Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2010 Issue

A Winter Catalogue from Sotheran's

Sotheran's Winter Miscellany.

Sotheran's Winter Miscellany.


By Michael Stillman

Sotheran's, the British bookseller now almost 250 years old, has released a brand new catalogue, A Winter Miscellany 2009/2010. Over the years, Sotheran's has undoubtedly sold just about every type of book, so we should not be surprised by the wide range of material offered. There are books several centuries old, others published in the year just completed. You will find science, travel, art, architecture, politics, exploration, medicine, literature, sports, music, etc., etc., all with numerous children's books interspersed among the 600 items offered. Though Sotheran's is British based, there are many American books here, even biographies for children of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This is an outstanding catalogue, including thorough descriptions and color photographs of most items. Here are just a few.

Item 362 is one which reveals the other side of Isaac Newton, the occultist and religious inquirer rather than the scientific master for which he is remembered. Newton was fascinated by antiquities, believing there was much to be learned from them, though perhaps not in a way we would see as science today. Offered is a 1728 first edition (published the year after he died) of The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms. In it, Newton attempts to use astronomical observations to create a chronology of the ancient world up to the time of the early Greeks. He also devotes a chapter to the Temple of Solomon whose design he believed had particular meaning. However, in trying to establish his beliefs he created a timeline that has not held up to scrutiny as well as his scientific theories. Priced at £1,798 (British pounds, or roughly $2,874 in U.S. dollars).

Item 291 is an account of a journey that finally laid to rest one of the most baffling geographical questions for Europeans. In a reverse of the normal order, European explorers found the source of the Niger River, about 150 miles inland from the west coast of Africa, early on, but could not figure out where it terminated. Most believed it emptied into some inland lake, or connected up with the Nile. The reason for the befuddlement is that the Niger, from its headwaters, travels northeast for a thousand miles, into the Sahara desert, an area not yet explored by Europeans. However, it then makes a sharp right turn, and eventually exits the continent far to the east of its headwaters, in a marshy delta, and having made a 180 degree turn, now travels in a southwesterly direction. Offered is a copy of Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination of the Niger; with a Narrative of a Voyage down that River to its Termination, by Richard and John Lander. The Lander brothers endured great hardships, including robbery, imprisonment, and almost death to complete the arduous journey that answered the longstanding question. They were awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal for their accomplishment. £795 (US $1,271).

Now for a far less serious, though surprising in its own way book: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Sky-High. This rodent tale was published in London in 1937. It tells of Mickey's adventures in airplanes, gliders, and other aeronautical devices. What is surprising about this Disney book is it was never issued in the United States. American fans of the mouse may be unaware of this one. Item 160. £298 (US $477).

Rare Book Monthly

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    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
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    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
  • Leland Little, Jan. 22: The First Issue of Robert Frost's A Boy's Will, In Extremely Scarce Binding.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Knight's An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Locke's Important Treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: The Richly Illustrated First French Edition of Voyages de Corneille Le Brun par la Moscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Scarce First Issue of An Account of the Province of Carolina in America, Finely Bound and With Celebrated John Speed Map.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Humphrey's An Historical Account, Complete with Scarce Folding Maps.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Chamberlain's Scarce Civil War Memoir The Passing of the Armies.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: A Rare Photograph of David Bruce Brown and #48 Fiat.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: George Cruikshank (England, 1792-1878), Archive of Sketches, Notes, and Letters.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Extremely Scarce Copy of Die Samländische Ode (The Samland Ode), Signed by Max Pechstein.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Andy Warhol's The Thirteen Most Wanted Men Exhibition Catalogue.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Edward Ruscha (American, b. 1937), Every Building on the Sunset Strip.
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