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  • Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000 Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 681. Zatta's Complete Atlas with 218 Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1779) Est. $27,500 - $35,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 347. MacDonald Gill's Landmark "Wonderground Map" of London (1914) Est. $1,800 - $2,100
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 1. Fries' "Modern" World Map with Portraits of Five Kings (1525) Est. $4,000 - $4,750
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 539. Ortelius' Superb, Decorative Map of Cyprus in Full Contemporary Color (1573) Est. $1,100 - $1,400
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 51. Mercator's Foundation Map for the Americas in Full Contemporary Color (1630) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 667. Manuscript Bible Leaf with Image of Mary and Baby Jesus (1450) Est. $1,900 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 226. "A Powerful Example of Color Used to Make a Point" (1895) Est. $400 - $600
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 290. One of the Most Decorative Early Maps of South America - from Linschoten's "Itinerario" (1596) Est. $7,000 - $8,500
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 62. Coronelli's Influential Map of North America with the Island of California (1688) Est. $10,000 - $12,000
    Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 589. The First European-Printed Map of China - by Ortelius (1584) Est. $4,000 - $5,000
  • Forum AuctionsA Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library19th June 2025 Forum AuctionsA Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library19th June 2025
    Forum Auctions
    A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
    19th June 2025
    Forum Auctions
    A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
    19th June 2025
    Forum, June 19: Euclid. The Elements of Geometrie, first edition in English of the first complete translation, [1570]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum, June 19: Nicolay (Nicolas de). The Navigations, peregrinations and voyages, made into Turkie, first edition in English, 1585. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, June 19: Shakespeare source book.- Montemayor (Jorge de). Diana of George of Montemayor, first edition in English, 1598. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, June 19: Livius (Titus). The Romane Historie, first edition in English, translated by Philemon Holland, Adam Islip, 1600. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum Auctions
    A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
    19th June 2025
    Forum, June 19: Robert Molesworth's copy.- Montaigne (Michel de). The Essayes Or Morall, Politike and Millitarie Discourses, first edition in English, 1603. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, June 19: Shakespeare (William). The Tempest [&] The Two Gentlemen of Verona, from the Second Folio, [Printed by Thomas Cotes], 1632. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, June 19: Boyle (Robert). Medicina Hydrostatica: or, Hydrostaticks Applyed to the Materia Medica, first edition, for Samuel Smith, 1690. £2,500 to £3,500.
    Forum, June 19: Locke (John). An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding in Four Books, first edition, second issue, 1690. £8,00 to £12,000.
  • Sotheby’sNew York Book Week12-26 June Sotheby’sNew York Book Week12-26 June
    Sotheby’s
    New York Book Week
    12-26 June
    Sotheby’s
    New York Book Week
    12-26 June
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Theocritus. Theocriti Eclogae triginta, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, February 1495/1496. 220,000 - 280,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Printed ca. 1381-1832. 400,000 - 600,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Lincoln, Abraham. Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln. 8,000,000 - 12,000,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, June 26: Galieli, Galileo. First Edition of the Foundation of Modern Astronomy, 1610. 300,000 - 400,000 USD

Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2018 Issue

The Rare Book Hub Top 500 Prices Paid at Auction in 2017

The invading saucer men stop by for a visit to the Top 500 (Heritage Auctions photo).

The invading saucer men stop by for a visit to the Top 500 (Heritage Auctions photo).

Another year has come to a close, meaning it's time to look back at the Rare Book Hub Top 500 auction prices in the field of books and paper for the year 2017. The high end of sales was a little softer this time. Nothing matched last year's high price of $5.6 million, let alone previous years when the Bay Psalm Book and Audubon's Birds of America pushed the top price into double digit millions. This year, the best that could be mustered was $1.8 million, the lowest high in many years.

 

At the bottom, the slippage was more modest. Number 500 took in $71,700, a drop of 1.2% from $72,576 in 2016. This number tends to be more reflective of the market as a whole. Only 5 items passed the one million dollar mark, compared to 13 the previous year.

 

One totally new development was how dispersed the most expensive items were by auction house. The previous year, the top 9 items were apportioned between Christie's and Sotheby's, reflective of how it had been for years. This year, only three of the top 10 went to the two majors, with the top four coming from Blanchard's, Winner's, Aguttes and Alde. It will be interesting to see whether this trend continues in 2018, or we revert to form.

