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Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 567. One of the Earliest & Most Desirable Printed Maps of Arabia - by Holle/Germanus (1482) Est. $55,000 - $65,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 681. Zatta's Complete Atlas with 218 Maps in Full Contemporary Color (1779) Est. $27,500 - $35,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 347. MacDonald Gill's Landmark "Wonderground Map" of London (1914) Est. $1,800 - $2,100Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 1. Fries' "Modern" World Map with Portraits of Five Kings (1525) Est. $4,000 - $4,750Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 539. Ortelius' Superb, Decorative Map of Cyprus in Full Contemporary Color (1573) Est. $1,100 - $1,400Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 51. Mercator's Foundation Map for the Americas in Full Contemporary Color (1630) Est. $3,250 - $4,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 667. Manuscript Bible Leaf with Image of Mary and Baby Jesus (1450) Est. $1,900 - $2,200Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 226. "A Powerful Example of Color Used to Make a Point" (1895) Est. $400 - $600Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 290. One of the Most Decorative Early Maps of South America - from Linschoten's "Itinerario" (1596) Est. $7,000 - $8,500Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 62. Coronelli's Influential Map of North America with the Island of California (1688) Est. $10,000 - $12,000Old World Auctions (June 18): Lot 589. The First European-Printed Map of China - by Ortelius (1584) Est. $4,000 - $5,000
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Forum Auctions
A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
19th June 2025Forum, June 19: Euclid. The Elements of Geometrie, first edition in English of the first complete translation, [1570]. £20,000 to £30,000.Forum, June 19: Nicolay (Nicolas de). The Navigations, peregrinations and voyages, made into Turkie, first edition in English, 1585. £10,000 to £15,000.Forum, June 19: Shakespeare source book.- Montemayor (Jorge de). Diana of George of Montemayor, first edition in English, 1598. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum, June 19: Livius (Titus). The Romane Historie, first edition in English, translated by Philemon Holland, Adam Islip, 1600. £6,000 to £8,000.Forum Auctions
A Sixth Selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library
19th June 2025Forum, June 19: Robert Molesworth's copy.- Montaigne (Michel de). The Essayes Or Morall, Politike and Millitarie Discourses, first edition in English, 1603. £10,000 to £15,000.Forum, June 19: Shakespeare (William). The Tempest [&] The Two Gentlemen of Verona, from the Second Folio, [Printed by Thomas Cotes], 1632. £4,000 to £6,000.Forum, June 19: Boyle (Robert). Medicina Hydrostatica: or, Hydrostaticks Applyed to the Materia Medica, first edition, for Samuel Smith, 1690. £2,500 to £3,500.Forum, June 19: Locke (John). An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding in Four Books, first edition, second issue, 1690. £8,00 to £12,000. -
Sotheby’s
New York Book Week
12-26 JuneSotheby’s, June 25: Theocritus. Theocriti Eclogae triginta, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, February 1495/1496. 220,000 - 280,000 USDSotheby’s, June 26: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925. 40,000 - 60,000 USDSotheby’s, June 26: Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Printed ca. 1381-1832. 400,000 - 600,000 USDSotheby’s, June 26: Lincoln, Abraham. Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln. 8,000,000 - 12,000,000 USDSotheby’s, June 26: Galieli, Galileo. First Edition of the Foundation of Modern Astronomy, 1610. 300,000 - 400,000 USD
Rare Book Monthly
Articles - November - 2007 Issue
An Interesting Sale in Vermont
By Bruce McKinney
Once or twice a year William Parkinson of Hinesburg, Vermont conducts an old time book auction. On October 27th Mr. Parkinson held his second sale of 2007 and his third of this type since 2004. It included material from the University of Vermont as well as contributions from other consignors, in total 504 lots of Americana and Vermontiana. It was a sale distinctive for its positioning as geared to the knowledgeable.
For starters you will not happen upon Mr. Parkinson's sales by chance. They aren't advertised in the regular trade publications, neither are they listed on many public sites. Literally everyone in the auction business in New England advertises their sales in Maine Antique Digest and the Newtown Bee. Mr. Parkinson does not. Rather he mails and emails to a list of about 800 buyers and prospects, posts details to ABAA members and contacts selected libraries.
Neither does he charge much for his auction catalogues. Six dollars will get you a hard copy. Better yet, he provides an excellent downloadable version that can be easily keyword searched. Neither does he charge a buyer's commission. In a world where buyer's commissions have begun to exceed 20% his sales are a throw-back to the 1950's when auctions did not charge and did not even yet contemplate charging buyers a commission. At his recent sale if you bid $90 and won you paid $90.
Neither does he provide estimates. Estimates potentially serve three masters; the consignor, auction house and market and at auctions generally you can't tell which one is the driving the estimate. Mr. Parkinson's perspective is "the market will decide." So, in this sale, for $20, the auction's minimum bid, you could buy items that brought $1,000. That is, of course, if you knew the actual values and no other bidder did. On Saturday however, the lights were on, even in the attic.
Succinctly stated, Mr. Parkinson is a contrarian.
In the sale just concluded the lot descriptions assume you know what you are doing. Bibliographic references are included but for most only citation numbers, not the citations themselves. To go more deeply you have to know the sources and have access to them. As well, collectors tend to buy single items and a significant number of these lots were anywhere from two items to many running feet. Lot 19 was 11 almanacs, lot 30 4 early auction catalogues, lot 38 "10 titles on U.S. relations." Lot 51 was 65 issues of the Bellows Falls Gazette [1843-1845], lot, 58 20 booksellers' catalogues, lot 109 five bound volumes of Congressional speeches dating from 1808 to 1840. Other lots were even more complex. For dealers this type of material makes sense, for collectors less so. It can keep a body and soul busy through a winter figuring out how to turn single Congressional documents from 1814 into an interesting description with an attractive price. This is what dealers do. Doing the research is work, finding the material luck.