-
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 - December - 2008 Issue
Antiquarian Books and Ephemera from Samuel Gedge Rare Books
By Michael Stillman
Samuel Gedge Ltd. Rare Books of Norwich, UK, has issued their Catalogue V (as in 5). Gedge provides a variety of material, not just by topic, but by type. So, along with books, you will find such items as the strip almanac shown on the cover, a fan-shaped printed paper, an early 19th century bookseller's pocketbook, and other unusual items. The common thread is that these items are related to books, printing, manuscripts or bookselling, and all qualify as being antiquarian - 19th century or earlier. Here are a few of the items Gedge is offering in their latest catalogue.
Item 19 is the psalm book of a man who surely needed atonement, though he may not have appreciated this point. The 1793 book is entitled A new version of the psalms of David... by N. Brady. The owner was Thomas Staniforth, the Mayor of Liverpool, and his imprint, title, and the year 1797 are placed on the cover. Staniforth's parents died by the time he was 15, but a brother-in-law set him up as an apprentice to a wealthy businessman, Charles Goore. The wise Staniforth married Goore's daughter, and after the latter's two sons died, the daughter became Goore's only heir. Staniforth managed Goore's business, which included the miserable field of trading in slaves. Other aspects of his business, whaling and trading tobacco, would not meet with much favor today either. Staniforth was highly regarded in his hometown and a noted philanthropist and family man, though evidently blind to the sufferings of the souls in which he traded. He died in 1803. Priced at £350 (British pounds, or US equivalent of $512).
Item 1 is a commission from the Company of Merchants appointing John Hope Smith as the Governor of Cape Coast Castle in 1816. Cape Coast Castle, located in what is today Ghana, was one of the most notorious of the "castles" along the African Gold Coast. It contained one of the large dungeons in which slaves captured on the continent would be held until the slave ships arrived. Over 1,000 people could be crammed into the dank cells in its basement - miserable, unsanitary places. Probably the only worse conditions imaginable were what came next for the slaves, the even more crammed and unsanitary slave ships. Fortunately, the British had abolished the slave trade a decade earlier, so the old castle was used as a site for trade by the time Smith arrived. A year later, at the young age of 30, Smith was appointed as the overseer for all of Ghana. £950 (US $1,392).
Item 93 is the strip almanac shown on the cover: An almanac for the year 1688, by John Pack. These manuscript strips, in this case wound into a turned bone casing, were popular in the 16th century. It notes the phases of the moon and important Christian holidays. The later date of this strip almanac is unusual as they were far more popular during the preceding century. £3,500 (US $5,133).
Here is an item of interest to American Civil War collectors. Item 47 is the naval logbook of a tour of H.M.S. Racer, commanded by Algernon McLennan Lyons, during 1861-1862. This British ship was assigned to patrol the Atlantic coast of the United States during its civil war. The logbook recounts its journeys along the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas, particularly Charleston, and return trips to British bases in Halifax and Bermuda. The British stayed out of America's internal dispute, but needed to keep apprised of what was going on. This log was kept by E.S. Dugdale, a naval cadet. £2,750. (US $4,032).