• Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Books from a Distinguished Private Library
    28 November 2023
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Captain Thomas Brown | Illustrations of the American ornithology. £80000-120000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: William Hamilton | Campi phlegraei. £40000-60000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Nicola Zabaglia and Domenico Fontana | Castelli, e ponti con alcune ingegnose pratiche. £6000-8000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, German | Nuremberg: Koberger, 1483. £40000-60000
    Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, English | King James version. £8000-12000
  • Chiswick Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th Nov. 2023
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 150
    Simpson (William). India Ancient and Modern, 2 vol., 50 chromo-lithographed plates, 1867 Est. £15,000 - £20,000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 32
    St. James the Apostle, large historiated initial ‘A’ on vellum from a monumental Lectionary of Martyrology. [mid C.12th.] Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 257
    Gill (Eric) Artist, Sculpture & Illustrator. Crucifixion. original drawing/watercolour. n.d. Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 254
    Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, second impression, inc. dust jacket, 1953 Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    29th Nov. 2023
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 209
    Forster, (E.M.) Correspondence from Forster to Bob Buckingham’s family, with books from the library of Forster and Buckingham including presentation and signed copies. Est. £4000 - £6000
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 67
    Churchill (W.S.) Freedom of Blackpool, 7 records relating to Churchill’s Honorary Freedom of Blackpool, Sept. and Oct. 1946, with related ephemera. Est. £800 - £1200
    Chiswick Auctions, Nov. 29: Lot 104
    America.- Cator (Joseph). Manuscript account of a journey from Jamaica through North America to Boston, Mass. and to England, April—August 1764. Est. £2000 - £3000
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining, Philadelphia, 1846. $3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: 17th–19th-century case maps of various locations. $1,500 to $2,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Andreas Cellarius, Haemisphaerium Stellatum Boreale Cum Subiecto Haemisphaerio Terrestri, celestial chart, Amsterdam, 1708. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Vincenzo Coronelli, Set of engraved gores for Coronelli’s monumental 42-inch terrestrial globe, Venice, circa 1688–97. $18,000 to $22,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, group of four navigational charts, Antwerp, 1580s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Thomas Bros, Block Book of Berkeley, Oakland, 1920s. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Nieuhoff & John Ogilby, An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, map of China, plan of Canton, London, 1673. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Frederick Sander, Reichenbachia, St. Albans, 1888-1894. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Two early illustrated works on horsemanship and breeding, Nuremberg, early 18th century. $700 to $800.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Gould, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans. Supplement to the First Edition, London, 1834; 1855. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, London, 1808–14. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Oakley Hoopes Bailey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Boston, 1896. $800 to $1,200.

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2013 Issue

A Spring Miscellany from Sotheran's

Sotheran's Spring Miscellany and Fleur Cowles' Library.

Henry Sotheran Limited, aka Sotheran's, has issued a Spring Miscellany 2013, Including a Supplement of Books from the Library of Fleur Cowles. Along with the library of Ms. Cowles, there are also several books that came from the library of the great movie actress Marlene Dietrich. This catalogue is truly a miscellany, with a great variety of material. Even the section dedicated to Ms. Cowles' library is a miscellany, as she collected a wide range of books. So, without further attempt to describe the catalogue, we will move on to describe a few of the items found within its pages.

Speaking of Ms. Dietrich, item 14 is her copy of Cecil Beaton Diaries 1922-1939. Beaton was a notable portrait and fashion photographer, which brought him into contact with many famous personalities of his day. Among them was Ms. Dietrich. They became good friends and admired each other's work. Beaton also kept diaries, which he generously published. Not everyone named in them necessarily appreciated the publicity. Ms. Dietrich didn't have to worry, as she does not appear in this volume. This copy has a posthumous bookplate of Ms. Dietrich's library, along with a letter of provenance from her grandson. This book has the stamp of the Cunard Steamship Company dated July 1961, along with a note written in Dietrich's hand - “Nyce B-58/Please return!” Evidently she did not return it to the Cunard library, but we will assume it was a gift to her for traveling with them. Priced at £398 (British pounds, or approximately $606 in U.S. currency).

