Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2016 Issue

The Pirie Sale at Sotheby's Garners Almost $15 Million in Sales

Interior of Robert Pirie's New York home (courtesy of Sotheby's).

Interior of Robert Pirie's New York home (courtesy of Sotheby's).

One of the most important book auctions of 2015 took place at Sotheby's in New York in the final month of the year. As can happen when the very best of collections are offered for sale, the figures flew past the estimates of approximately $8-$12 million on the lots that sold, settling at a total of just a hair under $15 million. The sales rate was also unusually high at 85%. Spectacular collections earn spectacular results. The collector of this single-owner sale, who died earlier in the year, was Robert S. Pirie of New York.

 

Robert S. Pirie made his fortune as a corporate lawyer and investment banker. Born in 1934 in Chicago and educated at Harvard, Mr. Pirie became a force in law, then banking, beginning in the 1970's. Despite his rise into high finance, he was a man of progressive political views, not surprising as he was a nephew of 1952 and 1956 Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson. It earned him a place on President Richard Nixon's enemies list, which he considered an honor.

 

Long before his foray into the world of high finance, Mr. Pirie developed a love for books. While serving in the Army in Germany in the 1950's, he found an old book by John Donne. It was the start of a collection of thousands of books, specializing in 16th and 17th century English literature. It included some of the greatest examples in the field. It was book collecting he loved perhaps more than any of his other successful ventures. According to the New York Times, he once said he never intended to be a lawyer. "I wanted to become the rare book curator at Harvard."

 

The top price at the Pirie sale went to a special copy of Isaac Newton's seminal work on light, Opticks: or, a Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. This was a presentation copy of the first edition, first issue of 1704, given to his colleague and supporter astronomer Edmund Halley, forever known for the comet named for him. Halley has marked this copy with the Latin "luceo," which means "I shine," or "I dawn, become light." Sotheby's noted that the significance of this is uncertain, but that Halley also made the same annotation in his copy of Newton's Principia. Newton had actually begun writing the book in the 1670's, but because of differences with Robert Hooke, waited until after his death in 1703 to publish his findings. In this book, Newton announced his discovery that white light is actually composed of all of the colors of the rainbow, expounding on the refraction and combination of light. He also writes about the telescope and his theory of how light travels. Finally, the book concludes with two mathematical papers, designed to show Newton's priority over Leibniz in the discovery of calculus. Of great importance is Newton's enunciation of his use of the scientific method – observation rather than just reasoning – in reaching his conclusions. Newton explains, "My Design in this Book is not to explain the Properties of Light by Hypotheses, but to propose and prove them by Reason and Experiments." Against an estimate of $400,000-$600,000, this copy sold for $1,330,000.

 

The next two highest priced items fittingly came from the greatest name in all of English literature – William Shakespeare. One was the 1619 Pavier-Jaggard second edition of the Merchant of Venice, one of only 26 copies known to survive. This edition is notable as it, along with eight other Shakespearean plays, was meant to be combined in a collected issue, just two years after Shakespeare died and four years before the publishing of the First Folio. However, they ended up being sold separately, or perhaps with the expectation purchasers would bind them together. This rare edition sold for $550,000 against an estimate of $250,000-$350,000.

 

The second Shakespearean item was a copy of the Second Folio. It followed the first by nine years, essentially a reprint of the first. It would be 30 years before another edition was published. The Second Folio includes a poem by John Milton, and as such, it marked the first appearance of Milton in print. It sold for $430,000.

 

Among other items sold was perhaps the most important of sporting books ever, Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler. It took in $206,250, two to three times the estimates. A magnificent letter from the man who started Pirie's collection, John Donne, to Lady Kingsmill was sold for $150,000. In it, Donne comforts his old friend who just lost her husband. He assures her that God reunites such partners in time in accordance with His plan.

 

In all, 1,081 lots were offered over three days at Sotheby's rooms in New York. Total proceeds of the sale were $14,908,379.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Bissière, Roger. Cantique à notre frère soleil de saint François. 1954. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. La vie & l’œuvre de Philippe Ignace Semmelweis. 1924. Rare édition originale, avec envoi. Joint : La Quinine en thérapeutique, 1925. 4,000 - 6,000 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. Mort à crédit. 1936. Édition originale. Bel exemplaire sur Hollande. 2,500 - 3,500 EUR
    Sotheby's
    Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
    5-19 June
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Chillida, Eduardo ─ Emil Cioran. Face aux instants. 1985. Un des 100 exemplaires sur Arches. Eau-forte signée. 600 - 800 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. Ler dla canpane. L’Art Brut, 1948. Édition originale. 3,000 - 5,000 EUR
    Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. L'Herne Jean Dubuffet. 1973. Un des 100 exemplaires du tirage de luxe avec une sérigraphie originale en couleurs. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
  • Gros & Delettrez
    Livres & Manuscrits Arméniens
    Jeudi 12 juin 2025
    Paris, Francis
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: BIBLE, Venise 1733, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit daté 1606, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit début XVIIIe siècle, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, Amsterdam 1664
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, Amsterdam 1702, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: DICTIONNAIRE arménien, manuscrit XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle.
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: EVANGILE, manuscrit 1735-1737, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: LIVRE DE PRIERES, Grégoire de Narek, manuscrit
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: GEOGRAPHIE, Ghoukas INDJIDJIAN, Venise 1802-1806
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: MANUSCRIT THEOLOGIQUE, XVIe-XVIIe siècle
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: MASHTOTS, manuscrit XVIIIe-XIXe siècle, reliure arménienne
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: LETTRE ENCYCLIQUE, manuscrit XIXe siècle
    Gros & Delettrez, June 12: NOUVEAU TESTAMENT, Amsterdam 1668, reliure arménienne
  • Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Peter Max, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore (Versions 1,2, 5, 6), 2001. Estimate $10,000-15,000
    DOYLE: The iconic screen-used wall-mounted "M" from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Estimate $5,000-8,000
    DOYLE: The Mary Tyler Moore Show by Al Hirschfeld. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Annie Leibovitz presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke for Vanity Fair. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Al Hirschfeld presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in the CBS Wednesday Night Lineup. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Richard McKenzie, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore. Estimate $1,000-2,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Three Original Bill Hargate Costume Designs for The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. Estimate $600-800
    DOYLE: The famous Bonnie and Clyde "Wanted" broadside. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE: Ticket to the Final Episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show Estimate $400-600

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