• <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Fine Books, Autographs & Illustration Art:<br>At Auction June 15, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> J.R.R. Tolkien, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy, first American editions, finely bound by The Chelsea Bindery, Boston, 1954-56. $9,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> John Carleton Atherton, <i>Fall Bounty,</i> oil on board, cover design for The Saturday Evening Post, 1943. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> George Washington, Endorsement Signed, “G:Washington,’ as President of the Potomac Company, 1787.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Gustav Klimt, <i>Das Werk von Gustav Klimt,</i> complete with 50 collotype plates, one of 300 copies, Vienna, 1918. $25,000 to $35,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Pancho Villa, Autograph Letter Signed, to the governor of Chihuahua soliciting help in persuading authorities to release him from prison, Mexico City, 1912. $7,000 to $10,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Charles Monroe Schulz, <i>The Peanuts gang,</i> Complete set of 13 drawings, 1971. $8,000 to $12,000.
  • <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON SMALLPOX. <i>Some Account of the Success of Inoculation...</i> 1759. $10,000-$15,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> GAUTIER D'AGOTY. <i>Myologie complette en couleur et grandeur naturelle...</i> 1745-6. 20 hand-colored plates. $8000-$12000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> ILLUMINATED SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY, manuscript on vellum, 14th century. $4000-$6000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN AUTOGRAPH MEDICAL MANUSCRIPT OF JOHN MORGAN, 1760-1. $30,000-$50,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> RARE CIVIL WAR CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS BY WINSLOW HOMER. Life in Camp. 1864. $8000-$12000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> AMELIA EARHART'S SUBSTANTIALLY ANNOTATED COPY OF <i>THE PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR. 1927. $8000-$12,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> DAVID BEN-GURION ON ISRAEL'S DESIRE FOR PEACE BUT NEED FOR STRENGTH. 1956. $2000-$3000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> CONTEMPORARY AUTOGRAPH MUSICAL MANUSCRIPT AND LYRICS FOR "JERUSALEM OF GOLD." $60,000-$80,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> FIRST EDITION OF HEMINGWAY'S FIRST BOOK IN UNRESTORED JACKET. $20,000-$30,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> TOLKIEN LETTER DESCRIBING HIS OWN HOBBITNESS AND THE CREATION OF LORD OF THE RINGS. $10,000-$15,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> NAPOLEON LETTER SIGNED PROCLAIMING HIS ASCENSION AS EMPEROR. $40,000-$60,000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> MAN RAY. Facile. 1935. First edition, 12 photographic plates. $2000-$3000
    <b>Bonhams, June 22:</b> WIENER WERKSTÄTTE TOYS. 17 linocut plates of toys from the workshop of Jossef Hoffman. $4000-$6000
  • <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Hobbes (Thomas). <i>Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme & Power of a Common-Wealth,</i> first edition, first issue, 1651. £10,000 to £15,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> [Burton (Robert)] "Democritus Junior". <i>The Anatomy of Melancholy,</i> first edition, Oxford, Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, 1621. £8,000 to £12,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Fletcher (Giles). <i>Of the Russe Common Wealth,</i> first edition, Printed by T[homas] D[awson] for Thomas Charde, 1591. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Shakespeare source book.- Fraunce (Abraham). <i>The Lawiers Logike, exemplifying the praecepts of Logike by the practise of the common Lawe,</i> first edition, 1588. £4,000 to £6,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Fireworks.- Babington (John.) <i>Pyrotechnia or, A discourse of artificiall fire-works…,</i> 2 parts in 1 vol., first edition, Thomas Harper for Ralph Mab, 1635. £4,000 to £6,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Gardening.- [Bonnefons (Nicolas de)]. <i>The French Gardiner instructing how to cultivate all sorts of Fruit-Trees and Herbs for the Garden, translated by John Evelyn,</i> third edition, 1675. £3,500 to £4,500.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Witchcraft.- F. (H.) <i>A true and exact Relation Of the severall Informations, Examinations, and Confessions of the late Witches…,</i> first edition, 1645. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Science.- Boyle (Robert). <i>The Origine of Formes and Qualities (According to the Corpuscular Philosophy),</i> first edition, Oxford, H. Hall for Ric: Davis, 1666. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Massinger (Philip). <i>The Unnaturall Combat. A Tragedie,</i> first edition, Printed by E.G. for John Waterson, 1639. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Plastic Surgery.- Read (Alexander). <i>Chirurgorum Comes: or the Whole Practice of Chirurgery,</i> first edition, Printed by Edw. Jones, for Christopher Wilkinson, 1687. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Hall (Edward). <i>The Union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancaster & Yorke…,</i> [by Richard Grafton], 1550. £2,200 to £2,500.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Cosmetics.- Jeamson (Thomas). <i>Artificiall Embellishments. Or Arts Best Directions How to Preserve Beauty or Procure it,</i> first edition, Oxford, Printed by William Hall, 1665. £1,000 to £1,500.
  • <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Cool Hand Luke" | Paul Newman Academy Award® Nomination Plaque. USD$2500 - $3500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Hud" | Bound presentation script incorporating photographic stills. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "The Long, Hot Summer" | Movie Poster. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Joseph Heller | "Catch-22," inscribed to Woodward & Newman by author. USD$500 - $800
    <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> George H. W. Bush | Typed Letter Signed, Issuing a "Pardon" to Paul Newman. USD$1500 - $2000
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> William Jefferson Clinton | Inscribed Color Photograph. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Ken Kesey | Typed letter to “Paulnewman,” asking for further compensation for "Sometimes a Great Notion". USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "They Might Be Giants" | Costume sketches by Edith Head. USD$1000 - $2000

