Sothebys: Fine Books and Manuscripts - Part 1, N11831, New York
Auction Details
- Auction Date
- June 26, 2025 - June 26, 2025
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Place Printed | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake, William | Likely the finest known posthumous printing of "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" |
[London] | [ca. 1831--1832] | USD 400,000.00 - 600,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 2 | Book of Hours | Use of Lyon, likely by the Master of the Alarmes de Mars, c. 1500-1510 |
c. 1500-1510 | USD 120,000.00 - 180,000.00 | Not Sold | |
| 3 | Breydenbach, Bernhard von | A very good copy of the exceptionally rare first German-language edition of the first illustrated travel book |
Mainz | 21 June 1486 | USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 4 | Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de | The first two Brussels editions of the Spanish Quixote |
Brussels | 1607 | USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 5 | Darwin, Charles | "the book ... that initiated the most cataclysmic change in human thinking within the last four hundred years" |
London | 1859 | USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 | USD 107,950.00 |
| 6 | Darwin, Charles | A rare leaf from The Descent of Man, Darwin's epoch-making treatise |
ca. 1868-1869 | USD 150,000.00 - 250,000.00 | Not Sold | |
| 7 | Euclides | "Elementa geometriae," second edition, much rarer than the first |
Vicenza | [13 May] 1491 | USD 70,000.00 - 100,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 8 | Galieli, Galileo | First edition of the foundation of modern astronomy, overthrowing all that came before |
Venice | 1610 | USD 300,000.00 - 400,000.00 | USD 406,400.00 |
| 9 | Josephus, Flavius | First edition of Josephus in Latin, handsomely illuminated |
[Augsburg] | 28 June; 23 August 1470 | USD 150,000.00 - 250,000.00 | USD 190,500.00 |
| 10 | Pacioli, Luca | A foundational text on "Divine Proportion" illustrated with designs after Da Vinci |
Venice | June 1509 | USD 150,000.00 - 200,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 11 | Shakespeare, William | The Third Folio, bound by Francis Bedford, with distinguished provenance |
London | 1664 | USD 70,000.00 - 100,000.00 | USD 127,000.00 |
| 12 | Shakespeare, William | The Fourth Folio, an outstanding copy, complete and unsophisticated |
London | 1685 | USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 | USD 120,650.00 |
| 13 | Smith, Adam | "... led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention." |
London | 1776 | USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 | USD 101,600.00 |
| 14 | Audubon, John James | The sumptuous Levy copy of Birds of America |
New York and Philadelphia | [1839--] 1840--1844 | USD 80,000.00 - 100,000.00 | USD 88,900.00 |
| 15 | Catherwood, Frederick | The scarce deluxe issue of these celebrated views of the Mayan ruins |
[London | 1844] | USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 | USD 69,850.00 |
| 16 | Catlin, George | A fine copy of the deluxe issue George Catlin's magnum opus, with superb original coloring |
London | 1844 [or 1845] | USD 90,000.00 - 120,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 17 | Kleist, Ludwig von, & Georg Emanuel Opiz | A scarce and stunning suite of military color plates, with an original watercolor drawing |
Dresden | ca.1840--1845 | USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 18 | du Camp, Maxime | First edition of a pioneering photobook on Egypt, Palestine, and Syria |
Paris | 1852 | USD 120,000.00 - 180,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 19 | Rouge, Emmanuel de --- Aymard de Banville | An exceptionally rare work from the earliest days of travel photography |
Paris | 1852 | USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 20 | [da Gama, Vasco] --- Manoel I, King of Portugal | Portugal's Renaissance Empire of Trade |
Evora, | 29 December 1519, | USD 150,000.00 - 250,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 21 | George III Royal Proclamation of 1763 | The "Indian Magna Carta" |
London | 1763 | USD 250,000.00 - 350,000.00 | USD 508,000.00 |
| 22 | Continental Congress | "The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774"---Abraham Lincoln, first inaugural address |
[Philadelphia, | October 1774] | USD 700,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 | USD 1,079,500.00 |
| 23 | (Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay) | Washington family copy of the first edition of The Federalist |
New York | 1788 | USD 180,000.00 - 220,000.00 | Not Sold |
| 24 | The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights | The author of the Declaration of Independence witnesses the Ratification of the Bill of Rights |
{Philadelphia | 1792 | USD 500,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 | USD 635,000.00 | |
| 25 | Monroe, James | "It ought not to be suspected that we are trifling with the Go[vernmen]t of France, or gaining time by an idle correspondence." |
London, | 21 August 1803, | USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 | USD 127,000.00 |
![Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/148a7ca4-9746-44c9-a75e-86229b6f10d2.png "<b>Forum, July 17:</b> Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.")
![Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/863855a8-4b41-4512-b168-a4a3eab5d6a6.png "<b>Forum, July 17:</b> Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.")
