• 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
  • 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.

Auction Update Review

Click slideshow for more
info.

Click slideshow for more
info.

20 Auctions Archived, 18 Upcoming This Week

For the week ending April 8, 20 auctions were archived to the Rare Book Transaction History database, 3 denominated in euros, 5 in British pounds, 1 in Hong Kong dollars, and 11 in U.S. dollars. Total sales were $19,504,690 as 4,169 lots were offered and 3,517 lots were sold. The sell-through rate was 84.4% with the average lot price being $5,546. Both the sell-through rate and average price were unusually high.

 

5 auctions saw their total proceeds reach a million dollars:

Sothebys. Prints and Multiples on April 4th: $3,882,750
Christies. PHOTOGRAPHS INCLUDING PROPERTY SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION on April 6th: $3,701,750
Sothebys. Photographs on April 5th: $3,395,500
Christies. PORTRAIT OF A COLLECTOR: THE JOHN M. BRANSTEN COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS on April 6th: $1,888,125
Sothebys. Made in Britain - Prints, Photographs on April 5th: $1,458,008

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

OSENAT. Empire at Fontainebleau. Historical Souvenirs on March 26th: 236.72%
Jacksons Auction. Americana Art, Antiques and Collectibles on March 29th: 212.88%
Bonhams. The Contents of Glyn Cywarch on March 29th: 176.32%
Sothebys. Moments of Flash on April 3rd: 141.45%
Sothebys. Made in Britain - Prints, Photographs on April 5th: 134.09%
Dorotheum . Master Prints Before 1900 on April 4th: 115.53%
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. McRorie Auction - Prints, Books on March 30th: 112.60%
OSENAT. L’EMPIRE À FONTAINEBLEAU - SECOND SESSION - Books and Prints on March 26th: 106.13%
Winner's Auctions and Exhibitions. Holy books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical & Admors letters, Americana & Judiaca on March 27th: 101.99%


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

Sothebys. Moments of Flash on April 3rd: 100.00%
Bonhams. The Contents of Glyn Cywarch on March 29th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Knott's Berry Farm Signature Auction on March 31st: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Internet Movie Posters - bidstart 3/26 on April 2nd: 96.69%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Internet Comics - bidstart 3/26 on April 2nd: 96.58%
Jacksons Auction. Americana Art, Antiques and Collectibles on March 29th: 96.55%
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. McRorie Auction - Prints, Books on March 30th: 93.75%
Sothebys. Made in Britain - Prints, Photographs on April 5th: 91.54%
Christies. PORTRAIT OF A COLLECTOR: THE JOHN M. BRANSTEN COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS on April 6th: 89.29%
OSENAT. Empire at Fontainebleau. Historical Souvenirs on March 26th: 87.80%
Forum Auctions. Fine Books and Works on Paper on March 30th: 85.00%
Sothebys. Prints and Multiples on April 4th: 83.67%

Top 25 Lots Reported This Past Week.
  1. Sothebys LA TAUROMAQUIA on April 4th Actual price: USD $635,810.
  2. Sothebys 'PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWING LANDSCAPES, GEOLOGICAL AND OTHER FEATURES, OF PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES, OBTAINED IN CONNECTION WITH GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS WEST OF THE 100TH MERIDIAN (SEASONS OF 1871, 1872 A on April 5th Actual price: USD $372,500.
  3. Sothebys 'EIFFEL TOWER' on April 5th Actual price: USD $348,500.
  4. Sothebys 'DUNES - OCEANO' on April 5th Actual price: USD $300,000.
  5. Sothebys LIGHTNESS OF BEING, on April 5th Actual price: USD $232,500.
  6. Sothebys L'ÉGYPTIENNE on April 4th Actual price: USD $162,750.
  7. Sothebys LE REPAS FRUGAL on April 4th Actual price: USD $162,750.
  8. Sothebys SHELLS on April 5th Actual price: USD $150,000.
  9. Bonhams THE KENNEDY-HARLECH PAPERS on March 29th Actual price: USD $125,000.
  10. Sothebys 'MIAMI' (ELEVATOR, MIAMI BEACH HOTEL) on April 5th Actual price: USD $112,500.
  11. Sothebys CROSS-ISLAND HIGHWAY on April 3rd Actual price: USD $105,625.
  12. Sothebys MOUNTAIN HUANG on April 3rd Actual price: USD $105,625.
  13. Sothebys 'THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE' (AT THE TIME OF THE LOUISVILLE FLOOD, KENTUCKY) on April 5th Actual price: USD $93,750.
  14. Sothebys AFTERNOON SWIMMING on April 4th Actual price: USD $93,000.
  15. Sothebys SIESTA LAKE, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA on April 5th Actual price: USD $87,500.
  16. Sothebys JACQUELINE AU CHAPEAU NOIR  on April 4th Actual price: USD $85,250.
  17. Sothebys SELECTED PORTRAITS on April 5th Actual price: USD $81,250.
  18. Sothebys SELECTED MOTION STUDIES on April 5th Actual price: USD $81,250.
  19. Sothebys INGRID BERGMAN: HERSELF, THE NUN, AND WITH HAT on April 4th Actual price: USD $77,500.
  20. Sothebys EIS [ICE] on April 4th Actual price: USD $77,500.
  21. Sothebys SPEEDWAY (C. SA 29) on April 5th Actual price: USD $74,400.
  22. Sothebys MINOTAURE CARESSANT UNE DORMEUSE on April 4th Actual price: USD $71,300.
  23. Sothebys GIANT PANDA  on April 4th Actual price: USD $69,750.
  24. Sothebys THE RAFT on April 3rd Actual price: USD $68,250.
  25. Sothebys AFRICAN ELEPHANT on April 4th Actual price: USD $65,100.


