Auction Reports

Sothebys

Auction Info

Auction Name
Fine Books and Manuscripts - Part 1
Auction Date
06/26/2025 - 06/26/2025
Sale Number
#N11831
Total Lots
27
Sold Lots
14
Lots Sold
51.85%
Unsold Lots
13
Total Sales (USD)
21,701,800.00
Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)
13,450,000.00
High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD)
20,780,000.00
Low Estimate of All Lots (USD)
15,380,000.00
High Estimate of All Lots (USD)
23,630,000.00
Total Sales as a % of High Est.
91.84%

Top twenty five by sale price

Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
27 Lincoln, Abraham

The abolition of slavery: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude ... shall exist within the United States"

USD 8,000,000.00 - 12,000,000.00 USD 13,697,500.00
26 Lincoln, Abraham

The "Authorized Edition" of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln

June 1864.] USD 3,000,000.00 - 5,000,000.00 USD 4,442,000.00
22 Continental Congress

"The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774"---Abraham Lincoln, first inaugural address

October 1774] USD 700,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD 1,079,500.00
24

The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights | The author of the Declaration of Independence witnesses the Ratification of the Bill of Rights

1792 USD 500,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD 635,000.00
21 George III Royal Proclamation of 1763

The "Indian Magna Carta"

1763 USD 250,000.00 - 350,000.00 USD 508,000.00
8 Galieli, Galileo

First edition of the foundation of modern astronomy, overthrowing all that came before

1610 USD 300,000.00 - 400,000.00 USD 406,400.00
9 Josephus, Flavius

First edition of Josephus in Latin, handsomely illuminated

28 June; 23 August 1470 USD 150,000.00 - 250,000.00 USD 190,500.00
25 Monroe, James

"It ought not to be suspected that we are trifling with the Go[vernmen]t of France, or gaining time by an idle correspondence."

21 August 1803, USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD 127,000.00
11 Shakespeare, William

The Third Folio, bound by Francis Bedford, with distinguished provenance

1664 USD 70,000.00 - 100,000.00 USD 127,000.00
12 Shakespeare, William

The Fourth Folio, an outstanding copy, complete and unsophisticated

1685 USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 120,650.00
5 Darwin, Charles

"the book ... that initiated the most cataclysmic change in human thinking within the last four hundred years"

1859 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 107,950.00
13 Smith, Adam

"... led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention."

1776 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD 101,600.00
14 Audubon, John James

The sumptuous Levy copy of Birds of America

[1839--] 1840--1844 USD 80,000.00 - 100,000.00 USD 88,900.00
15 Catherwood, Frederick

The scarce deluxe issue of these celebrated views of the Mayan ruins

1844] USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 69,850.00
1 Blake, William

Likely the finest known posthumous printing of "Songs of Innocence and of Experience"

[ca. 1831--1832] USD 400,000.00 - 600,000.00 Not Sold
16 Catlin, George

A fine copy of the deluxe issue George Catlin's magnum opus, with superb original coloring

1844 [or 1845] USD 90,000.00 - 120,000.00 Not Sold
17 Kleist, Ludwig von, & Georg Emanuel Opiz

A scarce and stunning suite of military color plates, with an original watercolor drawing

ca.1840--1845 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 Not Sold
18 du Camp, Maxime

First edition of a pioneering photobook on Egypt, Palestine, and Syria

1852 USD 120,000.00 - 180,000.00 Not Sold
19 Rouge, Emmanuel de --- Aymard de Banville

An exceptionally rare work from the earliest days of travel photography

1852 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 Not Sold
20 [da Gama, Vasco] --- Manoel I, King of Portugal

Portugal's Renaissance Empire of Trade

29 December 1519, USD 150,000.00 - 250,000.00 Not Sold

Back
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Ian Fleming. Casino Royale, London, 1953. First edition, first printing. $58,610.
    Sotheby’s: A.A. Milne, Ernest Howard Shepard. Winnie The Pooh, United Kingdom, 1926. First UK edition. $17,580.
    Sotheby’s: Ernest Hemingway. Three Stories And Ten Poems, [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, 1900. First edition. $27,500.
    Sotheby’s: Man Ray. Photographs By Man Ray 1920 Paris 1934, Hartford, 1934. $7,860.
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Pennant. Zoologia Britannica, Augsburg, 1771. $49,125.
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