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Sotheby’s
Book Week
November & DecemberSotheby’s, Nov. 6-20: Tory, Geoffroy. L'Art et science de la vraye proportion des Lettres. Paris 1549. Seconde édition. In-8. Reliure de P.L. Martin. €7,000 to €9,000.Sotheby’s, Nov. 6-20: Gauguin, Paul. Lettre autographe signée à son ami Émile Bernard. [Le Pouldu août 1889]. Illustrée d'un croquis original. €10,000 to €15,000.Sotheby’s, Nov. 6-20: [Portulan — Joan Martines, attribué à]. Carte portulan de la côte atlantique de l'Amérique du Sud. [Messine, vers 1570-1591.] €15,000 to €20,000.Sotheby’s, Nov. 6-20: Zamora, Alonso de. Historia de la provincia de San Antonio del nuevo reyno de Granada... Barcelone, 1701. €10,000 to €15,000.Sotheby’s, Nov. 6-20: [Chastenet de Puységur, Antoine]. Détail sur la navigation aux côtes de Saint-Domingue... Paris, 1787. €5,000 to €7,000. -
Freeman’s, Nov. 13: HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Three Stories and Ten Poems. First edition, inscribed to his cousin, Ruth White Lowry. $60,000-80,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: CURTIS, Edward S. The North American Indian... Portfolio and two text volumes. $20,000-30,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: A Superb Illuminated Manuscript of Tennyson’s Le Morte d'Arthur, ca. 1910, by Alberto Sangorksi and in an exceptional Riviere binding. $40,000-50,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: A Remarkable Epistle from Robert Burns to Frances Dunlop, containing all lines of the first version of "Written in Friars Carse Hermitage" and 12 lines of the first version of "First Epistle to Robert Graham Esq." $20,000-30,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: FAULKNER, William. Go Down, Moses. First edition, limited issue, one of 100 copies signed by Faulkner. $10,000-15,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: MAUGHAM, W. Somerset. Of Human Bondage. First English edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Maugham, in the rare suppressed dust-jacket. $40,000-50,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: An Excessively Rare First Issue and Previously Unrecorded Copy of Shakespeare’s Third Folio. $40,000-60,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: AUDUBON, John James. Louisiana Heron, Ardea Ludoviciana. (Plate CCXVII). $30,000-40,000Freeman’s, Nov. 13: HERBERT, Frank. Dune, 1965. First edition, inscribed by Herbert. $8,000-12,000
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Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Presentation Copy of a Whitman "Holy Grail." Whitman, Walt. $10,000-$15,000.Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Endymion in Original Boards. Keats, John. $8,000-Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Association Copy of the Privately Printed Edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter, Beatrix. $8,000-$12,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Christina Rossetti's Own Copy of Her First Book. Rossetti, Christina G. $8,000-$12,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: The Borden Copy of The Life of Merlin in an Elaborate Binding by Riviere. Heywood, Thomas, Translator. $6,000-$8,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Arion Press. Whitman, Walt, Leaves of Grass. $4,000-$6,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Call It Sleep in the First State Jacket. Roth, Henry. $2,000-$3,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Steinbeck's Best-Known Work. Steinbeck, John. $2,000-$3,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: A Fine Jewelled Binding Signed by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Sangorski, Francis. $40,000-$60,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter: A Complete Set of First Editions. Potter, Beatrix. $2,000-$3,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Kelmscott Shelley. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. The Poetical Works. $3,000-$5,000Bonhams, Nov. 3-13: Inscribed by Martin Luther King Jr. King, Martin Luther, Jr. $3,000-$5,000
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Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 75. The Second Printed Map of the North American Continent - Full Contemporary Color (1593) Est. $35,000 - $40,000Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 37. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $16,000 - $18,000Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 104. Important Revolutionary War Plan of Battle of Quebec in Contemporary Color (1776) Est. $4,000 - $4,750Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 43. Mercator's Map of the North Pole - the First Printed Map Devoted to the Arctic (1606) Est. $2,750 - $3,500Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 237. Rare and Striking Bird's-Eye View of Lawrence, Kansas (1880) Est. $2,000 - $2,500Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 10. Rare Map from Atlas Maior with Representations of the Seasons in Contemporary Color (1662) Est. $14,000 - $17,000Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 374. Bunting's Map of Europe Depicted as the Queen of the World (1589) Est. $2,000 - $2,400Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 590. Willem Blaeu's Magnificent Carte-a-Figures Map of Asia (1634) Est. $2,750 - $3,500Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 647. The Earliest and Most Decorative Map of the East Coast of Africa (1596) Est. $3,000 - $3,750Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 710. Ruscelli's Complete, Third Edition Atlas with 65 Maps (1574) Est. $9,500 - $11,000Old World Auctions (Nov 12):
Lot 696. Superb Hand-Colored Image of the Adoration of the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2007 Issue
Some Antiquarian Books from French Bookseller Librairie Thomas-Scheler
By Michael Stillman
We have just received two catalogues from Librairie Thomas-Scheler, neatly strapped together, all the way across the ocean from France. As they are recent arrivals to America, they do not yet speak English, a challenge for those whose knowledge of the French language does not extend beyond American high school. Mon Dieu! My French is as bad as Google's translation tool. I will try to roughly describe a few items in American, but for those who speak French, please just order a copy of these catalogues.
While the catalogues are in French, not all of the books are, so those who speak English, or those who collect Americana, take note. After all, much of today's United States and Canada were once French possessions, so much of that early history was written in French.
The first catalogue is Quelques livres anciens choisus pour le Grand Palais. I believe this is roughly "Some ancient books chosen for the Great Palace" (though Google translate tells me it's the "Great Palate"). The Great Palace evidently had some great books. For fear of losing my American audience, I will start with Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio. This is a first edition, third issue (also known as the first Bohn issue) of this magnificent illustrated work on America's natives. George Catlin set out in the 1830s to study and draw America's various tribes, as he understood that contact with the quickly expanding white settler community would soon change their traditional culture forever. He was determined to preserve it, and perhaps he succeeded as much as anyone could. Item 28. Price on request.
Item 29 is a piece of French Americana: Histoire et description generale de la Nouvelle France...by Pierre Francois Charlevoix. This is a history of New France, then the largest part of North America. Charlevoix was a Jesuit missionary who explored Canada, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi region, at the peak of France's power in the New World. This first edition was published in 1744. €15,000 (Euros, or approximately $20,200 US dollars).
Item 35 is La Constitution Francaise, the French Constitution, as presented to the King by the National Assembly on September 3, 1791. This constitution was a short-lived step in the French Revolution, effectively dead within a year. It provided for a legislative assembly to make laws, but still granted the weakened King the power of veto. A year later, the monarchy was overthrown, and within a few months, the King would be off to the guillotine. This attempt at compromise discarded, the nation would fall into the Reign of Terror. €28,000 (US $37,700).
The second catalogue is entitled Le Gout de l'Amateur, which means something in English. This one is a bit harder for l'Amateur in speaking French to follow, but appears to be a collection of books that were once owned by celebrated collectors of very long ago. For a better explanation, contact Bernard or Stephane Clavreuil of Librairie Thomas-Scheler at (33) 01 43 26 97 69 or Basane@thomas-scheler.fr.
