Leland Little, the North Carolina auction house at 620 Cornerstone Court, Hillsborough, has composed an eclectic sale of highly curated lots that, for those who are prepared to reward themselves, they are going to want to consider a wide variety of possibilities. They are offering 270 lots.
If you're looking for collectible paper you are going to think you have not taken the right turn but, give yourself a minute or two to swing by the first 82 lots and don’t be surprised if you’re slowing down because they’re very a la 5th Avenue. Selling is the interaction of item, illustration and presentation and you might find yourself making notes.
One way or the other you’ll be bumping up against ceramics after which a variety of classic Chinese forms. Beginning with Lot 96 the material that you’re expecting.
Two prints of Ohara Shoson (Koson), lots 97 and 98 there is an example of The Art of Japan in the very rare complete Shogun Edition. Well, who couldn’t get a copy? J. P. Morgan wanted to and had to settle for a later edition. Oh darn. For collectors who insist collecting copies that JP couldn’t get, you can email the J. P. Morgan Library, to let them know you found a honey.
Lot 100 is Philipp Franz von Siebold’s Five Nippon Folios. Altogether there are 4 volumes. The initial ask is $500. It’s nicely illustrated.
Lot 104 is Sun Tzu’s Art Militaire des Chinois. It’s not the first edition. Nope. The first is thought to date to the sixth century. But nevertheless, it’s quite interesting as it’s the first European edition. The opening ask is $1,000.
Lot 106 gets into another category, early English printing. St. Augustine of the Citie of God, Englifhed by J. H. Printed by George Eld. 1610. These early printings go high and low and 40 years ago I acquired many of them reasonably and sent them to auction in 2009 for great success. This lot starts from $1,100 but prepare to spend more.
Lots L08 and 109 are woodcut prints by Albrecht Durer. They are very old. Think of them as the baseball cards of their day. They are roughly 600 years old. If you are willing to play the long game, your great grandchildren, will praise the day you were born. The start prices are $550 and $650. Plan to study.
William Hogarth, one of the great illustrators of the early 18th century, is on the menu. Lots 110, 111, and 112 are sets of his illustrations, Industry and Idleness (complete suite of 12), A Rake’s Progress (Complete Suite of 8), and Four Stages of Cruelty (Complete Suite of 4). Consider yourself Adam in the Garden of Eden. Them apples look good.
Then there are 20 lots of paintings. I know nothing about them but if you have a few on your walls, your guests are going to be impressed. Among them Cupid is making his appearance, a shipwreck, even two scenes painted 500 hundred years ago. Think about them this way. How many lottery tickets have you bought last year? Spend the equivalent on one of those paintings and you’ll be a highly certain winner.
And there’s more, antique furniture in many forms; statues any one of them on your home desk, is going to be radiating subtle messages about your sophistication. And there is more; furniture and furnishings: a piano or guitar, 3 Tiffany Lamps, 19th century stuffed furniture, and many classic traditional brown forms.
If you slowly become undone with delirium over the choices, ask your partner to tie your hands back of you. Ask her don’t, no no no don’t unplug the computer. Let her protect you until the spell is passed. And then, quickly, go on line and register to bid, saying I’m doing this for you honey, for our grandchildren who’ll remember us as Auntie Um and Uncle Oh, who was certainly inspired.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste 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.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old 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 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old 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 July
Sotheby’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.
