• Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    A Superb Extra-illustrated Copy of Nicolay and Hay’s Work About Lincoln. $50,000 – 70,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    The First Volume of De Bry's Great Voyages, Thomas Hariot's Description of Virginia. $50,000 – 70,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    An autographed cabinet card of Custer as lieutenant colonel. From his last sitting. $800 – 1,200.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    The Congressional Committee, Lincoln's Funeral Springfield Illinois, 3 May 1865. $4,000 – 6,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    A remarkable ninth plate daguerreotype of an interracial couple. $30,000 – 50,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    What may be the earliest known images of an identified plantation and enslaved African Americans posed with their owner. $20,000 – 30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    Through Tickets to All Principal Points West Via Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad For Sale at This Office. $500 – 700.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    15th New York Infantry / Regiment of Engineers GAR regimental colors. Ca 1880. $1,500 – 2,500.
  • Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1556. Senghor, Les Élégies Majeures. Geneve 1978.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1572. Lew Tolstoy. Anna Karenina. First Edition, Moscow, 1878.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg, 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1060. Immanuel Kant, Critik der reinen Vernunft. First Edition, Riga, 1781.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 585. Bonaparte, Iconografia della fauna Italica. Rome, 1832f.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 548. Robert Fludd. Utriusque cosmi maioris, Frankfurt, 1617f.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 571. Christian von Wolff. Works, Halle 1741f.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 969. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Dekorationen innerer Raeume. Berlin 1874.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1457. Goethe. Das Tagebuch. Print on Vellum. Berlin, Officina Serpentis. 1934.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 30. Michael de Hungaria. Sermones praedicabiles, Strasbourg, 1494.
  • RareBookBuyer.com
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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  • Sotheby’s
    Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé : le dernier chapiter
    28 October 2024
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: Gide, André. Les Cahiers d'André Walter, 1891
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: Flaubert, Gustave. Salammbô. Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1863. Édition originale
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: Scève, Maurice. Microcosme. Lyon, Jean de Tournes, 1562. Maroquin vert de Lortic fils. Rarissime édition originale.
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, 1855. Édition originale, imprimée par Whitman lui-même et reliée sur ses instructions. Avec un exemplaire de "Calamus", Boston, 1897
    Sotheby’s
    Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé : le dernier chapiter
    28 October 2024
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: García Lorca, Federico. Poema del cante jondo. Madrid, 1931. Édition originale. Exemplaire offert par Lorca au journaliste basque Pedro Mourlane Michelena
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: Ronsard, Pierre de. Les Amours. 1553. [Suivi de:] Continuation des amours. 1557. In-8. Vélin. Troisième édition des Amours et deuxième édition de la Continuation
    Sotheby’s, 28 Oct: Vivaldi, Antonio. L’Estro Armonico... Amsterdam [1712]. Édition originale. Rares partitions de 12 concertos, gravées sur cuivre

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2020 Issue

School Sells Off Over $1 Million in Books from Its Library

Rugby School (foto from  Rugby School website).

Rugby School (foto from Rugby School website).

Another institution has sold some of their old books, and as always, it causes some controversy, though not as much this time. The institution was the Rugby School, in Rugby, England. And yes, the sport rugby began at the Rugby School.

 

The Rugby School is a boarding school with a long history, which explains how it came upon some very old books. It was founded in 1567. Some of the more valuable books were given by alumnus Matthew Holbeche Bloxam, who attended the school in the early 19th century. He became a historian and collector. One of the objections to the sale is one commonly heard in such cases – it does not respect the generous intentions of the benefactor who gave these books to the school. How would he feel, or how will others considering making such gifts to the school now feel about that choice?

 

Nevertheless, the school went ahead with the sale, even though, unlike so many institutions that sell their old books, Rugby does not have financial problems. Rather, for them it was simply a logical choice. As a spokesperson for the school observed, Rugby is “not a museum.”

