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Sotheby's
Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
Available for Immediate PurchaseSotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USDSotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USDSotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USDSotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USDSotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD -
Doyle, Dec. 5: Minas Avetisian (1928-1975). Rest, 1973. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). Yawning Tiger, conceived 1917. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert M. Kulicke (1924-2007). Full-Blown Red and White Roses in a Glass Vase, 1982. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). L’ATELIER DE CANNES (Bloch 794; Mourlot 279). The cover for Ces Peintres Nos Amis, vol. II. $1,000 to $1,500.Doyle, Dec. 5: LeRoy Neiman (1921-2012). THE BEACH AT CANNES, 1979. $1,200 to $1,800.Doyle, Dec. 5: Richard Avendon, the suite of eleven signed portraits from the Avedon/Paris portfolio. $150,000 to $250,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Flowers in Vase, 1985. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Nude, 1936. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Juniper, High Sierra, 1937.Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven J. Levn (b. 1964). Plumage II, 2011. $6,000 to $8,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven Meisel (b. 1954). Madonna, Miami, (from Sex), 1992. $6,000 to $9,000. -
ALDE, Dec. 9: BLAEU (JOAN) ET BORGOGNIO (GIO TOMASO). Theatre des Estats de son Altesse Royale le duc de Savoye…, La Haye, 1700. €25,000 to €30,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: BROWNE (JAMES D. HOWE). Ten Scenes in the last Ascent of Mont Blanc including five Views from the Summit. London, 1853. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: FELLOWS (CHARLES). A Narrative of an Ascent to the Summit of Mont-Blanc. London, 1827. €30,000 to €40,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: HACQUET (BELSAZAR). Physikalisch= Politische Reise aus den Dinarischen durch die Julischen…, Leipzig, 1785. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: HAWES (BENJAMIN). A Narrative of an Ascent to the Summit of Mont-Blanc made during the summer of 1827 by Mr. William Hawes and Mr. Charles Fellows, 1828.ALDE, Dec. 9: MARTEL (PIERRE) ET WINDHAM (WILLIAM). An account of the glacieres or ice Alps in Savoy, in two letters…, London, 1744. €6,000 to €8,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: PITSCHNER (WILHELM). Der Mont Blanc Darstellung des Besteigung desselben am 31 Juli, 1 und 2 August 1859…, Berlin, 1860-1864. €8,000 to €10,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: SCHEUCHZER (JOHANN JACOB). Natur-Geschichte des Schweizerlandes, samt seinen Reisen über die Schweitzerische Gebürge. Zurich, 1746. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: STUMPF (JOANNES). Gemeiner loblicher Eydgnosschaft Stetten, Landen, und Völckeren Chronicwirdiger Thaatenbeschreybung. Zurich, Christoph Froschauer, 1548. €2,500 to €3,500.ALDE, Dec. 9: WALTON (ELIJAH) ET BONNEY (THOMAS GEORGE). The Peaks and valleys of the Alps. London, 1868. €3,000 to €4,000.ALDE, Dec. 9: WYTTENBACH (JACOB SAMUEL). Vues remarquables des montagnes de la Suisse, avec leur description. Amsterdam, 1785. €15,000 to €20,000. -
![<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] <i>Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…,</i> 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/2bfa5105-2bf9-4a52-8ab5-45f3ef7b1eb4.jpg "<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] <i>Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…,</i> 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.")
![<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Heaney (Seamus). <i>Eleven Poems,</i> Belfast (Festival publications - Queens University) [1965], First Edn., (First Issue) Signed. €2,500 to €3,500.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d8cd5291-2e7d-4a24-8d22-f316554ec8f8.jpg "<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Heaney (Seamus). <i>Eleven Poems,</i> Belfast (Festival publications - Queens University) [1965], First Edn., (First Issue) Signed. €2,500 to €3,500.")
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €5,500 to €7,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…, 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Signed by author, limited edition. €1,250 to €1,750.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Fishing: Literal Translation into English of the Earliest Known Book on Fowling and Fishing, Written originally in Flemish and Printed at Antwerp in 1492. London (Chiswick Press) 1872. €1,500 to €2,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Fishing: Blacker's - Art of Fly Making, etc., Comprising Angling & Dying of Colours..., Rewritten & Revised. Lond. 1855. €250 to €350.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Joyce (James). Finnegans Wake,, London (Faber & Faber Ltd.) 1939, Lim. Edn. No. 269 (425) copies, Signed by the Author (in green pen). €3,000 to €4,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Synge (J.M.) & Yeats (Jack B.) illus. The Aran Islands,, D. (Maunsel & Co. Ltd.) 1907, Signed Limited Edn. €4,000 to €5,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Meyer (Dr. A.B.) Unser Auer -, Rackel-Und Birkwild und Seine Abarten, Wien (Verlag Von Adolph W. Kunast) 1887. €2,500 to €3,500.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Carve (Thomas). Itinerarium R.D. Thomas Carve Tripperariensis, Sacellani Maioris in Fortisima iuxta…,, Moguntia (Mainz) impriemebat Nicolaus Heyll, 1639. €1,500 to €2,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2 vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. First Edition. €3,000 to €5,000.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Heaney (Seamus) & Le Brocquy (Louis) artist. Ugolino, D. (Dolmen Press) 1979, Signed Limited Edition No. 87 (125) Copies. €3,500 to €4,500.Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Heaney (Seamus). Eleven Poems, Belfast (Festival publications - Queens University) [1965], First Edn., (First Issue) Signed. €2,500 to €3,500.
