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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: Fine Bindings, 1st Editions, Science, Philosophy, Art, Photography, Fishing

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Fine Bindings, 1st Editions, Science, Philosophy, Art, Photography, Fishing	Total Sales (AUD)	44,977.05
Auction Date	October 26, 2025 - October 26, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	52,475.00
Sale Number	#165A	High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	74,730.00
Total Lots	400
Sold Lots	230.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	92,595.00
% of Lots Sold	57.50%	High Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	132,320.00
Unsold Lots	170	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	33.99%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
21		Collection of approximately 110 surveyor's notebooks from the fifties and the sixties, from the firm Bennett and O'Donnell based in Chatswood		AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 2,413.00
118	Albert Einstein	The Meaning of Relativity Four Lectures Delivered At Princeton University, May, 1922		AUD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00	AUD 1,651.00
143	Edgar Allan Poe, John H Ingram, editor	The Works Of Edgar Allan Poe Edited by John H Ingram	1883	AUD 600.00 - 700.00	AUD 1,016.00
146	Charles Dickins	A complete set of The Works of Charles Dickins Bound in 13 Volumes	1860s	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	AUD 952.50
61		The S.A. White Ornithology Collection	Originally published 1866-1870	AUD 750.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 825.50
76	Reverend Richard Whately, D.D	Two books by the Anglican pastor Reverend Richard Whately, D.D., sometime Archbishop of Dublin and a moral philosopher opposed to convict transportation to the Australian colonies	1832	AUD 500.00 - 750.00	AUD 825.50
104	Robert Hall	Australian Bird Maps	1922	AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 762.00
141	George Bell	The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson Comprising His Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations in Two Volumes Published in London in 1962		AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 698.50
147	William Makepeace Thackeray	The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray in Twelve Volumes	1884	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 698.50
227	Edward Gibbon	The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire	1872	AUD 700.00 - 900.00	AUD 698.50
293	Ian Fleming	Dr No	1958	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 698.50
129		The Life of Quong Tart, or, How a Foreigner succeeded in a British Community	1911	AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 635.00
145	Marryat	A 14 volume set of Marryat's works		AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 635.00
346	Shackleton	The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909	1909	AUD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 635.00
170	Cressida Campbell, Peter Crayford, editor	The Woodblock Painting of Cressida Campbell	2009	AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 571.50
65	BARNETT, P.	Neville. Australian Book-Plates and Book-Plates of Interest to Australia	1950	AUD 500.00 - 750.00	AUD 539.75
106		The Channel Country of South-West Queensland With Special Reference to Cooper's Creek		AUD 600.00 - 800.00	AUD 539.75
109		The Victorian Contractors' and Builders' Price-Book, Containing A Universal and permanent Price-List For Labor Only	1859	AUD 500.00 - 600.00	AUD 539.75
132	Edward Maxted	The Benevolent Society of New South Wales Sketches of the Poor by Edward Maxted Manager	1902	AUD 750.00 - 800.00	AUD 508.00
77		A nice group of eight books on T.E. Lawrence of Arabia: A Brief Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force Under the Command of General Sir Edmund H.H. Allenby	1919	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 476.25
133	Edward Maxted	A Winter Sport	1894	AUD 600.00 - 800.00	AUD 476.25
338	Frederick Jackson	A Thousand Days in the Arctic by Frederick Jackson with preface by Sir F Leopold McClintock	1899	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 476.25
103		About 23 Australian Art Catalogues		AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 444.50
139		The Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales, Illustrated, Embracing Sketches and Portraits of Her Noted People...	1888	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 444.50
153	Charles Knight	Half-Hours With The Best Authors	1860s	AUD 600.00 - 700.00	AUD 444.50

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.
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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