courtesy of Librairie Rodolphe Chamonal, Paris, France
If you have been wondering what a Howes “d” might be worth today here is one data point for your chart. Item 94 of the newest William Reese catalogue is Voyage Autour du Monde, Execute par Order de sa Majeste L’Empereur Nicholas 1st ..... Paris, 1835-36. For the few of you who don’t know Howes, it is a great single book reference guide to Americana for the period 1650-1950 and it contains ratings for rarity & importance on the following scale:
a
Common but interesting (5,864 rated items)
aa
Less Common (3,687 rated items)
b
Uncommon (1,402 rated items)
c
Rare (290 rated items)
d
Very Rare (97 rated items)
dd
Very Very Rare (122 rated items)
These ratings are not exactly how Wright Howes expressed it but they are close. Someone going to garage sales is going to find an ‘A’ from time to time and find an ‘AA’ mostly on dealer shelves marked anywhere from $250 up. The occasional ‘B’ shows up and they aren’t always quite as valuable as the grade suggests but $1,500 to $2,500 is in the ballpark. From ‘C’ on up it very much depends on its relevance to various collecting categories and whether it contains maps. In this case you have 4 volumes one of which is an atlas, described as “overall a very good, handsome set.” The price is $60,000.00.
Another intriguing item is # 46, The History of Trauayle in the West and East Indies... by Richard Eden and Richard Wiles printed in London in 1577. This title has been one of the few accessible books of stature relating the history of travel and voyages in the 16th century. Its price has been stable over the past 10 years although $16,500 won’t get you the same quality copy today it would then. Nevertheless it is remarkable that an essential book of the period remains in this price range as every travel and voyages collector needs a copy to declare themselves “serious.”
There are in total 164 items in this catalogue and some for less than $1,000 but this is an exceptional group of material, so expect to see the rarest material and prices that are as high as the recent snow was deep.
All in all, these are wonderful catalogues and you’ll enjoy each one of them.
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
