Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2008 Issue

Literature from Shapero Rare Books

The first-first-first Harry Potter.

For those who believe books must be old to be valuable, item 36 is the first edition, first issue, of the first Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Shapero notes that author J.K. Rowling was turned down by seven publishers (aren't they sorry?) before Bloomsbury printed 500 copies in 1997, not exactly anticipating a run on the bookstores. Of those, 350 went to libraries, so the book was published in a more durable library binding without a dust jacket. This virtually pristine copy is likely one of the 150 that went into private hands as it does not bear the signs of heavy use the quickly popular book endured in public libraries. Shapero notes that this copy can be identified as the first issue as it includes "1 wand" at both the top and bottom of the list of items Harry is to take with him to Howarts. £27,500 (US $54,192).

Shapero Rare Books may be found online at www.shapero.com, telephone +44 (0)20 7493 2876.

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<center>Potter & Potter Auctions Nobu Shirase and the Japanese Antarctic Expedition: the Collection of Chet Ross October 12, 2023

Potter & Potter, Oct. 12: [BYRD]. VEER, Willard Van der and Joseph T. RUCKER, cinematographers. The 35mm motion picture Akeley camera that filmed the Academy Award-winning documentary “With Byrd at the South Pole”. $30,000 to $50,000.

Potter & Potter, Oct. 12: [SHIRASE, Nobu, his copy]. RYUKEI, Yano. Young Politicians of Thebes: Illustrious Tales of Statesmanship. Tokyo(?), 1881-84. $15,000 to $20,000.

Potter & Potter, Oct. 12: SHACKLETON, Ernest H. The Antarctic Book. Winter Quarters 1907-1909 [dummy copy of the supplement to: The Heart of the Antarctic]. London, 1909. $10,000 to $15,000.

Potter & Potter, Oct. 12: [USS BEAR]. The original auxiliary deck wheel from the famed USS Bear, 1874-1933. “PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS SHIP IN THE HISTORY OF THE COAST GUARD” (USCG). $10,000 to $15,000.

Potter & Potter, Oct. 12: HENSON, Matthew. A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. With a forward by Robert Peary. Introduction by Booker T. Washington. New York, [1912]. $3,000 to $4,000.
<center>Swann Auction Galleries View Our Record Breaking Results

Swann: Charles Monroe Schulz, The Peanuts gang, complete set of 13 drawings, ink, 1971. Sold June 15 — $50,000.

Swann: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Family Archive of Photographs & Letters. Sold June 1 — $60,000.

Swann: Victor H. Green, The Negro Motorist Green Book, New York, 1949. Sold March 30 — $50,000.

Swann: William Shakespeare, King Lear; Othello; [and] Anthony & Cleopatra; Extracted from the First Folio, London, 1623. Sold May 4— $185,000.

<center>Swann Auction Galleries View Our Record Breaking Results

Swann: William Samuel Schwartz, A Bridge in Baraboo, Wisconsin, oil on canvas, circa 1938. Sold February 16 — $32,500.

Swann: Lena Scott Harris, Group of approximately 65 hand-colored botanical studies, all apparently California native plants, hand-colored silver prints, circa 1930s. Sold February 23 — $37,500.

Swann: Suzanne Jackson, Always Something To Look For, acrylic & pencil on linen canvas, circa 1974. Sold April 6 — $87,500.

Swann: Gustav Klimt, Das Werk von Gustav Klimt, complete with 50 printed collotype plates, Vienna & Leipzig, 1918. Sold June 15 — $68,750.
<center>Sotheby’s Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library Magnificent Books and Bindings 11 October 2023

Sotheby’s, Oct. 11: Francesco Colonna, Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. $300,000 to $400,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 11: Leonardo da Vinci, Trattato della pittura, manuscript on paper, [Rome, ca. 1638–1641], a very fine pre-publication manuscript. $250,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 11: Paradis, Ung petit traicte de Alkimie, [Paris, before 1540], contemporary morocco by the Pecking Crow binder for Anne de Montmorency. $300,000 to $350,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 11: Capocaccia, Giovanni Battista, A wax relief portrait of Pius V, in a red morocco book-form box by the Vatican bindery, Rome, 1566–1568. $250,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 11: Serlio, Il terzo libro; Regole generali, Venice, 1540, both printed on blue paper and bound together by the Cupid's Bow Binder. $400,000 to $500,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 11: Tiraboschi, Carmina, manuscript on vellum, [Padua, c. 1471], the earliest surviving plaquette binding. $280,000 to $350,000.

<center>Sotheby’s Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library The Aldine Collection A–C 12 October 2023

Sotheby’s, Oct. 12: Anthologia graeca, Venice, Aldus, 1503, printed on vellum, Masterman Sykes-Syston Park copy. $150,000 to $200,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 12: Castiglione, Il libro del cortegiano, Venice, Aldus, 1528, contemporary Italian morocco gilt, Accolti-Landau copy. $200,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 12: Castiglione, Il libro del cortegiano, Venice, Aldus, 1545, contemporary morocco for Thomas Mahieu, Chatsworth copy. $200,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 12: Cicero, Epistolae familiares, Venice, Aldus, 1502, printed on vellum, illuminated, Renouard-Vernon-Uzielli copy. $200,000 to $300,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 12: Colonna, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Venice, Aldus, 1499, Gomar Estienne binding for Jean Grolier, Spencer copy. $400,000 to $600,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 12: Crinito, Libri de poetis Latinis, Florence, Giunta, 1505, Cupid's Bow Binder for Grolier, Paris d'Illins-Wodhull copy. $250,000 to $300,000.

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