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Bonhams: Islamic and Indian Art

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Islamic and Indian Art	Total Sales (GBP)	295,398.40
Auction Date	May 22, 2025 - May 22, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	166,400.00
Sale Number	#30703	High Estimate of Lots Sold (GBP)	247,200.00
Total Lots	71
Sold Lots	43.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	250,800.00
% of Lots Sold	60.56%	High Estimate of All Lots (GBP)	367,700.00
Unsold Lots	28	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	80.34%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
238	India Ancient and Modern: A Series of Illustrations of the Countries and People of India and Adjacent Territories, by William Simpson & Sir John William Kaye, first edition in original wrappers, with 50 chromolithographic plates	1867	GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00	GBP 51,200.00
246	Three illustrations from a Janamsakhi series, depicting episodes in the life of Guru Nanak	early 19th Century	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 21,760.00
278	An album of sixty paintings depicting Sikh rulers, monuments, and tradespeople	circa 1840-60	GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00	GBP 17,920.00
145	An autograph letter from Lord Cornwallis, Governor-General of India, addressed to an unknown noble recepient ('My Dear Lord'), discussing how the British had underrated Tipu Sultan as a commander	1790	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 16,640.00
146	An autograph letter from Lord Cornwallis to Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm comprising instructions given in the field during the Third Anglo-Mysore War	1791	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 16,640.00
227	An illustrated and illuminated manuscript of the Razmnama or Razm-nameh, The Book of Wars, the Persian prose translation of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, with eighteen paintings	first half of the 19th Century	GBP 3,000.00 - 4,000.00	GBP 14,080.00
286	Hari Singh Nalwa, the General in command of the Sikh Khalsa army, seated at an alcove window	circa 1835	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 14,080.00
6	An illuminated Qur'an	17th-18th Century	GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00	GBP 10,240.00
15	Twenty-nine illuminated Qur'an ajza', copied by Muhammad Sadiq al-Husaini al-Yazdi	dated AH 1243/AD 1827-28	GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00	GBP 9,600.00
289	Maharajah Duleep Singh, after Franz Xavier Winterhalter	early 20th Century	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 9,600.00
239	A preliminary etching of Thomas Daniell's Durbar at Poonah, 6 August 1790, illustrating the conclusion of a treaty between the Marathas and the East India Company	circa 1805	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 8,960.00
256	Maharajah Ranjit Singh seated in a European-style chair on a terrace, holding a flower and prayer beads	circa 1830-40	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 7,680.00
292	Maharajah Narinder Singh of Patiala (reg. 1845-62) on horseback	circa 1850-55	GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00	GBP 7,680.00
257	Maharajah Ranjit Singh	circa 1830-40	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 7,040.00
254	Guru Arjan receives two Sikhs while an attendant fans him with a peacock-feathered fly-whisk under a canopy	circa 1860-70	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 6,400.00
89	A printed map of the city of Tabriz	1297/ 1880	GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00	GBP 5,120.00
277	An Akali-Nihang armed with a matchlock on horseback	circa 1830-40	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 4,864.00
90	A large printed map of the city of Tehran	20th Century	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 4,480.00
276	A portrait of an akali, Jai Singh Nihang, by Mortimer Menpes (British, 1860-1938)	circa 1903	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 4,096.00
258	Maharajah Ranjit Singh seated on a terrace	mid-19th Century	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 3,840.00
262	'Umdat al-Tawarikh, four lithograph volumes of the life and times of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and a survey of the history of the Sikh empire, in Persian and some English, by Suhan La'l Suri (d. 1852), the court chronicler and the vakil of the Sikh court	1886	GBP 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	GBP 3,840.00
253	A block printed cotton panel depicting the Ten Sikh Gurus with Bala and Mardana	20th Century	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 3,584.00
261	A Reminiscence of Ferozepore, a caricature of Maharajah Ranjit Singh	1838	GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00	GBP 3,584.00
74	Four hand-coloured lithographs of interiors of the mosque, from Aya Sofia Constantinople, as Recently Restored by Order of HM the Sultan Abdul Mejid, by Gaspard Fossati	1852	GBP 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	GBP 3,200.00
259	Maharajah Ranjit Singh, after Emily Eden, from Portraits of the Princes and People of India	1844	GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00	GBP 3,200.00

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.

Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.

Sotheby’s
Book Week
December 9-17, 2025

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.

Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
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