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Sothebys: Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern - online 11/28

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern - online 11/28	Total Sales (GBP)	1,358,520.00
Auction Date	December 12, 2024 - December 12, 2024	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	766,500.00
Sale Number	#L24401	High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	1,106,500.00
Total Lots	94
Sold Lots	65	Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	1,393,000.00
% of Lots Sold	69.15%	High Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	1,983,000.00
Unsold Lots	29	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	68.51%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
19	Niccolo Machiavelli	First edition of The Prince and second edition of the Florentine Histories, in a seventeenth-century Italian binding, comprising:	1532	GBP 200,000.00 - 300,000.00	GBP 576,000.00
64	Bela Bartok	Extraordinary autograph field-book of Hungarian folksong transcriptions, UNPUBLISHED	1906-1918	GBP 60,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 132,000.00
21		New England---Land Grant. Letters patent, issued by "the Councell established att Plymouth in the Countye of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering and governing of New England in America"...	1623/4	GBP 80,000.00 - 120,000.00	GBP 96,000.00
77		Composers and musicians . Three fans with signatures and musical quotations by Mahler, Johann Strauss II, and many others,	c.1900	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 48,000.00
6	Francesco Colonna	La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, cioe pugna d'amore in sogno. Dov'egli mostra, che tutte le cose humane non sono altro che sogno: et dove narra molt'altre cose degne di cognitione	1545	GBP 30,000.00 - 40,000.00	GBP 33,600.00
54	Beatrix Potter	The Tale of Peter Rabbit.	1902	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 24,000.00
65	Bela Bartok	Collection of 24 Hungarian folksong transcriptions 1906-1030	1906-1930	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 21,600.00
85	Richard Strauss	Autograph sketch book for Die agyptische Helena, Act II, and the Parergon zur Sinfonia Domestica, op.73, with a quatrain from Schiller and effusive dedication to the pianist Paul Wittgenstein	c.1924-1925	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 21,600.00
18	George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney	A manuscript volume from his library, containing two items: i) Copies of memoranda, letters, petitions and Imperial Mandates relating to the Canton Debts Crisis, Canton, 32 pages,	1777-1778; 1813	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 20,400.00
33	Martin Waldseemuller	Tabula terre nove.	1513	GBP 12,000.00 - 18,000.00	GBP 20,400.00
22	John Ogilby [Arnoldus Montanus]	America: being the latest, and most accurate description of the New World.... Collected from the most Authentick Authors... by John Ogilby.	1671	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 18,000.00
24	Claudius Ptolemaeus	Sexta Asie Tabula.	1486	GBP 15,000.00 - 25,000.00	GBP 16,800.00
39	Charles Dickens	A Christmas Carol.	1843	GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	GBP 16,800.00
44	Johann Wolfgang von Goethe	Autograph poem, 'Liegt dir Gestern klar und offen', signed ("JWvGoethe")	1831	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 14,400.00
58	J.K. Rowling	A collection of first edition Harry Potter books, comprising: (i) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.	1997	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 14,400.00
13	Giacomo Gastaldi and Paolo Forlani	Africa a veteribus... Venice: Paolo Forlani, 1566	1566	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 12,000.00
67	Bela Bartok	Autograph notebook documenting Bartok's phonograph recordings of Hungarian folksongs, UNPUBLISHED	1906-1907	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 12,000.00
2	Boethius.	De consolatione philosophiae (with commentary ascribed in the text to Thomas Aquinas). Pseudo-Boethius: De disciplina scholarium (commentary by pseudo- Thomas Aquinas).	1489	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 11,400.00
43	Johann Wolfgang von Goethe	Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. Erster [...Zweyter] Theil.	1774	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 11,400.00
30	Henry Timberlake	The Memoirs of Lieut. Henry Timberlake (who accompanied the Three Cherokee Indians to England in the year 1762).	1765	GBP 9,000.00 - 12,000.00	GBP 10,800.00
17	Lancelot du Lac	Le premier (-tiers) volume de Lancelot du Lac. Nouvellement imprime a Paris.	1513	GBP 5,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 9,600.00
53	Florence Nightingale	Notes on Nursing: What it is, and What it is Not.	1860	GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	GBP 9,600.00
76		Collection of 14 photographic portraits of composers, including Johann Strauss II, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Mahler, comprising:		GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 9,000.00
93	Egon Wellesz	Important archive of autograph correspondence between the Austrian composer and musicologist, Egon Wellesz (1885--1974), and the poet Elizabeth Mackenzie (1921--2021)	1943-1971	GBP 8,000.00 - 10,000.00	GBP 9,000.00
4	Bartolome de las Casas	Narratio regionum indicarum per Hispanos quosdam devastatarum verissima.	1598	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 8,400.00

