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Swann Galleries: Illustration Art

Auction Reports

Auction Name Illustration Art Total Sales (USD) 715,017.00
Auction Date January 28, 2021 - January 28, 2021 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 376,960.00
Sale Number #2556 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 554,290.00
Total Lots 280
Sold Lots 228 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 439,910.00
% of Lots Sold 81.43% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 646,340.00
Unsold Lots 52 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 110.63%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
211 JOSEPH F. KERNAN

"College Football." Cover of The Saturday Evening Post, published October 15, 1932.

 1932 USD 25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD 75,000.00
216 LESLIE THRASHER

"Conference on the Mound." Cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published June 8, 1912.

1912 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 37,500.00
244 JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER

Golfer Lighting a Cigarette. Probable study for cigarette advertisement, possibly unpublished, circa 1920.

circa 1920. USD 7,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 30,000.00
68 EDMUND DULAC

"They overtook him just as he reached the steps of the main porch." Illustration of Fatima's two brothers murdering Bluebeard, for the tale of Bluebeard, published in The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales. From the Old French, retold by Sir Arthur Qu

 1910 USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD 18,750.00
89 ROCKWELL KENT

"Rockwell / Alaska MCMXVIII" Frontispiece illustration to Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska.

 USD 3,500.00 - 5,000.00 USD 15,000.00
199 CHARLES SCHULZ

"I'll have to go back to the house...I forgot my rubbers..." Original 4-panel "Peanuts" comic strip featuring Linus and Lucy,

1960 USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 15,000.00
159 CONSTANTIN ALAJALOV

Family Tree. Cover illustration for The New Yorker, published February 12, 1938.

1938 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 11,875.00
222 RUTH EASTMAN

Hitting the Links of Palm Beach. Proposed cover for The Saturday Evening Post, circa mid-1920s.

circa mid-1920s. USD 5,000.00 - 7,500.00 USD 11,875.00
124 N.C. WYETH

Captain John Alden / Heading Canto IV. Illustration for page 51 of The Courtship of Miles Standish, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 1920 USD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD 11,250.00
158 CHARLES ADDAMS

One Pin. Cartoon for The New Yorker, published June 16, 1962, with their stamp on verso.

 1962 USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 USD 11,250.00
191 [OTTO MESSMER].

"I'll sneak in and snatch a snooze." * "How can I sleep?" Together, two original "Felix the Cat" Sunday comics, published September 10 and December 24, 1933, respectively, with King Features Syndicate pastedowns.

1933 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 11,250.00
123 N.C. WYETH

Standish Reading / "Heading Canto II". Illustration for page 17 of The Courtship of Miles Standish, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 1920 USD 5,000.00 - 7,500.00 USD 10,000.00
172 BARBARA SHERMUND

A Day at the Beach. Cover for The New Yorker, published August 5, 1944.

1944 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 9,375.00
192 [OTTO MESSMER].

"Shucks!! It's too high for me to reach." * "You've got to be an aviator to hunt for wild geese..." Together, two original "Felix the Cat" Sunday comics, published January 14 and 21, 1934

 1934 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 9,375.00
19 BRIAN FROUD

"The Mountain." Published in Once Upon a Time: Some Contemporary Illustrators of Fantasy, by David Larkin

 1976, plate 22 and in Fantastic People by Allan Scott USD 2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD 8,125.00
218 MICHAEL BROWN

Leven Links.

circa early 20th century. USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 8,125.00
57 FRANKLIN BOOTH

"Mount Holyoke College Today." Illustration for an article of the same title by Charles Selden, published in The Ladies Home Journal, Vol. 43 no. 8, August 1926, page 21.

 1926 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 7,280.00
114 NORMAN ROCKWELL

Portrait of Whitney Darrow, Jr. as an old man.

USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 7,250.00
125 N.C. WYETH

Teepees by the Forest / Headpiece Canto VII. Illustration for page 105 of The Courtship of Miles Standish, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 1920 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 7,250.00
33 WILLIAM PÈNE DU BOIS

William's Doll. Together, 16 storyboard illustrations for an alternate cover and nearly complete interior pages of book of the same name by Charlotte Zolotow

 1972. Watercolor and graphite on paper, most with applied text. Image sizes vary, sheets each measure 275x375 mm; 11x14 3/4 inches. Several signed "William Pène du Bois" in image area. Hinged to boards with paper mattes, with the exception of the alternat USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 7,000.00
11 ERIC CARLE

Black Cat. Collage, ink and gouache on board. 305x241 mm; 12x9 1/2 inches. Signed "Eric Carle" in ink, lower right image and inscribed "For Hens with best wishes!" Hens Gettmer was the publisher of Carle's books in The Netherlands

 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 6,750.00
52 LUDWIG BEMELMANS

Couple in Lamp Light.

