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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: First Editions, Illustrated Books, Voyages & Exploration

Auction Reports


Auction Name	First Editions, Illustrated Books, Voyages & Exploration	Total Sales (AUD)	60,039.25
Auction Date	March 29, 2025 - March 29, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	60,980.00
Sale Number	#A145	High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	86,180.00
Total Lots	509
Sold Lots	232	Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	161,920.00
% of Lots Sold	45.58%	High Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	225,120.00
Unsold Lots	277	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	26.67%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
77	HAWKESWORTH, John.	Captain James Cook, and others. An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere,	1773	AUD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00	AUD 3,810.00
519		Historical Records of Australia.	1914-1925.	AUD 600.00 - 800.00	AUD 2,794.00
26		Collection of I'illustration L'Illustration is the first French illustrated newspaper.	1843-1944	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 2,032.00
67		Delle Antiche Siracuse. Volume primo che contiene I due Libri della Siracusa illustrate da D. Giacomo Bonanni, e Colonna...	1717	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 2,032.00
72	HARRIS, John.	Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca: Or, a Compleat Collection of Voyages and Travels: Consisting of Above Four Hundred of the Most Authentick Writers...	1705	AUD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 1,905.00
225	F. Scott Fitzgerald.	The Great Gatsby	1925	AUD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	AUD 1,905.00
30		Practical Gardens with Beautiful Botanical Illustrations A Complete Dictionary of Practical Gardening:	1807	AUD 1,800.00 - 2,200.00	AUD 1,778.00
275		A great cache of books on French voyages to Australia:		AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 1,270.00
414	H C and Luther V.	Kings Cross Calling	no date	AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 1,143.00
5	Anthony Abbot ( Fulton Charles Oursler).	Murder at Buzzards Bay	1940	AUD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 952.50
80	COLLINS, Lieutenant-Colonel David.	An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, from its First Settlement in January 1788, to August 1801: With remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. of the native inhabitants of that Country.	1804	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	AUD 952.50
288	Celia Rosser.	The Banksias. Watercolours	1993	AUD 150.00 - 200.00	AUD 952.50
3	George McDonald Fraser.	Six books from the Flashman Series by George McDonald Fraser. 1) Flashman.	1969	AUD 600.00 - 700.00	AUD 762.00
40	With text by the Rt. Hon. the Earl Beauchamp, K.G., K.C.M.G., Howard Ashton, E.C. Temple Smith and W. Bede Dalley.	Sculpture of Rayner Hoff.	1934	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 762.00
39	HOUGHTON, Reverend William.	British Fresh-Water Fishes	1884	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 698.50
386		Attested Copies Dated 26th August 1795. Grant to Mr Alexander Donaldson of 25 acres of Land on the Surry Hills	1795	AUD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	AUD 635.00
477		Twenty Nine Official programmes for the Adelaide Racing Club between the period June 2nd, 1900 and 15 August 1959.		AUD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00	AUD 635.00
86	S.H. Marsh. Printed circa 1846.	The Traveller's Return. Song with an accompaniment for the harp or piano-forte, composed on the occasion of Dr. Leichhardt's return to Sydney...	1840-1850.	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 539.75
172		11 books on books.		AUD 100.00 - 200.00	AUD 539.75
35		WENTWORTH, W. C. A Statistical, Historical, and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales, and its dependent Settlements in Van Diemen's Land...	1819	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 508.00
78		Dutch language edition of the voyages of James Cook, titled "Reizen Rondom de Waereld, door James Cook , vertald door J.D. Pasteur..."	1803	AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 508.00
228	Agatha Christie	Ten Little N......	1939	AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 508.00
32		A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of the Art of Fencing illustrated ...	1823	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 476.25
241		Attested Copies dated 10th October 1814 Wm Gore Esqre P M (Stands for Provost Marshall) to Mr Joseph Underwood.		AUD 750.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 476.25
299	CUNNINGHAM, P.	Two Years in New South Wales...	1827	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 476.25

Dominic Winter Auctioneers

April 9
Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Johnson (C.). A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates, 1724. £3,000-4,000

