein. The second section, devoted to the Cranford collection, occupied lots 133-186.
Results showed continuing strength for rare books in the field of literature, at a wide range of values. The sale was 96 percent sold by lot (and 100 percent sold by value), with an aggregate hammer of $372,345 dollars, to a broad array of buyers. The sale’s single highest hammer price was for a fine example of the first edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, 1855, the very rare English issue (lot 186) which realized (with buyer’s premium) $175,000 against an estimate of $150,000-$250,000. The runner-up in terms of value was Jason Epstein’s copy of the first American edition of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (lot 86), inscribed to him by the author with a characteristic butterfly drawing, which excited great collector enthusiasm. This hammered down for $55,625 dollars including premium, against an estimate of $5,000-$8,000.
However, this was not just a sale of stellar books, and it was interesting to see how well this material did across the board. A set of the Easton Press edition of the complete James Bond works of Ian Fleming (lot 33) sold for $3,125 (this was from the Frank collection). The Edward Gorey books (lots 41 through 57) generally exceeded their estimates, and all sold, at prices ranging from $50-$500. Gorey remains a crowd-pleaser. A copy of the first edition, first issue of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (lot 65) sold for $1,875; and in a similar vein, i.e. modern literature in sound jackets, a copy of Steinbeck’s third book, To a God Unknown, (lot 119), in a lovely unsophisticated jacket, made $4,250. In fine bindings, a set of the Atlantic Edition of H.G. Wells Works (lot 125) realized $7,500. A copy of the enduring (and endearing) Beatrix Potter The Tailor of Gloucester (“No more twist”), this the first edition privately printed for the author by Strangeways & Sons in December, 1902, obtained $3,375 (lot 98).
It has long been axiomatic that material fresh to the marketplace elicits a strong response, and this was abundantly obvious with the Cranford books. These had been collected in the 1930s and 1940s, and had remained off the market until the present time (Cranford died in 1985). Starting with a nicely bound set of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland—early but not first editions (lot 136: $4,750)—and an attractive copy of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with almost all first issue points (lot 137: $5,500), the tone of this portion of the sale was set early on. A group of Joseph Conrad sold well, with a copy of Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories, first edition (lot 140: $2,125) going well over estimate, among others. A Rudyard Kipling manuscript for a tale from the second Jungle Book is a very desirable desideratum, with few offered at auction in the last quarter-century or more, and The Miracle of Purun Bhagat soared far over its $4,000-$6,000 estimate (lot 160: $23,750). Similarly, two O. Henry manuscripts for his Texas tales performed exceptionally well; both sold at $10,000 (lots 171-172). A small but choice group of A.A. Milne included a copy of When We Were Very Young inscribed to his literary agent (lot 165: $13,750) and Now We Are Six, one of 20 copies on Japan vellum signed by author and illustrator (lot 167: $15,625). Rounding out this final wing of the sale was a group of Robert Louis Stevenson, that most eminent and amiable author. His Treasure Island (lot 176: $6,125) and Kidnapped (lot 178: $3,375) led the way. This was followed by the concluding lot, the afore-mentioned 1855 Leaves of Grass. And all the rest is, as they say, history!
Edward Ripley-Duggan Vice-President, Rare Books and Manuscripts Department
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
Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
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.
