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Sothebys: Books, Manuscripts and Music

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Books, Manuscripts and Music	Total Sales (GBP)	2,310,553.00
Auction Date	December 11, 2025 - December 11, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	1,355,500.00
Sale Number	#L25401	High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	1,950,000.00
Total Lots	162
Sold Lots	127.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	1,741,500.00
% of Lots Sold	78.40%	High Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	2,489,000.00
Unsold Lots	35	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	92.83%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
95	J.K. Rowling	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London	1997	GBP 100,000.00 - 150,000.00	GBP 253,999.00
76	Darwin, Charles and Alfred Russel Wallace	On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection [1858-59]	1859	GBP 100,000.00 - 150,000.00	GBP 228,600.00
5	Bible, Latin	Biblia Latina, a bifolium printed on vellum from the Gutenberg or 42-line Bible.	c.1454-1455	GBP 70,000.00 - 90,000.00	GBP 215,899.00
147	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the finale of the Piano Quartet in E flat, K.493, FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF PAUL HIRSCH	1786	GBP 150,000.00 - 200,000.00	GBP 177,799.00
66	Tsar Alexander II and Catherine Dolgorukova	Correspondence between Tsar Alexander II and his lover Catherine Dolgorukova,	1866-1879	GBP 100,000.00 - 150,000.00	GBP 120,649.00
77	Charles Darwin	On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life	1859	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 76,200.00
141	Franz Liszt	Remarkable collection of 28 autograph letters and notes, signed ("F. Liszt"; "FL"), in French, to the composer's close friend and confidante Baroness Olga von Meyendorff	1863-1886	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 53,340.00
134	Johannes Brahms	Autograph manuscript signed of the songs 'Sehnsucht', op.14 no.8, and 'Trost in Tranen', op.48 no.5, for voice and piano, FORMERLY IN THE CELEBRATED COLLECTION OF LOUIS KOCH	1858	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 44,449.00
130	Ludwig van Beethoven	Fine characteristic autograph letter signed ("Beethoven"), to his friend Nikolaus von Zmeskall, dated by the recipient '28 8br.	1810	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 38,100.00
88		A silver teaspoon owned by Captain F.R.M. Crozier		GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	GBP 35,559.00
108	Ian Fleming	Live and Let Die	1954	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 35,559.00
107	Ian Fleming	Casino Royale.	1953	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 33,019.00
79	Albert Einstein	Autograph letter signed, to Alfred Bucherer, ON HIS CONFIRMATION OF EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF SPECIAL RELATIVITY	12 September 1908, former folds and slight creasing, remains of mount	GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	GBP 27,939.00
80	Albert Einstein	Autograph letter signed ("A. Einstein"), to Alfred Bucherer	25 November 1908, slight splitting at folds, fraying at outer edge, light creasing, remains of mount	GBP 18,000.00 - 26,000.00	GBP 27,939.00
143	Jules Massenet	Autograph manuscript full score, signed, of the incidental music to Georges Rivollet's play Jerusalem, UNPUBLISHED	1911	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 27,939.00
62	Virgil---Gavin Douglas (translator)	The xiii bukes of Eneados of the famose poete Virgill translatet out of Latyne verses into Scottish metir, bi the Reuerend Father in God, Mayster Gawin Douglas Bishop of Dunkel	1553	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 25,399.00
111	Ian Fleming	Diamonds Are Forever.	1956	GBP 12,000.00 - 18,000.00	GBP 24,129.00
148	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Paul Hirsch (collector, bibliophile and Mozartian, 1881-1951)	The Frankfurt and Cambridge autograph guest books and chamber-music notebooks of Paul Hirsch	1897-1967	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 24,129.00
100	E.H. Shepard	Suite of three original illustrations for Now We Are Six, pen and ink drawings on paper, comprising:	1927	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 22,860.00
20	Gabriel Doppelmayr	Atlas novus coelestis in quo mundus spectabilis, et in eodem tam errantium quam inerrantium stellarum phoenomena notabilia, crica ipsarum lumen.	1742	GBP 12,000.00 - 18,000.00	GBP 21,589.00
97	J.K. Rowling	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	1997	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 21,589.00
118	Ian Fleming	Thunderball.	1961	GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00	GBP 21,589.00
82	Albert Einstein	Autograph letter signed ("A. Einstein"), to Alfred Bucherer	29 October 1917, splitting at folds, small tear in upper corner, some creasing, remains of mount	GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	GBP 20,319.00
106	Oscar Wilde	Intentions... The Decay of Lying, Pen Pencil and Poison, The Critic as Artist, The Truth of Masks	1891	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 20,319.00
136	Fryderyk Chopin	Autograph letter signed ("F. Chopin"), to his publisher Maurice Schlesinger in Paris	1844?	GBP 5,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 20,319.00

Dominic Winter
Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
28th January 2026

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 26. Company School. An album of 85 Indian mica paintings, Madras, c. 1852. £700-1,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 28. Ross & Hooker. Notes on the Botany of the Antarctic Voyage, 1st edition, 1843. £4,000-6,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 44. Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 volumes, 1st edition, 1862-73. £30,000-40,000

Dominic Winter
Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
28th January 2026

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 72. Edwards (George). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds… [and] Gleanings of Natural History, 7 volumes, 1st edition, 1743-64. £7,000-10,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 87. Walcott (Charles D. et al.). Geologic Atlas of the United States, 227-volume set, U.S. Geological Survey, 1894-1945. £500-800

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 236. A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew…, By B. E. Gent., 1st edition, [1699]. £3,000-4,000

Dominic Winter
Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
28th January 2026

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 245. Frost Fair Broadside. Upon the Frost in the Year 1739-40, Printed on the Ice upon the Thames at Queen-Hithe, 1739/40. £1,500-2,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 270. Micheli (Antonino di). La Nuova Chitarra di Regole…, 1st edition, Palermo, 1680. £10,000-15,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 280. Elgar (Edward). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, [1910], signed presentation copy. £500-800

Dominic Winter
Books, Maps, Documents & Autographs
Ornithology, Music, Bookplates
28th January 2026

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 282 - Griffes (Charles). Autograph Manuscript Score for Overture to Hänsel und Gretel, c. 1910. £2,000-3,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 304. Churchill (Winston). A terracotta maquette of Churchill by Oscar Nemon, c. 1955. £1,500-2,000

Dominic Winter, Jan. 28: Lot 364 - Russian Imperial Archaeological Commission. Mecheti Samarkanda..., Fascicule I Gour-Emir, St. Petersburg, 1905. £2,000-3,000
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.
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