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Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 2:
John Ford Clymer, U.S. Troops' Triumphant Return to New York Harbor, oil on canvas, circa 1944.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 44:
Edward Gorey, Illustration of cover and spine for Fonthill, a Comedy by Aubrey Menen, pen and ink, 1973.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 50:
Harrison Cady, frontispiece for Buster Bear's Twins by Thornton W. Burgess, watercolor and ink, 1921.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 54:
Ludwig Bemelmans, Pepito, portrait of Pepito from the Madeline book series, mixed media.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 79:
Gluyas Williams, Fellow Citizens Observation Platform, pen and ink, cartoon published in The New Yorker, March 11, 1933.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 86:
Thomas Nast, Victory, – for the moment, political cartoon, pen and ink, 1884.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 91:
Mischa Richter, Lot of 10 cartoons for Field Publications, ink and pencil, circa 1940.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 111:
Arthur Getz, Sledding In Central Park, casein tempera on canvas, cover of The New Yorker, February 26, 1955.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 124:
Richard Erdoes, Map of Boston, illustration for unknown children's magazine, gouache on board, circa 1960.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 155:
Robert Fawcett, The old man looked him over carefully, gouache on board, published in The Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1945.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 170:
Violet Oakley, Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, charcoal and pastel, circa 1918.Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 188:
Robert J. Wildhack, Scribner's for March, 1907, mixed media. -
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
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Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Fleming (Ian). Dr. No, 1958; You Only Live Twice, 1964, 1st editions, presentation copies. £20,000-30,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Doyle (Arthur Conan). The Sign of Four, 1st edition, 1890. £5,000-8,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Huxley (Aldous). Brave New World, 1st edition, London: Chatto & Windus, 1932. £3,000-5,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Stenbock (Eric Stanislaus). The Shadow of Death, 1st edition, 1893. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Tolkien (J. R. R.). The Lord of the Rings, 1st one volume edition, signed, 1968. £3,000-5,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Orwell (George). Animal Farm, 1st edition, London: Secker & Warburg, 1945. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Cunard (Nancy, editor). Negro, Anthology made by Nancy Cunard, 1st edition, 1934. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Table Game. [The Little Artist Magic Painter, Austria], circa 1775. £1,000-1,500Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Kirnig (Paul, 1891-1955). Austria, Vienna: Christophe Reisser's Söhne, c. 1930. £700-1,000Dominic Winter Auctioneers
December 13/14
Printed Books, Maps & Original Art, Modern First Editions & Illustrated BooksDominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: A collection of letters including from T. S. Eliot, Siegfried Sassoon, Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley et al, from the Lady Ottoline Morrell collection. £700-1,000.Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: The Gentleman's Magazine, or Monthly Intelligencer. 175 volumes, 1731-1844. £2,000-3,000Dominic Winter, Dec. 13/14: Mont Blanc peepshow. Mr Albert Smith's Ascent of Mont Blanc in Miniature, 1854. £1,500-2,000 -
Bonhams: FREDERICK DOUGLASS RETURNS TO AMERICA A FREE MAN. Sold for $353,175.Bonhams: TORTILLA FLAT INSCRIBED TO STEINBECK'S LITTLE SISTER, MARY. Sold for $57,600.Bonhams: A FRAGMENT OF THE ORIGINAL DRAFT OF OF MICE AND MEN, EATEN BY THE DOG. Sold for $12,800.Bonhams: KEPLER INVESTIGATES PLANETARY MOTION. Sold for $1,008,375.Bonhams: AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT DRAFT LEAF FROM DARWIN'S DESCENT OF MAN, SIGNED BY DARWIN AT THE FOOT. Sold for $239,775.Bonhams: AUDOBON, JOHN JAMES. 1785-1851. THE BIRDS OF AMERICA. Sold for $32,000.Bonhams: FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN (1706-1790). AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED. Sold for $38,175.Bonhams: MILNE, A.A. (1882-1956). BOXED SET OF 4 CHILDREN'S BOOKS. Sold for $20,480.
Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2008 Issue
Antiquarian Books for the Grand Palais Show from Librairie Thomas-Scheler
By Michael Stillman
Librairie Thomas-Scheler issued a catalogue for the recent Antiquarian Book Fair held at the Grand Palais in Paris: Quelques livres anciens choisis pour le Grand Palais (some antiquarian books chosen for the "Grand Palais" or Great Palace ). The Grand Palais is a spectacular glass domed exhibition hall in Paris that was built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. Librairie-Thomas Scheler brought some of their finest books to the show, one hundred of which are described in this catalogue. Descriptions are thorough and numerous color images of the works are provided. As a note of caution, the catalogue is, logically, in the French language, so some familiarity with French is helpful. However, while French is the most common language of the books offered, many European languages, including Latin and English, are represented. The books themselves are not necessarily related to French topics either, though many are. Here is our best attempt to describe some of what we saw, but as they say in America, please pardon our French.
A great atlas can transcend language barriers, which is a good thing since not that many people speak Latin any more. Item 69 is the Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes De Fabrica mundi et fabricati figura. This is a four-volume atlas from Gerard Mercator, published in Amsterdam in 1632. Mercator was one of the earliest of the great map and atlas makers of the 16th and 17th centuries, his work still spectacular today. Priced at €35,000 (or approximate US dollar equivalent of $54,435).
Here is a work English speakers will understand. Well... maybe not. It is Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids. A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, by James Watson and Francis Crick. This 1953 offprint from Nature magazine is not easy to understand in any language, but it is one of the most important scientific articles of the century. It introduced DNA and how it transfers genetic characteristics from one generation to the next. This copy is signed by both Crick and Watson, and comes with a 1963 copy of Crick's Nobel Lecture, also signed by Crick. Item 97. €45,000 (US $69,988).
Item 29 is a scandalous book, at least by late 18th century standards. It is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. It contains fictional letters concerning the morally challenged behavior of the aristocracy in the late royal era of France. Offered is the most spectacular edition of this work, with the finest illustrations. The Pierpont Morgan Library's The Art of the French Illustrated Book describes the illustrations in this 1796 edition: "These striking plates form the outstanding contemporary interpretation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. They are not likely to be superceded however often this celebrated novel is illustrated." €60,000 (US $93,318).
Item 43 represents a celebrated American-French relationship: Oeuvres de M. Franklin... published in 1773. This is the first French edition of scientific works by American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. Franklin's friend Barbeu Dubourg translated the work. It contains Franklin's writings on electricity, magnetism, and many other scientific topics. Franklin was always very friendly toward France and its people, and after the American Revolution broke out, he would use his connections to obtain French assistance for America's war of independence. €2,250 (US $3,500).