Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2025 Issue

Present Perfect from Shapero Rare Books

Present Perfect.

Present Perfect.

Shapero Rare Books has created a new catalogue titled Present Perfect. That may sound like a tense from verb conjugation, but I suspect it has more to do with gift giving for the recent holiday season. These books would make perfect presents for the discerning collector, which includes yourself. Here are a few.

 

We begin with a photobook, one that has been described as the most influential work of its genre. It's one of the best known too, and appealing to both French and American collectors. You know it will be of interest in both France and America when the title has the word “Americans” in French. The book is Les Americains. Photographies de Robert Frank, published in 1958. Frank was a young photographer when he convinced the Guggenheim Foundation to provide him with a grant to travel around America taking pictures. He was soon on the road, the great American highway. Frank was a prolific photographer, taking 28,000 pictures, using lighting and angles in ways not used by most photographers to generate dramatic images. They illustrate what Frank learned about America, a combination of optimism for the future with the stark reality of the present, particularly in the South. From those photos he selected the very best to create his book. Frank took it to several American publishers but none wanted the book. The result was the Swiss-born photographer went to Paris where Robert Delpire agreed to publish the book. He then had Alain Basquet select quotes from notable writers such as Faulkner, Steinbeck, Toqueville, Beauvoir, Caldwell and others to accompany the photos. When an American edition was published a year later, the quotes were removed, apparently because some were too negative about America, and an introduction written by Jack Kerouac was substituted. Item 94. Priced at £3,750 (British pounds or approximately $4,720 U.S. dollars).

 

This next book is a guide to the White House, entitled The White House An Historic Guide. The authors were the house's then occupants, John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy. It was focused more on the efforts of the First Lady than the POTUS as she was engaged in restoring the White House to its traditional appearance. Many softcover copies of this book were printed for the public, but this is one in red Morocco, No. 1A of 75 copies. It is signed, but I haven't seen a copy that wasn't. They were printed for gifts from the President and First Lady in Christmas 1962, the year it was published. Add to that it was inscribed, and the value continues to rise, but many if not all were inscribed rather than just signed. This one is very special because of its provenance. It was inscribed “To Dad – With love. John. Christmas 1962”. John, of course, was John F. Kennedy, and “Dad” was Joseph P. Kennedy, wealthy businessman and investor, progenitor of his three famed sons, John, Robert, and Edward (Ted) (and, oh my, grandfather of RFK, Jr.). And, like they say on late night television, there's more. It is also signed by “Jackie,” but on behalf of Caroline as the inscription says “For Grandpa – with adoration.” There is one more note of provenance – a “Note of Historical Record” signed by Evelyn Lincoln dated November 21, 1982, explaining her acquisition of the “red Morocco book.” Lincoln was Kennedy's personal secretary from 1951 until his assassination in 1963. Item 137. £37,500 (US $47,133).

 

Next is one of the lesser known titles from the marvelous creations of Theodore Geisel, whom we all know as Dr. Seuss. The title is The Cat's Quizzer. Are You smarter than the Cat in the Hat?, published in in 1976. The book features Seuss' best known character and others he has created, and it asks a lot of questions. It's one of his Beginner Books meant to teach vocabulary to younger children. Seuss made reading fun, something Dick and Jane never mastered. This book asks all sorts of questions, some more serious than others. Despite essentially being harmless, this is one of the six books the Seuss Estate withdrew from publication for racially insensitive drawings. It has left Seuss with something of a tarnished reputation which is grossly unfair as, at worst, he was just depicting stereotypes typical of the day. In this book, the apparently offensive one depicts a Japanese man at a distance wearing a stereotypical hat and asks the question, “How old do you have to be to be Japanese?” I'll admit to being stumped by why a question of age would apply to a Japanese person more than any other since we all go through similar lifespans and we all start out young, so why this question? Perhaps there is something inappropriate here but if so, I don't get it. Seuss was a very tolerant and good man though he did have some negative feelings toward the Japanese. He did art for the government during the Second World War and Americans then had very negative feelings about the Japanese. He later visited Japan and got over most of those feelings though perhaps he still harbored a few later on. Item 77. £1,250 (US $1,573).

 

This is a complete run of 36 issues of an obscure 19th century sports periodical on boxing. Its title is Famous Fights in the Prize Ring and the issues ran from around 1877 through part of the 1880s. The boxers are rather obscure today, this going back to before the era of the first still famous boxer, John L. Sullivan. Still, these were the big names of their times, at least in England as this was a British publication. The covers feature a boxer or boxers, often in a fighting pose. They may have been gentlemen but they were not gentle men. This was the era of bare-knuckled fighting and fights often continued until someone could fight no more. This is a bound set of the complete run which is very hard to find. Item 108. £3,750 (US $4,722).

