-
Sotheby’s
Fine Books and Manuscripts
8 December 2023Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane] — Isaac D'Israeli. Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature. 100,000 - 150,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel. 70,000 - 100,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Brontë, Charlotte. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me..." 100,000 - 150,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Eliot, George. The author's magnum opus. 25,000 - 35,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Whitman, Walt. Manuscript written upon the Death of Lincoln, 1865. 60,000 - 80,000 USD -
Sotheby’s
Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
8 December 2023Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USDSotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD -
Swann
Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
December 7, 2023Swann, 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, 2023Swann, 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, 2023Swann, 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, 2023Swann, 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 moreChristie’s, Explore now
TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000Christie’s, Explore now
VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000Christie’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]. £120,000–180,000Christie’s, Explore now
A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000Christie’s, Explore now
AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
C.1311. £100,000–150,000
Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2007 Issue
Signed Historic Documents from Stuart Lutz
Highlights of Stuart Lutz's latest acquisitions.
By Michael Stillman
Stuart Lutz Historic Documents has issued a "highlights catalog," one that includes some of their most intriguing new acquisitions. In keeping with the changing times, they've limited the catalogue to the "highlights," while the complete listing of available items, along with color photographs, are available as a download from their website. Still, the printed edition affords a look at a few of the new signed documents, and provides a persuasive invitation to visit the website for more. Here are some samples of what is now available.
Displayed on the cover is a letter from President John F. Kennedy, written a little over two months before he was assassinated, to author Jacob Baal-Teshuva. Baal-Teshuva had compiled a book of essays titled The Mission of Israel. This was a book of essays in support of the State of Israel, with notable figures such as Lyndon Johnson and Eleanor Roosevelt offering contributions. President Kennedy was among the contributors. He wrote that the survival and success of Israel was essential and that there was no real conflict between the aspirations of the Israelis and those of the Arabs. In his letter to Baal-Teshuva, Kennedy thanks him for sending a copy of the book and states that he looks forward to reading it. Priced at $5,000.
Here is a most entertaining "Dear Jane" letter from one Loring Barker to his sweetheart no more, a Betsey Torrey, in 1792. Barker considers himself a complete cad for his actions in marrying another. Writes Barker, "This is to inform you that there was such a person as Loring Barker and I am very sorry you ever knew there was such a person." He later adds, "...there is not a more miserable creature living than I am," a sentiment probably shared by Miss Betsey. However, a few other lines in the letter indicate that Betsey perhaps overplayed the hard-to-get hand, or maybe she was just thankful Barker elected to marry Polly Ross instead. He notes that Betsey had many times told him she wished to live a single life (doubtful), that she deserved someone better than he (possible), and that she had rejected his previous overtures. In what one suspects is a bit of an ingenuous though very polite excuse, Barker claims, "I have often been told that Miss Torrey was too worthy a person for me to have, and have taken it into consideration and think so myself." I'll bet Polly Ross must have appreciated that! From what we can tell, Barker and Miss Ross were married in 1791, but it was not until June 12 of the following year that he got around to telling poor Betsey. In the letter, Barker speaks of all of this happening after he left Pembroke. He evidently returned, since Barker is buried in Pembroke, Massachusetts. Perhaps it was in anticipation of his return that he wrote this belated "Dear Jane" letter. Oddly, it appears that Elizabeth Torrey was married in November of 1792 in Pembroke to one Isaac Bowen Barker. Whether Loring Barker and Isaac Barker were related is unclear, but probably not closely if so. Loring lived until 1848, Betsey until 1851. $300.