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ordonez de Cevallos (Pedro). Viage del Mundo, 1st edition, Madrid: Luis Sanchez, 1614. £1,000-1,500

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: North America. Merian (Matthaus), Virginia..., 1627 or later. £1,500-2,500

Dominic Winter Auctioneers

April 9
Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: World. Waldseemuller (Martin), Tabula Nova Totius Orbis, Vienne: 1541. £2,000-3,000

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Erasmus (Desiderius). The ... paraphrase of Erasmus... 2 volumes, 1st edition, 1549. £3,000-5,000

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000

Dominic Winter Auctioneers

April 9
Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Smith (Lucy). Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, 1st edition, 1853. £1,000-1,500

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Derain (Andre). Pantagruel, signed limited edition, Albert Skira, 1943. £2,000-3,000

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Austen (Jane). Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by Hugh Thomson, Large Paper edition, 1894. £1,500-2,000

Dominic Winter Auctioneers

April 9
Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ellison (Ralph). Invisible Man, 1st edition, New York: Random House, 1952. £200-300

Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Taschen Collector's Edition. Annie Leibovitz, limited edition, 2014. £1,000-1,500
Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 4: Various entertainers, Group of 30 items, signed or inscribed, various dates. $1,500 to $2,500.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 27: John Adams, Autograph Letter Signed to Benjamin Rush introducing Archibald Redford, Paris, 1783. $35,000 to $50,000.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 36: Robert Gould Shaw, Autograph Letter Signed to his father from Camp Andrew, Boston, 1861. $10,000 to $15,000.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 53: Martin Luther King Jr., Time magazine cover, signed and inscribed "Best Wishes," 1957. $5,000 to $7,500.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 127: Paul Gauguin, Autograph Letter regarding payment for paintings, with woodcut letterhead, 1900. $6,000 to $9,000.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 169: Suck: First European Sex Paper, complete group of eight issues, 1969-1974. $800 to $1,200.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 173: Black Panthers, The Racist Dog Policemen Must Withdraw Immediately From Our Communities, poster, 1969. $2,000 to $3,000.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 187: Marc Attali & Jacques Delfau, Les Erotiques du Regard, first edition, Paris, 1968. $300 to $500.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 213: Andy Warhol, Warhol's Index Book, first printing, New York, 1967. $800 to $1,200.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 215: Cookie Mueller, Archive of 17 items, including 4 items inscribed and signed. $3,000 to $4,000.

Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 249: Jamie Reid, The Ten Lessons / The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle; Sex Pistols, chromogenic print with collage, signed, circa 1980. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts

Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD

Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD

Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD

Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD

Sotheby's
Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts

Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD

Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP

Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP

Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Bonhams, Apr. 8: First report outside of the colonies of the American Revolution, from American accounts. Printed broadsheet, The London Evening-Post, May 30, 1775. $20,000 - $30,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce, James. The earliest typescript pages from Finnegans Wake ever to appear at auction, annotated by Joyce, 1923. $30,000 - $50,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce's Ulysses, 1923, one of only seven copies known, printed to replace copies destroyed in customs. $10,000 - $15,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: ATHANASIUS KIRCHER'S COPY, INSCRIBED. Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, 1667. $2,000 - $3,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Bernoulli's Ars conjectandi, 1713. "... first significant book on probability theory." $15,000 - $25,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Aristotle's Politica. Oeconomica. 1469. The first printed work on political economy. $80,000 - $120,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: John Graunt's Natural and political observations...., 1662. The first printed work of epidemiology and demographics. $20,000 - $30,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: William Playfair's Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. The first work to pictorially represent information in graphics. $15,000 - $25,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Anson's A Voyage Round the World, 1748. THE J.R. ABBEY-LORD WARDINGTON COPY, BOUND BY JOHN BRINDLEY. $8,000 - $12,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: La Perouse's Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde..., 1797. LARGE FINE COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. $8,000 - $12,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Francesca Woodman's Some Disordered Interior Geometries, 1981. Untrimmed publisher's proof sheets. $4,000 - $6,000

Bonhams, Apr. 8: Charles Schulz original 8-panel Peanuts Sunday comic strip, 1992, pen and ink over pencil, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy as a psychiatrist. $20,000 - $30,000

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