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Bonhams: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana

Auction Reports

Auction Name	Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana	Total Sales (USD)	1,045,696.00
Auction Date	December 18, 2025 - December 18, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)	551,300.00
Sale Number	#31200	High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)	842,700.00
Total Lots	261
Sold Lots	224.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (USD)	949,900.00
% of Lots Sold	85.82%	High Estimate of All Lots (USD)	1,446,000.00
Unsold Lots	37	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	72.32%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
251	WAGNER, RICHARD. 1813-1883.	Autograph Manuscript in German, 7 1/2 pages,	1874-1875,	USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	USD 40,960.00
168	HEMINGWAY, ERNEST. 1899-1961.	A Farewell to Arms.	1929	USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00	USD 38,400.00
227	SHEPARD, ERNEST H. 1879-1976.	Preliminary drawing in pencil, Pooh gathering fir-cones to drop into the river, from The Pooh Story Book	1965	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 35,840.00
207	SAINT-EXUPERY, ANTOINE DE. 1900-1944.	Le Petit Prince.	1943	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 30,720.00
158	BURNS, ROBERT. 1759-1796.	Autograph Manuscript Poem, "Sketch. NewYearDay. To Mrs. Dunlop,"		USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	USD 28,160.00
232	LIBERALE DE VERONA. 1445-1526/29.	Illuminated manuscript on vellum, being David in prayer in an initial S, a historiated initial cut from a large-format choirbook,		USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	USD 23,040.00
90	LAFAYETTE, GILBERT DE MOTIER, MARQUIS DE. 1757-1834.	Autograph Letter Signed ("Lafayette") to Col Joseph Vose unnamed giving marching orders to head for Trenton where they will reunite,		USD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	USD 21,760.00
164	GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. 1749-1832.	Die Leiden des jungen Werthers.	1774	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 21,760.00
208	SAINT-EXUPERY, ANTOINE DE. 1900-1944.	The Little Prince.	1943	USD 5,000.00 - 8,000.00	USD 21,760.00
119	THUCYDIDES. ca 460-400 BCE.	History of the Peloponnesian War.	1930	USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00	USD 20,480.00
178	KING, STEPHEN. b. 1947.	A complete set of signed limited first editions of King's The Dark Tower series including:		USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 20,480.00
254	EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955.	Autograph letter signed ("Albert") to Hans Albert Einstein, Berlin, 21 January 1928. On physics and relativity.	21 January 1928	USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	USD 19,200.00
88	JONES, JOHN. 1729-1791.	Plain Concise Practical Remarks on the Treatment of Wounds and Fractures.	1776	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 17,920.00
246	SMITH, ADAM. 1723-1790	An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.	1778	USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 17,920.00
114		Quatre Histoires de Blanc et Noir.	1926	USD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	USD 16,640.00
219	WILDE, OSCAR. 1854-1900.	Autograph Manuscript, being a partial draft of an untitled prose-poem or tale: "Every morning the Poet person went out of the gate of the city, and went into the waste land and wandered through it..."		USD 7,000.00 - 10,000.00	USD 16,640.00
98	PRANG, LOUIS. 1824-1909; HOMER, WINSLOW. 1836-1910. et al.	American Card Album.	1864	USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 15,360.00
95	ADAMS, JOHN. 1735-1826.	Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont, whose father had provided Adams and Benjamin Franklin lodging in Passy at the Hotel Valentinois during the crucial years of the Revolutionary War,		USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 14,080.00
199	NABOKOV, VLADIMIR. 1899-1977; NABOKOV, VERA. 1902-1991.	Archive of 28 typed letters signed or autograph notes signed ("V." or "V. and V." or "Vera" and "Volodya") to Peter and Joan De Peterson		USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00	USD 14,080.00
215	STEIG, WILLIAM. 1907-2003.	58 original ink and wash drawings for About People, each individually titled by the artist in pencil with printers' notes on versos,		USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 12,800.00
126	TERIADE, editor.	Verve: Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Nos 1-38.	1937-1960.	USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	USD 12,160.00
205	RACKHAM, ARTHUR. 1867-1939.	Original watercolor, "All amidst the Gardens fair; Of Hesperus, and his daughters three; That sing about the golden tree, executed for his edition of Milton's Comus,		USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 11,520.00
99	GARDNER, ALEXANDER, Photographer; TIMOTHY O'SULLIVAN, Assistant; ABRAHAM LINCOLN.	Large contemporary photograph captioned in a contemporary hand on the mount, "The execution of the conspirators of President Lincoln, Jail yard, Washington D.C. July 7	1865	USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	USD 10,880.00
159	CHEKHOV, MICHAEL. 1891-1955.	Illustrated Autograph Manuscript on paper, in Russian, "Skazka pro to, kak krivda chodko po zemle raspolzaetsia" in English, "A Tale About Lies and How Swiftly They Spread Across the Earth",		USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	USD 10,240.00
242	NEWTON, ISAAC 1643-1727.	Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica...Editio tertia aucta & emendata	1726	USD 7,000.00 - 10,000.00	USD 10,240.00

Books & Autographs
Wednesday 25 March

Koller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.

Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.

Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.

Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000

Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000.
Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026

Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.

Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026

Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.

Forum Auctions
Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
25 March 2026

Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.

Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.