Rare Book Hub - Rare Books, Book Auctions, Antiquarian Book Collecting

Auction Update Review

Rare Book Hub: 27 Auctions Archived, another 30 Upcoming this Week

For the week ended 2 January, 27 auctions have been archived to Rare Book Hub’s Transactions+: 1 denominated in Australian dollars, 10 in euros, and 16 in US dollars.

Turnover was $1,671,523.78. The average lot brought $444.44. Four thousand five hundred and seventy-one lots were offered and 3,761 found new homes. For the week, 82.28% of all lots offered were sold.

This report includes this past week’s Top 25s for 14 categories, full details for this past week’s sales, as well as a full listing of the upcoming week’s 30 sales.

Start by clicking on the tabs for the Top 25s. They are live!

Top 25 Lots Reported This Past Week.

Early American c. 1777 Revolutionary War Autograph Transmittal Address Sheet Signed, "G. Washington, endorsed by him On Public Service, with its Original Red Wax Personal Seal of GEORGE WASHINGTON fully intact, addressed to Brigadier General (William) Smallwood. on December 27th Actual price: USD $33,800.
Heritage Auctions Rick Griffin "Moses" Illustration Original Art (undated). on December 31st Actual price: USD $27,500.
Dirk Soulis Auctions ROSE O'NEILL (1874-1944) ORIGINAL OIL ILLUSTRATION on December 29th Actual price: USD $17,220.
Early American September 9, 1783-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Rare Issue, The Connecticut Courant Newspaper, Edition No. 972, special heading reading: The Last Official Address of his Excellency General Washington - on December 27th Actual price: USD $14,300.
Early American c. Jan. 9th, 1800 George Washington Mourning Broadside, Order of Performances / INSTRUMENTAL DIRGE. / PRAYER, By REV. DR. ECKLEY. / HYMN, / Written At The Request... Arrangement By Rev. John S. J. Gardner. on December 27th Actual price: USD $14,300.
Heritage Auctions Kael Ngu Harley Quinn #7 Variant Cover Original Art (DC, 2021). on December 31st Actual price: USD $11,875.
Early American May 23, 1778-Dated ,VALLEY FORGE, General Henry Knox 1778 Revolutionary War Letter Signed From Valley Forge Camp Regarding Resupplying the Army with Artillery, Wagons and Horses + More ... on December 27th Actual price: USD $10,400.
Early American February 23, 1783-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Extraordinary Execution Order Signed by Major General Nathanael Greene, for the Execution of Thomas Nicholson, One of His Soldiers Ordered to be Shot to Death for Desertion. on December 27th Actual price: USD $10,400.
Early American Joshua Humphreys, a.k.a. Father of the United States Navy, 1795 Regarding Designing + Constructing the First Frigates of the United States Navy Important Autograph Letter Signed on December 27th Actual price: USD $9,750.
Heritage Auctions All-American Comics #16 Coverless / Incomplete (DC, 1940) CGC NG (No Grade) Off-White Pages. on December 30th Actual price: USD $9,600.
Early American RICHARD VARICK Autograph Letter Signed Demanding Arms and Ammunition - Cannon and Grape Shott, at Albany, August 3rd, 1776 on December 27th Actual price: USD $8,450.
John McInnis Auctioneers 1764 NEW and CORRECTED CHART of NEW ENGLAND on January 1st Actual price: USD $8,060.
Heritage Auctions Giant-Size X-Men #1 (Marvel, 1975) CGC NM+ 9.6 White pages. on December 30th Actual price: USD $7,800.
Early American c. 1860 Photograph Portrait of Abraham Lincoln on December 27th Actual price: USD $7,800.
Early American October 19, 1776 Published, Rare Revolutionary War Date, Engraved Broadside titled, "Plan of New York Island... Engagement on Woody Heights of Long Island... 27 August 1776, between His Majestys Forces... General Howe... under General Putnam..." on December 27th Actual price: USD $7,150.
Catawiki B. V. [Incunable] Decretalium on December 22nd Actual price: USD $6,600.
Heritage Auctions Frank Thorne - Red Sonja Illustration Original Art (c. 1970). on December 31st Actual price: USD $6,563.
Early American c 1793 Mezzotint Engraving titled: George Washington. President of the United States of America. From the Original Portrait Painted at the request of the Corporation of the University of Cambridge in Massachusetts. on December 27th Actual price: USD $6,500.
Early American 1883-Dated SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH, Handwritten and Signed First Four Stanzas of AMERICA, Patriotic Song, My Country Tis of Thee on December 27th Actual price: USD $6,500.
Catawiki B. V. The Woorkes - Canterbury Tales on December 22nd Actual price: USD $6,407.
Early American Treaty of Versailles. A True Copy Dated October 13th, 1923 from Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes, (Chief Clerk Signed for Hughes) with Red Embossed Department of State Seal attached by a Red Silk Ribbon on December 27th Actual price: USD $6,175.
Catawiki B. V. [Incunable] Confessionale on December 22nd Actual price: USD $6,024.
Catawiki B. V. Metamorphoseos (bound with):// M.T.Ciceronis Opera on December 19th Actual price: USD $5,967.
Trillium Antique Prints & Rare Books De Bry - Map of Florida (Southeast North America, Cuba, Bahamas) on December 27th Actual price: USD $5,832.
Catawiki B. V. Quotlibeta Doctoris Subtilis [Scoti Incunabolo, Incunable] on December 19th Actual price: USD $5,748.

