Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2018 Issue

Chiswick Auctions’ forthcoming sale of Printed Books on 30 May

Highlights from Chiswick Auctions' May 30 sale

Highlights from Chiswick Auctions' May 30 sale

Chiswick Auctions sale on May 30th  will feature many classic and highly collectable editions, in sought-after dust-jackets together with rare  inscribed copies.  English and American  literature included in the sale are first editions of popular titles by Ernest Hemingway: In Our Time, first edition one of 170 copies, original printed boards, 1924.  est.  £15,000 - £18,000, first editions in original dust-jackets of  A Farewell to Arms, inscribed by Hemingway, 1929. est. £4,000 - £6,000 and Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, 1930.  est. £8,000 - £12,000.

 

Children’s  literature includes; Anna Sewell: Black Beauty, first edition, 1877. est. £3000 - £4000  Beatrix Potter: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, first edition, one of 250 copies privately printed, 1901, together with a 1902 first published edition of the same title, est.  £12,000 - £15,000 GBP, plus other Beatrix Potter titles,  Lewis Carroll’s The Nursery Alice, first edition inscribed by the author to the dedicatee 'Marie Van de Gucht, with the Author's love. Mar. 25. 1890’. 1890.  est. £8,000 - £10,000,  a complete set of Winne the Pooh Books and a complete set of Harry Potter Deluxe Editions.

 

Full descriptions.-

 

Hemingway (Ernest)

In Our Time, first edition, number 137 of 170 copies
, woodcut frontispiece by Henry Strater, original decorated boards with newspaper cuttings design, edges uncut, light rubbing to head and tail of spine, usual browning to endpapers, bookplate to front pastedown, tall 8vo., Three Mountains Press, Paris, 1924

 

 

Hemingway (Ernest)
A Farewell to Arms, first edition, inscribed by the author
 'To Mike Murphy, Good luck, Ernest Hemingway' on fly-leaf, original black cloth, printed label on upper cover and spine, top edge trimmed other edges uncut, book-plate to front paste-down, original dust-jacket, very light rubbing to extremities and labels, custom slipcase, 8vo., New York, 1929

***Mike Murphy was a Hemingway biographer and scholar. A loose note explains that this copy was inscribed by Hemingway in Havana.

 

Hammett (Dashiell)
The Maltese Falcon, first edition
original decorated cloth, top edge stained blue/green, original pictorial dust-jacket, light damp stain to inner margin first few leaves not affecting text, small chip to base of dust-jacket, with some other minor wear to extremities, price-clipped 9as usual, preserved in quarter morocco fold-over box, 8vo., New York, 1930

***A very good copy of the most influential of detective fiction novels.

 

Sewell (Anna)

Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions. The Autobiography of a Horse. Translated from the original Equine, FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece, 8 pp. publisher's advertisements at end, some overall foxing, text-block almost broken between gatherings G and H, original red cloth with gilt and black design [variant of Carter's B binding], hinges split, extremities worn, preserved in a red morocco folding case, 8vo, Jarrold and Sons [1877]

 

Carroll, Lewis [Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge]

The Nursery Alice, FIRST EDITION, inscribed 'Marie Van de Gucht, with the Author's love. Mar. 25. 1890.' on the half-title, to the dedicatee, printed in brown throughout, illustrations in colour by John Tenniel, original cloth-backed pictorial glazed boards, foxing to title-page and frontispiece, end-papers slightly browned, slightly rubbed and soiled, spine frayed at head and tail, 1890


*** Dodgson first met Maria on July 24th., 1885. On July 29th., 1885 Dodgson asked her if she would like to accompany him to Eastbourne. She initially said 'yes' with her mother's consent, but she lost courage. On April 10th., 1886 Dodgson took her to see The Mikado at the Savoy Theatre and also spent time together in Eastbourne and Guildford. 
The only other known dedication copies of this book being the Liddell/Hargreave copy, and another copy sold at Sotheby's July 2012. The printed dedication is hidden in the dedicatory verse 'A Nursery Darling' using the second letters of each line to spell out the name Marie Van der Gutch.

 

Telephone:  +44 (0)208 992 4442

Email: info@chiswickauctions.co.uk

 

The website:  https://chiswickauctions.co.uk

 

 

Chiswick:

1 Colville Road,

London W3 8BL.

 

South Kensington:

127 Fulham Road,

London SW3 6RT.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: Dürer (Albrecht) Hierin sind begriffen vier bücher von menschlicher Proportion, 4 parts in 1, first edition, Nuremberg, Hieronymus Andreae for Agnes Dürer, 1528. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, illuminated manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 26 fine hand-painted miniatures, 17th century dark brown morocco, [Lyon], [c. 1475 and later c. 1490-1500]. £25,000 to £35,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Brontë (Emily) The North Wind, watercolour, [1842]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Titanic.- Mudd (Thomas Cupper, one of the youngest victims of the sinking of the Titanic, 1895-1912) Autograph Letter signed on board RMS Titanic to his mother, April 11th 1912. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: [Austen (Jane)] Emma: A Novel, 3 vol., first edition, for John Murray, 1816. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Picasso (Pablo).- Ovid. Les Metamorphoses, one of 95 copies, signed by the artist, Lausanne, Albert Skira, 1931. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: America.- Ogilby (John) America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World..., all maps with vibrant hand-colouring in outline, probably by an early hand, 1671. £15,000 to £25,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Iceland.- Geological exploration.- Bright (Dr. Richard )and Edward Bird. Collection of twenty original drawings from travels in Iceland with Henry Holland and George Mackenzie, watercolours, [1810]. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beckford (William) [Vathek] An Arabian Tale, first (but unauthorised) edition, Lady Caroline Lamb's copy with her signature and notes, 1786. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Baudelaire (Charles) Les Fleurs du Mal, first edition containing the 6 suppressed poems, first issue, contemporary half black morocco, Paris, 1857. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beardsley (Aubrey).- Pope (Alexander) The Rape of the Lock, one of 25 copies on Japanese vellum, Leonard Smithers, 1896. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Douglas (Lord Alfred) Sonnets, first edition, the dedication copy, with signed presentation inscription from the author to his wife Olive Custance, The Academy, 1909. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Crowley (Aleister) The Works..., 3 vol. in 1 (as issued)"Essay Competition" issue on India paper, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1905-07. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Rodin (Auguste).- Mirbeau (Octave) Le Jardin des Supplices, one of 30 copies on chine with an additional suite, bound in dark purple goatskin, Paris, 1902. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Pellar (Hans) Eight original book illustrations for 'Der verliebte Flamingo' [together with] a published copy of the first edition of the book, 1923. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Cretté (Georges, binder).- Louÿs (Pierre) Les Aventures du Roi Pausole, 2 vol., one of 99 copies, with 2 original drawings, superbly bound in blue goatskin, gilt, Paris, 1930. £3,000 to £4,000.
  • 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
  • Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000

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