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Category: Books, Manuscripts & Archives
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A Whale of a Sale: Christie's Auctions the Herman Melville Collection of William S. Reese
Christie's Herman Melville Collection of William S. Reese sale, held online from September 1 through September 14, 2022, made a big splash with bibliophiles worldwide. The auction featured 100 lots related to American novelist Herman Melville (1819 - 1981) from the collection of William S. Reese (1955 - 2018). Reese…
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Handwritten Letters From Notorious Gangsters Al Capone & Bugsy Siegal Among Top Selling Lots in Julien’s Auctions Sale
Battle of the Little Bighorn: George Custer 1863, Manhattan Revolver sold for $28,000. Image courtesy of Julien’s Auctions. Some notorious people fascinate the public even centuries after their deaths. The most infamous among them were gangsters Ben ”Bugsy” Siegel, Meyer ”The Little Man” Lansky, Tony ”The Ant” Spilotro, Sam “MoMo” Giancana, Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, and,…
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A Harvest of Books and Manuscripts From Freeman’s This Fall
The first of 11 pamphlets attributed to Puritan missionary John Eliot, known as the “Eliot Tract” or New England’s First Fruits, describes early Puritan efforts to convert Indigenous North American tribes to Christianity. Settlers had only been in the region for 20 years, and the pamphlet was written in response…
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Original Journal From America’s First Luxury Yacht Sells for $100K With Bonhams Skinner
Manuscript Journal of the Yacht Cleopatra's Barge on a Voyage of Pleasure. Image courtesy of Bonhams Skinner. In the early 19th century, the Salem-based Crowninshield family was flush with cash. The merchant family had made a fortune by supplying ships during the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.…
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LGBTQ+ History and Material Culture Draws Bids at Swann Auction Galleries
The spirit of Pride Month has extended well past June this year. Swann Auction Galleries presented its fourth annual LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History sale on August 18, 2022, attracting active bidding and strong results. The auction catalog took in the wealth of LGBTQ+ history and art, including photographs…
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The Sale of The Whale, Herman Melville at Christie’s
While Herman Melville worked as a crewmember aboard a whaling ship known as the Acushnet, he was given a book about a ship known as the Essex. The Essex had set out for whale hunting in August of 1819, but its crew found little in the way of bounty until…
Auction Industry, Press Release
Apollo Art Auctions presents connoisseur’s selection of expertly vetted ancient and Islamic art, August 28
Featured: Stellar circa 500-300 BC Chalcidian tin bronze helmet with nearly 100% of original tin plating intact LONDON – An extraordinary selection of ancient and oriental art, including early Islamic treasures, will be offered by Apollo Art Auctions on Sunday, August 28, starting at 12 noon BST (7 a.m. US…
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A Diverse Range of Vintage Posters to Be Offered This August
Manuel Orazi was an Art Nouveau illustrator and poster artist most recognized for his two-dimensional poster prints. Orazi was inspired by the Vienna Secession along with the Symbolism art movement. Using these sources, he created his own distinctive Art Nouveau style consisting of flowing and organic elements. An example of…
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Turner Auctions Offers Richard Price’s Observations on… the American Revolution and Charles Dickens’ First Novel
The American Revolution was a momentous event of great political and ideological significance. Welsh philosopher Richard Price expressed his views on this historic war in a pamphlet, a copy of which highlights the upcoming Turner Auctions sale. Price’s Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and the Means of…
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Pook & Pook Presents Early Copies of Newton’s Method of Fluxions and Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy
In the early 18th century, a controversy between great minds rocked the world of academic mathematics. Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz argued over who had first invented calculus. Leibniz technically published his mathematical theories first in 1684 with “Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis,” shared in the Acta Eruditorum…
Auction Industry, Press Release
Turner Auctions + Appraisals Presents Books & Ephemera, Including Historical Documents From The Chapman Family Of Connecticut
Over 220 Lots From 17th-20th Centuries To Be Sold on Saturday, August 20 SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, August 5, 2022 – Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Books & Ephemera, including Historical Documents from the Chapman Family of Connecticut, on August 20, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT. Featuring…
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Original Clothbound Classic Books Come to Sale with Bonhams’ David Lloyd Collection of Modern Literature Online Auction
American author Edgar Rice Burroughs is known for his celebrated Tarzan series of 24 books. Tarzan, the title character, remains a highly popular fictional icon even today. The Son of Tarzan, published by A. C. McClurg & Co. in 1917, is the fourth book in this series. The original green…
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Around the Auction World: July 2022
What is the latest news from around the auction world this July? The highly-anticipated Coeur d’Alene Art Auction of 2022 netted a respectable USD 16.4 million this month after setting numerous world records for American Western artists. Phillips reported a record mid-year high in sales, as well as the opening…
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Rare Science Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams: On Black Holes and the “Science of Kingship”
Stephen Hawking’s copy of “Black Hole Explosions?” OFFPRINT FROM: Nature, Vol. 248, No. 5443, 1 March 1974. Image courtesy of Bonhams. In the moment, scientific discoveries often feel utterly new, from Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the universe in 1543 to the first photos from the James Webb Space Telescope in…
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At $1.25 Million, Charlotte Brontë’s Book of Rhymes Breaks All Previous Records
Among sizable volumes of books, a tiny book of rhymes, small enough to fit on a palm, sold for USD 1.25 million (GBP 983,500) in April of 2022. Its sale reflected signs of growth in the auction market and the demand for antique books. The miniature book by Charlotte Brontë…
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Forthcoming Auction Has Harry Houdini’s Magic Scrapbook, Other Memorabilia
In January of 1908, Harry Houdini performed his debut magic act at the Columbia Theater. In the performance, he stepped inside of a gigantic milk can with his hands cuffed in front of him. After two long minutes, Houdini appeared from behind a cabinet, which marked his first successful performance.…
Auction Industry
An Autograph Manuscript by Philip the Fair: A Piece of French History
This parchment written by the Iron King (r. 1285-1314) reminds us of the major and often murky role that his right-hand man, Guillaume de Nogaret, played during his reign. 14th century, Philip IV (The Fair) (1268-1314). Manuscript on Parchment, (66 x 54 cm, 26 x 21.3 in)Estimate: €20,000/30,000 Pope Boniface VIII,…
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First Editions of Tom Sawyer and the Smyth Report at Hindman
Leading Hindman’s upcoming books and manuscripts sale is a first printing copy of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer from 1876. Twain’s famous tale of the mischievous and clever boy was initially a commercial failure. The American Publishing Co. sold fewer than 24,000 copies in the novel’s first year,…
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First Edition Copy of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale and More Fine Manuscripts from Christie’s
In Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, the codename M refers to the head of MI6 (the British Secret Intelligence Service). Though there are a few people who may have served as the inspiration for M, the most likely is Admiral John Godfrey, who was Fleming’s superior at the Naval Intelligence…
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First Editions of Fitzgerald’s “Gatsby” and Frank Herbert’s “Dune” Come to Auction
A first edition of The Great Gatsby signed by F. Scott Fitzgerald is available in the Fine Literature & Modern Firsts sale at Potter & Potter Auctions. It has the original publishers gilt-lettered spine. Many movie adaptations have come about based on Fitzgerald’s Gatsby, a book that explores love, passion,…
