Donald Heald, the New York rare book dealer, had been watching the emergence of auctions over the past decade as an alternative to selling at set prices and concluded the market was increasingly interested in market-derived prices. Hence he organized a new division, Donald Heald Auctions, and created a sale to experience the auction process firsthand. New auction houses are regularly announced and opened but nothing quite like Mr. Heald’s effort had been tried. He understood from the outset his effort would be under the microscope.
In June he created a pre-auction offering desirable, inexpensive material he was holding but that was not within his principal areas of focus: Americana and Canadiana, Voyages and Travels, and Natural History. For that first sale he used the Live Auctioneers platform.
Mr. Heald then used it as the opportunity to learn the mechanics and nuances of selling at auction. He’s been buying at auction for decades but, as an auction house himself, this was a new experience. As one of the paramount rare book dealers in New York, he encountered enough support in his first sale to sell about 27% of the lots.
A month later, he added a second auction platform, Invaluable, then completed [on July 17th] his second auction and first Americana sale and saw the total dollars increase as the percentage of lots sold reached 48%.
For his next sale, scheduled in early October, he plans to offer increasingly important material. It goes without saying the scale of the material will increase in significance.
At this point, with two events completed, he’s has had 250 persons signed up to bid and has sold over 150 lots to them. He’s building an auction house and is doing so in a remarkably transparent way. The October event is going to be interesting.
To follow the development of Donald Heald Auctions click to his website.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")