Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2021 Issue

Christie’s New York is pleased to announce our October online sale of Fine Books and Manuscripts

Possibilities, possibilities, ...

Possibilities, possibilities, ...

Christie’s New York is pleased to announce our October online sale of Fine Books and Manuscripts including Americana, open for bidding from Oct 1st to the 15th, with lots beginning to close at 10am.

 

The sale features a curated selection of works representing over 500 years of history and the book arts, sortable by theme to allow for dynamic exploration of the sale. Take your pick from Cartography of China, a single-owner section containing an important group of early Chinese and Japanese maps of China, including handscrolls and wall maps; Color Plate & Illustrated Books featuring important illustrated works from the Nuremberg Chronicle to the mammoth Napoleonic Description de l’Egypte in a reproduction cabinet, and with a special focus on archaeological plate books of the 18th and 19th centuries documenting both the ancient Mediterranean and the Yucatan; Science and the History of Ideas, led by the first edition of Kepler’s ground (or heaven?)-breaking work outlining the first two Laws of Planetary Motion, the Astronomia nova, as well as a beautiful hand-colored copy of the 1592 edition of Ortelius’s great world atlas, Theatrum orbis terrarum, and first editions of works by Galileo, Thomas More, Charles Darwin, Thomas Malthus, and others.

 

The section on Literature encompasses classic works from across two millennia, from the editio princeps of Sophocles to Shakespeare’s Second Folio and a beautiful copy of Eliot’s Middlemarch in original parts; while the Americana highlights include a rare and important treaty signed by Metacomet (aka King Philip) in 1670: an agreement that would be torn asunder with the eruption of King Philips War five years later; other intriguing items include an important document signed by George Washington in 1786 consolidating his control over the Mount Vernon estate; a letter from Henry Knox authorizing the construction of the U.S.S. Chesapeake, as well as a series of rare signed bank notes (or short-snorters) from the 1943 Tehran Conference including the signatures of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin.

 

There are plenty of threads to pick here, with additional options to filter by topic (try the “Ancient World” filter!), type, date, and provenance—this sale features books from the estate of the bibliophile Theodore Cohn, as well as the collections of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Dr Leonard Hamilton, and The India House Club.

 