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - October - 2010 Issue
Report on Baltimore Antiquarian Book Fair
Michael Osborne at the Baltimore Antiquarian Book Fair.
By Michael J. Osborne
(This event took place Labor Day weekend in downtown Baltimore's convention center. The show produced by the Palm Beach Show Group celebrated its thirtieth year and attracted about 70 book dealers and more than 500 antique specialists.)
The Baltimore show is billed as the largest antiques show in the country and it attracts an international assortment of dealers and collectors from Asia, Europe and the Middle East. With the gate count usually in the tens of thousands dealers anticipate good crowds and serious collectors. Once in a while a tourist wanders in and is overwhelmed by aisle after white-carpeted aisle of booths where everything is for sale: books, fine art, antiquities, silver, jewelry, oriental rugs, and sculpture.
The show held on the lower level of the convention center stretched for two city blocks. It was on such a grand scale that it took more than one day to see it all and it wasn't uncommon to see people in battery powered carts cruising up and down the aisles.
The antiquarian book dealers were nestled together near the west end of the center under lower ceilings with decent lighting for better viewing of books. In the book section visitors found fine bindings, rare printings, hand-colored plates, fore-edge paintings, first editions, rare editions, interesting ephemera and scarce titles and just good books in a variety of subjects.
The book dealers were the last to move in due to the location of the antiquarian section. During the morning of September 1st you could drive your vehicle, if you were lucky and early enough, up to your booth and unload quickly before parking offsite. Otherwise you were able to park nearby to dolly to your booth, then park offsite. What appeared to be chaos with shelving and boxes and people finding their allocated space was actually well managed by the Palm Beach Show Group whose staff assisted with details. Book dealers had a full day on Wednesday to move to and set up their booths until all the carpeting was laid, and all the vehicles removed and the remaining space filled in with a restaurant.
This show was good for pre-show buying. It wasn't unusual to find one or more dealers dropping by your booth while you set up, scanning your shelves, and returning again and again scouting well into Wednesday evening of the set up day. Business cards appeared from dealers' pockets and were placed with books to be put aside and purchased later.
The show attracted several members of the ABAA including, A. Parker Books of Sarasota, Florida; Bauman Books from New York; First Folio from Tennessee; and Lux Mentis from Portland, Maine. Jerry Showalter returned from Ivy, Virginia; Jeff Bergman from Fort Lee, New Jersey; and Ned Sparrow from Lutherville, Maryland.
My display, Michael J. Osborne Books, was located in booth 705. This was my seventh year at the BABF. I occupied a double booth that opened to a spacious aisle and plaza-like eating area where coffee and snacks were served. Although I specialize in city planning, landscape architecture, architecture, Marylandia, Washingtoniana, and what I like to call irresistible rare books, this year I brought books on the Civil War, and fine printing and press books in addition to my usual fare.
My top single sale was a non-book item, a deck of twenty alphabet cards in Cyrillic, printed in 1848 in Moscow, complete, with their case and with hand-colored illustrations of peddlers. The most expensive book I brought was Edith Wharton's The Book of the Homeless, one of fifty deluxe copies with the extra suite of plates.
The plaza area is also home to Jerry Showalter, Royal Books, Drusilla's Books, Griffon’s Medieval Manuscripts, Jeff Bergman, First Folio and Book Worm and Silver Fish. Drusilla Jones brought rare and choice children's books and literature, and her neighbor, Jerry Showalter brought an eclectic mix of rare and antiquarian books and ephemera, which included the first edition of Pope's Shakespeare. From my booth I could see the beautiful books displayed by Dennis Melhouse in First Folio's booth and absorb the old-antiquarian-book-shop atmosphere created by Jim Presgraves' Book Worm and Silver Fish. I could step a few feet from my booth and find fine first editions at Kevin Johnson's Royal Books and Jeff Bergman's booth.
![<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b719f220-50aa-4855-9a72-293cad312283.jpg "<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.")