 

In 2017, the trend to more of the big dollars going to contemporary, some might say trendier, forms of paper continues. Comics, whether rare, early editions, or the artwork and boards used to create them, take up a major part of the list. Few of these are Disney comics. They are mostly superhero or underground comics. I will admit to never having heard of many of these comics that brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Robert Crumb was particularly popular. Oh, there were some book illustrators too. E. H. Shepard is here – once. Someone else will have to take on the task of counting all of Crumb's appearances, or those of Hergé, who seems to be everywhere on this list.

 

We did see one contemporary book which did not have the word "comic" before it make the list. Harry Potter is here twice to show us traditional books are still alive.

 

Also of increasing popularity are movie posters, one sheet announcements of classic, and not-so classic films. And then there are baseball cards, those things many of us used to flip years ago. Who knew we were gambling hundreds of thousands of dollars? Certainly not our mothers, who threw them away.

 

Of a classic, rather than contemporary nature but highly popular are the pages from one book. Not the Bible, though many copies of it still appear. Rather, there are many individual plates from John James Audubon's first edition of Birds of America. These are very desirable and regularly go for high prices.

 

Before we get to the Top 10, we will look at a few of the interesting, sometimes unusual items a little farther down the list. However, nothing comes across nearly as strange or macabre as one that fell a little short at a mere $56,301 – Lee Harvey Oswald's toe tag. Yes, that is, technically speaking, a work-on-paper. At the end of this article, you will find a link to the complete Rare Book Hub Top 500.

 

#431. This is an amazing letter from Alexander Hamilton to his future wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, that we feel compelled to quote at length. Hamilton had only recently discovered the treason of Benedict Arnold, and he and George Washington had to inform Arnold's wife, Peggy Shippen, of his treachery and his escape to the British side. He writes of the distraught Mrs. Arnold, "I saw an amiable woman frantic with distress for the loss of a husband she tenderly loved—a traitor to his country and to his fame, a disgrace to his connections. It was the most affecting scene I ever was witness to. She for a considerable time intirely lost her senses. The General went up to see her and she upbraided him with being in a plot to murder her child; one moment she raved; another she melted into tears; sometimes she pressed her infant to her bosom and lamented its fate occasioned by the imprudence of its father in a manner that would have pierced insensibility itself. All the sweetness of beauty, all the loveliness of innocence, all the tenderness of a wife and all the fondness of a mother showed themselves in her appearance and conduct. We have every reason to believe she was intirely unacquainted with the plan, and that her first knowlege of it was when Arnold went to tell her he must banish himself from his Country and from her forever. She instantly fell into a convulsion and he left her in that situation." Peggy Shippen Arnold was a great actress. She had likely been a British spy longer than her husband, perhaps brought him in, worked together with her husband in his treason, and later escaped to the British side too. It was all an act. Hamilton fell for it. $81,250.

 

#370. Since comics are so well-represented, here is one that is not representative of them. Rather than a more contemporary style, it is a board for a very early newspaper strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland, by Windsor McCay in 1908. Robert Crumb is among the many who have cited McCay's work as influential. $89,625.

 

#349. Thomas Jefferson writes Georgia Governor John Milledge in 1803, shortly after the Louisiana Purchase. Writes Jefferson, "The acquisition of Louisiana will it is hoped put in our power the means of inducing all the Indians on this side to transplant themselves to the other side the Missisipi, before many years get about." I did not know this idea started so early, or with Jefferson. It would conclude three decades later under Andrew Jackson with the horrific "Trail of Tears," though this was not the result of inducement, as per Jefferson, but of brutal force. $93,750.

 

#284. We said not all of the film posters were for classics. This is artwork by Albert Kallis for a poster for the 1957 film Invasion of the Saucer-Men. As an aside, Kallis was also one of the founding partners of the International House of Pancakes. $107,550.

 

#88. There are numerous Nobel Prize medals expensive enough to qualify for this list, only Nobel Prizes don't belong with a list of works on paper...except this one. It is for the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Doris Lessing in 2007. $251,250.

 

#59. If you are looking to complete your collection of signers of the Declaration of Independence, what will it cost to obtain the rarest, Button Gwinnett? The answer is $319,500.

 

13. Columbus Letter. An early edition (Basel 1494) of Columbus' report on the discovery of the New World. There were numerous early editions, but few copies of any of them survive. This is the Menzies copy, sold at sale of William Menzies in 1876 for $100. $751,500.

 

#11. Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche (1638), where Galileo introduces the sciences of materials and motions. Galileo would have made it into the Top 10 were it not for... Tintin. Alors! $793,432.

 

And now, the Top 10.

