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Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 2:
John Ford Clymer, U.S. Troops' Triumphant Return to New York Harbor, oil on canvas, circa 1944.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 44:
Edward Gorey, Illustration of cover and spine for Fonthill, a Comedy by Aubrey Menen, pen and ink, 1973.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 50:
Harrison Cady, frontispiece for Buster Bear's Twins by Thornton W. Burgess, watercolor and ink, 1921.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 54:
Ludwig Bemelmans, Pepito, portrait of Pepito from the Madeline book series, mixed media.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 79:
Gluyas Williams, Fellow Citizens Observation Platform, pen and ink, cartoon published in The New Yorker, March 11, 1933.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 86:
Thomas Nast, Victory, – for the moment, political cartoon, pen and ink, 1884.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 91:
Mischa Richter, Lot of 10 cartoons for Field Publications, ink and pencil, circa 1940.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 111:
Arthur Getz, Sledding In Central Park, casein tempera on canvas, cover of The New Yorker, February 26, 1955.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 124:
Richard Erdoes, Map of Boston, illustration for unknown children's magazine, gouache on board, circa 1960.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 155:
Robert Fawcett, The old man looked him over carefully, gouache on board, published in The Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1945.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 170:
Violet Oakley, Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, charcoal and pastel, circa 1918.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 188:
Robert J. Wildhack, Scribner's for March, 1907, mixed media. -
CHRISTIE’S
Valuable Books and Manuscripts
London auction
13 December
Find out moreChristie’s, Explore now
TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000Christie’s, Explore now
VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000Christie’s, Explore now
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000Christie’s, Explore now
A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000Christie’s, Explore now
AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
C.1311. £100,000–150,000 -
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
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Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Fleming (Ian). Dr. No, 1958; You Only Live Twice, 1964, 1st editions, presentation copies. £20,000-30,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Doyle (Arthur Conan). The Sign of Four, 1st edition, 1890. £5,000-8,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Huxley (Aldous). Brave New World, 1st edition, London: Chatto & Windus, 1932. £3,000-5,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Stenbock (Eric Stanislaus). The Shadow of Death, 1st edition, 1893. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Tolkien (J. R. R.). The Lord of the Rings, 1st one volume edition, signed, 1968. £3,000-5,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Orwell (George). Animal Farm, 1st edition, London: Secker & Warburg, 1945. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Cunard (Nancy, editor). Negro, Anthology made by Nancy Cunard, 1st edition, 1934. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Table Game. [The Little Artist Magic Painter, Austria], circa 1775. £1,000-1,500Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Kirnig (Paul, 1891-1955). Austria, Vienna: Christophe Reisser's Söhne, c. 1930. £700-1,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: A collection of letters including from T. S. Eliot, Siegfried Sassoon, Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley et al, from the Lady Ottoline Morrell collection. £700-1,000.Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: The Gentleman's Magazine, or Monthly Intelligencer. 175 volumes, 1731-1844. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Mont Blanc peepshow. Mr Albert Smith's Ascent of Mont Blanc in Miniature, 1854. £1,500-2,000
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - October - 2008 Issue
Cardiff Considers Selling 18,000 Books. Residents Debate: Smart Move or Desecration?
By Michael Stillman
A battle over rare books is taking place today in the city of Cardiff, South Wales, UK, that is significant because it raises the most vexing of issues regarding libraries and old books in this new world. The city of Cardiff would like to auction some old books from its central library, as many as 18,000, dating back as far as the 15th century. Some residents are appalled by the plan. They have formed a group to stop the sale. To them, the plan would strip their community of its history, and turn Cardiff into a second-tier place for historical research.
The City Council announced its plan to sell antiquarian texts from its library last month. It did state that it would retain some of its most important items, including its manuscript collection and some notably important Welsh works. However, others, as many as 18,000, could be available for sale. They will not quickly flood the market with books, but a group of 139, including a Shakespeare Second Folio, might be put up in a first sale. Bonham's would host the sale. Over the coming years, the city would continue to review the remaining 18,000 to determine which should be sold.
The reasons for the proposed sale are ones common to many libraries all across the world that are not really designed to be rare book libraries. Maintaining valuable texts under conditions necessary to avoid deterioration is costly, while few people ever bother to consult them. Now, as more old texts are scanned and become available digitally to anyone with an internet connection, the potential use of these old books diminishes even more. The cost-benefit analysis does not look good. Meanwhile, the library has lots of other expenses necessary to update it to 21st century needs. Not only would a sale save the library money, it would add substantial sums to its coffers to modernize its services. Estimates are that the first auction could take in as much as £3 million, or over $5 million in US dollars. The Cardiff Council has pledged that all funds realized from the sales will be returned to the library.
Cardiff University has expressed an interest in some of the material, particularly that of local context. However, it has nowhere near the funds to purchase it all. If the books go to auction, they will likely be dispersed to both institutions and private collectors, and many if not most will probably end up far from Cardiff and South Wales. A piece of that area's cultural heritage will be gone forever. On the other hand, the library may be financially empowered to provide new services that will bring a younger generation inside its doors. In a changing world, where libraries often find themselves under great pressure to justify the tax dollars spent on them, this could be the difference which enables it to survive.
In a victory for those opposing the sale, it was announced late last week that 32 books in the Welsh language or of Welsh interest have been withdrawn from the sale. That is probably a good thing, as it would be sad to see books of primarily Welsh interest depart Wales. That still leaves the vexing question of what is the right decision for regular libraries possessing collections of rare but rarely used old books. This difficult choice will be faced by many libraries in the increasingly technologically oriented years ahead. I would not like to be the one making these decisions.