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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: Journey through time: Print and Bindings from the 15th to the 21st Century

Auction Reports

Auction Name Journey through time: Print and Bindings from the 15th to the 21st Century Total Sales (AUD) 67,589.40
Auction Date September 07, 2025 - September 07, 2025 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) 74,260.00
Sale Number #90725 High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) 101,310.00
Total Lots 409
Sold Lots 228.0 Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD) 192,950.00
% of Lots Sold 55.75% High Estimate of All Lots (AUD) 261,170.00
Unsold Lots 181 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 25.88%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
26 HUME, Fergus W.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.

[not dated but mid-1888]. AUD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00 AUD 5,207.00
10 MEREDITH, Louisa Anne.

My Home in Tasmania; or, Nine Years in Australia by Mrs. Charles Meredith.

1853 AUD 200.00 - 300.00 AUD 3,302.00
17 ATHANASIUS.

Athanasii Episcopi Alexandrini Opera, studiosus quam antea fuerint, a situ vindicata, quorum catalogus sequitur.

1522 AUD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 AUD 3,175.00
161 Geoffrey Chaucer.

Facsimile of the Kelmscott Chaucer The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones. Essay by William S. Peterson.

2002 AUD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00 AUD 2,921.00
12 [NO AUTHOR].

A Visit to Australia and It's Gold Regions.

1853 AUD 200.00 - 300.00 AUD 1,397.00
220

The Alcoran of Mahomet, translated into English.

1649 AUD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 AUD 1,397.00
30 MacFARLANE, Charles.

Constantinople in 1828. A residence of sixteen months in the Turkish capital and provinces.

1829 AUD 2,000.00 - 2,500.00 AUD 1,270.00
43 VALENTIA, Jacob Perez de.

Doctissimae et plane divinae explanationes in centum & quinquaginta Psalmos Davidicos...

1581 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 1,270.00
90 HAYTER, Henry Heylen.

Illustrated Handbook of Victoria, together with the Official Catalogue of Exhibits in the Victorian Court.

1889-90. AUD 500.00 - 600.00 AUD 1,143.00
92 EYRIES, J.B.B.

Recherches sur l'epoque veritable de la decouverte de la terre de Van Diemen du nord; part J.B.B. Eyries.

1814 AUD 200.00 - 300.00 AUD 1,143.00
91 COLLINS, Lieutenant-Colonel David.

An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales

1804 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 1,016.00
214

Gesta Dei per Francos, sive Orientalium expeditionum, et regni Francorum Hierosolimitani historia [Bound with] Liber secretorum fidelium crucisTerran Sanctam auctor Marinus Sanuto.

AUD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00 AUD 952.50
373

1) Medieval Calendars by Perez-Higuera 2) The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages by Humphries and Jones.

AUD 100.00 - 200.00 AUD 825.50
4 STEARN, William (editor). By William T. Stearn, introduction by Wilfred Blunt.

The Australian Flower Paintings of Ferdinand Bauer.

1975 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 635.00
18 BOSWELL, James.

An Account of Corsica, the Journal of a Tour to that Island, and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli.

1768 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 635.00
37 PENNANT, Thomas.

The View of Hindoostan.

1798 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 635.00
98 Eight scarce books on Wesleyan missionary endeavours in Australasia, New Zealand, and the Pacific ocean.

Also includes a few London Missionary Society books.

1831 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,250.00 AUD 635.00
165

The Temple of Flora by Robert John Thornton With commentary by Stephen Harris.

2008 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 635.00
341 by Anders Sparman.

A Voyage Round the World with Captain James Cook in H.M.S Resolution

1944 AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 AUD 635.00
39 RITSON, Joseph.

Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots; and of Strathclyde, Cumberland, and Galloway, and Murray.

1828 AUD 600.00 - 800.00 AUD 603.25
144

Biographies and studies of several influential Federation figures:

AUD 600.00 - 700.00 AUD 603.25
166

The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle During the Years.

1980 AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00 AUD 539.75
15 LOFTUS, William Kennett.

Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana; With an account of excavations at Warka, the "Erech of Nimrod, and Shush, "Shushan the Palace" of Esther, in 1849-1852.

1857 AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00 AUD 508.00
179

Nine titles Includes: Faust by Goethe On the Origin of the Species by Darwin Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald ...

AUD 400.00 - 500.00 AUD 508.00
101 JONES, Davis (illustrator).

The Book of Jonah. Taken from the authorised version of King James I with engravings on wood by David Jones.

1979 AUD 750.00 - 1,000.00 AUD 476.25
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
  • SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON: «The heart of the Antarctic» + SUPPLEMENT «The Antarctic Book», 1909.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.
    SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ELEAZAR ALBIN: «A natural History of Birds.» + «A Supplement», 1738-40. Wonderful coloured plates.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: JAMES JOYCE: «Ulysses», 1922. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.