Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2020 Issue

Arader Galleries announce an auction on December 5th: Classics of Pen, Brush and Press

Arader Galleries announces an important auction, Classics of Pen, Brush and Press on December 5th, 2020 including icons of natural history and cartography, beautiful examples of Audubon's Birds of America, stunning European and American oil paintings, and a fine selection of rare books and atlases. The sale spans five centuries and includes many of the most seminal, iconic, and unique works of art that Arader Galleries has to offer. 


The 183 lot sale begins with a curated section 23 aquatints from John James Audubon's Birds of America including some of the finest compositions and most iconic works that Audubon and Havell created such as the Male Turkey (Lot 1) and Female Turkey (Lot 2), Virginia Partridge (Lot 5), Columbia Jay (Lot 8), Canvas-backed Duck (Lot 19), Black-Bellied Darter (Lot 21), White Pelican (Lot 22) and Roseate Spoonbill (Lot 23).

Next is a selection of important natural history watercolors and oil paintings including works by John Woodhouse Audubon (Lot 24), the first Georgia Natural history artist, John Abbott (Lots 25 & 26), America's best southern 20th century ornithological artist, Basil Ede (Lots 30 & 31), Roger Tory Peterson (Lots 37-42), and the Raphael of Flowers, Pierre-Joseph Redoute (Lots 47-51). Following is a unique offering of western themed works including original drawings by Rudolph Cronau (Lots 58-60), a stunning oil by George Catlin (Lot 57) and a monumental view of The Grand Canyon by Edward Potthast (Lot 62). More paintings follow with beautiful seascapes like the View of Portsmouth, England made by a English Spy for Napolean (Lot 66); Landscapes such as three evocative cityscapes of New York painted during the city's amazing growth (Lots 88-90), as well as a section of European portraits (Lots 91-98).


Following is a selection offering fine atlases ranging from early works by greats such as Ortelius (Lot 106) and Mercator (Lot 107) to later works by Humbolt (Lot 108) and Carey & Lea (Lot 104). Finally, is a robust grouping of cartography. The sale covers everything from early Italian school maps by Forlani (Lots 116-120) and Gastaldi (Lots 121-125) to 18th & 19th century maps of Colonial America (Lot 167), Canada (Lot 159), and the American West (Lot 160) by the likes of De L'Isle and Arrowsmith (Lot 152). There are also several important manuscript maps in the sale whose uniqueness and beauty lend great value like an exceptionally fine and historically important manuscript map showing the origins of the state of Texas at the turn of the 19th century and one of the most important maps of the Gulf Coast, Texas, and Louisiana to come on the market in 50 years (Lot 176).

 

We look forward to bidders creating new homes for these loyal, faithful objects that have brought comfort and satisfaction over the decades, and will do so for generations to come. If you would like more information about this sale, condition reports or additional images please email auctions@aradernyc.com and we will be happy to assist!

 

Taylor Rash

Auction Director

https://araderlive.com/

http://www.aradernyc.com/

804-397-5349 (cell)

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    26th March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 26: Book of Hours.- Heures a lusaige de Romme, printed on vellum, with 14 full-page illuminated miniatures, Paris, N. Higman for J. de Brie, [c.1521]. £20,000-30,000
    Forum, Mar. 26: France.- Book of Hours, perhaps Use of the Abbey of Saint-Gildas de Rhuys, with thirteen miniatures surviving from an original cycle of at least twenty, [c. 1430]. £15,000-20,000
    Forum, Mar. 26: Milton (John). Paradise lost. A Poem in Ten Books, first edition, Pforzheimer's sixth state, S. Simmons, 1669. £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Mar. 26: Blake (William). Illustrations of the Book of Job, one of 215 first issue "Proof" copies, this one of 65 copies on "French" paper, Published by the Author, March 8, 1825 [but March, 1826]. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    26th March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 26: Christie (Agatha). The ABC Murders, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £15,000-20,000
    Forum, Mar. 26: Halley (Edmund). Astronomiae Cometicae Synopsis, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, no. 297, pp.1882-99, March 1705. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, Mar. 26: Haytham (Ibn al) [known as Alhazen]. Opticae Thesaurus...Item Vitellonis Thuringopoloni libri X..., first edition, Basel, August, 1572. £20,000-30,000
    Forum, Mar. 26: Kepler (Johannes). Dioptrice seu demonstratio eorum quae visui & visibilibus propter conspicilla non ita pridem inventa accidunt, first edition, Augsburg, David Frank, 1611. £12,000-18,000
  • Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.

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