Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2006 Issue

The <b>AE</b> Top 500 Book Auction Results For 2005!

American Flamingo from J.J. Audubon's Birds of America.

American Flamingo from J.J. Audubon's Birds of America.


By Michael Stillman

Another year has come to a close, and before we move on to the new year at hand, it is time to take a look at the top auction sales for 2005. Exactly one year ago, we issued the first annual listing of the top 350 sales of books, manuscripts, and related ephemera at auction. This year we go 150 better. We present the top 500 list, and for those in a rush, the link to the AE 500 can be found near the end of this article.

Some people fear that the growing presence of eBay and other online resources will spell the doom of the traditional auction. If so, there was no sign of this impending collapse in 2005. Sales were most impressive. Here at the AE, we follow around 100 auction houses, from those that average less than one book auction per year to those that feature books every few weeks. In total, we covered 343 auctions, offering over 160,000 lots. From these we culled the top 500 prices paid. At the top, the price was over $5.6 million, almost double that of number two and of last year's number one. At the bottom, the price was still $72,000. Think about that. Five hundred items sold for $72,000 or more at auction last year. You'd have to earn $8.20 per hour and work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to buy the cheapest item on the list. Not too many work-a-day folks were making purchases from this collection.

Much of what you will find on this list are not really "books." Manuscripts are a staple of higher priced book auctions and tend to go for top prices because of their one-of-a-kind nature. So, you will see names like Washington and Lincoln, Einstein and Stravinsky, in this list, but for handwritten rather than printed matter. There are also items of art, drawings, an occasional painting and even photographs. Many of these are signed. They may appear borderline for applicability to this list, but we have chosen to include them when they have some printing, manuscript or ephemeral connection and were sold in auctions heavily focused on this type of material. Artistic items sold at art auctions are not included.

As was the case last year, two auction houses dominate the highest listings: Sotheby's and Christie's. If you have a million dollar book to sell, we recommend consulting these two firms. Together, they held 95 of the top 100 spots. Sotheby's had 58, Christie's 37. With one apiece were Bonham's, Bruun Rasmussen, Swann Galleries, Bloomsbury, and The Romantic Agony. The second one hundred adds Freeman's, Pacific Book Auction, and Zisska and Kistner to the list, but the big two continue to dominate. After that comes Hauswedell and Nolte, Lyon and Turnbull, Mealy's, Reiss and Sohn, and Dorotheum.

In 2005, there were eight items that sold for over $1 million, 311 over $100,000. The millionaires were double 2004, but at $100,000, the numbers were just about the same. That latter figure is an indication that, at least at the top, prices from 2004 to 2005 were roughly the same.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    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 | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
    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.
  • Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025 Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025
    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.
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