Forum Auctions
The Library of Barry Humphries
26th March 2025

Forum, Mar. 26: Beckford (William) [Vathek] An Arabian Tale, first (but unauthorised) edition, Lady Caroline Lamb's copy with her signature and notes, 1786. £2,000 to £3,000.

Forum, Mar. 26: Baudelaire (Charles) Les Fleurs du Mal, first edition containing the 6 suppressed poems, first issue, contemporary half black morocco, Paris, 1857. £4,000 to £6,000.

Forum, Mar. 26: Beardsley (Aubrey).- Pope (Alexander) The Rape of the Lock, one of 25 copies on Japanese vellum, Leonard Smithers, 1896. £4,000 to £6,000.

Forum, Mar. 26: Douglas (Lord Alfred) Sonnets, first edition, the dedication copy, with signed presentation inscription from the author to his wife Olive Custance, The Academy, 1909. £2,000 to £3,000.

Forum Auctions
The Library of Barry Humphries
26th March 2025

Forum, Mar. 26: Crowley (Aleister) The Works..., 3 vol. in 1 (as issued)"Essay Competition" issue on India paper, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1905-07. £1,500 to £2,000.

Forum, Mar. 26: Rodin (Auguste).- Mirbeau (Octave) Le Jardin des Supplices, one of 30 copies on chine with an additional suite, bound in dark purple goatskin, Paris, 1902. £3,000 to £4,000.

Forum, Mar. 26: Pellar (Hans) Eight original book illustrations for 'Der verliebte Flamingo' [together with] a published copy of the first edition of the book, 1923. £6,000 to £8,000.

Forum, Mar. 26: Cretté (Georges, binder).- Louÿs (Pierre) Les Aventures du Roi Pausole, 2 vol., one of 99 copies, with 2 original drawings, superbly bound in blue goatskin, gilt, Paris, 1930. £3,000 to £4,000.
Sotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts

Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD

Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD

Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD

Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD

Sotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts

Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD

Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP

Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP

Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000

Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000

Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000

Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.

Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000

Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000
Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
27th March 2025

Forum, Mar. 27: Dürer (Albrecht) Hierin sind begriffen vier bücher von menschlicher Proportion, 4 parts in 1, first edition, Nuremberg, Hieronymus Andreae for Agnes Dürer, 1528. £30,000 to £40,000.

Forum, Mar. 27: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, illuminated manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 26 fine hand-painted miniatures, 17th century dark brown morocco, [Lyon], [c. 1475 and later c. 1490-1500]. £25,000 to £35,000.

Forum, Mar. 27: Brontë (Emily) The North Wind, watercolour, [1842]. £15,000 to £20,000.

Forum, Mar. 27: Titanic.- Mudd (Thomas Cupper, one of the youngest victims of the sinking of the Titanic, 1895-1912) Autograph Letter signed on board RMS Titanic to his mother, April 11th 1912. £20,000 to £30,000.

Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
27th March 2025

Forum, Mar. 27: [Austen (Jane)] Emma: A Novel, 3 vol., first edition, for John Murray, 1816. £10,000 to £15,000.

Forum, Mar. 27: Picasso (Pablo).- Ovid. Les Metamorphoses, one of 95 copies, signed by the artist, Lausanne, Albert Skira, 1931. £10,000 to £15,000.

Forum, Mar. 27: America.- Ogilby (John) America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World..., all maps with vibrant hand-colouring in outline, probably by an early hand, 1671. £15,000 to £25,000.

Forum, Mar. 27: Iceland.- Geological exploration.- Bright (Dr. Richard )and Edward Bird. Collection of twenty original drawings from travels in Iceland with Henry Holland and George Mackenzie, watercolours, [1810]. £20,000 to £30,000.

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