Available now is Catalogue 58 from The Veatchs Arts of the Book, Recent Acquisitions in Penmanship, Leaf Books, Wood Engraving, Bookbinding, and Fine Printing... Offered are 114 items of printing art, some antiquarian, some as a recent as this year. The Veatchs specialize in books that are known more for their artistic qualities than their text, though the text may well be a classic work of written art as well. Here are a few of the items offered in this latest catalogue.
We start with a poster, Leonard Baskin's Custer Battlefield Montana. This 28 x 37 poster was printed for the National Park Service in black and red in 1968. General George Armstrong Custer is shown waist up in uniform. The Veatchs note it is a "Near fine copy of this scarce survival." Perhaps, but not as scarce as survivors from Custer's troops. Item 8. Priced at $200.
Here is an unusual poster: "Freedom of the Press Belongs to Those Who Can Defend It." It displays a pair of crossed pistols, engraved by John DePol. Beneath is text and a bullet hole. Point made. One of 120 copies, printed in 1994. Item 87. $75.
Item 21 is a dramatic 1982 production of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The illustrations for this edition were created by Joseph Mugnaini. This is one of 2,000 copies, signed by both Bradbury and Mugnaini. $250.
Item 101 is an eight-volume set of Froissarts Cronycles, published in 1927 by the Shakespeare Head Press, one of the most notable British private presses from the years between the wars. It includes six hand-colored maps and over 600 hand-colored coats-of-arms. This is number 158 of 350 sets designed by Bernard Newdigate. $3,000.
Item 22 is Emblemata, The Emblem Books of Andrea Alciato. A Leaf book. Alciato was a legal scholar, but also published his famous Emblemata, a collection of short poems accompanied by woodcut illustrations, or emblems. Alciato's emblem book was first published in 1531, but this work about him by Alvan Bregman is as new as they come, published in 2007. It includes three leaves from the 1589 edition of Emblemata. It is one of eight copies in a deluxe binding containing three leaves (there is a second version with three leaves in eight copies, while a single-leaf edition was produced in 124 copies. $1,500.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
