Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth Summer Fine Art Sale 18th June 2025
Fonsie Mealy, June 18: William IV, c1830, oversized slope-top Rosewood Davenport Desk, Attributed to Gillows of Lancaster. With Provenance to Oscar Wilde.
Fonsie Mealy, June 18: William IV, c1830, oversized slope-top Rosewood Davenport Desk, Attributed to Gillows of Lancaster. With Provenance to Oscar Wilde.
Fonsie Mealy, June 18: William IV, c1830, oversized slope-top Rosewood Davenport Desk, Attributed to Gillows of Lancaster. With Provenance to Oscar Wilde.
Fonsie Mealy, June 18: French Bateau Bed, exhibition piece from the Exposition Universelle—The Paris World’s Fair, 1878. Third quarter of the 19th century. With Provenance to Oscar Wilde.
Bonhams, June 16-24: KELMSCOTT PRESS. RUSKIN. The Nature of Gothic. 1892. $1,500 - $2,500
Bonhams, June 16-24: ASHENDENE PRESS. The Wisdom of Jesus. 1932. $2,000 - $3,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: CHARLOTTE BRONTE WRITES AS GOVERNESS. Autograph Letter Signed, 1851. $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS. BRONTE, Emily. New York, 1848. $3,000 - $5,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: IAN FLEMING ASSOCIATION COPY. You Only Live Twice. London, 1964. $7,000 - $9,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: DELUXE EDITION WITH ORIGINAL PAINTING. BUKOWSKI, Charles. War All the Time. 1984. $3,000 - $5,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN'S MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT ON THE ATOMIC BOMB. Original Typed Manuscript Signed, "On My Participation in the Atom Bomb Project," 1953. $100,000 - $150,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN ON SCIENCE, WAR AND MORALITY. Autograph Letter Signed, 1949. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. WASHINGTON, George. Engraved document signed, 1786. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: AN EARLY CHINESE-MADE 34-STAR U.S. CONSULAR FLAG. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF LINCOLN WITH HIS SON TAD. 1864. $60,000 - $90,000
Bonhams, June 16-24: MALCOLM X WRITES FROM KENYA. Postcard signed, 1964. $4,000 - $6,000
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Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 681. Zatta's Complete Atlas with 218 Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1779) Est. $27,500 - $35,000
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 347. MacDonald Gill's Landmark "Wonderground Map" of London (1914) Est. $1,800 - $2,100
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 1. Fries' "Modern" World Map with Portraits of Five Kings (1525) Est. $4,000 - $4,750
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 539. Ortelius' Superb, Decorative Map of Cyprus in Full Contemporary Color (1573) Est. $1,100 - $1,400
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 51. Mercator's Foundation Map for the Americas in Full Contemporary Color (1630) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 667. Manuscript Bible Leaf with Image of Mary and Baby Jesus (1450) Est. $1,900 - $2,200
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 226. "A Powerful Example of Color Used to Make a Point" (1895) Est. $400 - $600
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 290. One of the Most Decorative Early Maps of South America - from Linschoten's "Itinerario" (1596) Est. $7,000 - $8,500
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 62. Coronelli's Influential Map of North America with the Island of California (1688) Est. $10,000 - $12,000
Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 589. The First European-Printed Map of China - by Ortelius (1584) Est. $4,000 - $5,000
The New Wild West – New York City Repeals All Auction Regulations
- by Michael Stillman
Repealed.
New York City has repealed its regulations that applied to book and art auctions. It apparently came as a surprise even to the auction houses. City officials justified the move as streamlining law enforcement and making New York a more desirable place to do business. They cited few complaints since the rules were adopted a couple of decades ago following scandals in the auction world. Not addressed was what role these regulations may have played in reducing complaints or generating confidence in auction buyers.
The need for this repeal is less than obvious. The regulations were designed to create better transparency for buyers and eliminate a few of the most egregious practices. They were not particularly burdensome. The regulations required auction houses and auctioneers to be licensed, which will no longer be the case after June 15. Getting a license can be annoying, but it does provide some assurances to buyers. Many other trades face such requirements. A cosmetologist in New York needs to be licensed to paint your nails or comb your hair but an auctioneer no longer will to sell items costing millions of dollars.
Most notable were regulations on what is known as “chandelier” bidding. This is a practice whereby the auction house places sham bids on an item, creating enthusiasm among bidders who think actual buyers are pushing up the prices. It can lead them to think an item must be more valuable than it is. It got its name from auctioneers pretending they were getting bids from the back of the room while actually looking up (hence at the chandelier). Transparency it is not. New York City's regulations did not prohibit the practice entirely, but prohibited it after the reserve price had been met. However, bidders were not informed what that price was. The justification for the practice is that the auction house needs to start somewhere and no one will get the item if it doesn't at least meet the reserve. Under the now repealed regulations, auction houses could not continue faking bids after the reserve was reached. Now they can.
