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Purcell Auctioneers: Truly Exceptional Sale Of The Library Of An Irish Gentleman and Other Very Important Clients to include the World Renowned First Edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle (July, 1493) and Other Incunabula

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Truly Exceptional Sale Of The Library Of An Irish Gentleman and Other Very Important Clients to include the World Renowned First Edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle (July, 1493) and Other Incunabula	Total Sales (EUR)	256,193.75
Auction Date	November 26, 2025 - November 26, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (EUR)	125,640.00
Sale Number	#112625	High Estimate of Lots Sold (EUR)	215,120.00
Total Lots	344
Sold Lots	317.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (EUR)	136,810.00
% of Lots Sold	92.15%	High Estimate of All Lots (EUR)	232,190.00
Unsold Lots	27	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	110.34%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
124	Anton Koberger	INCUNABULA: The Nuremberg Chronicle	1493	EUR 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	EUR 43,750.00
23		Holinshed's Chronicles. First, Second and Third Volumes of Chronicles compromising in the first two vols. 1 The Desription and Historie of England		EUR 10,000.00 - 20,000.00	EUR 9,750.00
64	CHAUCER, Geoffrey (c.1343-1400)	The Workes of Geoffrey Chaucer Newly Printed	c 1550	EUR 400.00 - 800.00	EUR 9,000.00
116	J.G.	Some philosophical considerations touching the being of witches and witchcraft written in a letter to the much honour'd Robert Hunt, Esq.	1667	EUR 100.00 - 200.00	EUR 8,500.00
221		INCUNABULA: Boethius's The Consolation Of Philosophy	1484	EUR 800.00 - 1,600.00	EUR 6,750.00
74		The Odyssey of Homer; The Iliad of Homer Homer (Alexander Pope, translator)		EUR 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	EUR 5,875.00
157		Very Early Printing: Book of Hours: Hours for the Use of Rome - Hours of the Conception of Our Lady and the fifteen prayers of Saint Brigid	c.1512	EUR 5,000.00 - 10,000.00	EUR 5,875.00
70	John Neuhoff and John Ogilby	Master of the Rolls in the Kingdom of Ireland	1673	EUR 4,000.00 - 5,000.00	EUR 5,500.00
79	Alexander De Hales (Alexander Alensis)	INCUNABULA - Summa Theologica	Completed August 23rd, 1483	EUR 2,000.00 - 4,000.00	EUR 5,125.00
260	Fisher (John)	Assertiones Lutheranea Confutatio	1526	EUR 2,000.00 - 4,000.00	EUR 5,000.00
181	St. Thomas Aquinas	INCUNABULA: Beatitudo Eternitatis		EUR 1,000.00 - 2,000.00	EUR 4,750.00
127	Johannes de Verdena	INCUNABULA: Sermones Dormi Secure De Tempore Et De Sanctis	c.1484	EUR 1,500.00 - 2,500.00	EUR 3,500.00
47	Lucio Anneo Seneca	INCUNABULA: Seneca Moralis. Rubrication in red and blue	October 5, 1490	EUR 800.00 - 1,600.00	EUR 3,250.00
170	Caracciolo, Roberto	INCUNABULA: Sermones Roberti de Francis	1490	EUR 800.00 - 1,600.00	EUR 3,250.00
268		INCUNABULA: Missale published 1494	1500	EUR 300.00 - 600.00	EUR 3,250.00
131		THE HUTH COPY MESSINGHAM, Thomas	1624	EUR 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	EUR 2,750.00
206	HANDEL, George Frideric	L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato. In Three parts. Set to Musick by Mr. Handel	1741	EUR 2,000.00 - 4,000.00	EUR 2,750.00
41	JAMES I, King of England (1566-1625)	The Workes Of The Most High And Mighty Prince, James	1616	EUR 300.00 - 600.00	EUR 2,375.00
119	ASCHAM (ROGER)	The Schoolemaster, or, Playne and Pefite Way of Teaching Children, to Understande, Write, and Speake the Latine Toong, but Specially Purposed for the Private Bringing up of Youth in Gentlemen and Noblemens Houses	(dated 1589)	EUR 400.00 - 600.00	EUR 2,250.00
207	[SWIFT, Jonathan]	An Epistle to a Lady, who desired the Author to make Verses on her, in the Heroick Style. Also a poem, occasion'd by reading Dr. Young's satires, called The Universal Passion	1734	EUR 2,000.00 - 4,000.00	EUR 2,250.00
264		Very Fine Binding	1547	EUR 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	EUR 2,187.50
66	Johnson, Ben	Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, Acted In The Yeare	1614	EUR 800.00 - 1,800.00	EUR 2,125.00
214		Leviathan or The Matter, Forme & Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civill by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury	1651	EUR 200.00 - 400.00	EUR 2,125.00
89	David Roberts	The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia	1855	EUR 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	EUR 2,000.00
72	Greville, Fulke Baron Brooke	Certaine Learned And Elegant Workes Of The Right Honorable Fulke Lord Brooke, Written in his Youth, and familiar Exercise with Sir Philip Sidney	1633	EUR 350.00 - 550.00	EUR 1,875.00

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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