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Heritage Auctions: Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature Auction

Auction Reports

Auction Name Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature Auction Total Sales (USD) 5,655,438.75
Auction Date June 27, 2024 - June 27, 2024 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 5,104,000.00
Sale Number #6295 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 7,465,000.00
Total Lots 226
Sold Lots 226 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 5,104,000.00
% of Lots Sold 100.00% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 7,465,000.00
Unsold Lots 0 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 75.76%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
45161 Mary Shelley.

Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.

1818 USD 600,000.00 - 800,000.00 USD 843,750.00
45062 F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Great Gatsby.

1925 USD 400,000.00 - 600,000.00 USD 425,000.00
45186 J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Hobbit; or, There and Back Again.

1937 USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 300,000.00
45185 Henry David Thoreau.

Walden; or Life in the Woods.

1854 USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 275,000.00
45009 Jane Austen.

Emma: A Novel. In Three Volumes. By the Author of "Pride and Prejudice," &c. &c.

1816 USD 120,000.00 - 180,000.00 USD 112,500.00
45124 Christopher Marlowe.

The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta.

1633 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 112,500.00
45135 John Milton.

Areopagitica; A Speech of Mr. John Milton For the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, To the Parliament of England.

1644 USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 93,750.00
45198 Isaac Watts.

Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children.

1715 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 81,250.00
45056 [Ralph Waldo Emerson].

Nature.

1836 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 78,125.00
45015 James Boswell.

The Life of Samuel Johnson.

1791 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 75,000.00
45188 J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.

1954-1955. USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 75,000.00
45136 John Milton.

Poems of Mr. John Milton, both English and Latin, Compos'd at several times.

1645 USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 68,750.00
45137 John Milton.

Paradise lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books.

1667 USD 25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD 68,750.00
45113 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the Sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed during the years 1804-5-6.

1814 USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 62,500.00
45195 Izaak Walton.

The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative Man's Recreation. Being a discourse of fish and fishing, not unworthy the perusal of most anglers.

1653 USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 62,500.00
45054 George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans].

Adam Bede.

1859 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 60,000.00
45023 Robert Burns.

Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect.

1786 USD 25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD 52,500.00
45087 Ernest Hemingway.

Three Stories & Ten Poems.

1923 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD 52,500.00
45117 H. P. Lovecraft.

Small archive of nine lengthy autograph letters signed variously ("H.P.L.", "E'ch-Pi-El", and "H.P. Lovecraft") over a period of six years to J. Vernon Shea.

1931-1937. USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 52,500.00
45048 Emily Dickinson.

Poems... Edited by two of her friends, Mabel Loomis Todd and T. W. Higginson.

1890 USD 15,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD 50,000.00
45081 Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Autograph manuscript signed of the story "The Lily's Quest. An Apologue." Signed at head ("Nathaniel Hawthorne").

1839 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 50,000.00
45127 Herman Melville.

Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.

1866 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 50,000.00
45191 Henry Vaughan.

Silex Scintillans: or Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations.

1650 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 50,000.00
45133 John Milton.

["Lycidas" in:] Justa Edouardo King naufrago, ab Amicis moerentibus (second title on F1r: Obsequies to the memorie of Mr Edward King, Anno Dom. 1638).

1638 USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 47,500.00
45189 Mark Twain.

Autograph manuscript of Chapter 15 ("Down the River") from A Tramp Abroad, with numerous revisions and deletions by the author.

c.1879-80. USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 45,000.00
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    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.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    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.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Buzz Aldrin's FLOWN Apollo 11 Crew-Signed NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Cover. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Lunar Surface Flown Mission Emblem Presented to Tom Stafford by John Young. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Albert Einstein. Typed Letter Signed ("A. Einstein."), to Ann Morrisett, Affirming a Pacifist's Right to Self-Defense, March 21, 1952. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Operating and Maintenance Manual for the BINAC Binary Automatic Computer Built for Northrop Aircraft Corporation. Philadelphia, 1949. $30,000 to $50,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Steve Jobs Apple Computer Business Card, c. 1977. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Extensive Chronology of Spacecraft From Apollo to Skylab, Signed by a Member of Every Crewed Apollo Flight and the Commanders of Each Skylab Mission. $5,000 to $8,000.