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Auction Update Review

M-Rare Book Hub: 58 Auctions Archived, another 64 Upcoming this Week

For the week ended 16 January, 58 auctions have been archived to Rare Book Hub’s Transactions+: 17 denominated in euros, 11 in British pounds, 1 in Mexican pesos, 1 in Swedish krona, and 28 in U.S. dollars.

 

 

 

 

Turnover was $4,872,242,39. The average lot brought $527.30. Eleven thousand four hundred fifty-eight lots were offered and 9,240 found new homes. For the week, 80.64% of all lots offered were sold.

 

 

 

 

This report includes this past week’s Top 25s for 12 categories, full details for the past week’s sales, as well as a full listing of the upcoming week’s 64 sales.

 

 

 

 

Best wishes for a good week!

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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Bruce McKinney

Rare Book Hub




Top 25 Lots Reported This Past Week.
  1. RR Auction Franz Schubert Rare Autograph Musical Manuscript Signed for 'Das Grab,' D.377 - A 'Lost' Meditation on the Grave on January 14th Actual price: USD $156,658.
  2. Heritage Auctions Confrontation 40K, White Dwarf (Games Workshop) magazine cover, 1989 on January 15th Actual price: USD $40,000.
  3. RR Auction Frederic Chopin Autograph Letter Signed on January 14th Actual price: USD $39,726.
  4. RR Auction Robert Oppenheimer Historic Twice-Signed U.S. Passport (1924) - The 20-Year-Old Harvard Graduate Travels to Europe to Start His Pivotal Studies at Cambridge and Gottingen on January 14th Actual price: USD $37,000.
  5. RR Auction James Cook Signature - Immensely Rare Autograph of the Famed British Explorer on January 14th Actual price: USD $34,769.
  6. RR Auction John Hancock Revolutionary War-Dated Document Signed, Appointing a Second Lieutenant in the Continental Army on January 14th Actual price: USD $32,426.
  7. Heritage Auctions Pokemon Charizard 4 1st Edition Base Set CGC Trading Card Game NM/Mint 8 (Wizards of the Coast, 1999) Rare, Holo. on January 14th Actual price: USD $27,500.
  8. RR Auction Five Presidents Signed Photograph - Barack Obama, George W. Bush, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter on January 14th Actual price: USD $25,285.
  9. Heritage Auctions Scooby Doo #1 Savannah Pedigree (Gold Key, 1970) CGC NM- 9.2 Off-white pages. on January 15th Actual price: USD $20,740.
  10. Heritage Auctions John Romita Jr. - KISS Illustrations Original Art Group of 2 Signed by Stan Lee and KISS (1978). on January 14th Actual price: USD $20,000.
  11. PBA Galleries [Original Comic Art] KELLEY JONES and MALCOLM JONES III * SANDMAN No. 22, Page 18 on January 15th Actual price: USD $20,000.
  12. RR Auction Beatles Signed Photograph - Taken by Astrid Kirchherr in 1962 on January 14th Actual price: USD $19,965.
  13. Ahlers & Ogletree MIRO, 'L'ETRANGLE' 1974 ETCHING & AQUATINT, 40/50 on January 14th Actual price: USD $19,950.
  14. RR Auction Thomas Paine Partial Autograph Letter on a Motion by Gouverneur Morris "for fortifying New York" on January 14th Actual price: USD $19,456.
  15. Forum Auctions H9-1. Justice, from The Virtues on January 14th Actual price: USD $18,623.
  16. Heritage Auctions Pokemon 1st Edition Neo Discovery Open Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 2001). on January 14th Actual price: USD $17,500.
  17. PBA Galleries TOMB OF TERROR No. 15 * Harvey FILE COPY on January 15th Actual price: USD $16,250.
  18. Catawiki B. V. Alle Propheten nach Hebraischer sprach verteutscht / Baruch der Prophet. Die Historie Susannah ... on January 4th Actual price: USD $15,365.
  19. RR Auction Napoleon Document Signed, Establishing the Administrative Structure of Occupied Egypt on January 14th Actual price: USD $14,375.
  20. Bertolami Fine Art Cina - Interessante accumulo di fogli interi on January 9th Actual price: USD $14,329.
  21. Lyon and Turnbull LA SAVOIE on January 13th Actual price: USD $12,805.
  22. RR Auction Nikola Tesla Autograph Letter Signed on Photography with Phosphorescence: "His ingenious scheme of combining with the phosphorescent light a flash will no doubt succeed" on January 14th Actual price: USD $12,183.
  23. RR Auction Thomas Jefferson Document Signed as Secretary of State - Act of Congress Permitting Maryland to Collect Baltimore Port Fees on January 14th Actual price: USD $12,100.
  24. RR Auction Cotton Mather Handwritten Sermon: "Will ye wicked plot again to you and call upon you with highest. But alas you may be saved" on January 14th Actual price: USD $11,793.
  25. RR Auction Ian Fleming: Complete Set of (14) US First Editions of the James Bond Novels on January 14th Actual price: USD $11,503.
  • <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper<br>29th January 2026</b></center> <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Plato. [<i>Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera</i>], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000 <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper<br>29th January 2026</b></center> <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Shakespeare (William). <i>The Dramatic Works,</i> 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Joyce (James). <i>Ulysses,</i> first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Powell (Anthony). [<i>A Dance to the Music of Time</i>], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000 <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper<br>29th January 2026</b></center> <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Chaucer (Geoffrey). <i>Troilus and Criseyde,</i> one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Borges (Jorge Luis). <i>Luna de Enfrente,</i> first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Nolli (Giovanni Battista). <i>Nuova Pianta di Roma,</i> Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000 <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper<br>29th January 2026</b></center> <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Roberts (David). <i>The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia,</i> 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Blacker (William). <i>Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing,</i> Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000 <b>Forum, Jan. 29:</b> Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th January 2026
    Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000
  • <b><center>Sotheby’s<br>Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana<br>27 January 2026</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000. <b><center>Sotheby’s<br>Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana<br>27 January 2026</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
    27 January 2026
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.