Auction Reports

Sothebys

Auction Info

Sale Name
The Collection of Otto Schafer Part I: Italian Books Sold by order of the Dr. Otto-Schafer-Stiftung e.V.
Auction Date
12/08/1994 - 12/08/1994
Year of Sale
1994
Sale Number
#6649
Total Lots
110
Sold Lots
96
Lots Sold
87.3%
Unsold Lots
14
Price Unknown
0
Total Sales (USD)
5,365,710.00
Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)
2,411,400.00
High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)
3,247,500.00
Low Estimate of All Lots (USD)
2,917,900.00
High Estimate of All Lots (USD)
3,960,000.00
Total Sales as a % of High Est.
135.50%
Currency
USD
Inflation Adjusted Price in U.S. Dollars
12,502,000.00

Top twenty five by sale price

View All Auction Lots.
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
16 Ars moriendi L'Arte de lo Ben Morire (Latin and Italian, tr. Junianus Malus)

ca. 1480

 USD 250,000.00 - 400,000.00 486,500.00
79 Frezzi, Federico Quatriregio

26 July 1508

 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 420,500.00
32 Boccaccio, Giovanni Decamerone (with; Hieronymus Squarzficus, Vita de Giouan Bocchaccio)

20 June 1492

 USD 200,000.00 - 250,000.00 376,500.00
39 [Bonaventura (pseudo-)] Meditationes passionis Christi (Italian:) Devote meditatione sopra la passione del nostro signore

1487

 USD 120,000.00 - 180,000.00 255,500.00
66 Dante Alighieri La Commedia (comm.: Cristoforo Landino: commendations: Marsiglio Ficino)

30 August 1481

 USD 250,000.00 - 400,000.00 244,500.00
62 Colonna, Francesco Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (with commendatory matter by Leonardos Crassus, Johann Baptista Scytha & Andreas Maro)

December 1499

 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 233,500.00
4 (Aesopus moralisatus) Fabulae (Latin-Italian, tr. & ed. Accio Zucco)

7 March 1487

 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 211,500.00
14 Aretino, Pietro Stanze

23 January 1537

 USD 15,000.00 - 25,000.00 178,500.00
3 (Aesopus moralisatus) Vita

13 February 1485

 USD 200,000.00 - 300.00 178,500.00
22 Bartolommeo dalli Sonetti (Zamberto) Isolario

ca. 1485

 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 145,500.00
110 Pacioli, Fra Luca de Divina proportione (ed. Antonio Capella)

1 June 1509

 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 112,500.00
70 Dante Opere

1757-1758

 USD 25,000.00 - 35,000.00 112,500.00
15 Arrighi, Ludovico degli, Vicentino La Operina

1522

 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 107,000.00
101 Ketham, Johannes de Fasciculus medicinae

5 Feb. 1493/94

 USD 50,000.00 - 75,000.00 101,500.00
57 Cessolis, Jacobus de De ludo scachorum. [Italian:] Libro di giuocho di scacchi

1 March 1493/94

 USD 60,000.00 - 75,000.00 101,500.00
25 Berlinghieri, Francesco Geographia (Italian; with additions by Marsiglio Ficino)

[before September 1482]

 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 90,500.00
17 Ars moriendi (Italian:) Arte del ben morire

1490

 USD 50,000.00 - 75,000.00 90,500.00
5 (Aesopus moralisatus) Fabulae (Latin-Italian, tr & ed.: Accio Zucco)

31 January 1491 [1492?]

 USD 75,000.00 - 100,000.00 90,500.00
72 Epistolae Diversorum Philosophorum

(I:) [29] March 1499; (II:) [not before 17 April 1499]

 USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00 90,500.00
27 (Bestiary)

15 April 1524

 USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 85,000.00
34 Bodoni, Giambattista [Manuscript title:] Raccolta d'lncisioni in Rame appartenti al Signor Bodoni

1809

 USD - 79,500.00
9 Alione, Gian Giorgio Opera locunda

12 March 1521

 USD 15,000.00 - 25,000.00 79,500.00
45 Book box

USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 74,000.00
36 Boethius Opera

(I:) 18 August 1492; (II;) 26 March 1491

 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 68,500.00
94 Horatius Flaccus, Quintus Opera

1791

 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 68,500.00
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.
  • <b><center>Heritage Auctions<br>Rare Books Signature Auction<br>December 15, 2025</center></b> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633. <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Edgar Rice Burroughs. <i>Tarzan of the Apes.</i> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> F. Scott Fitzgerald. <i>Tender is the Night. A Romance.</i> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Bram Stoker. <i>Dracula.</i> Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897. <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Jerry Thomas. <i>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…</i>
    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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