• Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2022 Issue

Books and Autographs from Michel Bouvier

Catalogue 78 from Michel Bouvier.

Michel Bouvier has issued Catalogue 78 Livres et Autographes (Books and Autographs). Bouvier is a French bookseller, located in Paris. You will want to brush up on your French if that is not your native language as the catalogue is written in the language. That is true of most of the books too. They are presented in chronological order with six centuries represented. Dates range from 1529-2002. The great majority can readily be classified as antiquarian. Subject matter varies so there will likely be something for just about everyone in this collection. These are a few examples.

 

We begin with Confusion de la Secte de Muhamed (confusion of the Mohammedan sect), by Juan Andres, published in 1574. It is a first French edition of a book originally published in Spanish in 1515. It is an attack on the Islamic religion intended to convert its followers living in Spain to Christianity. It later appeared in several other European languages, evidently with the intention of converting other Muslims on the continent. It continued to appear often through the 16th and 17th centuries. The timing of its publication is significant. Muslims had lived in Spain for centuries but had been pushed back to smaller territories. The last slice of the land still controlled by the Moors was captured by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Andres was a Muslim scholar who converted to Christianity at this time, becoming a priest and its strong advocate. Even before this date, Ferdinand and Isabella had established the Spanish Inquisition. Great pressure was placed on Muslims and Jews to convert, with expulsion and death being potential consequences for those who did not comply. A book that encouraged voluntary compliance was a useful tool for the state. Item 2. Priced at 3,800 € (euros, or approximately $4,133 in U.S. dollars).

 

This is a letter from Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, a name you likely don't recognize. You will know her stage name, Mata Hari. She was born in the Netherlands but became known in France. She was an exotic dancer, or perhaps erotic dancer. She pretended to be Javanese, mysterious and enticing. On the side, she was a mistress and courtesan. As she grew older, she fell in love with a Russian pilot serving France who was shot down behind the lines. She received permission to visit him. She had connections having once danced for the German Crown Prince. The French let her go on the condition she spy for them. The Germans asked a similar favor on their behalf. Exactly who she was spying for if anyone is unclear. She had nothing of much use to give anyone but the French decided she was a traitor, arrested and convicted her. Mata Hari was executed by firing squad, though many believe she was scapegoated for the French not doing well in the war, her loose reputation making her a good target. Item 58 is an undated three-page letter (probably 1906) from Mata Hari to a Mr. Franck. It is written on letterhead of the Elysée Palace Hotel. She thanks him for the “loge” (probably a box seat or a dressing room) she gave him. She says that in February she will be dancing at the Monte Carlo Opera and will return in March. Then they can talk about ballet and she will have him sign some paper. She concludes by wishing him success with his theater. 3,500 € (US $3,806).

 

Who invented the automobile? You might say Gottlieb Daimler or Karl Benz, perhaps Ransom Olds or Henry Ford. It was none of the above. The first automobile of some sort was built over a century earlier by Frenchman Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. Cugnot built a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a steam engine in 1770. It could carry a heavy load but did not go very fast, not much more than 2 mph. The driver was seated behind the boiler with a handle in front for steering. Cugnot ran a few trial runs but eventually the idea was abandoned. His forté was military engineering to which he returned. Item 31 is Théorie de la fortification, avec des observations sur les différens systêmes qui ont paru depuis l’invention de l’artillerie, et une nouvelle maniere de construire des places. That translates to “theory of fortification, with observations on the different systems which have appeared since the invention of artillery, and a new way of building places,” and was written by Cugnot, published in 1778. Had Cugnot stuck with automotive engineering you would know him better. 300 € (US $326).

 

Here are the games boys were playing 200 years ago. The title is Les jeux des jeunes garçons représentés par un grand nombre d’Estampes, Accompagnées de l’Explication des Règles, de Fables inédites et d’Anecdotes (the games of young boys represented by a large number of prints, accompanied by the explanation of the rules, unpublished fables and of anecdotes) published in 1822. The book publishes the rules of dozens of games and is accompanied by various fables. However, what is most notable is the prints, the work of artist Xavier Le Prince. Le Prince was a notable artist of his time. He was a prolific artist depicting all sorts of subjects, including scenes, portraits, and as here, games. He also published a similar volume of girls' games. There are games with hoops, tops, kites, rackets, jump ropes, and more. His more serious paintings can be found in many museums including the Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Despite his significant output, it is but a fraction of what it might have been as he died at age 27. Item 41. 1,800 € (US $1,940).

 

This is an old book, printed 400 years ago, written two millennia ago. The title is Histoire des Juifs, écrite par Flavius Joseph sous le titre d'Antiquités Judaïques, Traduite sur l’original Grec recu sur divers manuscrits par Monsr Arnauld d’Andilly (History of the Jews written by Flavius Joseph, under the title of Judaic Antiquities, Translated from the original Greek received from various manuscripts by Monsr Arnauld d'Andilly). This was the first modern translation of Josephus' work from the original Greek, first published in 1667. This edition is from 1700. Arnaud was a priest and a poet as well as a translator. The book was written during the first century. Josephus was a Jew who fought the Romans during the Jewish revolt in 66 but was captured. He saved his life by making a prophecy, that Roman commander Vespasion would become emperor. He was imprisoned instead of killed awaiting the outcome of his prophecy. When it turned out to be true, he was freed, given a house and pension, and made a Roman citizen. It was then that he wrote this history of the people of whom he was born. Item 12. 9,000 € (US $9,788).


Michel Bouvier may be reached at +33 (0)1 46 34 64 53 or mbouvier@noos.fr. The website is www.librairiemichelbouvier.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

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