Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2009 Issue

Auctions in December

Christies Lot 51:  Microcosm of London.  Est. $5,000-$7,000

Christies Lot 51: Microcosm of London. Est. $5,000-$7,000


I asked Dorothy Sloan for some suggested items to illustrate Sale No. 22 and she provided these:

Lot 75. [BRANDS & BRAND BOOKS]. GUADALUPE AND SAN ANTONIO RIVERS STOCK ASSOCIATION. Cattle Rustling in South Texas. Rare Broadside 1882, [Cuero] Estimated $7,500 to $15,000

Lot 133. Texas Secedes from the Union [a broadside] [CIVIL WAR]. TEXAS. SECESSION CONVENTION. (First Session, January 28-February 4, 1861). An Ordinance | to dissolve the Union between the State of Texas and the other | States, united under the compact styled "The Constitution of | the United States of America." Texas' Second Declaration of Independence. Estimated $15,000 to $30,000.

Lot 208. [GLOBE]. LORING, Josiah. A Very Handsome Early American Terrestrial Globe. Texas Now Shown as Part of the United States 1846, Boston Estimated $15,000 to $20,000

Lot 356. [MAP]. ROBINSON, John H[amilton]. ROBINSON, John H. A Map of Mexico.... An excessively rare map by "a mapmaker of imperialistic intent" 1819, Philadelphia. Estimated $200,000 to $300,000.

Lot 426. MOORE, Francis, Jr. Map and Description of Texas.... 1840, New York A high-spot Texana, Moore's Rare and important Emigrant Guide to Texas. Includes the first published view of the Alamo and very early engravings of Texas scenes based on eye-witness drawings. Estimated $200,000 to $300,000.

These brief descriptions do not do justice to the breadth or depth of description in either catalogue. They have both been executed with the utmost attention to detail.

If you are a Texas or southwest collector you will find the Sloan presentation great reading. If your interests run toward travels the Herz collection will be your first priority.

In the downturn serious material is coming out. It signals the gathering belief that the market is recovering. No doubt, the auction houses promised consignors a spectacular effort and its apparent they kept their word: all this just to have a place in the starting gate. In a few weeks we'll know the outcome.

The Herz Sale at Christies on December 9th.

The Dorothy Sloan Sale on December 11and 12.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • 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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