 

Executive Head Master Peter Green expressed their reasoning as “the decision by Rugby School’s Governing Body to sell these rare books is twofold. They deserve to be preserved, stored – and enjoyed – in specialist conditions. Secondly, the school is committed, as a registered charity, to use its resources to benefit current and future students.” Further noting that 40% of their students are on scholarship, the proceeds will assist those students in pursuing their education.

 

This is not the first, nor the most significant such sale made by Rugby. Two years ago, they sold off almost £15 million (US $20 million) worth of art. In this case, the books were being kept in a storage room without proper climate controls, and had apparently been there for a long time. Clearly, the school did not see much use of early copies of these books for high school age students. The most valuable books were early editions of Shakespeare's plays, but students reading these books would use newer, far less valuable copies to read.

 

The sale took place at Forum Auctions on November 18 with all of the almost 300 lots being sold. The total proceeds of the sale were £775,662.50 (US $1,033,775), well above even the highest estimates. At the top of the list was a defective copy of Shakespeare's Second Folio, published in 1632, which despite missing a dozen leaves, still sold for £60,000 (US $80,700), twice the high estimate, three times the low estimate. A copy of the Fourth Folio, published in 1685, sold for £47,500 (US $63,000), while a “substantially defective” copy of the Second Folio sold for £35,000 (US $46,500). The school may have had a good point that these books belong with collectors better suited to care for them.


Posted On: 2020-12-01 06:21
User Name: mairin

I recall other recent media coverage on this subject
which included a color image of an Irish-language text from a
dedicated gathering of pieces with a common incipit (first line): "In the
Name of the Father, ...". Good information which I can
reference in an upcoming article. Thank you, Michael, mighty useful.
- Maureen E. Mulvihill, Collector / RBH Guest Writer.


Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: CATESBY, MARK. 1683-1749. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 1785-1851. The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: ADAMS ON HIS PEAR TREES AND A LOST PORTRAIT BY SALEM ARTIST HANNAH CROWNINSHIELD. ADAMS, JOHN. 1735-1826. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: EARLIEST MAP DEVOTED TO NORTH AMERICA. FORLANI, PAULO. fl.1560-1571. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: HAMILTON DEFENDS THE CONSTITUTION. HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. 1757-1804. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION BROADSIDE. Boston, September 14, 1768. $5,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: ONE OF THE EARLIEST ILLUSTRATIONS OF A SURGICAL PROCEDURE. BARTHOLOMAEUS ANGLICUS. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: RICHARD FEYNMAN'S ANNOTATED COPY, WITH TWO EARLY FEYNMAN AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: THE FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN COMPUTING. TURING, ALAN MATHISON. 1912-1954. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: FINE OIL PORTRAIT OF ALBERT EINSTEIN BY EUGEN SPIRO. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: PENICILLIN MOLD MEDALLION INSCRIBED BY ALEXANDER FLEMING. FLEMING, ALEXANDER. 1881-1955. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: APPLE "TWIGGY" MACINTOSH PROTOTYPE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMONSTRATION SOFTWARE. $80,000 - $120,000
  • Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 31: William Shakespeare, Second Folio, 1632. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 175: Agostino Nifo’s De Regnandi Peritia ad Carolum VI, 1523. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 263: Johannes Hevelius, Selenographia: Sive, 1647. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 32: William Shakespeare, Poems, 1640. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 230: Ernest Hemingway, in our time, Limited First Edition; One of 170 Copies Printed, Paris: Three Mountains Press, 1924. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 43: Amadis de Gaule Story Cycle, Various Authors, El Octavo Libro and El Noveno Libro, 1526 and 1542. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 25: John Milton, Poems of Mr. John Milton, 1645. $7,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 259: William Griffith Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More than One Hundred Men Have Recovered, 1939. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 242: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 69: Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote in Spanish, Ibarra's Academy Edition, 1780. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lot 9: Elizabeth I, Queen of England, The Historie of Guicciardin, 1599. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Oct. 24: Lor 103: Francisco Lopez de Ubeda, Libro de Entrentenimiento de la Picara Justina, 1605. $6,000 to $8,000.

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