May 4-11: Fahrenheit 451 and other signed material at AntiquarianAuctions.com
- by Thomas C. McKinney
Highlighted material from AntiquarianAuctions.com's US sale #11
AntiquarianAuctions.com, an online rare book auction house, has been in business since 2010 under the leadership of antiquarian bookseller Paul Mills. In spring 2020, just as the pandemic was prompting a global shutdown, the American side of the business, led by Adam Langlands, launched with the objective of hosting sales with material specifically geared towards American collectors’ interests. With now ten auctions completed, their US Auction #11 opens at 2:30 pm eastern time on May 4th and bidding concludes at 12:30 on May 11th.
There’s a nice variety of material included here, with many signed editions and reasonable estimates. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.
A signed, limited issue (this is copy #4 of a stated 200), first edition of Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451 is the headline item of the sale. Being sold now by the original owner, this copy was purchased in 1953 via mail order. AntiquarianAuctions describes it as an “enigma” because this limited issue carries with it several unanswered questions about its origin:
Who came up with the idea?
How many were actually printed? The current count is 215 copies!
As the issue was not widely advertised, how, if at all, was it marketed?
A very interesting first edition to say the least, this copy of Bradbury’s most famous work is estimated $13,000 to $18,000 as the first lot of the sale. If this item is out of your price range, another Bradbury first edition, Dark Carnival, is being sold as lot #3 with an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800.
I’m personally only familiar with L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, because I have a friend who finds cults fascinating. Certainly a polarizing figure during his lifetime, he is evidently also collectible. Up for sale as lot #2 is a signed, first edition of Slaves of Sleep, a science fiction novel that appeared originally in an 1939 issue of the magazine Unknown. It is estimated $1,500 to $2,500.
Pivoting to a completely different genre of material, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains is another interesting, signed and inscribed first edition being auctioned. Written by Dr. Charles A. Eastman in 1918, the author had a fascinating life. Born in a buffalo hide tipi in Minnesota in 1858, he seemed destined to participate in the final Sioux uprisings of the 1870s. However, fate and his father intervened, and he eventually graduated from Dartmouth College and Boston University’s medical school. I highly recommend reading the longer biography included in the lot’s description. As lot 33, Dr. Eastman’s work is estimated $1,500 to $2,000.
The last highlight of this preview is a complete suite of the 158 prints, the frontispiece, and the title page from the limited edition of Henri Matisse’s artist’s book Dessins, Themes et Variations. The text leaves with several illustrations, being Louis Aragon’s accompanying essay, are missing from this sale. This particular set was used as the artwork for the reproduction issued by Dover Publications in 1995, so the plates have been annotated in the margins. They are, however, suitable for framing. As lot 171, Matisse’s prints are estimated $2,000 to $4,000.
Where information is available, AntiquarianAuctions.com goes above and beyond in providing lengthy and detailed descriptions for the items they auction. Two hundred and forty-nine lots make up Auction #11, and they are well worth your time in perusing. The entire catalog is available for preview here. If you plan on bidding, please ensure that you register beforehand.
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 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.