 

10. Tintin en Amérique, by Hergé (Georges Remi). Tintin has taken up permanent residence on the Top 500 list. This is a drawing of Tintin on the running board of a car in Chicago for the 1937 edition of Tintin in America. Based on the price, Tintin must have been the most important French visitor to America since de Tocqueville. $798,180.

 

9. Autograph manuscript for the song Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen, by Gustav Mahler (1905). $869,375.

 

8. Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis, ad usum Romanum. An illuminated Book of Hours circa 1483 by the humanist Bartolomeo Sanvito, produced for a wedding uniting the powerful Sforza and D'Aragon families. $885,000.

 

7. Autograph manuscript notes by Mao Zedong, late in life, concerning his love for classical literature and poetry, along with notes by a professor who assisted him in his ill, later years on the subject (1975). $916,175.

 

6. Quinte-Curce, Faiz Et Conquestes d'Alexandre (History of Alexander the Great), circa 1470-80. This is an illuminated manuscript on parchment and paper. $990,080.

 

5. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, by Charles Darwin. Long lost copy of Darwin's sheets of the third English edition (1861) with notes for revisions sent to his German translator for the second German edition. These changes would then be made to the fourth English, this being the definitive text of Darwin's work. $1,056,925.

 

4. Biblia Latina (vol. 1 only). Printed in 1460 in Strasbourg by Johann Mentelin, this was the first book printed anywhere other than Mainz. $1,209,500.

 

3. Autograph manuscript for Honoré de Balzac's novel Ursule Mirouët (1841). $1,392,300.

 

2. Albert Einstein Manuscript Note. "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness." Einstein gave this note to a courier while in Japan because he had no cash for a tip. He told the courier that some day it might be more valuable. This note was not the greatest observation of Einstein's life, but he was right about the value. $1,560,000.

 

1. The Declaration of Independence. Written in 1776, primarily by Thomas Jefferson, this is the founding document of the American nation. It was first printed July 4 in Philadelphia, but there were no large printings in its early day. Rather, it was printed locally for dissemination throughout the colonies. This was the first New York printing, one of the earliest (July 9), known only in five copies. $1,800,000.

 

For a complete list of the Rare Book Hub Top 500 of 2017, click here.

 

Note on this list: What appears on the list has changed over the past decade and a half since we began compiling it. Once overwhelmingly books, all sorts of other forms of paper now fill the list, manuscripts, letters, pamphlets, broadsides, various documents, even comic books (thank you, Hergé) qualify. Trickier are prints and photographs, which may also qualify. We say "may" as we try to filter out those primarily of artistic merit. It's a fine line, one where Audubon, whose "prints" are generally plates from his Birds of America, make the cut, but Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso's do not. Otherwise, the enormous prices they bring would dominate the list. With photography, we will include very old photographs and those capturing historic events, while modern artistic photographers are excluded for the same reason as Warhol and Picasso. Artworks and photography that are "worth a thousand words" are the type we include, while those more of artistic beauty than a historic account are not included. However, artwork that is in book form (a bound edition as opposed to a loose portfolio) does meet the test. So do original illustrations for book or cover art. We realize it is a thin line.

 

