Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2021 Issue

Christie's Rare Books Taking the Plunge

At Christie’s New York, the Books & Manuscripts department is plunging right in to the New Year with two important single-owner collections in January.  The first is Exceptional Prints and Broadsides from the Collection of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, in a live Americana auction at 10am, January 22. This will be closely followed by the library of Mr. & Mrs. John H. Gutfreund with both a selection of books in the live, single-owner auction on January 27 and a dedicated online sale of books open for bidding from January 14-29. All of these sales are open for browsing now on Christies.com. The starting bids (reserves) for the online sale will be revealed when bidding opens on 14 January at 10am EST.

 

The Gutfreund sales will take place during Bibliography Week, so we’ll also take the opportunity to support the outstanding virtual program put together by our friends at the Bibliographical Society of America. The Annual Meeting is on Friday, January 29 with the keynote address on the vital theme of “Liberation Bibliography.”

 

Auction Calendar for Christie’s New York Books & Manuscripts:

 

EXCEPTIONAL PRINTS AND BROADSIDES FROM THE COLLECTION OF AMBASSADOR J. WILLIAM MIDDENDORF II features important prints and documents from the early history of the United States. Highlights such as a rare contemporary 1776 broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence and  a fine copy of Paul Revere’s iconic engraving of the Boston Massacre are supported by a diverse array of period broadsides and prints.

Ambassador Middendorf's passion for the early history of this nation is well known among Americana collectors. His groundbreaking 1969 survey, American Printmaking The First 150 Years, represented the first time that images of the most important historical prints in what is now the United States were assembled in a single catalogue. That volume was a compliment to a national touring exhibition that helped reignite interest in the field among both scholars and collectors. The text was by Middendorf's curator, Wendy J. Shadwell, and is frequently cited.

The current selection offers a parallel representation of early American visual culture. It ranges from John Foster's 1677 woodcut map of New England to a satirical print lampooning Andrew Jackson's administration, and from Revere's Massacre to the Declaration of Independence. The Ambassador's assessment of the significance of the pieces in his introduction for his 1969 catalogue holds true for the present selection: "Taken as a group these prints probably do represent the only consistent pictorial record that we have of the people and their way of life, and of historical events on these shores. Rarely do they reach significant artistic heights. But often in their very crudeness one sees a clear statement, a primitive directness that might be admired in the way one can find aesthetic satisfaction in a Hicks Peaceable Kingdom."

 

BOOKS FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR. & MRS. JOHN H. GUTFREUND FROM 834 FIFTH AVENUE will be sold both in the live collection sale, featuring a colored copy of Maria Sibylla Merian's work on the insects of Suriname alongside the furniture pattern books of the 18th century, classic works on landscape gardening and architecture, fine bindings, and a dedicated online sale. The online sale celebrates the beauty of the book arts writ large, featuring many fine French, Russian, and English bindings; notable presentation copies; and noble associations. The collection is dominated by festival books documenting the luxury of Versailles; herbals and botanicals whose engravings and lithographs capture the riches of the natural world; and copious curiosities of ornament, architecture, art, and design. Highlights include the monumental Description du Sacre et du Couronnement de leurs Majestes Imperiales l'Empereur Alexandre II et l'Imperatrice Marie Alexandrovna, depicting the sumptuous coronation of Czar Alexander II; Fontana's Templum Vaticanum in a green morocco presentation binding for Czar Paul I. Last but not least is the attractive group of finely bound Royal Almanacs in the live sale. What better way to ring in the New Year than by relishing these handsome tokens of years past?

 

We wish you a 2021 full of peace and prosperity! 

 

Christina Geiger (cgeiger@christies.com, contact for Rosenberg and Baum sales)

Peter Klarnet (pklarnet@christies.com, contact for Middendorf sale and manuscript consignments)

Fernando Peña (jfpena@christies.com, contact for printed book consignments)

Heather Weintraub (currently on maternity leave, congratulations Heather!)

