-
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Doyle, Dec. 6: An extensive archive of Raymond Chandler’s unpublished drafts of fantasy stories.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 - February - 2007 Issue
<b>AE</b> Bibliographic Database Passes 1.5 Million Records
Some recent AED records on early "Lewis and Clark" editions.
By Michael Stillman
The beginning of the new year marked a milestone here at the Americana Exchange. The crown jewel of our services, the Americana Exchange Bibliographic Database ("AED" for short), passed the 1.5 million record threshold. We are impressed by this achievement, as when the AE opened its doors in 2002, the database consisted of just 190,000 records. Of course a few readers, maybe even more than a few readers, may still be wondering "just what is the AE Database anyway?" We are glad you asked (even if you didn't). Hopefully, those of you who do not subscribe to the AED will read this article to see what it is, as someday you too may want to subscribe. There's nothing to lose by learning about it. That way, even if you choose not to subscribe, it will still be an educated decision.
Here, quickly then, is what it was and what it is today. The Americana Exchange Bibliographic Database was intended to be what the name suggests, a database of Americana bibliographies. It started with some of the most important of those, such as Sabin, Evans, Howes' USiana, and most of the very hard to find issues of the American Imprints Inventory. These are still in the AED, but the remaining 1,310,000 records cover a far more vast territory of collecting. We quickly outgrew the moniker "Americana," but once you choose a name, you are more or less stuck with it. Feel free to just call us "AE." That seems to work for "KFC" since they realized having "Fried" as a middle name wasn't such a good idea anymore.
What the AED is today is a collection of 1,500,000 records pertaining to books, manuscripts and ephemera. Some are from traditional bibliographies, but the great majority are now priced records, from auctions and classic booksellers' catalogues. "Priced" is the operative word here, because while standard bibliographies provide important information, the critical piece of data for many collectors and sellers is value. This is necessary data to buy and sell intelligently, yet it can be the most difficult piece of the puzzle to find.
Okay, I can hear some of you saying you can get your values from Abe. If it is a cheap, common title, you are probably right. If there are ten copies available on Abe for $1 each, you can readily estimate its value, confident that you are not off by more than a dollar. However, when it comes to collectible material, Abe pricing can be galaxies removed from reality, presuming the item is even offered on Abe. Often, the prices seen on Abe reflect what a book cannot be sold for, rather than what it can. That's why listings can stay there for an eternity. Anyone who relies on Abe pricing to price their own books for sale needs to be prepared to own them for a very long time. Anyone who relies on Abe pricing alone to purchase a valuable book is out of their mind.
At the heart of today's AED are auction records. The auction is the only true open market, the one place where the market determines a book's value. As anyone with a knowledge of elementary economics can attest, this is a book's monetary value, not some invented, possibly dreamland price pulled from thin air. If you want to know for what price a book is likely to sell in a reasonable amount of time, or what a rational price is to pay for one, there is no better guide than the auction. Sure you may be able to sell for more, you may be willing to pay more, but get too far out of line from the open market price and you are asking for heartbreak.
![<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.")
