Chaucer Compilation and Albert Einstein Signed Lithograph Lead Potter & Potter Auctions’ Fine Books Sale

The upcoming Fine Books & Manuscripts sale at Potter & Potter Auctions highlights a limited edition of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted, a book edited by F. S. Ellis Hammersmith and published by Kelmscott Press in 1896. This book is printed in black and red and has woodcut titles, borders, and initials by C. E. Keates, W. H. Hooper, and W. Spielmeyer. The book also has a spine label and the original blue holland–backed boards. This edition was the result of a 40–year artistic collaboration between the studio of Morris and Co. and Burne–Jones. Edward Burne-Jones was a designer of ceramic tiles, jewelry, tapestries, and mosaics whose most significant designs are stained glass windows still found in churches across the United Kingdom.

Another notable lot in the sale is a rare lithograph signed by the German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955). The lithograph was made in 1928 by Emil Orlik (1870 – 1932), a painter, etcher, and lithographer who lived and worked in Prague, Austria, and Germany. The lithograph is a full–length portrait of Einstein seated and playing the violin. One of Einstein’s most cherished pastimes was playing musical instruments. Also available in the sale is a copy of A Princess of Mars, an influential science fiction novel that inspired writers and artists such as Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, James Cameron, and George Lucas. It was written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 – 1950) in 1917. Visit Potter & Potter Auctions to find the listed items and register to place a bid.