Rhiannon Knol (rknol@christies.com, contact for Gutfreund sales)

Gillian Hawley (gillianhawley@christies.com, sale coordinator)

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Bibliotheca Brookeriana:
    A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection D-M
    18 October 2024
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Herodianus Syrus, Herodiani Historiarum, Venice, Heirs of Aldo & Torresano, 1524, Parisian binding for Jean Grolier by Jean Picard, ca. 1540
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro, Venice, Aldo, 1495 (Greek text), interleaved with 1497–1498 (Latin text), English olive morocco by Charles Lewis, the Botfield copy
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Horatius Flaccus, Horatius, Venice, Aldo, 1501, Bolognese brown goatskin (between 1501 and 1503), arms of Mino Rossi and illuminated initials throughout
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Lucretius, De rerum natura, Venice, Aldo, 1500, English early eighteenth-century red morocco, the Fletcher copy
    Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Dante, Le terze rime, Venice, Aldo, 1502, illuminated, contemporary Bolognese morocco binding
  • Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: CATESBY, MARK. 1683-1749. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 1785-1851. The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: ADAMS ON HIS PEAR TREES AND A LOST PORTRAIT BY SALEM ARTIST HANNAH CROWNINSHIELD. ADAMS, JOHN. 1735-1826. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: EARLIEST MAP DEVOTED TO NORTH AMERICA. FORLANI, PAULO. fl.1560-1571. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: HAMILTON DEFENDS THE CONSTITUTION. HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. 1757-1804. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION BROADSIDE. Boston, September 14, 1768. $5,000 - $8,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: ONE OF THE EARLIEST ILLUSTRATIONS OF A SURGICAL PROCEDURE. BARTHOLOMAEUS ANGLICUS. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: RICHARD FEYNMAN'S ANNOTATED COPY, WITH TWO EARLY FEYNMAN AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: THE FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN COMPUTING. TURING, ALAN MATHISON. 1912-1954. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: FINE OIL PORTRAIT OF ALBERT EINSTEIN BY EUGEN SPIRO. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: PENICILLIN MOLD MEDALLION INSCRIBED BY ALEXANDER FLEMING. FLEMING, ALEXANDER. 1881-1955. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: APPLE "TWIGGY" MACINTOSH PROTOTYPE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMONSTRATION SOFTWARE. $80,000 - $120,000
  • Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    A Superb Extra-illustrated Copy of Nicolay and Hay’s Work About Lincoln. $50,000 – 70,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    The First Volume of De Bry's Great Voyages, Thomas Hariot's Description of Virginia. $50,000 – 70,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    An autographed cabinet card of Custer as lieutenant colonel. From his last sitting. $800 – 1,200.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24:
    The Congressional Committee, Lincoln's Funeral Springfield Illinois, 3 May 1865. $4,000 – 6,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    A remarkable ninth plate daguerreotype of an interracial couple. $30,000 – 50,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    What may be the earliest known images of an identified plantation and enslaved African Americans posed with their owner. $20,000 – 30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    Through Tickets to All Principal Points West Via Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad For Sale at This Office. $500 – 700.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25:
    15th New York Infantry / Regiment of Engineers GAR regimental colors. Ca 1880. $1,500 – 2,500.
  • Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1556. Senghor, Les Élégies Majeures. Geneve 1978.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1572. Lew Tolstoy. Anna Karenina. First Edition, Moscow, 1878.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg, 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1060. Immanuel Kant, Critik der reinen Vernunft. First Edition, Riga, 1781.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 585. Bonaparte, Iconografia della fauna Italica. Rome, 1832f.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 548. Robert Fludd. Utriusque cosmi maioris, Frankfurt, 1617f.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 571. Christian von Wolff. Works, Halle 1741f.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 969. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Dekorationen innerer Raeume. Berlin 1874.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Auction 153
    Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1457. Goethe. Das Tagebuch. Print on Vellum. Berlin, Officina Serpentis. 1934.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 30. Michael de Hungaria. Sermones praedicabiles, Strasbourg, 1494.
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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