Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2024 Issue

Doyle on 12/6: Rare Books, Autographs, & Maps +++

305 lots to consider

305 lots to consider

Doyle on 12/6:  Rare Books, Autographs, & Maps +++

 

Doyle’s upcoming auction of collectible paper in many forms on December 6th is fun and easy to parse.  There are 305 lots that can be searched by term or category. It’s effect is to personalize the sale to become precisely what you are looking for.

 

Here are some examples.  When you run the term framed against the full text, you immediately have 67 lots.  You prefer books?: 90, manuscripts 39, ephemera 2, broadside 0, maps 41 and signed 83. There may be some stout hearted folks who consider everything. But in the real world, Doyle’s tools [in conjunction with their cataloguing], for those who are often busy, can plunge into their 12/6 sale in a matter of seconds. Given Rare Book Hub’s huge number of almost daily auctions, Doyle’s tools, make their sales very inviting.

 

As to what’s on offer, generally the estimates are modest, causing you to pause over the images, prompting you to consider what you didn’t expect.

 

Altogether, this reminds us that catalogue presentation at auction can make a significant difference. Cumbersome cataloguing reduces readership. Great software and skillful description convert into more bids.

 

As to some specifics about material on offer, I’m choosing by price.  Here two two lots, the most valuable based on their estimates.

 

No. 532.  A remarkable Harry Truman archive featuring an inscribed beam from the White House, inscribed photographs, and letters. An archive of letters, inscribed photographs, and an inscribed White House beam from Harry Truman, with a few from Bess & Margaret Truman, to James Van Sant (1931-2023), son of Truman's close friend and confidant from Missouri, the CEO of General Steel Industries of St. Louis, Thomas Van Sant (1892-1957). Estimated $8,000 - $12,000.  If you win this one, you’ll have something to brag about.

 

Lot. 738. An extensive archive of unpublished drafts of fantasy stories by Raymond Chandler. It you want a lot that you can parse and discuss, this is one of them.

 

Here it is:  A group of drafts of stories written by Raymond Chandler as early as 1921 and six lists of titles linking these stories into a collection. Together nearly 800 typed pages, many with manuscript annotations, additions, and titles. 

 

Estimated $60,000 to $80,000

 

If this is in your field, consider it.

 

As to the other 300+ lots, most of the material is well described with estimated $1,000+.

 

Take a look.  Here it is:https://doyle.com/auction/search/?au=9010

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 746. Speed's Dual Atlas of Britain & the World with 96 Maps (1676). Est. $70,000 - $85,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 9. Visscher's Superb Double-Hemisphere World Map with Representations of the Elements (1658). Est. $4,750 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 58. One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1554). Est. $5,000 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 745. A Complete Example of Ortelius' Atlas of Ancient Geography (1624). Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 73. First English Map to Show California as an Island (1625). Est. $16,000 - $19,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 156. Bachmann's Dramatic View of the Mid-Atlantic Region (1861). Est. $1,800 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 741. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776). Est. $9,000 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 695. The First Printed Map Devoted to the Pacific (1589). Est. $8,000 - $9,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 733. Superb Image of the Presentation of Jesus in Hand Color (1502). Est. $700 - $850
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 52. Produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch to Encourage Surrender (1945). Est. $200 - $230
  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia]. Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668. €22.000-€28.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto') - Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venezia: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Parigi: Claude Barbin, 1668. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: MERCATOR, Rumold (1545-1599) - [I continenti] - Europa; Africa; America Sive India Nova; Asia. Amsterdam: S.d. [ca. 1633]. €2.000-€3.000

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