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Sotheby’s
Fine Books from a Distinguished Private Library
28 November 2023Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Captain Thomas Brown | Illustrations of the American ornithology. £80000-120000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: William Hamilton | Campi phlegraei. £40000-60000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Nicola Zabaglia and Domenico Fontana | Castelli, e ponti con alcune ingegnose pratiche. £6000-8000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, German | Nuremberg: Koberger, 1483. £40000-60000Sotheby’s, Nov. 28: Bible, English | King James version. £8000-12000 -
Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
30th November, 2023Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Saint Jerome penitent, woodcut with contemporary hand-colouring and letterpress text beneath, [Augsburg], [Johann Froschauer], [c.1498]. £15,000 to £20,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Elimithar (Elluchasem) "Ibn Butlan". Tacuini sanitatis, first edition, Strasbourg, Johann Schott, 1531. £15,000 to £20,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: [Missale Romanum], Latin, Incipit ordo missalis secundum consuetudinem Curiae Romani, manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 234ff. [c. 1400]. £15,000 to £20,000.Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
30th November, 2023Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Foyle copy.- [Shakespeare (William)]. Macbeth. A Tragedy: With all the Alterations, Amendments, Additions, and New Songs. As it is now Acted at the Theatre Royal, for Hen. Herringman, 1687. £5,000 to £7,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Dickens (Charles). A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, first edition, first impression, first issue, Chapman & Hall, 1843. £12,000 to £18,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Lawrence (T.E.) Revolt in the Desert, working draft typescript, 1927. £10,000 to £15,000.Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
30th November, 2023Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Hampstead Bindery.- Phillips (Stephen). Marpessa, exquisitely bound by The Hampstead Bindery, almost certainly P.A. Savoldelli, 1900. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Matisse (Henri).- Joyce (James). Ulysses, one of 1500 copies, this one of 250 signed by the author and artist, New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1935. £8,000 to £12,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Burroughs (Edgar Rice). Tarzan at the Earth's Core, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to his son, New York, 1930. £5,000 to £7,000.Forum Auctions
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
30th November, 2023Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Fitzgerald (F. Scott). Tender is the Night, first edition, first printing, signed by the author, New York, 1934. £15,000 to £20,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: Fleming (Ian).- Hooks (Mitchell) and David Chasman. Dr. No, British film poster, Stafford & Co Ltd, [1962]. £10,000 to £15,000.Forum Auctions, Nov. 30: America.- California.- Palou (Francisco). Relacion Historica de la Vida Y Apostolicas Tareas delVenerable Padre Fray Junipero Serra..., first edition, second issue, 1787. £6,000 to £8,000. -
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 - 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.