Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2007 Issue

Books at Auction in San Francisco

A story that everyone knows.

A story that everyone knows.


Lot No: 52 BLAKE, TOM. 1902-1994. Hawaiian Surfboard. Honolulu: Paradise of the Pacific Press, 1935. Illustrated. 8vo. Original tapa-cloth. Ownership inscription to front pastedown, final several leaves and endpapers with brief dampstain in lower margin, else excellent. First edition of the first title devoted to surfing. Blake was an early 20th century surfing and health food pioneer who conceived and developed the hollow surf board. Estimate: $2,000 - 3,000

Lot No: 116 ADAMS, ANSEL EASTON. Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras. San Francisco: Jean Chambers Moore, 1927. Letterpress title, dedication, and contents leaves + 18 gelatin silver print photographs, each signed by Adams ("AE Adams"), letterpress captions, measuring approximately 205 x 155 mm on 302 x 254 mm sheets, in individual letterpress folders. Text printed by the Grabhorn Press. Loose as issued in original silk-lined cloth portfolio. Minor marginal paper crease to "Mount Galen Clark," one folder browned, overall very fine and fresh. Limited edition, one of approximately 75 copies from a projected edition of 150. Estimate: $30,000 - 50,000

Lot No: 194 BOSWELL, JAMES. 1740-1795. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.... London: Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1791. 2 volumes. xii, [16], 516; [2], 588 pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Johnson after Sir Joshua Reynolds, and 2 engraved plates. 4to (264 x 200 mm). Period full tree calf, rebacked, covers paneled with gilt floral and foliate roll enclosing blind foliate roll, spines with brown and red gilt lettered labels, custom cloth slipcase. Internally clean, bookplate to front pastedown of each volume, covers with some light shelfwear, corners expertly reinforced, a few stray marks to spine, but an excellent set. First edition, with "give" reading on p 135 of vol. I. Estimate: $2,000 - 3,000

Lot No: 303 STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Cup of Gold: a Life of Henry Morgan, Buccaneer. With Occasional Reference to History. New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1929. Yellow cloth printed in black, top edge stained blue, front edges untrimmed, dust jacket. Endleaves spotted with faint offset from tape on former jacket cover, jacket creased with small chips to head and foot of spine, 3 mm diagonal chip to lower right front panel. First edition, first issue of Steinbeck's first book, presentation copy, inscribed on front pastedown: "For my sister Beth whom I love very much John Steinbeck." Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000

Lot No: 287 MORRISON, TONI. The Bluest Eye. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, [1970]. 8vo. Quarter cloth and boards; dust jacket. Previous owner's name and some erasures to front endpapers, very slight lean and mild sunning to boards, jacket with some toning, mild edge wear including a 1/4" tear to lower panel, tiny losses at corners and some fraying at spine panel ends.

First edition of the author's first book, signed by Morrison on the title-page with a calligraphic pen. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500

Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.

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