Auction Reports

Sothebys

Auction Info

Sale Name
Important Judaica - Books and Manuscripts
Auction Date
12/20/2017 - 12/20/2017
Year of Sale
2017
Sale Number
#n09687
Total Lots
89
Sold Lots
51
Lots Sold
57.3%
Unsold Lots
38
Price Unknown
0
Total Sales (USD)
2,268,500.00
Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)
1,632,000.00
High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)
2,503,000.00
Low Estimate of All Lots (USD)
5,673,000.00
High Estimate of All Lots (USD)
8,268,000.00
Total Sales as a % of High Est.
27.44%
Currency
USD
Inflation Adjusted Price in U.S. Dollars
2,454,790.00

Top twenty five by sale price

View All Auction Lots.
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
165 An Exceedingly Rare Ashkenazic Hebrew Bible with Numerous Micrographic Decorations, Scribe: Mattithiah ben Jedidiah

ca. 1250-1275

 USD 400,000.00 - 600,000.00 555,000.00
171 An Exceptional Copy of the Sefer Minhagim of Rabbi Samuel of Ulm, Accompanied by Numerous Other Historical, Rabbinic, and Literary Texts

second half of the 15th century

 USD 300,000.00 - 500,000.00 435,000.00
132 Tefillah mi-Kol ha-Shanah ke-Minhag ha-Ashkenazim, with Seder ha-Haggadah shel Pesah (A Previously Unknown and Earliest Extant Complete Western Ashkenazic Daily Prayer Book and Haggadah),

1519-1520

 USD 250,000.00 - 350,000.00 312,500.00
169 Pentateuch with Masorah

ca. 1300

 USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 237,500.00
168 Torah Scroll

ca. 1470

 USD 100,000.00 - 200,000.00 150,000.00
155 The Haggadah, Executed by Arthur Szyk, Edited by Cecil Roth

 1940

 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 56,250.00
118 A Monumental Micrographic Manuscript Plaque

1853

 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 50,000.00
183 Miniature Torah Scroll

19th century

 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 43,750.00
131 Sefer ha-Mitsvot (Book of the Commandments), Rabbi Moses Maimonides,

ca. 1510-1525

 USD 25,000.00 - 35,000.00 40,000.00
182 Taschenbuch von dem Jahre 1845 (A Beautifully Illustrated and Calligraphed Autobiographical Almanac)

1845

 USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 37,500.00
154 A Full Run of Israel’s Messenger,

1904-1941

 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 32,500.00
134 Hebrew Bible, Venice: Daniel Bomberg

1521

 USD 14,000.00 - 18,000.00 27,500.00
107 An Elaborate Painted Shivviti

ca. 1800

 USD 16,000.00 - 20,000.00 20,000.00
108 Hatan Bereshit Plaque Presented to Joseph Fernandes Nunes

1755

 USD 12,000.00 - 18,000.00 20,000.00
147 A Six-Volume Set of the Sephardic Liturgy with English Translation, Translated by Alexander Alexander

1771-1776

 USD 7,000.00 - 9,000.00 16,250.00
109 Hatan Torah Poem in Honor of Manoah Raffaele Ascarelli

1782

 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 16,250.00
141 Sefer Yetsirah (The Book of Creation), Attributed to the Patriarch Abraham

1562

 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 13,750.00
145 Sefer Hit’abbekut (Polemic against Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschuetz and Other Suspected Sabbatians)

1762-ca. 1769

 USD 10,000.00 - 12,000.00 13,750.00
136 Babylonian Talmud

1520

 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 12,500.00
174 An Alphabetically-Arranged Pharmacology Handbook

16th-17th centuries

 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 10,000.00
179 Sefer Shehitot u-Bedikot (Book on the Laws of Ritual Slaughter and Inspection)

1804-1806

 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 10,000.00
120 Papercut Birth Amulet

19th century

 USD 7,000.00 - 10,000.00 8,750.00
137 Hebrew Bible

1539-1543

 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 8,750.00
123 A Magnificent Wall Map of the Holy Land

1658 or later

 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 8,125.00
128 J’Accuse...! (Famous Open Letter in Defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus), Émile Zola

1898

 USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 8,125.00
View All Auction Lots.

  • <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> 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. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
    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.
  • <center><b>Sotheby’s<br>Book Week<br>December 9-17, 2025</b></center> <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Francesco Colonna. <i>Hypnerotomachie,</i> Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Nausea. <i>De principiis dialectices Gorgias,</i> and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Billon. <i>Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur,</i> Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000. <center><b>Sotheby’s<br>Book Week<br>December 9-17, 2025</b></center> <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> 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. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> 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.
    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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