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PBA Galleries: Rare Books and Manuscripts - A PBA Platinum Auction

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Rare Books and Manuscripts - A PBA Platinum Auction	Total Sales (USD)	246,531.25
Auction Date	February 08, 2024 - February 08, 2024	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)	306,900.00
Sale Number	#806	High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)	472,100.00
Total Lots	97
Sold Lots	53.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (USD)	658,400.00
% of Lots Sold	54.64%	High Estimate of All Lots (USD)	1,012,900.00
Unsold Lots	44	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	24.34%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
6		The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: Newly Translated out of the Originall Tongues: and with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by His Maiesties speciall comandement. Appointed to be read in Churches	1613-1611	USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	USD 31,250.00
7		The Holy Bible. Containing the Bookes of the Old and New Testament [with] The Book of Common Prayer	1659-1660	USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	USD 20,000.00
71	Roberts, David	Egypt and Nubia from Drawings Made on the Spot...	1846-49	USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	USD 18,750.00
11	Boehme, Jacob	The Works of Jacob Behmen, The Teutonic Theosopher. Translated by William Law.	1764-1781	USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	USD 12,500.00
49	Rosenroth, Christian Knorr, Baron von, compiler & translator	Kabbala Denudata	1677 & 1684	USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	USD 12,500.00
84	Thucydides	The Aldine Thucydides, with scholia and History of the Emperors by Herodian	1502-1503	USD 15,000.00 - 25,000.00	USD 12,500.00
83	Thoreau, Henry David	Walden; Or, Life in the Woods	1854	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 8,750.00
3	Van Bibber, Elizabeth (Betty) Carter	Archive of letters from the wife of the owner of the Avondale estate in Maryland, to a relative the Rosewell Plantation of Gloucester, Virginia, with much reference to their slaves	1848-1853	USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	USD 6,875.00
44	Chaucer, Geoffrey	The Canterbury Tales...With Wood Engravings by Eric Gill	1929	USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	USD 6,250.00
76	Shakespeare, William	The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida [&] The Tragedy of Coriolanus	[1632]	USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	USD 6,250.00
86		The Will of General George Washington: To which is annexed, a schedule of his property, directed to be sold	1800	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 6,250.00
42	Chaucer, Geoffrey	Troilus and Criseyde	1927	USD 5,000.00 - 8,000.00	USD 5,937.50
10	Blake, William	Works... Reproduced in Facsimile from the Original Editions	1876	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 5,625.00
19	Orlowski, Joseph L., compiler	Large archive of materials relating to Joseph L. Orlowski (Madison) and his employment by Claire Chennault's Civil Air Transport, which was purchased by the Central Intelligence Agency and operated as Air America	c.1945-1975	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 5,625.00
28	Donne, John	Pseudo-Martyr. Wherein out of Certaine Propositions and Gradations, this Conclusion is Evicted. That those which are of the Romane Religion in this Kindome, may and ought to take the Oathe of Allegeance	1610	USD 5,000.00 - 8,000.00	USD 5,312.50
64	U.S. Army Air Corps	Collection of 38 original bird's-eye view photographs of the Philippines	c.1926-1933	USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	USD 5,312.50
4		Cybertronics / Cybertron	22160	USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	USD 5,000.00
54		Magna Carta Regis Johannis XV. Die Junii Anno Regni XVII. A.D. MCCXV	1816	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 5,000.00
80	James, Henry	Plans and Photographs of Stonehenge, and of Turusachan in the Island of Lewis; with Notes relating to the Druids and Sketches of Cromlechs in Ireland	1867	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 5,000.00
18	White, Herbert C.	Peking the Beautiful. Comprising Seventy Photographic Studies of the Celebrated Monuments of China's Northern Capital and its Environs Complete with Descriptive and Historical Notes	[1927]	USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	USD 4,687.50
72	Homer	The Odyssey of Homer	1932	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 4,375.00
14	Castglione, Baldassare, conte	Il libro del cortegiano	October, 1528	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 3,750.00
66	Baldwin, William	A Treatise of Morall Philosophie containing the Sayings of the Wise...	1591	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 3,750.00
16	Clarendon Edward	Letter signed by Charles I, King [in] The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England	1826	USD 2,500.00 - 3,500.00	USD 3,437.50
48	Joyce, James	Ulysses	1922	USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	USD 3,125.00

Heritage Auctions
Rare Books Signature Auction
December 15, 2025

Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.

Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.

Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.

Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.

Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.

Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.