The preview exhibition will be open October 9-14, with entrance by appointment. Please contact Rhiannon Knol (rknol@christies.com) for more information about the sale.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage, May 13: Isaac Asimov. I, Robot. The dedication copy, inscribed to John W. Campbell, Jr.
    Heritage, May 13: Aldous Huxley. Brave New World. A fine copy, in a brilliant dust jacket.
    Heritage, May 13: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author.
    Heritage, May 13: Robert A. Heinlein. Stranger in a Strange Land. A fine copy, signed by the author.
    Heritage, May 13: Jules Verne. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Exceedingly rare true first American edition, first issue.
  • Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1481 ❧ THE FIRST VIEW OF VENICE. ROLEWINCK, WERNER. 1425-1502. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1496 ❧ GREEK INCUNABLE. MANUTIUS, ALDUS. 1449-1515. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1544 ❧ THE SQUARING OF THE CIRCLE. FINÉ, ORONCE. 1494-1555. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1544 ❧ ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCIENTIFIC BOOKS OF THE RENAISSANCE. $12,000 - $18,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1544 ❧ RENAISSANCE CYPHERS AND REBUSES. PALATINO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. 1515-1575. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1588 ❧ "ONE OF THE MOST ELEGANTLY PRODUCED OF ALL TECHNOLOGICAL TREATISES." $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1618 ❧ THREE DUTCH EMBLEM BOOKS BY DANIEL HEINSIUS BOUND IN ONE. $5,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1710 ❧ A BEAUTIFULLY COLORED "PRINT BIBLE". BASNAGE, JAKOB. 1653-1723. $12,000 - $18,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1818 ❧ EARLY COLOR LITHOGRAPHY. BARTH, JOHANN AUGUST. 1765-1818. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1896 ❧ KELMSCOTT CHAUCER: THE FINEST BOOK SINCE THE GUTENBERG BIBLE. $60,000 - $90,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1903 ❧ DOVES PRESS MAGNUM OPUS: THE DOVES BIBLE. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, May 5 and Apr. 27 – May 6: 1680 ❧ FREIBERG FÊTE BOOKS FROM THE GOURARY COLLECTION. $1,000 - $1,500
  • One of a Kind Auctions
    Tesla, Einstein & The American Presidency: Rare Historical Documents
    Ending April 30, 2026
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: The Republican Court; Autographs of George Washington, (Signers) Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, John Dickinson, Charles Carroll of Carrollton and More!
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: Nikola Tesla Signed Holograph Manuscript Page from "Tidal Wave to Make War Impossible," Describing the World's First Conceived Remotely Operated Weapon of Mass Naval Destruction.
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: Albert Einstein — Incredible possibly Unique Signed & Inscribed Einsteins hand “Relativitätstheorie / A. Einstein” Booklet: Relativitätstheorie, 10th Ed., 1920, Original Wrappers.
    One of a Kind Auctions
    Tesla, Einstein & The American Presidency: Rare Historical Documents
    Ending April 30, 2026
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: James Joyce Personal Copy of Finnegan's Wake (With Signature).
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: Buster Keaton Flamingo Films / Kennedy Productions Archive Group, 1933–1937.
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: Extremely rare Josiah Henson (Uncle Tom) Signature & Harriet Beecher Stowe Cabinet Card.
    One of a Kind Auctions
    Tesla, Einstein & The American Presidency: Rare Historical Documents
    Ending April 30, 2026
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: William Livingston (Signer of DOI), the New Jersey State Convention had unanimously ratified the Federal Constitution.
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: Complete 1927 Tunney-Dempsey "Long Count" Fight Ticket Signed by George Getz, with 1923 Dempsey-Firpo Dinner Card and Jack Dempsey Signed Photograph.
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: James Buchanan Cabinet Signed Autograph album
    One of a Kind Auctions, Apr. 30: CHARLES LINDBERGH SIGNS HIS NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL BANQUET INVITATION, JUNE 14, 1927 — THREE WEEKS AFTER THE TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT
  • Gros & Delettrez, May 5: APRÈS de MANNEVILLETTE, Jean-Baptiste d’- Le Neptune Oriental.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: DELISLE, Guillaume – Atlas françois,1725.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: HONTER. SOPHOCLE - Recueil composite réunissant deux ouvrages.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: PHÉROTÉE DE LA CROIX, A. - Algemeene weereld-beschryving.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: LA PÉROUSE, Jean-François de Galaup de - Voyage autour du monde.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: BLAEU, Guillaume & Jean -Septième volume de la Géographie Blaviane.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: TATIKIAN, Boğos - Figures et costumes du Levant.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: GIRAULT DE PRANGEY, Joseph-Philibert -Monument arabes et moresques de Cordoue, Séville et Grenade.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: CHAMPOLLION le jeune. Monuments de l’Egypte et de la Nubie.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: CASSAS, Louis-François. - Voyage pittoresque de la Syrie, de la Phénicie, de la Palestine et de la Basse Egypte.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: SONNERAT, Pierre. Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: GARNIER, Francis. Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: SUBERBIE, Alix (E. SMITH). Dessins et aquarelles de Madagascar.
    Gros & Delettrez, May 5: BYRON -Viage del comandante Byron.
  • Sotheby’s
    Précieuses reliures d’une bibliophile
    Collection Georgette J. Salles
    Open for bidding 8-29 April
    Apr. 8-29: Delaunay, Sonia — Blaise Cendrars. La Prose du Transsibérien. 1913. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Apr. 8-29: Picasso, Pablo — Georges Hugnet. La Chèvre-feuille. 1943. €80,000 to €120,000.
    Apr. 8-29: Schmied, François-Louis ─ Joseph-Charles Mardrus. Cantique des cantiques. 1925. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Apr. 8-29: Bonnard, Pierre — Paul Verlaine. Parallèlement. 1900. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Apr. 8-29: Derain, André — Guillaume Apollinaire. L’Enchanteur pourrissant. 1909. €20,000 to €30,000.

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