June 28th: Third sale of La Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé - Musique et Poésie
- by Thomas C. McKinney
In our December 2015 issue of Rare Book Monthly, I wrote about the first of a series of important sales being held in association with Sotheby’s comprising La bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé, the 1600 item collection amassed by Pierre Bergé of Yves Saint Laurent fame. Another session took place last year in November, and this month, the third auction, entitled Musique et Poésie, is scheduled for June 28th. The high standards of Mr. Bergé’s collecting eye are as apparent in this sale as ever.
The online catalog for Musique et Poésie has yet to be posted, but Sotheby’s is offering a peek of what’s to come.
The first highlight of the sale is a unique copy and original edition of one of German composer Richard Wagner’s last stage works, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg [The Master-Singers of Nuremberg], which is corrected and annotated by Wagner himself from the time he spent composing the opera. The book was printed in Mainz in 1862, and it carries an estimate of 60,000 to 80,000 €.
Next, a second edition of Pierre de Ronsard’s Les Amours, with comments from Marc Antoine de Muret, features the rare music booklet with a few odes from the author not yet printed. Printed in Paris in 1553, Ronsard’s work is estimated 40,000 to 60,000 €.
The last musical item from the sale being previewed is a score by Frédéric Chopin, dubbed Scherzo for piano, from 1837. The score features an autograph by Chopin to his young “virtuoso pupil” Jeanne Porte and is estimated 15,000 to 20,000 €.
The first three items are all musical items, and the final preview item falls under the poetry category. French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé’s Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hazard [A Throw of the Dice will Never Abolish Chance] is a book with an interesting history because it was printed shortly before Mallarmé died and Mallarmé used very purposefully placed blank space and placement of words. Prior to 2004, the book had never been published with the typograph and format that Mallarmé intended. The copy being offered in the upcoming sale are the corrected proofs, handwritten and bound by Geneviève Mallarmé, and illustrated by Odilon Redon with autograph documents and lithographs by the artist. This extraordinary item is estimated 40,000 to 60,000 €.
La bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé - Musique et Poésie is a sale hosted by Pierre Bergé et Associés, in association with Sotheby’s. It is scheduled for June 28, 2017 at 2 pm CEST in Paris. As more information about the sale becomes available, it will be posted to Sotheby’s website as well as the website of Pierre Bergé et Associé.
DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
Freeman’s | Hindman Western Manuscripts and Miniatures July 8, 2025
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.