The old regulations also said that the reserve price could not be higher than the minimum estimate. This was to prevent auction houses from encouraging bidders to think they could buy an item for a price below which the consignor agreed to sell. This protected potential buyers from being enticed to join the bidding by believing they could buy it for such a low price. Once in the bidding and their hopes were aroused, they might continue bidding at a level they would not have otherwise bid. Buyer's regret is lurking.
One other requirement of the repealed old rules was that if an auction house decided to cancel the sale of an item after the auction was completed, they had to notify the winning bidder within seven days.
Will this change the practices employed by New York auction houses? Hopefully not. At least one New York auction said they will continue to follow the old rules. However, it is unclear whether it will change bidders' attitudes. New York is the premier auction location in America, perhaps the world, and New York's reputation for protecting consumers is a positive for the city. It would be hard to say these rules were extreme. Chandelier bidding below the reserve was still permitted as were hidden reserves. Those practices can be misleading. At a minimum, they give the auction house an information advantage. An efficient market is defined as one where all parties have complete and equal access to all relevant information. This change does not help promote market efficiency.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Theocritus. Theocriti Eclogae triginta, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, February 1495/1496. 220,000 - 280,000 USD
Sotheby’s, June 26: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
Sotheby’s, June 26: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Printed ca. 1381-1832. 400,000 - 600,000 USD
Sotheby’s, June 26: Lincoln, Abraham. Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln. 8,000,000 - 12,000,000 USD
Sotheby’s, June 26: Galieli, Galileo. First Edition of the Foundation of Modern Astronomy, 1610. 300,000 - 400,000 USD
Finarte Books, Autographs & Prints June 24 & 25, 2025
Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE / LANDINO, CRISTOFORO. Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta fiorentino, 1481. €40,000 to €50,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus]. Aggiunta: Marsilius Ficinus, Ad Dantem gratulatio [in latino e Italiano], 1487. €40,000 to €60,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. Il Convivio, 1490. €20,000 to €25,000.
Finarte Books, Autographs & Prints June 24 & 25, 2025
Finarte, June 24-25: BANDELLO, MATTEO. La prima [-quarta] parte de le nouelle del Bandello, 1554. €7,000 to €9,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: LEGATURA – PLUTARCO. Le vies des hommes illustres, grecs et romaines translates, 1567. €10,000 to €12,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: TOLOMEO, CLAUDIO. Ptolemeo La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti…, 1548. €4,000 to €6,000.
Finarte Books, Autographs & Prints June 24 & 25, 2025
Finarte, June 24-25: FESTE - COPPOLA, GIOVANNI CARLO. Le nozze degli Dei, favola [...] rappresentata in musica in Firenze…, 1637. €6,000 to €8,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: SPINOZA, BARUCH. Opera posthuma, 1677. €8,000 to €12,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER. Borus Godunov, 1831. €30,000 to €50,000.
Finarte Books, Autographs & Prints June 24 & 25, 2025
Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - LECUIRE, PIERRE. Ballets-minute, 1954. €35,000 to €40,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MAJAKOVSKIJ, VLADIMIR / LISSITZKY, LAZAR MARKOVICH. Dlia Golosa, 1923. €7,000 to €10,000.
Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MATISSE, HENRI / MONTHERLANT, HENRY DE. Pasiphaé. Chant de Minos., 1944. €22,000 to €24,000.
Bonhams, June 16-25: 15th-CENTURY TREATISE ON SYPHILIS. GRÜNPECK. 1496. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF BENIVIENI'S TREATISE ON PATHOLOGY. 1507. $12,000 - $18,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: FRACASTORO. Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus. 1530. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: THE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK ON SKIN DISEASES. MERCURIALIS. De morbis cutaneis... 1572. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF DOUGLASS'S EARLY AMERICAN WORK ON INNOCULATION AND SMALLPOX. 1722. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: LIND'S FIRST TREATISE ON SCURVY. 1753. $15,000 - $20,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: RARE JENNER SIGNED CIRCULAR ON VACCINATION. 1821. $4,000 - $6,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: MOST BEAUTIFUL OF MEDICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. BRIGHT. Reports of Medical Cases... 1827-1831. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PRESENTATION COPY TO HER MOTHER. 1860. $6,000 - $8,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: LORENZO TRAVER'S MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL OF BURNSIDE'S NORTH CAROLINA EXPEDITION. TRAVER, Lorenzo. $2,000 - $3,000
Bonhams, June 16-25: ONE OF THE EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS ON DERMATOLOGY. HARDY. Clinique Photographique... 1868. $3,000 - $5,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers June 18 & 19 Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: World. Van Geelkercken (N.), Orbis Terrarum Descriptio Duobis..., circa 1618. £4,000-6,000.