In the first few years after the First World War, fought from the air with what was still the most primitive of airplanes, Winston Churchill was already foreseeing the horrors that advanced technology would eventually bring to warfare. Item 31 is a copy of his Shall we Commit Suicide? published in 1924. This is a first separate edition of the essay originally published in a magazine. Writes Churchill, “Might not a bomb no bigger than an orange be found to possess secret power to destroy a whole block of buildings nay, to blast a township at a stroke?” Welcome to the nuclear age, beginning in about 20 more years. Churchill goes on to say, “Could not explosives...be guided automatically in flying machines...?” Yes they could, as the development of guided missiles and drones has displayed. He also expresses his concerns about future developments in poison gasses and chemical warfare. £750 (US $1,142).

Item 140 is an unusually formatted book by children's author Beatrix Potter. She only used it twice. It is an accordion folded book, that opens up into a panorama of 14 illustrations and 14 pages of text. The format was popular, though unwieldy, and booksellers did not like it, hence it only being used twice. This one is The Story of Miss Moppet, the first U.K. edition, published in 1906. £1,200 (US $1,827).

This next item is filled with irony, and probably inspiration for its author: Fake! The story of Elmyr de Hory the Greatest Art Forger of our time. Mr. de Hory was about to matched by the author, Clifford Irving. De Hory was an artist who claimed to have sold a thousand forged artworks to various galleries around the world. Irving and de Hory became friendly with the latter asking Irving to write his biography. That he did, with this biography being published in 1970. Irving's next work would be one to top de Hory's forgeries. He set out to write the “autobiography” of the extremely reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Irving figured Hughes was so fanatically publicity shy that he would not even come out publicly long enough to denounce the fake. Irving did extensive research into Hughes life and was able to sneak in to archives of private material to learn even more. He then presented documents approving the project with Hughes' neatly forged signature to publisher McGraw Hill. The publishing house was fooled. It provided Irving with advances, and even larger ones to “H.R. Hughes.” Irving's wife set up a Swiss bank account under the name Helga R. Hughes. When Hughes found out, he came out of hiding long enough to conduct a telephone interview with journalists who knew him from before his reclusive days, and the Swiss bank determined the fraud. Irving was finally forced to admit the hoax and spent 17 months in prison for his efforts. This copy of the de Hory biography also came from the library of Marlene Dietrich, who as far as we know was an honest woman. It comes with an ink portrait of Dietrich inscribed to her by de Hory. Item 81. £750 (US $1,142).

Rare Book Monthly

  • ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
    November 30-December 2
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    ABAA VBF: Holiday Edition
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  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Saint Jerome penitent, woodcut with contemporary hand-colouring and letterpress text beneath, [Augsburg], [Johann Froschauer], [c.1498]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Elimithar (Elluchasem) "Ibn Butlan". Tacuini sanitatis, first edition, Strasbourg, Johann Schott, 1531. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: [Missale Romanum], Latin, Incipit ordo missalis secundum consuetudinem Curiae Romani, manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 234ff. [c. 1400]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Foyle copy.- [Shakespeare (William)]. Macbeth. A Tragedy: With all the Alterations, Amendments, Additions, and New Songs. As it is now Acted at the Theatre Royal, for Hen. Herringman, 1687. £5,000 to £7,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Dickens (Charles). A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, first edition, first impression, first issue, Chapman & Hall, 1843. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Lawrence (T.E.) Revolt in the Desert, working draft typescript, 1927. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Hampstead Bindery.- Phillips (Stephen). Marpessa, exquisitely bound by The Hampstead Bindery, almost certainly P.A. Savoldelli, 1900. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Matisse (Henri).- Joyce (James). Ulysses, one of 1500 copies, this one of 250 signed by the author and artist, New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1935. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Burroughs (Edgar Rice). Tarzan at the Earth's Core, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to his son, New York, 1930. £5,000 to £7,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    30th November, 2023
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Fitzgerald (F. Scott). Tender is the Night, first edition, first printing, signed by the author, New York, 1934. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Fleming (Ian).- Hooks (Mitchell) and David Chasman. Dr. No, British film poster, Stafford & Co Ltd, [1962]. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: America.- California.- Palou (Francisco). Relacion Historica de la Vida Y Apostolicas Tareas delVenerable Padre Fray Junipero Serra..., first edition, second issue, 1787. £6,000 to £8,000.

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