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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: A Leather Obsession: Manufacturing, Tanning and Fine Bindings

Auction Reports


Auction Name	A Leather Obsession: Manufacturing, Tanning and Fine Bindings	Total Sales (AUD)	10,566.40
Auction Date	November 30, 2024 - November 30, 2024	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	13,750.00
Sale Number	#113024	High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	21,520.00
Total Lots	294
Sold Lots	95.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	45,840.00
% of Lots Sold	32.31%	High Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	70,610.00
Unsold Lots	199	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	14.96%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
168	Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki.	Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land: Accompanied by a Geological Map, Sections, and Diagrams, and Figures of the Organic Remains	1845	AUD 800.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 571.50
201		Album of Ballarat views.	1890s	AUD 250.00 - 350.00	AUD 444.50
209	JW Audas.	Six books on Australian Flora. 1) The Australian Bushland	1950	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 317.50
298	Edited by Walter Howchin.	Transactions and Proceedings and Report of the Royal Society of South Australia Volume 29 with Thirty-Six Plates and Eighteen Figures in the Text	1905	AUD 200.00 - 250.00	AUD 317.50
120		Colour Index. Third Edition.	1971	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 254.00
100	Edited by Ernest Bordoli with Introduction by John H Skinner.	The Boot and Shoe Maker: A Complete Survey and Guide.	1936	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 241.30
359		The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke, Volumes 1-6.	1882-1883.	AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 215.90
200	Alan Davies & Peter Stanbury	The Mechanical Eye In Australia: Photography 1841-1900	1985	AUD 250.00 - 350.00	AUD 203.20
250	Edward Fitzgerald.	Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: The First and Fourth Renderings in English Verse Omar Khayyam and translated	1930	AUD 160.00 - 200.00	AUD 203.20
106	Morris Charles Lamb.	Leather Dressing : including dyeing staining and finishing	1909	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 190.50
113	Morris Charles Lamb.	Includes leather samples Leather Dressing : including dyeing staining and finishing	1925	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 190.50
136	J. W Edgeworth David.	Geological Map of Commonwealth of Australia	March 1931.	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 190.50
151	Richard T. Baker and Henry G. Smith.	A Research on the Eucalypts: especially in regard to their essential oils	1920	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 190.50
230	G. Rose., R.R. Matthews and others	Geological Map of New South Wales.	1962	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 190.50
296	Edited by Howchin	Royal Society of South Australia XLVII 1923.	1923	AUD 150.00 - 200.00	AUD 177.80
308		4 books about Bookbinding and Leather Binding. Including 1) The Restoration of Leather Bindings by Bernard C. Middleton 1972.		AUD 150.00 - 250.00	AUD 177.80
338	Shakspere	The Works of Shakspere. Edited by Charles Knight illustrated with steel engravings from Cope, Frith, Leslie, Malice et al.		AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 177.80
223		1934 Commonwealth of Australia. Sate of New South Wales. Map of The Commonwealth Electoral Division of North Sydney Shewing The Subdivisions.	1934	AUD 80.00 - 150.00	AUD 165.10
350		A collection of 19th Century sheet music.		AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 165.10
138	Dr Julius Schmidt & Dr H. Gordon Rule.	A collection of books on Organic Chemistry. 1) Organic Chemistry	1950	AUD 250.00 - 350.00	AUD 152.40
211		An excellent collection of early Australian history books. All but hardcovers. 1) Census NSW 1828.		AUD 250.00 - 350.00	AUD 152.40
169		GILES, Ernest. Australia Twice Traversed: The Romance of Exploration being a Narrative Compiled from the Journals of Five Exploring Expeditions into and through Central South Australia and Western Australia from 1872 to 1876.	1889	AUD 200.00 - 400.00	AUD 139.70
252	Racinet and Dupont-Auberville.	Ornamental design. 1) The World of Ornament	2012	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 139.70
367	Jabez Hogg.	The Microscope: Its History, Construction, and Application: Being A Familiar Introduction To the Use of The Instrument, and the study of Microscopical Science.		AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 139.70
205	Mollie Gillen	Two books on the first two fleets to Australia. 1) Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet	1989	AUD 120.00 - 180.00	AUD 127.00

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.