printing of a book commonly referred to as the Massachusett Psalter, translating the Psalms and the Gospel of St. John into a Native American dialect (the Native American text running in columns on the left, the English text running on the right margin, revealing the book’s intent to appeal to Indians as a conversion tool.) This book is described by Kraus’s cataloguers as “…The First Imprint Naming a Native American Printer….After Eliot’s Indian Bible, this is the most important monument of the Massachusett language”, $68,000; a 1555 work by Alonso de Molina entitled Aqui comiença un vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mexicana, described by Kraus’s cataloguers as the “First Substantial Book Printed in America With Contemporary Marginalia in Nahuatl Aztec”, $350,000; and a 1558 work by André Thevet entitled Les singularitez de la France Antarctique, autrement nomeé Amerique: & de plus Terres & Isles decouvertes de nostre temps, described by Kraus’s cataloguers as “…a source of the first importance on the ethnography of the native peoples of Brazil, also containing the second French account of Canada after Cartier’s description of 1545”, $75,000.
This display is certainly quite effective. It is almost impossible to avoid clichés when describing my reaction to these books. Although I have handled literally thousands of antiquarian books and manuscripts in my time, these are perhaps the finest examples I have seen of books of this type, material you literally just don’t see anymore in any condition never mind the superb condition displayed in the examples before me. I put down my pen and look for a while, ever so gently of course so as to not leave any impression whatsoever on these pristine objects. After a few moments I drag myself away from these books, though I could have looked at them all day. (Were that I could own them!) The show must go on, and we have a conversation to conduct.
AT: Do you mind if I ask how you acquired these books? They are simply breathtaking.
MAF: Not at all. I think all but the Psalter we bought at auction. The Psalter came from a private collection.
AT: If these are just random books that you can pull off of your shelves, I’d be fascinated to hear about which books or manuscripts you consider your highpoints.
MAF: Well, I think most of the highlights are described in my father’s book. [Editor’s note: this is true: the book is replete with vivid descriptions of acquisitions such as the Gutenberg Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and countless other treasures such as extremely rare illuminated manuscripts and other amazing objects unearthed by a combination of detective work, charm, and persistence by H.P. Kraus. For this reason alone it belongs in the library of any respectable bibliophile.]
AT: Yes, but your father’s book was published in 1978. Surely you have acquired some materials of note between then and now that you’d like to discuss?
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Sotheby's
Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
Available for Immediate PurchaseSotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USDSotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USDSotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USDSotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USDSotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD -
Doyle, Dec. 5: Minas Avetisian (1928-1975). Rest, 1973. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). Yawning Tiger, conceived 1917. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert M. Kulicke (1924-2007). Full-Blown Red and White Roses in a Glass Vase, 1982. $3,000 to $5,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). L’ATELIER DE CANNES (Bloch 794; Mourlot 279). The cover for Ces Peintres Nos Amis, vol. II. $1,000 to $1,500.Doyle, Dec. 5: LeRoy Neiman (1921-2012). THE BEACH AT CANNES, 1979. $1,200 to $1,800.Doyle, Dec. 5: Richard Avendon, the suite of eleven signed portraits from the Avedon/Paris portfolio. $150,000 to $250,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989). Flowers in Vase, 1985. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Nude, 1936. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Edward Weston (1886-1958). Juniper, High Sierra, 1937.Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven J. Levn (b. 1964). Plumage II, 2011. $6,000 to $8,000.Doyle, Dec. 5: Steven Meisel (b. 1954). Madonna, Miami, (from Sex), 1992. $6,000 to $9,000. -
Gonnelli:
Auction 55
Antique prints, paintings and maps
November 26st 2024Gonnelli: Stefano Della Bella, 23 animal plances,1641. Starting price 480€Gonnelli: Stefano Della Bella, Boar Hunt, 1654. Starting price 180€Gonnelli: Crispijn Van de Passe, The seven Arts, 1637. Starting price 600€Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, La Maschera è cagion di molti mali, 1688. Starting price 320€Gonnelli: Biribissor’s game, 1804-15. Starting price 2800€Gonnelli: Nicolas II de Larmessin, Habitats,1700. Starting price 320€Gonnelli: Miniature “O”, 1400. Starting price 1800€Gonnelli: Jan Van der Straet, Hunt scenes, 1596. Starting Price 140€Gonnelli: Massimino Baseggio, Costantinople, 1787. Starting price 480€Gonnelli: Kawanabe Kyosai, Erotic scene lighten up by a candle, 1860. Starting price 380€Gonnelli: Duck shaped dropper, 1670. Starting price 800€ -
Doyle, Dec. 6: An extensive archive of Raymond Chandler’s unpublished drafts of fantasy stories. $60,000 to $80,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: RAND, AYN. Single page from Ayn Rand’s handwritten first draft of her influential final novel Atlas Shrugged. $30,000 to $50,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Ernest Hemingway’s first book with interesting provenance. Three Stories & Ten Poems. $20,000 to $30,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Hemingway’s second book, one of 170 copies. In Our Time. $15,000 to $25,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A finely colored example of Visscher’s double hemisphere world map, with a figured border. $12,000 to $18,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Raymond Chandler’s Olivetti Studio 44 Typewriter. $10,000 to $20,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: Antonio Ordóñez's “Suit of Lights” owned by Ernest Hemingway. $10,000 to $20,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A remarkable Truman archive featuring an inscribed beam from the White House construction. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: The fourth edition of Audubon’s The Birds of America. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: The original typed manuscript for Chandler’s only opera. The Princess and the Pedlar: An Entirely Original Comic Opera. $8,000 to $12,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A splendidly illustrated treatise on ancient Peru and its Incan civilization. $7,000 to $10,000.Doyle, Dec. 6: A superb copy of Claude Lorrain’s Liber Veritatis from Longleat House. $5,000 to $8,000.
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - January - 2003 Issue
Paying Tribute to an Honorable Legacy: A Visit to the Firm of H.P. Kraus, Inc.
Item 6 in Catalogue 185, Jacobus Philippus, Novissime hystoria, 1503
![<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b719f220-50aa-4855-9a72-293cad312283.jpg "<b>ALDE, Dec. 11:</b> CASSERIUS (JULIUS) [GIULIO CASSERIO]. <i>De vocis auditusq. organis historia anatomica singulari fide methodo ac industria concinnata tractatis duobus explicate,</i> Ferrara, 1600-1601. €4,000 to €5,000.")
