The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko was sold at Sotheby’s on June 26th in New York as 47 lots were offered and 36 sold. Among them was the original cover art for “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” that brought $1,920,000 against $400,000 - $600,000 estimates. The sale overall brought $6,024,480.
While the above mentioned cover art made the New York Times in their June 28th edition, the sale had other appealing lots too.
Frank L. Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” (1900) brought $108,000
Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (1843) presentation copy brought $228,000
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle’s “The most significant Sherlock Holmes manuscript extant” of The Sign of the Four. It brought $960,000.
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle’s – Sidney Paget Original Illustration of “The Death of Sherlock Holmes.” It brought $384,000.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby, first edition.” It brought $336,000.
Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road; first edition.” $120,000
Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, first edition.” $264,000
Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane: $420,000
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The earliest Poe manuscript still in private hands.” $216,000
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The fever called living is conquered at last.” $504,000
Walt Whitman. “Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” $132,000
Dr. Swantko went home as a winner twice. While he converted some of his material into big bucks, he’ll still have 11 unsold lots to keep nearby. To keep his spirits up before those 11 unsold slip away, I’ll quote Ron in The Prisoner of Azkaban, “Don’t let the muggles get you down.”
Here is a link to his complete sale https://www.rarebookhub.com/auctions/auction_detail?id=27023
His experience is an encouragement to collectors.
