Sothebys: Books, Manuscripts and Music, L25401, London

Auction Details

Auction Date: December 11, 2025 - December 11, 2025

Page Size: 162 items in 7 pages

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Place Printed	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
127	Ian Fleming	Complete James Bond novels.	London	1955-67	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	Unknown
128	A group of 3 volumes inscribed by Ian Fleming, comprising:	(1) Humbert Wolfe. Humoresque	London	1926	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	Unknown
129	John Pearson	A collection of 10 works, comprising:			GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown
130	Ludwig van Beethoven	Fine characteristic autograph letter signed ("Beethoven"), to his friend Nikolaus von Zmeskall, dated by the recipient '28 8br.		1810	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	Unknown
131	Hector Berlioz	Three autograph letters signed ("H. Berlioz"), APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED			GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown
132	Hector Berlioz	Autograph letter signed ("H. Berlioz"), to the librettist Eugene Scribe ("Mon cher Collaborateur"), ABOUT THE UNFINISHED OPERA LA NONNE SANGLANTE, 23 June [1841]		1841	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown
133	Sir Harrison Birtwistle	Autograph manuscript of Nine Settings of Lorine Niedecker, for soprano and violoncello		2000	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	Unknown
134	Johannes Brahms	Autograph manuscript signed of the songs 'Sehnsucht', op.14 no.8, and 'Trost in Tranen', op.48 no.5, for voice and piano, FORMERLY IN THE CELEBRATED COLLECTION OF LOUIS KOCH		1858	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	Unknown
135	William Byrd---[William Cecil, Lord Burghley]	The copie of a letter sent out of England to Don Bernardin Mendoza [...] declaring the state of England [...]	London	1588	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	Unknown
136	Fryderyk Chopin	Autograph letter signed ("F. Chopin"), to his publisher Maurice Schlesinger in Paris		1844?	GBP 5,000.00 - 8,000.00	Unknown
137	Composers	Collection of autograph musical quotations		1884-1905	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	Unknown
138	Composers	Collection of autograph letters, including by Spohr, Spontini, Pacini and Leoncavallo		1818-1916	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	Unknown
139	Composers	Collection of signed photographs, including of Rossini, Puccini and Grieg		1867-1898	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	Unknown
140	Ruggero Leoncavallo	Collection of autograph letters and photographs signed by Leoncavallo, Pietro Mascagni, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari and Riccardo Zandonai		1882-1936	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown
141	Franz Liszt	Remarkable collection of 28 autograph letters and notes, signed ("F. Liszt"; "FL"), in French, to the composer's close friend and confidante Baroness Olga von Meyendorff		1863-1886	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	Unknown
142	Pietro Mascagni	Fine large photograph signed and inscribed on the mount		1923-04-14	GBP 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	Unknown
143	Jules Massenet	Autograph manuscript full score, signed, of the incidental music to Georges Rivollet's play Jerusalem, UNPUBLISHED		1911	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	Unknown
144	Jules Massenet	Collection of ten autograph manuscript scores of songs and operatic numbers		1865-1912	GBP 9,000.00 - 12,000.00	Unknown
145	Jules Massenet	Collection of nine autograph manuscripts of complete instrumental compositions, mostly signed		1880-1894	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	Unknown
146	Giacomo Meyerbeer and Pietro Mascagni	Three autograph manuscripts		C19th-C20th	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	Unknown
147	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the finale of the Piano Quartet in E flat, K.493, FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF PAUL HIRSCH		1786	GBP 150,000.00 - 200,000.00	Unknown
148	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Paul Hirsch (collector, bibliophile and Mozartian, 1881-1951)	The Frankfurt and Cambridge autograph guest books and chamber-music notebooks of Paul Hirsch		1897-1967	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	Unknown
149	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Paul Hirsch	Paul Hirsch's annotated copy of the four-volume catalogue of his library, and other printed and manuscript items			GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown
150	Gioachino Rossini	Remarkable, long autograph letter to Gaetano Donizetti ("Preghiatissimo amico"), signed ("Gioachino Rossini")		24 November 1841	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown
151	Gioachino Rossini	Six autograph letters signed ("Rossini"; "G. Rossini"), comprising five to his agent Gaetano Fabi and one to Mauro Corticelli		1849-1863	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	Unknown

SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
The Odfjell Collection
Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
Ending December 4th

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON: «The heart of the Antarctic» + SUPPLEMENT «The Antarctic Book», 1909.

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.

SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
The Odfjell Collection
Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
Ending December 4th

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ELEAZAR ALBIN: «A natural History of Birds.» + «A Supplement», 1738-40. Wonderful coloured plates.

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.

Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: JAMES JOYCE: «Ulysses», 1922. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann
Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
December 9, 2025

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.

Swann
Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
December 9, 2025

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.

Swann
Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
December 9, 2025

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.

Swann
Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
December 9, 2025

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.

Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.