Christie's New York Books & Manuscripts department recently made an important update to their sale calendar: the twice-yearly Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts Including Americana auctions will now be held in October and April instead of December and June. This marks the department's move to Christie's Classic Week following the success of the London Books team, which has been part of Classic Week since 2016. This banner week brings together numerous auctions featuring Old Master and 19^th Century Paintings, Antiquities, the Exceptional Sale, and now Books & Manuscripts. The change for New York Books is a welcome one. “We are thrilled about our new calendar,” says Christina Geiger, Head of Department, “This new autumn and spring schedule will greatly benefit both our consignors and our buyers, as the Classic Week venue encourages high-level collecting across the traditional categories. Moreover, we’re pleased that our first October various-owner auction includes so many books auspicious to the season: a first edition Dracula, Frankenstein with a letter by Mary Shelley, horror works by R.L. Stevenson, Oscar Wilde and others, plus a previously unknown broadside naming Edgar A. Poe as editor of Graham’s Magazine.”

 

Some of the wide-ranging highlights for Christie's October sale include The Scott Greenbaum Collection of Literary First Editions, among which is an exceptionally fine copy of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale ($40,000-60,000) and many Dashiell Hammett first editions, including The Glass Key in its rare dust jacket ($60,000-80,000); a section devoted to Game Theory, including rare offprints, a small selection of manuscripts from John Forbes Nash, Jr., and two Nobel Prize Medals (estimates from $800-1,200 to $500,000-800,000); a manuscript for Steve Reich's seminal work Drumming ($12,000-18,000); the Brinley copy of America’s first banned book, Thomas Morton's New English Canaanof 1637 ($35,000-45,000); the important works of 17^th-century naturalist-artist Maria Sibylla Merian ($180,000-250,000); an inscribed photograph of Albert Einstein ($35,000-45,000); the Louisiana Purchase Collection of Alonzo J. Tullock ($1,000-1,500 to $20,000-30,000); an important letter from Alexander Hamilton bringing forth the power of the federal government to stem the Panic of 1792 ($8,000-12,000); and a manuscript document signed by Willem Kieft, granting land near Coney Island to the first person of Muslim origin to settle in America ($5,000-7,000).

 

The inaugural October sale will be held on Friday the 25th at 11am at Rockefeller Plaza. The view, as always free and open to the public, is open from:

 

Friday 18 October 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

Saturday 19 October 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

Sunday 20 October 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm

Monday 21 October 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

Tuesday 22 October 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

Wednesday 23 October 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

Thursday 24 October 10.00 am - 5.00 pm