Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2023 Issue

To understand Collectible Paper Auctions Click here

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..

 

You’ll understand the active market quickly.

 

So click here and start to use this exceptional tool:  www.rarebookhub.com/auctions

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON: «The heart of the Antarctic» + SUPPLEMENT «The Antarctic Book», 1909.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.
    SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ELEAZAR ALBIN: «A natural History of Birds.» + «A Supplement», 1738-40. Wonderful coloured plates.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: JAMES JOYCE: «Ulysses», 1922. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.

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