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Moll (Herman). A New Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain..., circa 1715. £2,000-3,000.
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Churchill (Winston S.). The World Crisis, 5 volumes bound in 6, 1st edition, 1923-31. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter Auctioneers June 18 & 19 Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Darwin (Charles). On the Origin of Species, 2nd edition, 2nd issue, 1860. £1,500-2,000.
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, 6 volumes in 3, 1st quarto ed, 1855-56. £1,500-2,000.
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Saint-Exupéry (Antoine de, 1900-1944). Pilote de guerre (Flight to Arras), 1942. £10,000-15,000.
Dominic Winter Auctioneers June 18 & 19 Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Austen (Jane, 1775-1817). Signature, cut from a letter, no date. £7,000-10,000
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Huxley (Aldous). Brave New World, 1st edition, with wraparound band, 1932. £4,000-6,000
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Tolkien (J. R. R.) The Hobbit, 1st edition, 2nd impression, 1937. £3,000-5,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers June 18 & 19 Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Rackham (Arthur, 1867-1939). Princess by the Sea (from Irish Fairy Tales), circa 1920. £4,000-6,000
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Kelmscott Press. The Story of the Glittering Plain, Walter Crane's copy, 1894. £3,000-4,000
Dominic Winter, June 18-19: King (Jessie Marion, 1875-1949). The Summer House, watercolour. £4,000-6,000
Forum Auctions A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library 19th June 2025
Forum, June 19: Euclid. The Elements of Geometrie, first edition in English of the first complete translation, [1570]. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum, June 19: Nicolay (Nicolas de). The Navigations, peregrinations and voyages, made into Turkie, first edition in English, 1585. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, June 19: Shakespeare source book.- Montemayor (Jorge de). Diana of George of Montemayor, first edition in English, 1598. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, June 19: Livius (Titus). The Romane Historie, first edition in English, translated by Philemon Holland, Adam Islip, 1600. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum Auctions A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library 19th June 2025
Forum, June 19: Robert Molesworth's copy.- Montaigne (Michel de). The Essayes Or Morall, Politike and Millitarie Discourses, first edition in English, 1603. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, June 19: Shakespeare (William). The Tempest [&] The Two Gentlemen of Verona, from the Second Folio, [Printed by Thomas Cotes], 1632. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, June 19: Boyle (Robert). Medicina Hydrostatica: or, Hydrostaticks Applyed to the Materia Medica, first edition, for Samuel Smith, 1690. £2,500 to £3,500.
Forum, June 19: Locke (John). An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding in Four Books, first edition, second issue, 1690. £8,00 to £12,000.
ALDE, June 18: CHAPPE D'AUTEROCHE (JEAN). Voyage en Sibérie fait par ordre du Roi en 1761 contenant les mœurs…, Paris, 1768. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, June 18: HENNEPIN (LOUIS). Description de la Louisiane nouvellement découverte au Sud-Ouest de la Nouvelle France…, Paris, 1688. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, June 18: LA BOULLAYE-LE GOUZ (FRANÇOIS DE). Les Voyages et Observations, Paris, 1653. €1,500 to €2,000.
ALDE, June 18: LE BRUN (CORNELIS DE BRUYN DIT CORNEILLE). Voyage au Levant, c'est à dire dans les principaux endroits de l'Asie mineure..., Delft, 1700. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, June 18: SAINT-NON (J.-CL. RICHARD, ABBÉ DE). Voyage pittoresque ou description du royaume de Naples et de Sicile, Paris, 1781-1786. €3,500 to €5,000.
ALDE, June 18: (CALVIN JEAN). SÉNÈQUE. Annei Senecae..., Paris, 1532. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, June 18: ADRIEN LE CHARTREUX. De remediis utriusque fortunæ, [Cologne, vers 1470]. €5,000 to €6,000.
ALDE, June 18: GAZA (THÉODORE). [...] Introductivæ grammatices libri quatuor. Ejusdem de mensibus opusculum sanequampulchrum, Venise, 1495. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, June 18: LACTANCE. De divinis institutionibus. De ira Dei. De opificio Dei. De phoenice carmen, Rome, 1468. €30,000 to €40,000.
ALDE, June 18: LUTHER (MARTIN). Der Erste [– Achte und letze] Teil aller Bücher und Schrifften des thewren, seligen Mans Doct. Mart. Lutheri, Iéna, 1555-1568. €5,000 to €6,000.
ALDE, June 18: POLITIEN (ANGE). Omnia opera, et alia quædam lectu Digna, Venise, 1498. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, June 18: SIDOINE APOLLINAIRE. Poema aureum ejusdemque Epistole, Milan, 1498. €3,000 to €4,000.