20 total sales reported this week:

PBA Galleries. Fine Books and Miscellanea on April 6th: 72.56%
Christies. PORTRAIT OF A COLLECTOR: THE JOHN M. BRANSTEN COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS on April 6th: 89.29%
Christies. PHOTOGRAPHS INCLUDING PROPERTY SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION on April 6th: 67.60%
Bonhams. The Contents of Glyn Cywarch on March 29th: 100.00%
Jacksons Auction. Americana Art, Antiques and Collectibles on March 29th: 96.55%
Winter Associates. Americana - Books and Prints on March 27th: 70.59%
Winner's Auctions and Exhibitions. Holy books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical & Admors letters, Americana & Judiaca on March 27th: 74.64%
OSENAT. Empire at Fontainebleau. Historical Souvenirs on March 26th: 87.80%
OSENAT. L’EMPIRE À FONTAINEBLEAU - SECOND SESSION - Books and Prints on March 26th: 59.68%
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. McRorie Auction - Prints, Books on March 30th: 93.75%
Sothebys. Photographs on April 5th: 67.91%
Sothebys. Made in Britain - Prints, Photographs on April 5th: 91.54%
Sothebys. Scarfe at Sotheby's on April 5th: 53.85%
Sothebys. Prints and Multiples on April 4th: 83.67%
Dorotheum . Master Prints Before 1900 on April 4th: 72.00%
Forum Auctions. Fine Books and Works on Paper on March 30th: 85.00%
Heritage Auctions. Knott's Berry Farm Signature Auction on March 31st: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Internet Movie Posters - bidstart 3/26 on April 2nd: 96.69%
Heritage Auctions. Sunday Internet Comics - bidstart 3/26 on April 2nd: 96.58%
Sothebys. Moments of Flash on April 3rd: 100.00%


For the week ahead 18 sales are scheduled:

Mon. Apr. 10th
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Prints. 92 lots
Sothebys. New York. In Motion: Photos by Eadweard Muybridge - Online bidstart 3/24. 70 lots

Tue. Apr. 11th
Bolaffi Ambassador Auctions. Milan. Photographs. 220 lots
Galerie Bassenge. Berlin-Grunewald . Book Sale - Day 1: Valuable Books. 1002 lots
Potomack Company. Alexandria. Online Auction - Books, Prints. 35 lots

Wed. Apr. 12th
Purcell Auctioneers. Birr. Irish Interest Book Auction. 623 lots
ALDE. Paris. Modern Illustrated Books and Original Bindings. 263 lots
RR Auction. Amherst. Fine Autographs & Artifacts - Internet bidstart 3/17. 726 lots
Galerie Bassenge. Berlin-Grunewald . Book Sale - Day 2: Literature and Autographs. 490 lots
Grays Auctioneers. Cleveland, . Fine Art - Prints. 37 lots

Thu. Apr. 13th
PBA Galleries. San Francisco. Rare Golf Books & Memorabilia. 509 lots
One Of Kind Collectibles. Coral Gables. Autographs, Manuscripts and Sports. 234 lots
Galerie Bassenge. Berlin-Grunewald . Book Sale - Day 3: Modern Literature. 562 lots
Forum Auctions. London. Online Sale: Books and Works on Paper. 105 lots

Fri. Apr. 14th
Skinner. Marlborough. Studio Art online - Prints - bidstart 4/6. 148 lots
Skinner. Marlborough. Discovery Interiors Online - bidstart 4/6. 27 lots

Sun. Apr. 16th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Sunday Internet Comics - bidstart 4/9.
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Sunday Internet Movie Posters - bidstart 4/9.

Next week the auction rooms will be a bit quieter, a result of the Easter, Good Friday, and Passover holidays all falling in this coming week.

Mike Stillman

RBH and AE

  • 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