A Selection of Rare Books from the Arader Galleries.
The Arader Galleries has offered A Selection of Rare Books for the fall and winter season. While we're a tad late, it is still winter, and the books are still as enticing as ever. A few of them could fairly be described as for collectors of well above average budgets, but for those with more in their bank accounts than on their bookshelves, there are some worthy trades to be made. The Arader Galleries offer top tier material in top condition, always the preference of collectors at the highest end. Here are a few.
We will start with the most notable of all American color plate books, John James Audubon's The Birds of America. Offered is a first octavo edition, published 1840-44. Audubon was both a great ornithologist and artist. Originally, he published his work in a larger, double elephant folio size. It was spectacular, but the cost of production was so great he was forced to sell the work at a price few could afford. Audubon made no money for his efforts until he conceived of the idea of selling his book in a reduced size, octavo format. The octavo version was a financial success for Audubon, making him if not wealthy, at least prosperous. The octavo edition was not merely a scaled down version of the elephant folio, but one to which Audubon added 65 new plates, raising the total to 500. All are hand colored. A first octavo Birds of America is not inexpensive, this one being priced at $145,000. However, it should be noted that this is pocket change compared to the elephant folio, the world's most expensive printed book, a copy having been sold last month at auction for over $11 million.
From drawings of birds we go to those of flowers, a collection of proof copies of the plates for Gerard van Spaendonck's Fleurs dessinees d'apres nature... This book was published around 1800. Offered is a copy of the proofs with a manuscript title Fleurs de G. Van Spaendonck. These 25 stipple engraved plates are in the original black and white (most copies were colored). Spaendonck's work is exceedingly rare, and the man himself is not that well known despite his great artistic talent. However, he was a notable influence on and supporter of Redoute, the great illustrator of roses whose prints bring great prices today. $58,500.
John Lawson provided one of the earliest looks at the Carolinas in The History of Carolina… This is a first edition, second issue, published in 1714 (five years after the first issue). Lawson sailed from England to Charleston in 1700, and then proceeded on a 600-mile inland journey through what was mainly wilderness. He wasn't the first to travel the interior regions, but he provided the earliest detailed account, paying particular note of its natural history and Indian tribes. He became a surveyor in what is now North Carolina and helped found some of its earliest settlements. On one of his surveying missions in 1711, Lawson ran into problems with the Tuscarora Indians and was killed. $57,500.
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. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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: 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…
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
