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Bonhams: Fine Books and Manuscripts
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | Fine Books and Manuscripts | Total Sales (GBP) | 793,997.20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Date | July 01, 2026 - July 01, 2026 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP) | 386,200.00 |
| Sale Number | #32105 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP) | 583,400.00 |
| Total Lots | 179 | ||
| Sold Lots | 145.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP) | 480,900.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 81.01% | High Estimate of All Lots (GBP) | 720,400.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 34 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | 110.22% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | Shakespeare William | Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies |
1685 | GBP 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 | GBP 121,050.00 |
| 157 | Tolkien J.R.R. | The Hobbit or There and Back Again |
[1937, but 1938] | GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 | GBP 38,400.00 |
| 158 | Tolkien J.R.R. | 3 Books, including: The Fellowship of the Ring |
[1965-1966] | GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 | GBP 28,160.00 |
| 170 | Woolf Virginia | The Waves |
1931 | GBP 800.00 - 1,200.00 | GBP 25,600.00 |
| 62 | Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft | Autograph letter signed to John Howard Payne |
1826 | GBP 7,000.00 - 10,000.00 | GBP 24,320.00 |
| 32 | Einstein Albert | Autograph letter signed |
1925 | GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 | GBP 23,040.00 |
| 161 | Tolkien J.R.R. | 3 Books, including: The Fellowship of the Ring |
1970 | GBP 15,000.00 - 25,000.00 | GBP 21,760.00 |
| 81 | Nelson Horatio | Autograph letter signed to Thomas Masterman Hardy |
1803 | GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 | GBP 19,200.00 |
| 160 | Tolkien J.R.R. | The Hobbit |
1970 | GBP 15,000.00 - 25,000.00 | GBP 17,920.00 |
| 63 | Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft | Autograph letter signed to an unknown recipient |
1838 | GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 | GBP 14,080.00 |
| 124 | Joyce James | Autograph postcard signed |
1939 | GBP 7,000.00 - 10,000.00 | GBP 12,160.00 |
| 159 | Tolkien J.R.R. | Autograph letter signed |
late summer/autumn 1970 | GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 | GBP 12,160.00 |
| 49 | Dickens Charles | Autograph quotation |
1852 | GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 | GBP 11,520.00 |
| 175 | Dust-Jackets |
N/A | GBP 600.00 - 800.00 | GBP 11,520.00 | |
| 116 | Fitzgerald F. Scott | 44 Books, including: The Great Gatsby |
1925 | GBP 1,500.00 - 2,000.00 | GBP 10,880.00 |
| 188 | Waugh Evelyn | A Handful of Dust |
[1931] | GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 | GBP 8,960.00 |
| 73 | Norris John | A Collection of Miscellanies |
1687 | GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 | GBP 8,320.00 |
| 83 | Crofton William | Autograph diary kept by Captain the Hon William Crofton |
1809-1814 | GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | GBP 8,320.00 |
| 90 | Wildman Thomas | Papers pertaining to Captain Thomas Wildman |
1815 | GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 | GBP 8,320.00 |
| 136 | Orwell George | N Books, including: Down and Out in Paris and London |
1933; 1936; 1939; 1945; 1949 | GBP 1,500.00 - 2,000.00 | GBP 8,320.00 |
| 144 | Rowling J.K. | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
[1997] | GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 | GBP 8,320.00 |
| 105 | Chagall Marc; Leymarie Jean | Monotypes 1961-1965 |
[1966] | GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 | GBP 7,680.00 |
| 167 | Wilde Oscar | Autograph letter signed |
[c.early 1890's] | GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 | GBP 7,680.00 |
| 172 | The Book of Heroes |
1941 | GBP 2,000.00 - 4,000.00 | GBP 7,680.00 | |
| 89 | Wedgwood Thomas | Autograph letter signed from Ensign Thomas Wedgwood |
1815 | GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 | GBP 7,040.00 |
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Sotheby’s
Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
25 June – July 7Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000. -
Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000 -
Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000