It is possible we may have missed something. We follow around 200 auction houses and occasionally something can be missed. We apologize and certainly no slight is intended.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Dominic Winter AuctioneersJune 18 & 19Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions Dominic Winter AuctioneersJune 18 & 19Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    June 18 & 19
    Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    June 18 & 19
    Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: World. Van Geelkercken (N.), Orbis Terrarum Descriptio Duobis..., circa 1618. £4,000-6,000.
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Moll (Herman). A New Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain..., circa 1715. £2,000-3,000.
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Churchill (Winston S.). The World Crisis, 5 volumes bound in 6, 1st edition, 1923-31. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    June 18 & 19
    Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Darwin (Charles). On the Origin of Species, 2nd edition, 2nd issue, 1860. £1,500-2,000.
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Roberts (David). The Holy Land, 6 volumes in 3, 1st quarto ed, 1855-56. £1,500-2,000.
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Saint-Exupéry (Antoine de, 1900-1944). Pilote de guerre (Flight to Arras), 1942. £10,000-15,000.
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    June 18 & 19
    Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Austen (Jane, 1775-1817). Signature, cut from a letter, no date. £7,000-10,000
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Huxley (Aldous). Brave New World, 1st edition, with wraparound band, 1932. £4,000-6,000
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Tolkien (J. R. R.) The Hobbit, 1st edition, 2nd impression, 1937. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    June 18 & 19
    Printed Books & Maps, Children's & Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Rackham (Arthur, 1867-1939). Princess by the Sea (from Irish Fairy Tales), circa 1920. £4,000-6,000
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: Kelmscott Press. The Story of the Glittering Plain, Walter Crane's copy, 1894. £3,000-4,000
    Dominic Winter, June 18-19: King (Jessie Marion, 1875-1949). The Summer House, watercolour. £4,000-6,000
  • Bonhams, June 16-24: KELMSCOTT PRESS. RUSKIN. The Nature of Gothic. 1892. $1,500 - $2,500
    Bonhams, June 16-24: ASHENDENE PRESS. The Wisdom of Jesus. 1932. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: CHARLOTTE BRONTE WRITES AS GOVERNESS. Autograph Letter Signed, 1851. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS. BRONTE, Emily. New York, 1848. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: IAN FLEMING ASSOCIATION COPY. You Only Live Twice. London, 1964. $7,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: DELUXE EDITION WITH ORIGINAL PAINTING. BUKOWSKI, Charles. War All the Time. 1984. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN'S MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT ON THE ATOMIC BOMB. Original Typed Manuscript Signed, "On My Participation in the Atom Bomb Project," 1953. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: EINSTEIN ON SCIENCE, WAR AND MORALITY. Autograph Letter Signed, 1949. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. WASHINGTON, George. Engraved document signed, 1786. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: AN EARLY CHINESE-MADE 34-STAR U.S. CONSULAR FLAG. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF LINCOLN WITH HIS SON TAD. 1864. $60,000 - $90,000
    Bonhams, June 16-24: MALCOLM X WRITES FROM KENYA. Postcard signed, 1964. $4,000 - $6,000
  • FinarteBooks, Autographs & PrintsJune 24 & 25, 2025 FinarteBooks, Autographs & PrintsJune 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE / LANDINO, CRISTOFORO. Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta fiorentino, 1481. €40,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus]. Aggiunta: Marsilius Ficinus, Ad Dantem gratulatio [in latino e Italiano], 1487. €40,000 to €60,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: ALIGHIERI, DANTE. Il Convivio, 1490. €20,000 to €25,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: BANDELLO, MATTEO. La prima [-quarta] parte de le nouelle del Bandello, 1554. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LEGATURA – PLUTARCO. Le vies des hommes illustres, grecs et romaines translates, 1567. €10,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: TOLOMEO, CLAUDIO. Ptolemeo La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti…, 1548. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: FESTE - COPPOLA, GIOVANNI CARLO. Le nozze degli Dei, favola [...] rappresentata in musica in Firenze…, 1637. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: SPINOZA, BARUCH. Opera posthuma, 1677. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: PUSHKIN, ALEXANDER. Borus Godunov, 1831. €30,000 to €50,000.
    Finarte
    Books, Autographs & Prints
    June 24 & 25, 2025
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - LECUIRE, PIERRE. Ballets-minute, 1954. €35,000 to €40,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MAJAKOVSKIJ, VLADIMIR / LISSITZKY, LAZAR MARKOVICH. Dlia Golosa, 1923. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Finarte, June 24-25: LIBRO D'ARTISTA - MATISSE, HENRI / MONTHERLANT, HENRY DE. Pasiphaé. Chant de Minos., 1944. €22,000 to €24,000.
  • Bonhams, June 16-25: 15th-CENTURY TREATISE ON SYPHILIS. GRÜNPECK. 1496. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF BENIVIENI'S TREATISE ON PATHOLOGY. 1507. $12,000 - $18,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FRACASTORO. Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus. 1530. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE FIRST PUBLISHED WORK ON SKIN DISEASES. MERCURIALIS. De morbis cutaneis... 1572. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: BIDLOO. Anatomia humani corporis... 1685. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: THE NORMAN COPY OF DOUGLASS'S EARLY AMERICAN WORK ON INNOCULATION AND SMALLPOX. 1722. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LIND'S FIRST TREATISE ON SCURVY. 1753. $15,000 - $20,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: RARE JENNER SIGNED CIRCULAR ON VACCINATION. 1821. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: MOST BEAUTIFUL OF MEDICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. BRIGHT. Reports of Medical Cases... 1827-1831. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PRESENTATION COPY TO HER MOTHER. 1860. $6,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: LORENZO TRAVER'S MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL OF BURNSIDE'S NORTH CAROLINA EXPEDITION. TRAVER, Lorenzo. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, June 16-25: ONE OF THE EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS ON DERMATOLOGY. HARDY. Clinique Photographique... 1868. $3,000 - $5,000

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