Current Events & Trends | September 2021 | Jeremy Dibbell

Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week

Courtesy of Sotheby's

Seventeenth-century manuscript volume of lute music, offered at Sotheby's London this week.

Quite a busy week coming up in the sale rooms. Here's what I'll be watching:

On Tuesday, September 14, The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum: Part One at Christie's New York, in 173 lots. The remarkable Richard Manney copy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in original boards is expected to sell for $200,000–300,000. The Irwin Silver copy of Darwin's Origin of Species is estimated at $150,000–250,000. A Shakespeare Second Folio could fetch $180,000–250,000, and a Fourth Folio is estimated at $100,000–150,000. This copy bears the signature of Charlotte Rowe, daughter of Shakespearean editor Nicholas Rowe. A first issue copy of Poe's The Raven and Other Poems in wrappers rates the same estimate. Basically this entire sale is a high-spots romp, so do have a look through at the excellent lots.

At Bonhams London on Tuesday, Travel & Exploration, in 225 lots. A Peter Rindisbacher watercolor of a dogsled traveler in Hudson's Bay is estimated at £50,000–80,000. A collection of 54 animal studies (birds and fish) by William Pope could sell for £30,000–50,000.

Courtesy of Sotheby's

The lute music manuscript is bound in contemporary German pigskin.

Sotheby's London sells 126 lots of Early Music: Rare Music Manuscripts, Printed Music and Books from the Library of Arnold Dolmetsch (1858–1940), the sale ending on Tuesday. An unpublished seventeenth-century manuscript of Italian and French lute music, in a contemporary German pigskin binding is estimated at £120,000–180,000. A later manuscript lute music volume from the eighteenth century could sell for £80,000–100,000, and a mid-seventeenth-century manuscript volume of solo bass viol music rates a £60,000–80,000 estimate.

The New England Book Auctions sale of Fine Books & Ephemera also ends on Tuesday. A good range as usual in the 175 lots.

On Wednesday, September 15, Bonhams London sells 119 lots of Fine Books and Manuscripts. A copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle shares the top estimate of £40,000–60,000 with a 1914 Sun Yat Sen autograph letter. A first printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is estimated at £20,000–30,000.

PBA Galleries sells Fine Books – Fine Press – Fine Bindings – With a Taste of Golf on Thursday, September 16. A 1578 Dante rates the top estimate at $8,000–12,000. A 1932 French wallpaper catalog could sell for $5,000–8,000.

And we'll round out the week where we started, with The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum: Part Two at Christie's New York, which ends on Friday, September 17. The 244 lots include a presentation copy of James Joyce's Dubliners (1914), inscribed by the author to his publisher Crosby Gaige ($150,000–250,000). One of the 100 first issue copies of Joyce's Ulysses (1922), the Bradley Martin copy, is estimated at $100,000–150,000.