A warning to cattle rustlers to leave town. The meaning of 3-7-77 is unknown.
AbeBooks has released their list of the top 14 most expensive items purchased on their website in 2021. “Abe” is the largest seller of old books with millions of titles listed. While most may fit in the category of “reading copies,” they also have a wide selection of rare and collectible books. Those include the 14 highest prices paid this past year, ones that sold for $25,000 and up.
12-14 (tie). Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman, published in 1985. This is a signed copy of the autobiography of the brilliant, nerdy physicist who manages to make his life in physics humorous and entertaining. $25,000.
12-14 (tie). Declaration of Independence, a broadside by Peter Force published in 1833. Historian and printer Peter Force was commissioned by Congress to print this facsimile engraved by William Stone for the American Archives. $25,000.
12-14 (tie). The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, a seventh printing published in 1931. This copy was inscribed by Hammett to Bebe Daniels and her husband Ben Lyon. Daniels played the lead in the first film adaptation of Hammett's novel. $25,000.
11. Grapefruit by Yoko Ono, self-published in 1964. Inscribed by the author. Ms. Ono was not a major celebrity at the time she published this book, but became so after she married John Lennon. $25,450.
10. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith published in 1776. This is the Dublin edition, the only other edition of this classic of modern economics published the same year as the first edition. This copy belonged to Lady Davy, the wife of chemist and inventor Sir Humphrey Davy.
9. Dracula by Bram Stoker published in 1897. “Drac” needs no introduction. $27,500.
8. Euclidis Megarensis Geometricorum Elementorum, a 1516 French edition of Euclid's Elements. The ancient Alexandria mathematician lived 1,800 years earlier but had to wait until printing was invented to have a printed book. $27,850.
7. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson published in 1968. Signed by Watson and colleagues and fellow Noble Prize winners Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. $28,500.
6. Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham & David Dodd published in 1934. “The Bible for stock investors.” Graham, like so many, took a beating in the 1929 stock market crash so he set about learning the principles of successful investing. $29,000.
5. Après 50 Ans de Surréalisme by Salvador Dali, the deluxe French edition of 1974. Includes 12 signed color etchings by Dali. $32,000.
4. An autograph letter by E.T.A. Hoffmann from 1816. Hoffmann wrote Gothic horror stories, his stories inspiring the opera the Tales of Hoffmann and Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. $32,823.
3. Derrière le Miroir, 243 issues of the French art magazine published from 1946-1982. One issue was signed by Joan Miro. $35,000.
2 The Birds of America by John James Audubon, a 1972 facsimile. The Johnson Reprint edition in four double-elephant folios. Looks much like the 1827-1839 original which can sell for over $10 million. $36,635.
1. Pencil Sketches of Montana by A.E. Mathews published in 1868. It contains 31 sketches of early Montana by Mathews and this copy came with a loose vigilante card with a skull and crossbones intended to warn cattle rustlers to get out of town. $37,500.
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.
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.