Every day I get a calls from dealers for whom transactions have virtually stopped. Here is a picture of one category, the auctions, that slowed in the fall and have resumed, albeit at lower price levels, but at sell-though rates near to historic norms - 70% to 75%. To see this we are now providing, as a permanent feature, auction box scores because this is where book valuation is reestablishing its equilibrium today. For people who believe that the world of books is changing this is a front row seat. Individual sales are interesting. Many sales taken together provide a perspective you have never seen before. Included in these reports are:
Auction House
Auction Name
Sale Date
Sale Number
Total Lots
Sold Lots
Lots Sold %
Low Estimate
High Estimate
Actual Total
On a day-in and day-out basis realized auction prices is currently the best indication of what someone will pay.
The auction market is in constant motion with a documented sale completing, on average every 17 hours. The location in the world, the psychology of the moment, the number of bidders, the number of copies known, all affect outcome. Auctions are a writhing being, complex, merciful and merciless by turn. It is also reality.
Recent Auction Reports capture the success and failure, the caprice and drama in the rooms. The new section includes the most current twenty-five archived sales. The latest sale is on top and the next twenty-four accessible via NEXT >>. For each sale a link to View Top Ten Lots by Sale Price is provided. Clicking on the Auction Calendar for more complete listings links to calendars of additional archived sales, each with an R and a dot. The two prior months can be accessed via the Previous Month link.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")