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2017 Issue

Travels & Science from Antiquariat Kainbacher

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Travels & Science.

Antiquariat Kainbacher has published their Katalog XI, titled Travels & Science. A language warning before we start – while the title is in English, not much else is. The catalogue is written in German, as are most, but not all of the books within. Familiarity with the language, naturally, is helpful. It is divided into three sections: Natural Science and Technology, Rare Travel Reports, and Ethiopia. Here are some samples of the material found in this latest Kainbacher selection.

 

We start with a man whose name is now generally heard in conjunction with the word "effect." Christian Doppler was an Austrian physicist who studied the motion of binary stars. He came upon an important discovery, explained in this 1842 text, Ueber das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels (On the colored light of the twin stars and some other stars of heaven). Motion either expands or contracts light waves, slightly changing the perceived color of the objects. He was able to use this phenomenon to determine speed and motion of distant stars. He didn't quite have it right as he assumed all stars were the same color. It took further refinement to conclude that a spectral analysis could compute the shift of light colors to more accurately reveal motion. To the lay public, Doppler's discovery is better known from its application to sound waves. The pitch is changed by expansion or contraction of sound waves. We all best know this phenomenon from the sound made by passing trains, which dips lower once the train passes. Priced at €13,000 (euros, or approximately $13,728 in U.S. currency).

 

When travelers set out on long voyages of discovery, it was relatively easy for them to determine their latitude. Just look at the angle of the sun, check out your calendar, and voila, you could determine how far north or south you were. Longitude, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. Knowing the time of day, which could also be determined by the sun, was needed, but it had to be compared to the time of day at a fixed point, either your starting location or a universal longitude such as the Greenwich mean. If, for example, there was a one hour difference, you knew you had traveled 1/24th of the globe east-west. But, while you could compute the time where you were from the sun, travelers had no idea what the time was back home. That is where John Harrison came in. People didn't have watches in the 18th century, and the timepieces they had were not very accurate. He devised a chronometer that could be carried and operated on a ship while being extraordinarily accurate. Even weeks or months of travel later, it would still accurately maintain the time back home, allowing the traveler to make the comparison in time between home base and where they were at the moment, telling them just how far east or west they had traveled. Add that to their preexisting capacity to compute latitude and they could almost precisely determine where they were. Offered is a first French edition (title in French and English) of The Principles of Mr. Harrison’s Time-keeper, with plates of the same, published by order of the Commissioners of Longitude, by John Harrison and Nevil Maskelyne, published in 1767. €25,000 (US $26,347).

