• Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Auction Update Review

And so the auction season comes to an end...

The 2014 auction season has come to a conclusion, but it went out with a bang. Sales archived during the past week total just a hair under $29 million. A total of 29 auctions were archived for the week ending December 20, 14 in U.S. dollars, 12 in euros, and 3 in British pounds. Total proceeeds were 28,938,424. There were 9,106 lots offered, while 6,645 sold for a sales rate of 73%. It was an excellent conclusion to what has been a very good season and year.

3 auctions saw their total proceeds reach a million dollars:

Sothebys. 175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years Of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundat on December 12th: $21,325,063
Sothebys. Books and Manuscripts on December 18th: $1,423,924
Swann Galleries. Vernacular Imagery and Photobooks on December 12th: $1,057,581

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

Sothebys. Daughter of History: Mary Soames and the Legacy of Sir Winston Churchill on December 17th: 412.74%
Dorotheum . Autographs on December 16th: 222.10%
OSENAT. Books on December 12th: 222.08%
Bruun Rasmussen. Old Master Prints on December 15th: 178.74%
Ferraton. Books and Prints, Part I on December 12th: 152.77%
Ader. Prints on December 12th: 133.65%
Robert Siegel Galleries. The George J. Kramer Collection: U.S. Domestic Mails 1776-1869 on December 15th: 128.97%
Ferraton. Books and Prints, Part II on December 13th: 123.95%
Ader. Prints on December 11th: 121.13%
Sothebys. 175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years Of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundat on December 12th: 105.64%


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

Sothebys. Daughter of History: Mary Soames and the Legacy of Sir Winston Churchill on December 17th: 100.00%
Aspire Auctions. Prints - Internet bidstart 12/5 on December 12th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Comics - Internet bidstart 12/7 on December 14th: 98.39%
OSENAT. Books on December 12th: 97.19%
Robert Siegel Galleries. The George J. Kramer Collection: U.S. Domestic Mails 1776-1869 on December 15th: 96.38%
Heritage Auctions. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 12/7 on December 14th: 92.26%
Dorotheum . Autographs on December 16th: 91.40%
Sothebys. 175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years Of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundat on December 12th: 90.29%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 12/4 on December 11th: 89.01%
Ferraton. Books and Prints, Part I on December 12th: 87.74%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 12/14 on December 18th: 82.94%
Clars Auction Gallery. Books and Prints on December 13th: 82.44%
Ferraton. Books and Prints, Part II on December 13th: 82.14%
Clars Auction Gallery. Prints on December 14th: 80.00%


29 total sales reported this week:

Minerva Auctions Roma. Books, Autographs and Prints on December 10th: 55.16%
PBA Galleries. Fine & Rare Books – With Books Illustrated with Original Photographs on December 18th: 64.74%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 12/14 on December 18th: 82.94%
Sothebys. Books and Manuscripts on December 18th: 73.33%
Bloomsbury Auctions. General Books - Online timed Sale on December 18th: 12.00%
Bloomsbury Auctions. Antiquarian Books on December 17th: 64.00%
Vermot de Pas. Books on December 12th: 21.22%
OSENAT. Books on December 12th: 97.19%
Dorotheum . Autographs on December 16th: 91.40%
Swann Galleries. Travel Posters from the Julius Paul Collection & A California Collection of Literary Posters on December 17th: 60.81%
Robert Siegel Galleries. The George J. Kramer Collection: U.S. Domestic Mails 1776-1869 on December 15th: 96.38%
Sothebys. Daughter of History: Mary Soames and the Legacy of Sir Winston Churchill on December 17th: 100.00%
Bonhams. The Art of Fashion Photography on December 17th: 32.35%
Ferraton. Books and Prints, Part II on December 13th: 82.14%
Ferraton. Books and Prints, Part I on December 12th: 87.74%
Bruun Rasmussen. Modern and Contemporary Prints on December 16th: 73.27%
Bruun Rasmussen. Old Master Prints on December 15th: 75.00%
Aspire Auctions. Prints - Internet bidstart 12/5 on December 12th: 100.00%
Hauswedell and Nolte. Who's Afraid of the Moon on December 12th: 26.32%
Swann Galleries. Vernacular Imagery and Photobooks on December 12th: 62.59%
Ader. Prints on December 12th: 77.97%
Ader. Prints on December 11th: 76.39%
Clars Auction Gallery. Prints on December 14th: 80.00%
Clars Auction Gallery. Books and Prints on December 13th: 82.44%
Sothebys. 175 Masterworks To Celebrate 175 Years Of Photography: Property from Joy of Giving Something Foundat on December 12th: 90.29%
Heritage Auctions. Comics - Internet bidstart 12/7 on December 14th: 98.39%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 12/4 on December 11th: 89.01%
Heritage Auctions. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 12/7 on December 14th: 92.26%
AntiquarianAuctions.com. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 11/20 on November 27th: 41.19%

For the week ahead only 3 sales are scheduled:

Thu. Dec. 25th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 12/18. 287 lots

Sun. Dec. 28th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 12/21.
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Comics - Internet bidstart 12/21.

The next two weeks will be quiet, but not silent as a handful of auctions are still on tap. Then, the momentum will gradually begin to build again as we work through winter and on to a busy spring. It slows, but never stops as the auction season has become a 52-week affair.

Best wishes for the holidays from all of us at AE.

Mike Stillman

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas