You can sign up now for early access to Dr. Seuss digital collectibles.
Dr. Seuss is coming to blockchain. The beloved children's author, who has recently been in some hot water due to racially insensitive drawings he made in the 1930s and 40s, is now leaping into the future. What this means is that there will soon be Dr. Seuss collectibles available as NFTs. That stands for “nonfungible tokens.” If this all sounds crazy, just remember that Beeple's NFT artwork, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, recently sold for $69.3 million. This NFT stuff is serious business, and Dr. Seuss is primed to grab a piece of the action.
As best I understand, which is not much, NFTs are digital copies of something, similar to bitcoin's version of money. However, they are not fungible, meaning they are not like commodities, interchangeable like bitcoins. Being non-fungible, each one is unique. If you own a non-fungible digital token, you own the only one. That makes it more valuable to collectors for whom exclusivity is highly rated. This is why someone paid $69.3 million for a digital image on his computer which looks remarkably similar to every other image of the same artwork that appears on your computer monitor, only this one comes with a non-fungible token.
The token, or NFT, is not something you can hold in your hand any more than is the digital artwork. It is simply something that establishes that you are the owner of the original digital image. Who wouldn't pay $69.3 million for those bragging rights? It does have the advantage of living on forever. It can't be destroyed by fire or water, like physical artwork. Of course, if someone hacks the blockchain network I don't know what happens. I guess you have to have a lot of faith in its security to spend that much money on an NFT.
The World of Dr. Seuss consists of collectibles being launched on the Flow blockchain by its creator, Dapper Labs. This is a fairly recently established business which started with CryptoKitties. You may know them, or like me, not. They are some sort of digital collectible cats that apparently has a healthy following. Last year, they announced several more collectibles would be launched. So far, they have launched only NBA TopShot. They make NFTs available of NBA highlights. They have been licensed by the NBA to do this. According to an article on CNBC.com on March 2 of this year, collectors had already traded $230 million in NBA highlights. Someone paid $200,000 for the rights to a video of Lebron James performing one of his moves.
The World of Dr. Seuss is one of the other crypto-collectibles to be launched. Although announced in July of last year, it has not yet made its debut. However, you can sign up now for early access when it becomes available.
As with the NBA, Dapper Labs has obtained a licensing agreement with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which holds the copyrights to Seuss' material. They are the ones who upset some people a few months ago when they announced they would no longer publish six of Seuss' titles which displayed some insensitivity. Perhaps this will make up some of that lost revenue. In announcing the agreement last July, Susan Brandt, President of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said, “Dr. Seuss fans are some of the most passionate fans in the world. By partnering with a company like Dapper Labs, a true trailblazer in the blockchain space, we will be able to offer our fans something entirely new. Digital collectibles will allow Dr. Seuss fans to revisit and revel in their favorite characters in an entirely new way.”
Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, added, “with our new Dr. Seuss digital decal experience, we are marrying the best of both worlds – allowing fans to interact and discover something entirely new, while tapping into our collective nostalgia for the characters that mean so much from our childhood.”
Somehow or other, these digital collectibles are created. They will feature many of Seuss' famous personalities, such as the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, Horton, Thing One and Thing Two. Presumably, they will not create any of these collectibles based on Seuss' Asian characterizations from the war years and before. Followers can collect them and if they miss out at first, can trade with others to build their collections. I really have no idea how this works, but I don't have to. I have no interest in collecting NFTs. To me, Dr Seuss will always be a beloved author, not a non-fungible token.
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
Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.
Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.
