Lyon and Turnbull: The Library of James Stirling, Mathematician
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | The Library of James Stirling, Mathematician | Total Sales (GBP) | 812,712.60 |
| Auction Date | October 23, 2025 - October 23, 2025 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP) | 274,950.00 |
| Sale Number | #878 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP) | 416,300.00 |
| Total Lots | 160 | ||
| Sold Lots | 140.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP) | 282,150.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 87.50% | High Estimate of All Lots (GBP) | 427,400.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 20 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | 190.15% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Newton, Sir Isaac | Analysis per quantitatum series, fluxiones, ac differentias |
1711 | GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 | GBP 100,800.00 |
| 52 | Stirling, James (1692-1770) | 'Methodus Differentialis sive Tractatus de Summatione et Interpolatione Serierum Infinitarum' |
c.1730 | GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 | GBP 50,400.00 |
| 53 | Stirling, James (1692-1770) | Methodus Differentialis sive Tractatus de Summatione et Interpolatione Serierum Infinitarum |
1730 | GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 | GBP 45,360.00 |
| 1 | Newton, Sir Isaac | Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica |
1726 | GBP 10,000.00 - 20,000.00 | GBP 42,840.00 |
| 153 | John Clark | Y Very rare Scottish George II cased silver simple 'pocket' microscope |
Circa 1749-1754 | GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 | GBP 42,840.00 |
| 51 | Stirling, James (1692-1770) | Mathematical notebooks |
1988 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 37,800.00 |
| 17 | Maclaurin, Colin (1698-1746) | Ten autograph letters signed to James Stirling |
7th December 1728 | GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 | GBP 35,280.00 |
| 150 | Stirling-Maxwell, Sir William | Annals of the Artists of Spain |
1848-7 | GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 | GBP 27,720.00 |
| 71 | Hutton, James | The Theory of the Earth, from the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |
[c.1787] | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 25,200.00 |
| 20 | Euler, Leonhard (1707-1783) | Two autograph letters signed to James Stirling |
8th June 1736 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 23,940.00 |
| 62 | Stirling, James (1692-1770) | The Scots Mining Company - Archive of letters and paperwork relating to the management of Leadhills Mine |
GBP 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 | GBP 23,940.00 | |
| 72 | Stirling, James (1692-1770) | Collection of manuscript notebooks on weights and measures |
GBP 12,000.00 - 16,000.00 | GBP 23,940.00 | |
| 29 | Bernoulli, Nicolaus (1687-1759) | Three autograph letters signed to James Stirling |
29th April 1719 | GBP 1,500.00 - 2,000.00 | GBP 20,160.00 |
| 9 | Newton, Sir Isaac | De mundi systemate |
1728 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 13,860.00 |
| 60 | Agricola, Georgius | De ortu et causis subterraneorum lib. v |
1546 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 12,600.00 |
| 125 | Hume, David | Political Discourses |
1752 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 8,820.00 |
| 18 | Maclaurin, Colin (1698-1746) | Autograph letter signed on the priority dispute with George Campbell over the impossible roots of equations |
11th February 1728 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 8,190.00 |
| 25 | Galilei, Galileo | Opere |
1718 | GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 | GBP 8,190.00 |
| 41 | Bacon, Roger | Opus majus ad Clementem Quartum Pontificem Romanum |
1733 | GBP 1,200.00 - 1,800.00 | GBP 8,190.00 |
| 47 | Moivre, Abraham de | Annuities upon Lives |
1725 | GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 | GBP 8,190.00 |
| 151 | Cased silver-mounted lodestone |
Mid-18th century | GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 | GBP 8,190.00 | |
| 16 | Maclaurin, Colin | A Treatise of Fluxions |
1742 | GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 | GBP 7,560.00 |
| 56 | Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de | Discours sur les differentes figures des astres |
1732 | GBP 1,000.00 - 1,500.00 | GBP 7,560.00 |
| 6 | Newton, Sir Isaac | A Treatise of the Method of Fluxions and Infinite Series |
1737 | GBP 1,000.00 - 1,500.00 | GBP 6,930.00 |
| 21 | Cramer, Gabriel (1704-1752) | Ten autograph letters signed to James Stirling |
11th/22nd October, 1728 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 6,930.00 |
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/0a99416d-9c0f-4fa3-afdd-7532ca8a2b2c.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.")
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/a077b4a5-0477-4c47-9847-0158cf045843.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!")
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/6363a735-e622-4d0a-852e-07cef58eccbe.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.")
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/3ee16d5b-a2ec-4c03-aeb6-aa3fcfec3a5e.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.")
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d5f50485-7faa-423f-af0c-803b964dd2ba.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.")
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/fb024365-7d7a-4510-9859-9d26b5c266cf.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].")
![<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/a7c0eda0-9d8b-43ac-a504-58923308d5a4.jpg "<b>Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4:</b> PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
