To understand Collectible Paper Auctions Click here
- by Bruce E. McKinney
One of the interesting ways to follow the auctions is to select Upcoming Auctions and voila and the first option on the down bar: Auction Home, There are the most recently posted auction results with an option to View Auction Report.
The most recently posted completed auction as of 7:07 pm PST on 2/25/23 was Leland Little Auctions, a report on 33 lots that fell into the categories we cover; books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera. Those 33 lots were offered and 32 sold for a total of $10,100.00. With each lot under Book Title is a full description. Simultaneously, when this information is posted to this report of Recent Auction Results they move into Transactions+.
Once you have scanned the full details for the present sale there is another link to the upper right corner that takes you to the next most recently completed sale, and so on, and on.
The second sale recently was completed by Heritage, their The Thrillingly Exciting Heroes of Nedor Comics Showcase Auction. They offered 151 lots and sold them all for $116,235.20.
The third sale posted and completed was Heritage’s The Estate of Veronique and Gregory Peck’s Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction. Mr. Peck, was famous for his role as Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Heritage sold 147 of the 149 lots offered and when you scan the list for the realizations you may notice a few things you might wish you had bid on. In Boomers heaven, Mr. Peck’s Personal book-bound presentation script To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal, 1962) would fit nicely on a nearby shelf. The action overall brought $718,291.50.
The fourth sale was held by Stair & Co. of Hudson, New York: The Matisse Legacy, Part II: Property from the Collection of Jacquelyn Miller Matisse. 82 lots brought $138,432.00.
Bonhams’ Prints & Multiples sale on 23 February brought $346,487.63. The four sales I’ve already mentioned all sold close to 100% of their lots. Not every sale is in the high cotton.
On the same day, the 23rd, Aste Bolaffi in Italy held a Comics auction, offering 244 examples and sold 213. That worked out to be a 87.3% success rate. The norm, for the field anymore is the sell-through percentage to push into the low 80%s.
Swann Galleries sold Fine Photographs on the 23rd. They offered 192 lots and sold 80.21% of them for $658,250.
PBA, otherwise known as Pacific Book Auction Galleries, offered Fine Bindings and Small Press material on the 23rd and sold 369 of their 431 posted lots. They sold 86.61% of their lots and raised $237,275.00 for their consignors.
Forum Auctions’ Online Sale: Books and Works on Paper also wrapped up on the 23rd, as they offered 313 lots and sold 261 for an 83.39% success rate. Their sales, in GBP, registered as 117,374.75.
On the 23rd, Doyle New York offered Sports and Travel Books providing 258 lots and sold 240 of them for a 93.02% success rate. Their material raised $101,466.00
And I could go, and on. Typically 50 auctions close each week and we capture their outcomes, post them to Recent Completed sales and enter them into Transactions+.
Net-net, the auctions tend to look like this every time you check. This is the pulse of the auction marketplace. It’s a free service for anyone and everyone. Make a point once or twice a week to click on the Upcoming Auctions, then Auction Home and then click on the Recent Results and then click, on and on..
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