No auctions saw their total proceeds reach a million dollars:

No auctions saw total sales exceed 100% of the high estimates of all lots offered in the sale:

15 sales saw at least 80% of their lots sell:

Vogt Auction. New Year's Day Auction on January 1st: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Wednesday Trading Card Games Select Auction on December 31st: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Tuesday Animation and Anime Art, Disneyana and Disneyland Select Auction on December 30th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Tuesday World Paper Money Select Auction on December 30th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Tuesday US Currency Select Auction on December 30th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Pulp Magazine Select Auction on December 28th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction on December 30th: 99.83%
Heritage Auctions. Wednesday Comic Art and Animation Select Auction on December 31st: 99.71%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Movie Posters Select Auction on December 28th: 99.51%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Sports Collectibles Select Auction on December 28th: 98.20%
EV Stamps. Stamps and Postal History on December 28th: 97.22%
John McInnis Auctioneers. New Year's Week Estates Auction 1 on January 1st: 92.31%
Dirk Soulis Auctions. 20th Annual Between-the-Holidays Auction on December 29th: 90.12%
Early American. History Auction on December 27th: 89.55%
Trillium Antique Prints & Rare Books. Fine Art - Antique Engravings & Lithographs - Works on Paper on December 27th: 86.00%

27 total sales reported this week:

Dirk Soulis Auctions. 20th Annual Between-the-Holidays Auction on December 29th: 90.12%
Bertolami Fine Art . 20th Century Rare and Curious Books on December 29th: 59.87%
Vogt Auction. New Year's Day Auction on January 1st: 100.00%
John McInnis Auctioneers. New Year's Week Estates Auction 1 on January 1st: 92.31%
Catawiki B. V.. Literature and Illustrated Books Auction on December 12th: 73.08%
Catawiki B. V.. Old and Rare Books (pre-1700) on December 23rd: 74.36%
Catawiki B. V.. Autographs and Manuscripts on December 23rd: 78.18%
Catawiki B. V.. Old and Rare Books (pre-1700) on December 22nd: 27.10%
Catawiki B. V.. Exclusive Maps Auction on December 21st: 52.38%
Catawiki B. V.. Autographs and Manuscripts on December 21st: 30.43%
Catawiki B. V.. Photography Books Auction on December 21st: 31.82%
Catawiki B. V.. Exclusive Maps Auction on December 20th: 55.56%
Catawiki B. V.. Old and Rare Books (pre-1700) on December 19th: 42.42%
Heritage Auctions. Wednesday Trading Card Games Select Auction on December 31st: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Wednesday Comic Art and Animation Select Auction on December 31st: 99.71%
Heritage Auctions. Tuesday Animation and Anime Art, Disneyana and Disneyland Select Auction on December 30th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Tuesday World Paper Money Select Auction on December 30th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Tuesday US Currency Select Auction on December 30th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction on December 30th: 99.83%
Sydney Rare Book Auctions. End of Year Sale: Books, Ephemera, Maps on December 28th: 50.68%
EV Stamps. Stamps and Postal History on December 28th: 97.22%
Los Angeles Estate Auction. Fine Art Paintings Auction on December 23rd: 20.75%
Early American. History Auction on December 27th: 89.55%
Trillium Antique Prints & Rare Books. Fine Art - Antique Engravings & Lithographs - Works on Paper on December 27th: 86.00%
Heritage Auctions. Pulp Magazine Select Auction on December 28th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Sports Collectibles Select Auction on December 28th: 98.20%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Movie Posters Select Auction on December 28th: 99.51%

Bruce McKinney

RBH and AE

Sotheby’s Geek Week
14-15 July

Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.

Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.

Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.

Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.

Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.

Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026

Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000

Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000

Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000

Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026

Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000

Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000

Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000

Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026

Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000

Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000

Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000

Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026

Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000

Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000

Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000