Exceptional catalogues: <br>Livres Anciens and Livres Precieux
- by Bruce E. McKinney
Chamonal: Lot 32 [Duflot de Mofras]. Album Amicorum de Emilia de Botella.
No. 50 For those who lack space but have an appetite for books there is Gastronomie - Miniscule. Printed in Paris in 1810 this is a small book. Look at your thumb. This book is half the size. The good news is you aren't going to need to build any shelves. This volume and a hundred more like it will fit comfortably in a shoe box. 6,000 euros without the shoebox.
No. 162 For those who have been waiting for Waldseemuller's 1507 Cosmographie Introductio Chamonal offers a nice copy. The price has been omitted to allow you to lie to your spouse. If pinned down by your better half you can point out this book will probably be the cover item at auction when your collection goes on the block. That is unless you are also hiding a Columbus Letter. [P.O.R.]
These are a few of the many, many interesting items offered. The Chamonal perspective is international.
The Clavreuils' effort is different. Here the most obsessive book-collector meets the charming but equally determined book dealer across the pages of a presentation that makes statements at many levels. This is not a catalogue. It is a declaration of quality. To me it says "we sell the greatest books to the greatest collectors. Bring your collecting ambition, your determination and intelligence to a discussion with us and you will take home books that will remain satisfying to own for the rest of your life." I've done that and many of the books I've bought from them remain, after many years, unrivaled for quality, provenance and importance. Investigate all the lots using the search box provided at the end of this article. Did I mention that the catalogue is in French?
In case you find yourself reaching for your checkbook the entire contents of this catalogue will cost $5.5 million. Here are some of the items.
Item no. 1 is a 1482 Cosmographia by Ptolemaeus. It was issued during the last days of pre-Columbian understanding of the world. This copy will deserve its own first class seat on the airplane home. It is priced at 800,000 euros. Figure that a euro is worth about $1.30.
No. 8 is a Bible printed in Paris in 1537 by Simon de Colines. It is Libri Prophetarum....Relie avec : Machabaeorum Libri Duo. A President taking the oath of office in January would garner a bit of extra attention [and strengthen our national bonds with France] by taking the oath on this book. The price is 18,000 euros.
For 80,000 euros you can buy no. 14, one of the earliest new world imprints. This one is Alonso de Veracruz' Speculum Coniugiorum aeditum...printed in Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1556. That's right. The first books printed in the new world were in Latin. Today they speak Spanish and you can pay in euros.
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.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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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.
![Chamonal: Lot 32 [Duflot de Mofras]. Album Amicorum de Emilia de Botella.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/ArticleImages/chamone.jpg)
![<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.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
