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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: History, Science, Mining, Exploration, Zines, Beer and Wine, Photographs and more

Auction Reports


Auction Name	History, Science, Mining, Exploration, Zines, Beer and Wine, Photographs and more	Total Sales (AUD)	61,918.85
Auction Date	November 30, 2025 - November 30, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	63,210.00
Sale Number	#A167	High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	89,910.00
Total Lots	513
Sold Lots	236.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	144,870.00
% of Lots Sold	46.00%	High Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	206,240.00
Unsold Lots	277	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	30.02%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
13	compiled Robert Logan Jack	Eight Parliamentary Papers compiled by Robert Logan Jack	1870s and 1880s.	AUD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00	AUD 8,890.00
39		An archive relating to the missionary activities of Albert Grieg and his wife in China, active from 1896 to 1927.	1896-1927.	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	AUD 2,921.00
509		Victa Lawn Mower Archive 1) The Victa Organisation Australia 1963 - Mowers and Exporters.		AUD 500.00 - 600.00	AUD 2,667.00
413		The Frontier Edition of Ion L Idriess.	No date, 1951	AUD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00	AUD 1,905.00
133		The Devil's Steps by Arthur Upfield.	1948	AUD 250.00 - 350.00	AUD 1,397.00
65	STURT, Charles.	Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, during the Years 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1831: with observations on the soil, climate, and general resources of the colony of New South Wales by Capt. Charles Sturt.	1833	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,250.00	AUD 1,079.50
327	Charmian Clift	Walk to the Paradise Gardens		AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 1,079.50
11		Bulletin De La Societe Geologique De France !833 to 1854. 22 volumes.	!833 to 1854	AUD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 952.50
378	LORENTZ, H. A., EINSTEIN, Albert, MINKIWSKI, H. and WEYL, H.	The Principle of Relativity : A Collection of Original Memoirs on the Special and General Theory of Relativity.	1923	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 952.50
411	Frank Clune.	Scandals Of Sydney Town		AUD 500.00 - 600.00	AUD 698.50
7	[UNKNOWN COMPILER].	Armorials of Somerset.	1800	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 635.00
71		An Account of The Polynesian Race. Its Origin and Migration and the Ancient History of the Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I.		AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 635.00
134		The Bone is Pointed by Arthur Upfield.	1938	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 635.00
202	Charles Darwin	Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, Under the Command of Capt. Fitz Roy, R.N.	1845	AUD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 635.00
311		The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited reports 1885-1890 and 1981-1896.		AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 571.50
164		A collection of Australian postcards.	c.1900-1920s	AUD 300.00 - 500.00	AUD 539.75
201	Charles Darwin.	The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication.	1875	AUD 700.00 - 800.00	AUD 508.00
488	Charles Dickens.	A Christmas Carol. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.		AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 508.00
209		The History of Ballarat From The First Pastoral Settlement To The Present Time by William Bramwell Withers Second Edition with Plans, Illustrations, and Original Documents.	1887	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 476.25
451		The Songs of Scotland: Ancient and Modern by All Cunningham.	1825	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 476.25
223	J H Maiden	The Useful Native Plants of Australia (Including Tasmania)	1889	AUD 700.00 - 800.00	AUD 444.50
60	SPENCER, Baldwin and F.J. GILLEN.	The Northern Tribes of Central Australia.	1904	AUD 500.00 - 750.00	AUD 412.75
210		Gippsland Heritage Journal.	1986-1993	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 412.75
337		An appreciation by W. H. Langham.		AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 412.75
4		Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by James Boswell with Samuel Johnson's poetical pieces relative to the tour.	1785	AUD 600.00 - 700.00	AUD 381.00

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
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.