 

Albrecht Durer is still one of the most notable artist/illustrators ever, though he lived 500 years ago. His prints, and books containing them, are highly valued and sought after today. Less known is that Durer was also a mathematician, who used his formulas in his artwork. Specifically, he used geometry for both art and architecture. Late in his life, he wrote about it. This is a first German edition of Durer's Underweysung der messung, mit dem zirckel un(d) richtscheyt... published in 1525. In it, Durer teaches the principles of geometry as applied to painting and architecture, as well as the principles of perspective. The book contains two large woodcuts. €28,000 (US $29,573).

 

Here is a book in English, and one of the most important travel books of the 19th century. The title is The Lake Regions of Central Africa. A Rare Picture of Exploration, by Richard Burton, published in 1860. Burton was Britain's foremost explorer of the 19th century. Most of his travels were centered in the Middle East and Africa, though he also visited, and wrote about, his trip to Salt Lake. His other most notable work is an account of a trip he took to Mecca, at great peril for his life, dressed and convincingly adopting the appearance of an Afghan Muslim. Non-Muslims entering the holy city faced almost certain death. The journey recounted in the Lake Regions had a particular purpose beyond seeing some nice African lakes. Burton, and his partner, John Speke, were seeking the elusive source of the Nile. Despite the many attempts, no European yet knew where the source was located. It was a strenuous journey and both men became deathly ill. Burton reached Lake Tanganyika but could go no further. Half blinded, Speke pushed on. He came back and announced that Lake Victoria was the source. Burton was not convinced. Speke broke an understanding, at least in Burton's opinion, by repeating his story without Burton being present. It led to a bitter feud, which ended only the day before they were to debate when Speke shot himself, either the result of a terrible hunting accident or intentionally. But, Speke was right about the source. €5,900 (US $6,238).

 

While Speke died in 1864, Burton lived to 1890, affording him the opportunity for more adventures and to write more books. In the 1860's, Burton was named British consul to Fernando Po, a small island off the west African coast. It was an insignificant assignment and Burton hated it. He got away whenever he could. He hoped to capture a gorilla, and used one of his escapes to the continent to make the attempt he wrote about a decade later, published in 1876: Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo. It tells about the places he visited and the natives, at least as seen from a British perspective. However, he never captured a gorilla. This copy has a library stamp that provides an interesting history. It was once part of the Ambassador College Library in Pasadena, California. Americans who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's and listened to their AM radios late Sunday night will remember the golden voice of Garner Ted Armstrong, radio preacher broadcasting The World Tomorrow. Ambassador College was operated by the Worldwide Church of God, headed by Garner Ted's father for whom he worked. €6,500 (US $6,870).

 

Antiquariat Kainbacher can be reached at 0043-(0)699-110 19 221 or paul.kainbacher@kabsi.at. Their website is found at www.antiquariat-kainbacher.at.

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Chinese School. Album of Chinese rice paper paintings of St Helena and Napoleon, circa 1830s/1840s. £700 to £1,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Speed (John).<i> The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine...,</i> 1676. £3,000 to £5,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Laroon (Marcellus). <i>The Cryes of the City of London drawne after the Life,</i> 1st edition, 1688. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Thomas Sedgley binding. <i>The Holy Bible,</i> London, 1701, large folio. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Kipling (Rudyard). The Sussex Edition of the <i>Complete Works in Prose and Verse,</i> 1937-1939. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Dodgson (Charles). <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,</i> 1886, presentation copy. £500 to £800.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> German tarot cards. Napoleon tarock, Leipzig: Johann Gottfried Herbert, circa 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Milne (A.A.). <i>The House at Pooh Corner,</i> 1928, inscribed limited deluxe edition of 20. £15,000 to £20,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Peter Pan. A unique 13.5m (44ft) long needlework nursery frieze, by Helen Stebbing M.R.S.T., 1936. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Peak (Bob, 1928-1992). <i>U.S.A,</i> a mural produced for Trans World Airlines (TWA), 1971. £200 to £400.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Austen (Jane). <i>Pride and Prejudice: a novel,</i> 3 volumes, 2nd edition, London: T. Egerton, 1813. £8,000 to £12,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Hughes (Ted). Crow, 1st edition, London: Faber and Faber, 1970, signed presentation copy. £400 to £600.

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