Rare Book Monthly

Articles - August - 2017 Issue

AbeBooks Posts the Top 10 Highest Prices Paid in April-June 2017

Ready to Rumble – Warhol and Basquiat set off to exhibit their paintings.

Ready to Rumble – Warhol and Basquiat set off to exhibit their paintings.

It was a testament to just how crazy much money collectors will spend on their passion. Sadly, it was not a testament to what people will spend on books, which is much more reasonable (that is, less), but paintings. A painting, which didn't even manage to have a name (it is called "Untitled") sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's in May. It was painted in 1982 when the artist was but 21 years old. Jean-Michel Basquiat was an African-American street artist from New York. He moved from graffiti to paintings in the late 1970's and soon developed a following. In 1981, he became friendly with Andy Warhol, and the the two collaborated on paintings for several years. Ironically, the sale of this untitled painting of a skull surpassed a $105 million item of Warhol's to become the most expensive American painting ever sold at auction. Sadly, it was a fast crowd with which Basquiat lived. He died in 1988 at the age of 27 of a heroin overdose.

 

You might wonder what any of this has to do with the Top 10 most expensive items sold on AbeBooks website for the second quarter of 2017. The answer will become apparent when we reach the top of the list.

 

For the second quarter, there were several works or books featuring artwork on the list along with literary items. Here is AbeBooks Top 10 for April-June 2017.

 

9/10 (tie). Brave New World/Letters to Goddard Lieberson. One is a book, the other a collection of personal letters. Both are from Aldous Huxley. Brave New World, published in 1932, is his most enduring book, a look at the distant future. This copy was a first edition, first printing, with dust jacket. The letters are a collection of 13 written by Huxley, two by his second wife Laura, to Columbia Records President Goddard Lieberson. They met when Lieberson asked him to read from his work for author recordings Columbia made in the 1950's. $7,500.

 

8. Le Monde de l'Art n'est pas le Monde du Pardon (The World of Art is Not the World of Forgiveness). This is an art book published in 75 copies in 1974, featuring illustrations from Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Victor Brauner, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Wifredo Lam, Zao Wou Ki, Vieira da Silva, Arpad Szenes, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Alberto Giacometti and others. Text is from poet René Char. A suite of original prints was included. $7,733.

 

7. Studio d'architettura civile sopra gli ornamenti di porte... Three volumes of drawings of buildings published 1722-1728 from Florentine architect Ferdinando Ruggieri. $8,444.

 

6. Codice del Sacro Militare Ordine Gerosolimitano. A compendium of rules for Gerosolimitano, the Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, a group dating back to about 1100 whose goal was to free the tomb of Christ from Islamic control during the Crusades. This is a first Maltese edition from 1777. $9,531.

 

5. An original drawing by Franz von Bayros. Von Bayros was an Austrian artist who lived from 1866-1924. He was part of the "Decadent Movement," his work erotic and controversial. While there is a nude young lady in this picture, Abe notes that it is "pretty tame" compared to some of his other works. $10,191.

 

4. La Fontaine's Fables. A four-volume set of Jean de La Fontaine's fables, published from 1755-1759. This is a second edition of the collection of writings from the 17th century French fabulist, containing 275 plates. $10,626.

 

3. Seven volumes of poetry by Hans Sachs. Sachs was a 16th century German meistersinger, poet, playwright, fabulist (that word again) and shoemaker. The latter paid the bills. He wrote over 6,000 pieces of literature (how many shoes he made is unknown). $10,999.

 

2. Chocky. This one is a science fiction tale by John Wyndham, first published in 1963 in Amazing Stories. This is a signed first edition in book format, published in 1968. $11,443.

 

1. Tony Shafrazi . Bruno Bischofberger Present Warhol . Basquiat Paintings. A poster for for an exhibition of Warhol and Basquiet's collaborative work in 1985. They are dressed as boxers. Abe notes that Basquait looks like a real fighter, while Warhol looks as if he couldn't "punch his way out of a damp paper bag." This copy was signed by both artists. The sale of this poster was made shortly after the record breaking sale of Basquiet's painting. $20,700.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    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.
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