Historical Paper Triumphant Once Again; Prices Soar at Sotheby's!
- by Eric Caren
The stupendous collection of Printed and Manuscript Americana built by Ira and Barbara Lipman grossed just under 12.4 Million dollars at Sotheby's this past month.
It is never a surprise when an early printing of The Declaration of Independence goes through the roof ($504,000), but the numerous broadsides, newspapers, almanacs and other Paper Americana/ Ephemera in this sale, did not disappoint lovers of this once neglected field of collecting:
Following are some additional prices realized:
Lot #2, a 1794 broadsheet relating to the first anti-slavery legislation...$8,820.00
Lot 37, Ames Almanac for the year 1771 with first printing of Benjamin Franklin's famous pre-mortem epitaph...$1,638.00
Lot 69, a newspaper broadside carriers address related to the recent (December 1773) Boston Tea Party...$35,280.00
Lot 70, Nine issues of Niles Weekly Register containing "The Jew Bill" debate...$10,710
Lot 72, The famed Tombstone edition of The Pennsylvania Journal dated 1765 and protesting the hated Stamp Act...$69,300
Lot 78, a 1775 broadside relating to The Battle of Bunker Hill...$13,860.00
Lot 117, a 1778 broadside printed in the middle of The American Revolution and containing an Address by Congress to The United States..
$30,240.00
Lot 147, a run of Dutch printed newsletters from 1651-1690 with early American content...$12,600.00
Lot 165, Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac for 1749...$30,240.00
Lot 192, a 1756 Declaration of War by Great Britain against France (start of The French and Indian War)...$35,280.00
Lot 217, a 1778 broadside related to The Great Britain Peace Commission...$18,400.00
Lot 295, "The Bloody Butchery" broadside dated 1775 with an account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord...$94,500.00
Lot 296, Virginia Gazette newspaper dated 1775 with news of Lexington and Concord...$11,970.00
Lot 302, The first obtainable printing of Lincoln's 1862 Emancipation Proclamation, a broadsheet circular...$403,200.00
Lot 305, NY newspaper dated November 20, 1863 with a printing of The Gettysburg Address...
$10,710.00
Lot 307, New York Herald newspaper containing Lincoln's second Inaugural Address, March 1865...$8,820.00
Lot 309, The iconic reward poster for the capture of the Assassins of Lincoln containing tipped on photographs of J.W. Booth, etc....$214,200.00
Lot 339, First Printing of The Monroe Doctrine, 1823, broadside extra of The National Intelligencer...$75,600.00
Lot 357, Independent Chronicle newspaper dated 1787 with a printing of The North West Ordinance...$2,016.00
and several Davy Crockett almanacs from 1837 through 1840, brought prices ranging from $4,400.00 to $10,710.00 each!
Eric C. Caren, owner of The Caren Archive, has had numerous single owner sales at major auction houses, of "How History Unfolds on Paper." His first collection formed the nucleus of The Newseum.
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 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.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
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.