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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: Australian, Asia-Pacific, Science & 1st Editions & Signed Book

Auction Reports


Auction Name	Australian, Asia-Pacific, Science & 1st Editions & Signed Book	Total Sales (AUD)	62,122.05
Auction Date	September 14, 2025 - September 14, 2025	Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	59,610.00
Sale Number	#A162	High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD)	85,320.00
Total Lots	345
Sold Lots	228.0	Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	97,990.00
% of Lots Sold	66.09%	High Estimate of All Lots (AUD)	138,020.00
Unsold Lots	117	Total Sales as a % of High Est.	45.01%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Lot Number	Author Name	Book Title	Year Published	Estimate	Actual Price
147		Natural History of Central Asia		AUD 800.00 - 1,200.00	AUD 4,445.00
100		Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: set of seven volumes in nine parts		AUD 3,000.00 - 4,000.00	AUD 2,286.00
42	FAULKNER, Henry.	Elephant Haunts: Being a Sportsman's Narrative of the Search for Doctor Livingstone, with Scenes of Elephant, Buffalo, and Hippopotamus Hunting.	1868	AUD 400.00 - 600.00	AUD 2,032.00
145		Herpetological Papers 1889-1940.		AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 1,905.00
146		Central Asiatic Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History under the leadership pf Roy Chapman Andrews. Preliminary Contributions in Geology Palaeontology, Archaeology and Zoology.		AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 1,778.00
333		11 books on Maori culture, including topics such as Art, History and Carving.		AUD 150.00 - 250.00	AUD 1,397.00
48	McGRATH, Sandra.	Brett Whiteley.	1979	AUD 250.00 - 300.00	AUD 1,270.00
51	BRETON de la MARTINIERE (Jean Baptiste Joseph).	China: its Costume, Arts, Manufacturers, &c. edited principally from the originals in the Cabinet of the late M. Bertin: with Observations Explanatory, Historical, and Literary, by M. Breton.	1813	AUD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 1,270.00
124	A C Kelly	The Vine in Australia	1861	AUD 1,500.00 - 1,750.00	AUD 1,206.50
60		BREE, Charles R. A History of the Birds of Europe, not Observed in the British Isles.		AUD 1,200.00 - 1,500.00	AUD 1,143.00
68		Photograph Album created by the London Missionary Society of Tonga, Samoa and surrounds. Entitled: Nieue Centennial 1846-1946 Barotonga. Samoa. Landscape album.		AUD 1,500.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 952.50
12	edited Harry Tatlock Miller and A.C. Jackson.	A wonderful run of the radical Australian literary journal, titled 'Manuscripts'		AUD 1,250.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 889.00
56		1820 Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Volume The Eighteenth Saturday October 21, 1820.	1820	AUD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00	AUD 889.00
59	DUNCAN, James.	Four books on Entomology, from the Naturalist's Library edited by William Jardine.	1852	AUD 500.00 - 750.00	AUD 762.00
110		Story of "Southern Cross" Trans Pacific Flight 1928 by Charles Kingsford-Smith & Charles Ulm.	1928	AUD 450.00 - 550.00	AUD 698.50
162	edited Andreas Fingernagel & Christian Gastgeber.	1) In The Beginning was the Word - The Power and Glory of illuminated Bibles	2003	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 698.50
105	Rev. Walter Weston.	A facsimile of: Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps	1896	AUD 700.00 - 800.00	AUD 635.00
61	Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.	The Works of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.	1893	AUD 400.00 - 500.00	AUD 603.25
293		Plunkett's Australian Magistrate: Containing the course of practice in all preliminary investigations by Justices of The Peace, together with all the various forms appertaining Thereto by JH Plunkett. Sydney: J Moore 1859. Original brown cloth in very goo		AUD 250.00 - 350.00	AUD 571.50
299	Edward Hutton.	Theocritos The Complete Poems Translated by Jack Lindsay with Wood Cuts by Lionel Ellis and an Introduction	No date but 1929	AUD 200.00 - 300.00	AUD 539.75
22	SENDAK, Maurice.	Where the Wild Things Are.	1967	AUD 300.00 - 400.00	AUD 476.25
26	THYER, Brigadier J. H. (introduction).	The Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion A.I.F. by various members of the Unit Association.	1975	AUD 750.00 - 1,000.00	AUD 476.25
54		The Sydney Herald for Monday, June 17, 1833 .	1833	AUD 750.00 - 800.00	AUD 476.25
65		A shelf of cricket books, including James Lillywhites Annuals for 1900 and 1897; ...		AUD 250.00 - 300.00	AUD 476.25
115	Joan Lindsay.	Picnic at Hanging Rock	1967	AUD 500.00 - 600.00	AUD 476.25

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.
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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.