For the week ending Saturday May 10^th 5,758 lots were offered and 4,565 sold for a robust 79.28% success rate.  Turnover was $9,942,553.  The average lot brought $2,178.

<--- Skinners on May 16th.  American & European Prints & Photography.  Lot 16:  Thomas Hart Benton.  Homestead estimated $1,500 to $2,000

4 auctions saw their total proceeds reach a million dollars:

Heritage Auctions. Pin-up, Pulp, and Illustration Art on May 7th: $2,104,774
Sothebys. Photographs on May 7th: $1,851,575
Freemans. Modern and Contemporary Works of Art - Prints on May 4th: $1,521,633
Peter Arnold. Rare Books, Maps, Prints and Manuscripts on March 25th: $1,439,411

<--- RR Auction.  Monthly Sale ending on May 14th.  Lot 1:  George Washington framed material.  Starting bid $500

4 auctions saw total sales exceed 100% of the high estimates of all lots offered in the sale:

Eldreds. Asian Art - Books and Prints on May 2nd: 122.46%
Lyon and Turnbull. Rare Books, Maps and Manuscripts on May 7th: 114.57%
Dirk Soulis Auctions. Fine Art - Prints and Photography on April 25th: 100.26%
Peter Arnold. Rare Books, Maps, Prints and Manuscripts on March 25th: 100.14%

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

Cowans Auctions. Civil War Union Generals' Cartes de Visite on April 30th: 99.07%
Heritage Auctions. Comics -Internet bidstart 4/27 on May 4th: 99.03%
Heritage Auctions. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 4/27 on May 4th: 95.83%
Eldreds. Asian Art - Books and Prints on May 2nd: 95.24%
Dirk Soulis Auctions. Fine Art - Prints and Photography on April 25th: 94.81%
Heritage Auctions. Pin-up, Pulp, and Illustration Art on May 7th: 91.48%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 5/1 on May 8th: 91.22%
Swann Galleries. Art, Press & Illustrated Books on May 7th: 89.25%
Blacksparrow. Monterpalooza Charity Auction - Memorabilia on March 29th: 86.79%
Freemans. Modern and Contemporary Works of Art - Prints on May 4th: 86.06%
Lyon and Turnbull. Rare Books, Maps and Manuscripts on May 7th: 86.03%
Grays Auctioneers. Prints on April 30th: 80.28%

For the week ahead 40 sales are scheduled:

Mon. May. 12th
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Old Master Prints. 7 lots
Artcurial. Paris. MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC ARTS-FOUR PRIVATE COLLECTIONS - Manuscripts. 86 lots

Tue. May. 13th
Burgersdijk and Niermans. Leiden. New and Antiquarian Books. 1167 lots
Bolaffi Ambassador Auctions. Milan. Antiquarian Books and Autographs. 762 lots
Swann Galleries. New York. Contemporary Art - Prints. 293 lots
Artcurial. Paris. Books and Manuscripts. 451 lots
Artcurial. Paris. Orientalism - Books. 2 lots
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Modern and Contemporary Prints. 61 lots

Wed. May. 14th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Space. 345 lots
ALDE. Paris. Ancient Books and the XIXth Century. 320 lots
Dominic Winter Book Auctions. Gloucestershire. PRINTED BOOKS & MAPS, TRAVEL & POLAR EXPLORATION, NATURAL HISTORY & SCIENCE. 551 lots
RR Auction. Amherst. Rare Manuscript, Document & Autograph - bidstart 4/25. 1180 lots
Binoche et Giquello. rue La Boetie, Paris. Dada Surrealism - Books, Manuscripts, Photographs.... 299 lots
Kedem Auction. Jerusalem . Jewish and Israeli History and Culture, Israeli and International Art. 431 lots
Robert Siegel Galleries. New York. Worldwide Postal History. 26 lots

Thu. May. 15th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Comics. 1471 lots
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Chicago. Fine Prints. 329 lots
Dominic Winter Book Auctions. Gloucestershire. THE COLLECTORS SALE: Day One - HISTORIC AVIATION & TRANSPORT MODELS, MEMORABILIA & EPHEMERA. 164 lots
Sothebys. New York. Contemporary Art - Prints. 54 lots
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 5/8. 497 lots
Aguttes. Neuilly-sur-Seine . Ancient Books and Documents. 296 lots
Binoche et Giquello. rue La Boetie, Paris. Dada Surrealism - Books, Manuscripts, Photographs..., Day II. 294 lots

Fri. May. 16th
Romantic Agony Book and Print Auctions. Brussels. Books. 1071 lots
Pierre Berge and Associes. Paris. Books. 423 lots
Gonnelli Casa DAste. Firenze. Books, Manuscripts, Prints. 400 lots
Skinner. Boston. American and European Prints and Photography. 188 lots
Keys Fine Arts Auctioneers. Norwich. Pictures and Prints. 114 lots
Hauff and Auvermann. Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Spring Auction - Part I: Old and rare Books. Autographs.. 645 lots
Hauff and Auvermann. Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Spring Auction - Part II. Old and rare Books. Engravings.. 692 lots
Dominic Winter Book Auctions. Gloucestershire. THE COLLECTORS SALE: Day Two - STAMPS & COINS MEDALS, ARMS & MILITARIA. 53 lots
Beaussant Lefevre. Paris. Prints. 8 lots

Sat. May. 17th
Clars Auction Gallery. Oakland. Prints and Photographs. 160 lots
Gonnelli Casa DAste. Firenze. Musical works, Autographs and signed books. 147 lots
Profiles in History. Calabasas Hills. DEBBIE REYNOLDS – THE AUCTION FINALE - Ephemera. 230 lots
Hauff and Auvermann. Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Spring Auction - Part III: Modern books. Posters. Photography.. 526 lots
Hauff and Auvermann. Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Spring Sale - Part IV: Modern and contemporary Art.. 245 lots

Sun. May. 18th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 5/11.
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Comics -Internet bidstart 5/11.
Bonhams. Los Angeles. Period Art and Design - Prints. 54 lots
Clars Auction Gallery. Oakland. Prints and Photographs, Day 2. 108 lots
National Book Auctions. Ithaca. Books and Ephemera - Civil War, Am. West, Exploration, etc.by.

Forty sales in a single week.  It's simply stunning if no longer unexpected.

Bruce McKinney

AE