Maisonneuve Dubois’ red and black images from antique vases.
By Michael Stillman
Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books recently issued a catalogue entitled “Miscellaneous Works.” While “miscellaneous” may be appropriate to the variety of subjects covered, there is a common thread running through most of these titles. That is the quality of artwork. Whether in the images within the books or the contemporary bindings, the artistic quality of many of these books is astounding.
The catalogue is divided into six sections: Natural History, Science & Medicine; Architecture & Design; Military, Naval & Sports; Illustrated Books & Costume; Literature, Philosophy, Economics & Fine Bindings; and Photography. Most in the final category are mounted photographs rather than books.
Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books is located in London, so, not surprisingly, most titles are European. However, there are a few items offered with ties to the Americas.
An example of stunning beauty is found in Maisonneuve Dubois’ Introduction a l’Etude des Vases Antiques… A first edition from 1817, this is a collection of plates of red and black Greek antique vases contained in several major collections. Transcribing the images to a flat surface was a challenge to the illustrators as they were taken from the curved, convex surfaces of the vases. Copies were also offered in black and white (uncolored), but this copy is a rare hand-colored version. Item 61. Priced at £25,000 (all prices in this catalogue are in British pounds).
Item 75 is a panorama of London as it appeared around 1870. It unfolds to reveal a 21-foot long picture of the city from Parliament to the docks. It folds back into an original cloth cover. £450.
If you have an interest in foot fetishism, or simply, like Imelda Marcos, you like shoes, check out Item 132, The Karl Friedrich Schoensiegel Collection – The Shoe, the Foot, & Fetishism. From the 1920s, these six volumes include 277 original watercolors illustrating shoes from all over the world. Schoensiegel’s illustrations and years of research are preserved in folders. These illustrations are all that remains of his once amazing collection of footwear. Schoensiegel put his shoe collection on display in Berlin in 1939, reportedly to great acclaim. Unfortunately, the war soon intervened, and the shoes were either lost or destroyed. £50,000.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