 

We'll conclude with what is the smallest yet most expensive item in the catalogue. It is but a single leaf. It is what's known as a “Noble Fragment,” a leaf from the first book printed from movable type – the Gutenberg Bible. It was printed circa 1455 by Johann Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg's Bible was printed in 150-180 copies of which 48 complete or nearly complete copies are known to still exist. Naturally, this leaf is not from such a copy. It was taken from an incomplete copy. It was sold at Sotheby's in 1920 to the noted bibliographer and bookseller Joseph Sabin, who sold it to Gideon Wells. Wells was also a bookseller and he came up with an idea to squeeze the most money from his copy. He broke it down into individual leaves and sold them separately, usually accompanied by a monograph written by A. Edward Newton. When you occasionally find a Gutenberg leaf in the market, it is likely to be from Wells' copy. It's hard to know what a Gutenberg Bible would bring today as it's been so long since one has been sold publicly, but it would be an astronomical amount. This single leaf is priced at £120,000 (US $151,150).

 

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Johnson (C.). A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates, 1724. £3,000-4,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ordonez de Cevallos (Pedro). Viage del Mundo, 1st edition, Madrid: Luis Sanchez, 1614. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: North America. Merian (Matthaus), Virginia..., 1627 or later. £1,500-2,500
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: World. Waldseemuller (Martin), Tabula Nova Totius Orbis, Vienne: 1541. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Erasmus (Desiderius). The ... paraphrase of Erasmus... 2 volumes, 1st edition, 1549. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Smith (Lucy). Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, 1st edition, 1853. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Derain (Andre). Pantagruel, signed limited edition, Albert Skira, 1943. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Austen (Jane). Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by Hugh Thomson, Large Paper edition, 1894. £1,500-2,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers

    April 9
    Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ellison (Ralph). Invisible Man, 1st edition, New York: Random House, 1952. £200-300
    Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Taschen Collector's Edition. Annie Leibovitz, limited edition, 2014. £1,000-1,500
  • Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 1: Bob Dylan, his high school classmate's yearbook with his senior portrait, signed and inscribed to her, 1959. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 4: Various entertainers, Group of 30 items, signed or inscribed, various dates. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 27: John Adams, Autograph Letter Signed to Benjamin Rush introducing Archibald Redford, Paris, 1783. $35,000 to $50,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 36: Robert Gould Shaw, Autograph Letter Signed to his father from Camp Andrew, Boston, 1861. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 53: Martin Luther King Jr., Time magazine cover, signed and inscribed "Best Wishes," 1957. $5,000 to $7,500.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 127: Paul Gauguin, Autograph Letter regarding payment for paintings, with woodcut letterhead, 1900. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 169: Suck: First European Sex Paper, complete group of eight issues, 1969-1974. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 173: Black Panthers, The Racist Dog Policemen Must Withdraw Immediately From Our Communities, poster, 1969. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 187: Marc Attali & Jacques Delfau, Les Erotiques du Regard, first edition, Paris, 1968. $300 to $500.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 213: Andy Warhol, Warhol's Index Book, first printing, New York, 1967. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 215: Cookie Mueller, Archive of 17 items, including 4 items inscribed and signed. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann, Apr. 10: Lot 249: Jamie Reid, The Ten Lessons / The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle; Sex Pistols, chromogenic print with collage, signed, circa 1980. $20,000 to $30,000.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Bonhams, Apr. 8: First report outside of the colonies of the American Revolution, from American accounts. Printed broadsheet, The London Evening-Post, May 30, 1775. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce, James. The earliest typescript pages from Finnegans Wake ever to appear at auction, annotated by Joyce, 1923. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce's Ulysses, 1923, one of only seven copies known, printed to replace copies destroyed in customs. $10,000 - $15,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: ATHANASIUS KIRCHER'S COPY, INSCRIBED. Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, 1667. $2,000 - $3,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Bernoulli's Ars conjectandi, 1713. "... first significant book on probability theory." $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Aristotle's Politica. Oeconomica. 1469. The first printed work on political economy. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: John Graunt's Natural and political observations...., 1662. The first printed work of epidemiology and demographics. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: William Playfair's Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. The first work to pictorially represent information in graphics. $15,000 - $25,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Anson's A Voyage Round the World, 1748. THE J.R. ABBEY-LORD WARDINGTON COPY, BOUND BY JOHN BRINDLEY. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: La Perouse's Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde..., 1797. LARGE FINE COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Francesca Woodman's Some Disordered Interior Geometries, 1981. Untrimmed publisher's proof sheets. $4,000 - $6,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 8: Charles Schulz original 8-panel Peanuts Sunday comic strip, 1992, pen and ink over pencil, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy as a psychiatrist. $20,000 - $30,000

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