Duchesse de Berry Bindings, Camus Proofs, Pier 24 Photographs: Auction Preview
Dante's Opere Poetiche (Paris, 1823), in a binding by René Simier for the duchesse de Berry, offered at Sotheby's this week.
Things are winding down for this year in the sale rooms, but there are still a handful of sales to watch this week:
At Sotheby's New York on Monday, December 18, 128 lots of Pier 24 Photography from the Pilara Family Foundation, the last of this series of sales to benefit several charitable organizations. Lots include a gelatin silver print of Edward Steichen's 1928 photograph of Greta Garbo and his 1924 image of Gloria Swanson (each estimated at $15,000–25,000). Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Rue Mouffetard" has been assigned the same estimate range.
There are a number of book-related lots in the Sotheby's Paris sale of the Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, Autour de la duchesse de Berry on Monday, including a copy of the 1822 Didot catalog of the Galerie de son Altesse Royale Madame la Duchesse de Berry (€1,000–1,500) in a binding with the initials and coronet of the duchess on the front board. An 1823 Paris edition of Dante's Opere Poetiche bound by Simier could sell for €800–1,200. These are just two of many different interesting bindings, many by known binders, available in this sale.
Osenat holds an online Books & Autographs sale on Wednesday, December 20, in 215 lots. A corrected proof copy of Albert Camus' L'Envers et l'endroit (1956) along with a drypoint portrtait of Camus by Hans Bellmer rates the top estimate at €5,000–6,000. A 1762 Pasquale Paoli letter to Gregorio Salvini, a 1924 Albert Einstein letter to industrialist Herman Anschütz-Kaempfe, and a 1609 Pope Paul V letter to Henri IV of France are each estimated at €4,000–5,000. A volume of nearly sixty Jacques Callot etchings in five suites is expected to sell for €3,000–4,000.
