Christie’s New York is pleased to announce the auction on 6 October of 2022 of Valuable and Important Books and Manuscripts from the Library of Edward R. Leahy. Mr Leahy’s collection comprises the finest group of modern illuminated manuscripts and jeweled and other magnificent bindings since the auction of Phoebe Boyle nearly a century ago. In addition, it contains important incunabula, including an illuminated Nuremberg Chronicle and an illuminated 1474 Bernhard Richel Bible; English literature from Spenser to Tolkien with a particularly deep well of Samuel Johnson & his circle, Charles Dickens, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; works relating to Captain Bligh and the Mutiny on the Bounty; and a fine collection of horror including first editions of Frankenstein, Dracula, and a presentation copy of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Quietly assembled with taste and discernment over more than a half century, the copies are particularly noteworthy for their extraordinary condition and provenance, coming from the greatest sales of the modern era, including a remarkable fourteen lots from Phoebe Boyle's sale as well as volumes from the libraries of Jerome Kern, A. Edward Newton, Paul Francis Webster, Estelle Doheny, H. Bradley Martin, Richard Manney, William E. Self, and Cornelius Hauck.
A classic library to delight bibliophiles on both sides of the Atlantic, highlights from the collection will be on tour to London, at Christie’s King Street, from 9-12 July in conjunction with Classic Week sales there. Alongside them will be selections from The Herman Melville Collection of William S. Reese (1-14 September 2022) and an important manuscript of John Donne’s poetry from the New York Fine Books and Manuscripts sale (23 November-7 December 2022).
For more information, please contact head of sale Rhiannon Knol at [email protected].
Rare Book Monthly
Valuable and Important Books and Manuscripts from the Library of Edward R. Leahy coming to auction in October
A few highlight items from Christie's just announced October sale of Edward Leahy's Library.
Rare Book Monthly
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Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950 -
Sotheby's Book Week
2 June - 9 JulySotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000. -
Leland Little, June 12: The First Illustrated Edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.Leland Little, June 12: John Morton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Signed Pennsylvania Land Survey.Leland Little, June 12: The Scarce Jansson Edition of a Remarkable Early View of London.Leland Little, June 12: Signed Limited Edition of The Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Leland Little, June 12: Faden’s Important and Scarce Map of the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution.Leland Little, June 12: William J. Tate (NC, 1869-1953), Archive of the "Original host to the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk.” -
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935 -
June 25, 2026 Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.June 25, 2026 Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.