• 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2015 Issue

Recent Acquisitions from Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller

Recent acquisitions.

Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller has released a new catalogue of Mostly Recent Acquisitions. Hill covers material from a variety of fields, but not everything. This is not a miscellania. You won't find much fiction or many recent books in this selection. These are serious, often scholarly works, with but a few exceptions, from the 19th century and earlier. Many of these are scientific books, while others cover topics such as medicine, architecture, mathematics, mining, and natural history. There are also numerous books about books, including a substantial collection of auction catalogues from the sales of large libraries in the 18th and early 19th century. Titles are spread through a variety of languages, notably English, French, German, and Latin. These are a few samples of what will be found within this latest collection.

 

Benjamin Franklin was America's greatest scientist of the 18th century, along with all of the many other things he did. If ever there was a man for which the word "polymath" was invented, it was Franklin. Item 50 is a copy of his Oeuvres... (works), the first French edition of Franklin's collected works on electricity. It was published in 1773. While based on the 1769 fourth edition of Franklin's Experiments and Observations on Electricity, it contains material not in the English language editions. As such, it was the most complete early version of Franklin's scientific writings. It includes correspondence between Franklin and Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg. Dubourg was a French physician and botanist who also served as Franklin's translator. Their correspondence includes discussions of numerous other topics, including ventilation, swimming, inoculation, acoustics, meteors, the cause of common colds, magnetism and its relation to electricity, and another particularly associated with Franklin – stoves. Priced at $7,500.

 

Here is the first account of an important process for the preservation of food that changed the way we eat, and undoubtedly saved countless lives along the way. It is a French book, entitled L'Art de conserver, pendant plusiers Années, toutes les Substances animales et vegetables (the art of preserving, for many years, all animal and vegetable products). The author of this 1810 text was Nicolas Appert, known as the "father of canning." Technically, he didn't "can" his food. He used glass bottles, but the principle was the same. Appert discovered that he could preserve all sorts of food by putting it in wide-mouthed bottles, sealing them tightly with cork and sealing wax, and then placing the bottles in boiling water long enough for the food to thoroughly heat through. His discovery was of enormous benefit, particularly for explorers sent to far off places for years (they tended to use cans, which when sealed with lead, had dangers not possessed by Appert's bottles). It would be another 50 years before Louis Pasteur would come up with his pasteurization process for milk, and an explanation why it worked. Appert didn't know about bacteria. He just knew that his process could preserve perishable food for an indefinite amount of time. Item 5. $2,750.

 

Item 74 is an account of the building of a great, though star-crossed bridge: The Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River near the City of Quebec on the Line of the Canadian National Railways. Report of the Government Board of Engineers. Published in 1918, it includes a text volume and a plate volume with 111 plates. The Quebec Bridge is still the longest cantilever bridge in the world. After decades of proposals and plans, construction finally began in 1903. Everything was proceeding along fine until the bridge was nearing completion. At that time, some of the steel began to show signs of bending, and it was realized the weight was greater than anticipated. Unfortunately, before the extent of the problem was realized, the bridge suddenly collapsed, taking just 15 second to fall into the St. Lawrence below. Seventy-five workers lost their lives. It took a few years, but a new plan was created and construction on a second Quebec Bridge commenced. Then, in 1916, as the central span was being lifted into place, it too fell into the river, taking 13 more lives along with it. A replacement central structure was built and the bridge finally completed in 1917. Thankfully, it has stood ever since. This extensive report by the Board of Engineers includes information and photographs of the earlier collapsed bridge as well as the successful finale. $1,250.

 

One good bridge deserves another. Item 28 is Die neue Ludwigsbrucke in Bamberg, published in 1830.This is a second edition of a celebration of the newly constructed bridge over the Regnitz at Bamburg, completed in 1829. It was the first suspension bridge built in Bavaria, and only the second in Germany. This second edition improved on the first, with more detailed plates. The new bridge replaced an earlier wooden one. It was itself replaced in 1889. $2,250.

 

Sir Thomas Phillipps was perhaps the greatest collector ever, at least in terms of volume. He hoped to have a copy of every book and manuscript in existence, and likely came as close anyone to achieving his goal. He also did some publishing at Middle Hill, his home which housed his collection, often piled to the ceilings. One more thing – Phillipps was something of a bigot. He was anti-Catholic. I am not sure whether this was in spite of, or because of his Catholic son-in-law, James Halliwell. Halliwell was an antiquarian scholar and book collector himself, whom Phillipps graciously invited into his home for research. However, when Halliwell asked to marry his daughter, Phillipps became enraged. Halliwell had come under suspicion of stealing some books. There were even suspicions he had stolen from Phillipps. He sold some stolen books, but claimed to have purchased them from a bookseller. Eventually, the charges were dropped. Halliwell and Henrietta Phillipps eloped against the wishes of her father. Phillipps refused to have anything to do with either one for the rest of his life. In his will, Phillipps required that his collection, left in the care of a younger daughter, could never be viewed by Halliwell, his older daughter, nor any other Catholic. Item 72 is an item that came off of Phillipps' Middle Hill Press in 1869, three years before he died: An Ex-Catholic Priest's Opinion of the Church of Rome. It was not a high opinion. $250.

 

Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller may be reached at 646-827-0724 or or jahillbooks@aol.com. The website is www.jonathanahill.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
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