Jefferson’s Aeschylus, Cuala Press Collection, Stevenson Family Materials: Auction Preview

Image: Freeman's | Hindman

Plate from John Gould's Monograph of the Odontophorinae, or Partridges of America (1844–1850), offered at Freeman's | Hindman this week.

Here are the sales I'll be watching this week:

At the newly-combined Freeman's | Hindman on Tuesday, February 6, 138 lots of Books and Manuscripts, expected to be led by Thomas Jefferson's seven-volume customized set of the works of Aeschylus, bound by Frederick Mayo of Richmond and estimated at $80,000–120,000. A copy of the first volume of the fifth series of Peter Force's American Archives, with the included Stone facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, is expected to sell for $12,000–18,000, as is a second issue copy (1798) of the John Hills Plan of the City of Philadelphia. John Gould's Monograph of the Odontophorinae, or Partridges of America (1844–1850) is expected to sell for $10,000–15,000.

Lyon & Turnbull sells Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs on Wednesday, February 7, in 337 lots. A portion of this sale (lots 61–111) comes from the collections of Glasgow's Stevenson family; this includes many of the top-estimated lots, such as six presentation and design drawings from the office of architect Robert Adam (£7,000–10,000); a 1653 Janssonius atlas (£3,000–5,000); and a copy of the 1572 Basel edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographiae Universalis.

At Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday, 235 lots of Printed Books, Maps, Prints, Vinyl Records, including a significant number of large shelf lots.

On Thursday, February 8 at Swann Galleries, a 176-lot Subculture Sale, in a wide variety of formats.

PBA Galleries holds a Rare Books & Manuscripts Platinum sale on Thursday, in 97 lots. Henry Lewis' color-plate book Das Illustrirte Mississippithal (Dusseldorf, 1854–1858), rates the top estimate at $50,000–80,000, while a nearly complete copy of the Great "She" Bible could sell for $40,000–60,000. At the same estimate range is a 93-item collection of the works of Dun Emer/Cuala Press. A large-paper copy of the 1659–1660 Restoration Bible published at Cambridge by John Field is expected to sell for $30,000–50,000, as is a copy of the 1505 Venice edition of the collected works of Euclid.