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<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.
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<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
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<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.
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<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 - September - 2007 Issue
Spain, Its Neighbors, and Latin America from Paul Orssich
By Michael Stillman
We have received our first catalogue from London bookseller Paul Orssich. However, it is his Catalogo 64. As the title implies, Orssich specializes in Spanish works, despite the London location. While the focus is on Spain, material extends to its Iberian neighbor, Portugal, Mediterranean islands such as Gibraltar, nearby Northern African lands such as Morocco, and the once Spanish lands of Latin America and the southwestern United States.
Familiarity with the Spanish language will be helpful in reading this catalogue, though it is not a requirement. Descriptions are most often in Spanish, so it will be a challenge to read about books that are themselves in Spanish. However, many of the books reflect Orssich's English location, that is, they are written in English. Often, there are quoted bibliographic descriptions that are also in English. The result is that English-speaking collectors of Spain and the New World (which is to say Americana) will easily be able to navigate many of the titles offered. There are also several books in French, particularly relating to the era of Charles V who ruled as Spanish King and Holy Roman Emperor, and continually argued with France, which lay in between his home in Spain and his not-so holy possessions to the east. Here are a few items among the 200+ offered.
A logical starting point, especially for those who do not complete the reading of this review, is Gatherings from Spain, by Richard Ford. This is because Thomas J. Hamilton, writing almost a century after this book was published in 1851, says, "For the reader who has time for only one book on Spain, the work to be recommended above all others is Richard Ford's Gatherings from Spain." Ford had traveled through Spain in the 19th century and noted the sufferings of the people brought about by mismanagement and war. Hamilton was looking back from another bad era, the early years of Franco's Fascist rule, pointing out that Ford's "...account of misery which bad government brought to a superb people is as valid today as it was when it was published..." Item 57. Priced at £150 (British pounds, or approximate U.S. equivalent of $302).
Speaking of Franco, item 84 is an account of journalist and writer Arthur Koestler of his days with Franco's troops during the Spanish Civil War. He was reporting on the war when captured by Franco's forces in 1937. Writes Koestler, "I was captured by General Franco's troops and held for several months in solitary confinement under sentence of death, witnessing the executions of my fellow prisoners and awaiting my own." Fortunately for Koestler, British authorities were able to negotiate his release. His book is Dialogue with Death, published in 1954. £20 (US $40).
Item 5 is a 1796 French edition of Lettres Portuguaises, attributed to Mariana Alcoforado, a 17th century Portuguese nun. These are love letters to a French officer who deserted her, and you can already see the problem, what with Miss Alcoforado being a nun. The story is that the young nun spotted the French officer from her window, fell in love, and whatever...we don't know. Sadly, the officer returned to France without her.