A catalogue at the divide between what was to what would be: a gem
Those who collect, collect on faith. We accept we’re paying up and hope time confirms our enthusiasms and heal our overpayments. So be it. It’s such a pleasing field. I recently re-read Scribner’s 1947 Catalogue No. 135: Rare Books in all fields of collecting. We have many Scribner catalogues in Transactions+ because they have long been appreciated as gems of focus, selection and concision but this was a new one to me. And then I thought I’d like to see how their offers have held up in the 73 years since they committed their thinking to print. And it was interesting.
These days acquirers look interchangeably between dealers and auctions. In 1947 the rare book field was retail, and auctions, by and large, wholesale. Scribner was very retail, residing at 597 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The timing was exquisite, the War over and the economy beginning to rev. The auctions once powerful had thinned and would recover as the next generation of dealers would become specialists. The ABAA was an idea coming into fruition in 1949. Scribner’s catalogue 135 was issued on the edge of time, aware both of what had been, looking ahead to what would be. In that spirit I reread their 465 lot opus and I’m sharing how 18 random items have fared.
Take care. It’s a wild ride. Copernicus’ 1543 [Yes they had one!] will go much higher than our estimates suggest because we follow trends over the past 120 years and Copernicus was less appreciated, even to the point, hard to sell in the first half of the 20th century, while other items would deeply underperform today. Every dog gets it’s day.
What are they?
The Education of Henry Adams. Adams. 1907. The privately printed first edition. $450
American Turf Register. 1830-44. First editions. $2,500
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Barrie. 1905. First edition in original vellum $150
Grande Sonate Pour Le Pianoforte, Beethoven. 1805. First edition $120
History and Present State of Virginia. Beverly. 1705. $90
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Acton Bell. Bronte. 1848. 3 volumes, various editions with corrections in the author’s hand. $1,250
Poems. William Cullen Bryant. 1821. Rare in this condition. $450
The Feminine Monarchie, or The History of Bees. Butler. 1634. First edition in phonetic spelling. $40
Lectures on Coal-Tar Colours [with] Dyeing and Calico Printing. Calvert. 1863 & 1876. $90
The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director. Chippendale. 1755. The second, most sought after edition. $250
[American] Constitution printed at Poughkeepsie. 1788. $550
The Last of the Mohicans. A Narrative of 1757. Cooper. $425
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium Libri VI. Copernicus. 1543. $2,250
The Origin of the Species. Darwin. 1859. A fine copy inscribed by the author. $285
The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, together with… $1,250
The Posthumus Papers of the Pickwick Club. Dickens. First American edition in parts. $900
The History of Tom Jones. Fielding. 1749. 6 volumes. First editions. $650
Taken together at full retail in 1947 the price was $12,375. Today selecting comparable [this is subjective!] copies from Transactions+ we find their current estimated value to be $736,488 and their average probability of reappearance to be 14.2 years.
To this we add information from Transactions+:
Selected Items
in
Scribner's
No. 135
Item No.
Price in $
Comparables in Transactions +
Estimated Current Value
Probability of Reappearance in years
1
1
Adams
450
13
13,354
12.5
2
6
[Turf Register]
2,500
9
69,662
25
3
14
Barrie
150
3
5,691
25
4
24
Beethoven
120
4
5,204
25
5
32
Beverly
90
14
5,253
25
6
43
Bronte
1,250
9
19,924
2.5
7
51
Bryant
450
98
450
1.4
8
60
Butler
40
33
1,306
3.3
9
63
Calvert
90
2
4195
25
10
72
Chippendale
250
2
8,294
2.5
11
81
Constitution
550
2
22,619
25
12
84
Cooper
425
114
13,421
0.6
13
88
Copernicus
2,250
36
326,581
4
14
94
Darwin
285
10
145,928
3.3
15
95
De Foe
1,250
1
58,264
25
16
100
Dickens
900
10
4,408
25
17
128
Fielding
650
72
5,461
0.5
18
150
Gilbert
675
5
26,473
25
12375
736,488
255.6
5.76%
14.2
Taken together, build your collection for the fun of it while being mindful that markets, copies and opinions change.
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
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
