Part II of the Parsons Collection of Pacific Voyages from Hordern House
Captain Bligh, shown (perhaps unfairly) being dragged from hiding under a bed.
We will start with two foundation pieces for an Australian collection. Item 141 is A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay... by Captain Watkin Tench. This is a first edition from 1789 of the earliest published authentic account of Australian settlement. Priced at $21,000 Australian (approximate US dollar equivalent of $15,960). Item 142 is Arthur Phillip's The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay... Also published in 1789, this book not only provides the first official account of Australian settlement and the journey to Botany Bay, but many hand-colored plates of Australian natural history. AU $65,000 (US $49,400).
For those interested in the famous, or infamous, Captain Bligh, it is all here. It starts with two unrelated texts about the wonders of breadfruit. Bligh's mission on the Bounty was to transport breadfruit seedlings from Tahiti to the Caribbean, where they could be used as an important food source. Then it moves on to Bligh's accounts of the mutiny, both his first and expanded second book. There is a copy of the account of the ship Pandora, sent to capture the mutineers, but which went down on a barrier reef. There are minutes of the court martial in England against the mutineers. Also, the extremely rare answer given by Bligh to allegations made against him during the proceedings. There is even a copy of the faked letters from chief mutineer Fletcher Christian, purporting to tell of his escape from Pitcairn Island to new adventures around the world. Item 164, however, recounts a second mutiny against Bligh much less known than the famed one on the Bounty. Fifteen years after the famous mutiny, Bligh was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia. Ultimately, Bligh proved to be about as popular there as he was with the crew of the Bounty. He was arrested and removed by subordinates on January 26, 1808, though he would eventually be exonerated back in Britain, be promoted to Rear Admiral, and live out his life without further insurrection. Item 164 includes six 1898 facsimiles of documents relating to his arrest printed in Sydney, along with a colored facsimile of a famous image of his arrest, where he was purported to have been dragged out from under a bed where he was hiding. Bligh may have been hiding in hopes of re-establishing his authority before he could be captured, but the image of him cowering in fear is almost certainly grossly unfair, as his amazing journey back in a small boat after the mutiny on the Bounty attests to his courage. AU $9,000 (US $6,840).
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…
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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. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<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.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