[19]33 USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 6,750.00
25 EZRA JACK KEATS

Drawing of Peter from The Snowy Day, prominently featured on a charming Typed Letter Signed to a young boy named Matthew.

USD 800.00 - 1,200.00 USD 6,500.00
12 ERIC CARLE

"THAT Lion!" A recreation of the lion in Carle's book Do You Want to Be My Friend?

 1971. Paper collage with ink, watercolor, chalk, and fixative on board. 280x355 mm; 11x14 inches. Captioned, signed "Eric Carle" and inscribed to a young fan "For Matt with my very best wishes," lower margin. USD 2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD 6,250.00
20 BRIAN FROUD

Peering elf. Frontispiece to The Land of Froud, edited by David Larkin

 1977. Mixed media with watercolor, graphite, gouache, and ink on paper. 23 1/4x12 1/4 inches USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD 6,250.00
  • 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
  • Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Piccolomini's De La Sfera del Mondo (The Sphere of the World), 1540.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Vellutello's Commentary on Petrarch, With Map, 1525.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Finely Bound Definitive, Illustrated Edition of I Promessi Sposi, 1840.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Rare First Edition of John Milton's Latin Correspondence, 1674.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Giolito's Edition of Boccaccio's The Decamerone, with Bedford Binding, 1542.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of the First Biography of Marie of the Incarnation, with Rare Portrait, 1677.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Aldine Edition of Volume One of Cicero's Orationes, 1540.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Bonanni's Illustrated Costume Catalogue, with Complete Plates, 1711.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: An Important Incunable, the First Italian Edition of Josephus's De Bello Judaico, 1480.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: First Edition of Jacques Philippe d'Orville's Illustrated Book of the Ruins of Sicily, 1764.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: An Incunable from 1487, The Contemplative Life, with Early Manuscript.
    Leland Little, Apr. 26: Ignatius of Loyola's Exercitia Spiritualia, 1563.
  • Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 546. Christoph Jacob Trew. Plantae selectae, 1750-1773.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 70. Thomas Murner. Die Narren beschwerung. 1558.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 621. Michael Bernhard Valentini. Museum Museorum, 1714.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 545. Sander Reichenbachia. Orchids illustrated and described, 1888-1894.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1018. Marinetti, Boccioni, Pratella Futurism - Comprehensive collection of 35 Futurist manifestos, some of them exceptionally rare. 1909-1933.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 634. August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof. 3 Original Drawings, around 1740.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 671. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1260. Mary Webb. Sarn. 1948. Lucie Weill Art Deco Binding.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 508. Felix Bonfils. 108 large-format photographs of Syria and Palestine.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 967. Dante Aligheri and Salvador Dali. Divina Commedia, 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1303. Regards sur Paris. Braque, Picasso, Masson, 1962.
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: McCarthy (Cormac). Cities of the Plain, N.Y., 1998, First Edn., signed on hf. title; together with Uncorrected Proof and Uncorrected Advance Reading Copies, both signed by the Author. €800 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Stanihurst (Richard). De Rebus in Hibernia Gestis, Libri Quattuor, sm. 4to Antwerp (Christi. Plantium) 1584. First Edn. €525 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Fleischer (Nat.) Jack Dempsey The Idol of Fistiana, An Intimate Narrative, N.Y., 1929, First Edn. Signed on f.e.p. by Rocky Marciano. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Smith - Classical Atlas, Lond., 1820. Bound with, Smiths New General Atlas .. Principal Empires, Kingdoms, & States throughout the World, Lond. 1822. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Rare Auction Catalogues – 1856: Bindon Blood, of Ennis, Co. Clare: Sotheby & Wilkinson. €320 to €450.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: [Mavor (Wm.)] A General Collection of Voyages and Travels from the Discovery of America to the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century, 28 vols. (complete) Lond., 1810. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Mc Carthy (Cormac). Outer Dark, N.Y. (Random House)1968, Signed by Mc Carthy. €250 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Three signed works by Ted Huges - Wodwo, 1967; Crow from the Life and Songs of the Crow, 1970; and Tales from Ovid, 1997. €200 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: The Garden. An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Horticulture in all its Branches, 7 vols. lg. 4to Lond. 1877-1880. With 127 colored plates. €200 to €300.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Book & Collectors Sale
    24th April 2024
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: Procter (Richard A.) Saturn and its System: Containing Discussions of The Motion (Real and Apparent)…, Lond. 1865. First Edn. €160 to €220.
    Fonsie Mealy, Apr. 24: [Ashe] St. George, Lord Bishop of Clogher, A Sermon Preached to the Protestants of Ireland, now in London,... Oct. 23, 1712, London 1712. Second Edn. €130 to €180.
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