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Sothebys: Arts of the Islamic World and India

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Arts of the Islamic World and India	Total Sales (GBP)	6,702,933.00
Auction Date	April 30, 2025 - April 30, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	2,532,300.00
Sale Number	#L25220	High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	3,795,200.00
Total Lots	110
Sold Lots	95.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	3,322,300.00
% of Lots Sold	86.36%	High Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	4,878,200.00
Unsold Lots	15	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	137.41%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
607		A prince visiting an ascetic,	early 17th century	GBP 80,000.00 - 120,000.00	GBP 571,500.00
566		A Sufi Spiritual Concert, attributed to Hunhar,	circa 1650-60	GBP 80,000.00 - 120,000.00	GBP 406,400.00
520		A line from the 'Baysunghur Qur'an', attributed to 'Umar al-Aqta,	circa 1400	GBP 300,000.00 - 500,000.00	GBP 381,000.00
546		A large illuminated Mamluk Qur'an, copied by Muhammad Abu al-Fadl ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-A'raj,	882 AH/1477-78 AD	GBP 300,000.00 - 500,000.00	GBP 381,000.00
616		Raghunath Pathania, a holy man, attributed to Nainsukh,	circa 1760	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 355,600.00
532		An early bound Qur'an section in Kufic script, North Africa or Near East,	circa 700-750 AD	GBP 250,000.00 - 300,000.00	GBP 317,500.00
544		Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa ('Epistles of the Brethren of Purity'),	14th century	GBP 60,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 279,400.00
605	Abu'l Fazl ibn Mubarak	Abu'l Fazl ibn Mubarak (d.1602 AD), Ain-i Akbari ('The Administration of Akbar'),	late 17th/early 18th century	GBP 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	GBP 254,000.00
627		A scroll painting depicting the Battle of Pollilur,	circa 1850	GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00	GBP 241,300.00
632		A white stork (coconia ciconia) in a flat river landscape,	circa 1780	GBP 50,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 241,300.00
633		A sarus crane (grus antigone) standing in a flat river landscape	circa 1780	GBP 50,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 228,600.00
603		An illuminated firman of Dara Shikoh (r.1616-59),	1068 AH/1657 AD	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 177,800.00
579		An illustration to a ragamala series: Bangal Ragini,	circa 1765	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 165,100.00
623		A portrait of a Sikh shawl trader, by Bishan Singh,	circa 1867	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 139,700.00
635		A domestic male fowl,	circa 1780	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 127,000.00
597		An illustration from a Shivapurana series: Sati casts herself into the fire to avenge the insult to her husband Shiva,	circa 1820	GBP 30,000.00 - 40,000.00	GBP 114,300.00
634		A domestic female fowl,	circa 1780	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 107,950.00
636		A grey heron (Ardea Cinerea),	circa 1780	GBP 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	GBP 107,950.00
637		An oriental darter (anhinga melanogaster),	circa 1780	GBP 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	GBP 107,950.00
503		A small illuminated Qur'an, Near East, Abbasid,	late 12th/early 13th century	GBP 80,000.00 - 120,000.00	GBP 101,600.00
576		A Princess Rewards Musical Performers, attributed to Muhammad Afzal,	circa 1735	GBP 25,000.00 - 35,000.00	GBP 101,600.00
631		A Eurasian Goshawk (Astur gentilis),	circa 1780	GBP 50,000.00 - 80,000.00	GBP 101,600.00
565		Afzal Khan 'Allami, attributed to Balchand,	circa 1638	GBP 50,000.00 - 70,000.00	GBP 95,250.00
502	Abu Nasr Isma'il ibn Hammad al-Jawhari	Taj al-lugha wa sihah al-arabiyya, ('The Crown of Language and the Correct Arabic'), volume 8, copied by Mansur ibn Jama',	577 AH/ 1181 AD	GBP 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	GBP 88,900.00
530	Sa'id ibn Hibat Allah ibn al-Husayn	Sa'id ibn Hibat Allah ibn al-Husayn (d.1101 AD), Kitab al-Mughni fi'l-Tibb, copied by Muhammad ibn Radwan ibn Radi ibn Layth, Near East,	707 AH/1308 AD	GBP 50,000.00 - 70,000.00	GBP 88,900.00

Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
29th January 2026

Forum, Jan. 29: Plato. [Apanta ta tou Platonos. Omnia Platonis opera], 2 parts in 2 vol., editio princeps of Plato's works in the original Greek, Venice, House of Aldus, 1513. £8,000-12,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, In Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, [Southern Netherlands (probably Bruges), c.1460]. £6,000-8,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Correspondence and documents by or addressed to the first four Viscounts Molesworth and members of their families, letters and manuscripts, 1690-1783. £10,000-15,000

Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
29th January 2026

Forum, Jan. 29: Shakespeare (William). The Dramatic Works, 9 vol., John and Josiah Boydell, 1802. £5,000-7,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Joyce (James). Ulysses, first edition, one of 750 copies on handmade paper, Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1922 £8,000-12,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Powell (Anthony). [A Dance to the Music of Time], 12 vol., first editions, each with a signed presentation inscription from the author to Osbert Lancaster, 1951-75. £6,000-8,000

Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
29th January 2026

Forum, Jan. 29: Chaucer (Geoffrey). Troilus and Criseyde, one of 225 copies on handmade paper, wood-engravings by Eric Gill, Waltham St.Lawrence, 1927. £3,000-4,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Borges (Jorge Luis). Luna de Enfrente, first edition, one of 300 copies, presentation copy signed by the author to Leopoldo Marechal, Buenos Aires, Editorial Proa, 1925. £3,000-4,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Nolli (Giovanni Battista). Nuova Pianta di Roma, Rome, 1748. £6,000-8,000

Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
29th January 2026

Forum, Jan. 29: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, 3 vol., first edition, 1842-49. £15,000-20,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Blacker (William). Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Published by the author, 1843. £3,000-4,000

Forum, Jan. 29: Herschel (Sir John F. W.) Collection of 69 offprints, extracts and separate publications by Herschel, bound for his son, William James Herschel, 3 vol., [1813-50]. £15,000-20,000
Sotheby’s
Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
27 January 2026

Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.

Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.

Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.

Sotheby’s
Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana
27 January 2026

Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.