Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2009 Issue

Auction Updates: By email every Sunday night

Auction.update

A Weekly Auction Update


By Bruce McKinney

Every 18 hours, more or less, a documented traditional auction completes somewhere in the world. The sale may be in North America, Europe, Central America or Australia; in New York, Sydney, London, Paris, Los Angeles or in any of the other places documented book auctions are conducted. A few days later the sold and unsold lots are confirmed and realized prices added, the sale then archived in the Americana Exchange Database. AE covers all such auctions as a free service for auction bidders and auction houses.

In the economic downturn that began in 2008, auction realizations, that for many years hovered at 65% of typical dealer prices for comparable copies, have fallen to 50% and appear to be trying to find a bottom. We are now providing a Monday morning review of all documented sales archived during the previous week.

Click here to go to the Upcoming Auctions page.

Reports are emailed once a week, early Monday morning. During 2009 we expect to document close to 500 sales, an average of almost 40 a month.

We also release, around the 15th of the month, graphs updating auction activity through the end of the preceding month. Click here to see the current charts.

All reports are free. To receive these free email updates click here to sign up, or select the upcoming Auctions link on the AE toolbar and select -

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Once signed up we suggest you select Test My Email. Then check your email inbox to confirm the test report arrives. If it has not the report may be going into your spam file. If this is the case, to receive weekly mailings, find our incoming message in your spam folder and identify it to your spam blocker as "This is not spam." Future mailings will reach you each Monday.

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Rare Book Monthly

  • <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Cool Hand Luke" | Paul Newman Academy Award® Nomination Plaque. USD$2500 - $3500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Hud" | Bound presentation script incorporating photographic stills. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "The Long, Hot Summer" | Movie Poster. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Joseph Heller | "Catch-22," inscribed to Woodward & Newman by author. USD$500 - $800
    <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> George H. W. Bush | Typed Letter Signed, Issuing a "Pardon" to Paul Newman. USD$1500 - $2000
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> William Jefferson Clinton | Inscribed Color Photograph. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Ken Kesey | Typed letter to “Paulnewman,” asking for further compensation for "Sometimes a Great Notion". USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "They Might Be Giants" | Costume sketches by Edith Head. USD$1000 - $2000
  • <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Focus On Women:<br>At Auction June 1, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann June 1:</b> Sojourner Truth, <i>Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave,</i> first edition, Boston, 1850. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann June 1:</b> Jane Austen, <i>Pride and Prejudice,</i> London, 1817. $6,000 to $8,000.
    <b>Swann June 1:</b> Cindy Sherman, <i>Secretary,</i> gelatin silver print, 1978; printed 1993. $6,000 to $8,000.
    <b>Swann June 1:</b> Fanny Stevenson, Archive of Photographs & Letters, 1866-1904. $4,000 to $6,000.
    <b>Swann June 1:</b> Charlotte Perkins Gilman, <i>The Forerunner,</i> Volumes I-VII; Family Association Set; Four Volumes Signed or Inscribed by the Author, New York, 1909-16. $3,000 to $5,000.
  • <center><b>Fonsie Mealy’s<br>Rare Book & Collectors’ Sale<br>May 30th and 31st, 2023</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> The West Indies, C. 1792, by Sir William Young. Colonial Watercolours, etc. A highly important group of original watercolours now on the market for the first time in approx. 230 years. €10,000 to €15,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Gould (John). <i>The Birds of Great Britain,</i> 5 vols. lg. atlas folio, Lond. (Taylor & Francis) 1873. First Edition, with 363 hand-coloured plates. €9,000 to €15,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Joyce (James). <i>Ulysses,</i> thick 4to, L. (John Lane, The Bodley Head) 1936, Signed Limited Edition No. 20 (100) Copies. €8,000 to €12,000.
    <center><b>Fonsie Mealy’s<br>Rare Book & Collectors’ Sale<br>May 30th and 31st, 2023</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Rackham (Arthur) illus. <i>The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm,</i> Lg. 4to Lond. (Constable & Co.) 1909. Lim. Edition No. 128 of 750 Copies, Signed by Author. €2,000 to €3,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Arctic Travel: Hearne (Samuel). <i>A Journey from Prince of Wales Fort in Hudson's Bay…</i> Thick 8vo Dublin, 1796. First Dublin Edition. €1,250 to €1,750.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Hand-Coloured Plates: Maw (George). <i>A Monograph of The Genus Crocus,</i> Lg. 4to Lond. (Culau & Co.) 1886. First Edn. €1,200 to €1,500.
    <center><b>Fonsie Mealy’s<br>Rare Book & Collectors’ Sale<br>May 30th and 31st, 2023</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Holinshed (Raphael) & Stanyhurst (R.) <i>The Historie of Ireland from the First Inhabitation thereof, unto the Yeare 1509…</i> Folio, London, 1577, First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Fine Hand-Coloured Plates: [Dalvimart (Octavien.)] <i>The Costume of Turkey, ... with Descriptions in English and French,</i> Folio Lond. (for Wm. Miller by Wm. Bulmer) 1804. First Edn. €750 to €1,250.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Astronomy: Nasmyth (James) & Carpenter (James). <i>The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite.</i> Lg. 4to Lond. 1874. First Edn. €700 to €1,000.
    <center><b>Fonsie Mealy’s<br>Rare Book & Collectors’ Sale<br>May 30th and 31st, 2023</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Binding: Tennyson - <i>The Works of Lord Tennyson Poet Laureate,</i> 8vo Lond. (Macmillan & Co.) 1900. €700 to €1,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Manuscript: Green (E.) <i>Chronology and Geography by E. Green,</i> Folio manuscript, no date but c. 1800. €400 to €600.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy’s, May 30 & 31:</b> Alexander (James Edward). <i>Sketches in Portugal,</i> During The Civil War of 1834. 8vo Lond. (J. Cochrane) 1835. First Edition. €300 to €400.

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