Books & Periodicals
Material in this specialist market ranges from the early printed works of the Gutenberg Press and William Caxton right through to Modern First Editions and now up to signed copies of Harry Potter. Condition and rarity are the keys to this sector.
Audubon Birds of America flies to a top two high
25 June 2018Billed as “the world’s most valuable illustrated book”, the ex-Duke of Portland set of Audubon’s Birds of America offered by Christie’s New York (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) on June 14 was sold for $8.3m (£6.24m), a price only once bettered at auction.
One hump lot or two at Sotheby’s?
25 June 2018Camels are the linking theme of the two lots illustrated here, so a verse by Ogden Nash copied below seems to fit the bill.
Second World War German codebook breaks into six figures
25 June 2018For many years now, German Enigma code machines have been making big, sums at auction, but in the Bonhams New York June 12 sale a slim codebook relating to their use also prompted a much, much higher than expected and six-figure bid.
British and Irish book auctions: June 26-July 7, 2018
25 June 2018ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from June 26-July 7, 2018.
Shakespeare, fables and a fantastic codebook result
25 June 2018The earliest publication in any form of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar came with its inclusion as part of the 1623 First Folio, and in a recent US sale a bound set of the 22pp that it occupied in that great work prompted a six-figure bid.
Howard Carter hits out at Curse of Tutankhamen in letters sold at Shropshire auction
20 June 2018The supposed Curse of Tutankhamen has somewhat overshadowed the astonishing discoveries of Howard Carter, the British archaeologist and Egyptologist.
British and Irish book auctions: June 19-29, 2018
18 June 2018ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from June 19-29, 2018.
Butterfly bids transformed in Hamburg sale
18 June 2018Bound together, first editions of both parts of the 1679-83 edition of Maria Sybilla Merian’s study of caterpillars and their transformation into butterflies, Der Raupen…, sold to a Danish bidder for €42,000 (£32,060) in a sale held by Ketterer Kunst (23% buyer’s premium) of Hamburg.
Blueberry books place in the trade
18 June 2018In the books, maps and prints supplement in ATG No 2341, Pom Harrington of Harrington Rare Books observed that millennials are now looking at books and thinking they are “cool”.
Mozart is sweet music to an auctioneer’s ears
18 June 2018Consisting of just two autograph leaves, but catalogued as “one of the most important fragments still in private hands”, a manuscript dating from the last years of Mozart’s short life topped a recent London music sale.
Whistler’s ‘ravishing’ book on a plate
18 June 2018In 1930, Jonathan Swift’s 18th century satirical book Gulliver’s Travels was republished by Cresset Press with a suite of illustrations by the British artist Rex Whistler (1905-44).
Plague water, dastardly crimes and good habits
18 June 2018Early manuscript compilations for medical and culinary recipes feature quite regularly and successfully at auction, but an example in a recent London sale was one with a morbid statistical addition that achieved a treble-estimate £15,000.
A ten shilling, ‘thick paper’ Federalist
18 June 2018The Federalist…, a collection of essays first published in New York newspapers in the years immediately following independence, is today recognised as a seminal work on American political theory and a cornerstone of constitutional governance.
Saint Augustine’s English ‘City of God’
18 June 2018St Augustine of Hippo’s De civitate Dei (below) was penned to counter pagan claims that what had prompted the Visigoth sacking of Rome in 410 was the adoption of Christianity by its emperors. The book was first printed around a thousand years later in the 1460s, but it was 150 years before a first English language edition appeared.
ABA Fair’s move to Battersea results in invigorated event
15 June 2018The ABA Rare Book Fair London’s move to Battersea Evolution was marked by a 20% increase in visitor numbers last month, fulfilling organisers’ hopes for an invigorated event at the trendier location.
Kazimir Malevich archive emerges at Bonhams auction
11 June 2018An archive of manuscripts and correspondence from Russian avant garde artist Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) has emerged at Bonhams. It will be auctioned as a single lot in London on June 20.
Shapero parent company to launch Mayfair Book Auctions this week
11 June 2018The parent company of recently launched Mayfair Philatelic Auctions has announced it will also be holding regular auctions of books and prints, writes Roland Arkell.
Fork handles, not four candles… original draft script makes £28,000
11 June 2018Written in red ink on four sheets, the original draft script of Ronnie Barker’s famous ‘Fork Handles’ TV sketch of 1976 has been sold for £28,000.
Mozart and a little lute magic at Sotheby's
11 June 2018It was a four-page Mozart manuscript of an unfinished Allegro in G for piano and four hands that led the Sotheby’s (25/10/12.9% buyers’ premium) sales of May 22.
Well-known map featured on endpapers of Winnie-the-Pooh returns to auction after nearly 50 years
11 June 2018It was in December 2014 that Sotheby’s put an estimate of £100,000-150,000 on what it called at the time “probably the most famous and evocative illustration of the 20th century”.
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