A Spring Miscellany from Sotheran’s

Here is a map that wasn’t meant for travelers, at least not in 1834 when it was published. Item 20 is Mappa Selenographica, created by Wilhelm Beer and Johann Heinrich Madler. It is a map of the moon, the most detailed such map ever produced at the time. Beer and Madler used a telescope at a private observatory in Berlin to create what Sotherans calls “the first exact map of the moon.” The bookseller adds, “it is difficult to overstate the significance of this map in the history of lunar research.” This large map is 103cm x 103 cm (roughly 40.5” x 40.5”). £4,500 (US $7,641).

Item 49 is a collection of 55 original pen-and-ink drawings for the 1934 children’s book Beside A Norman Tower, by Mazo de la Roche. A copy of the first edition accompanies these drawings. The artist is Alice Helena Watson. Most are signed by the artist and contain captions. Each drawing is of a baby or child, or a pair of children. The style is much reminiscent of E. H. Shepard’s illustrations for Winnie-the-Pooh. They show children in a range of moods, from “exultation to despair.” £2,950 (US $5,009).

Sotheran's may be reached at 020 7439 6151 or books@sotherans.co.uk.  Their website is found at www.sotherans.co.uk.