Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week

A fairly quiet week coming up in the auction rooms, but here are the sales I'll be keeping an eye on:

On Thursday, August 4, Chiswick Auctions sells 256 lots of Books & Works on Paper. An incomplete copy of the second volume of Gould's Birds of Asia still rates the top estimate at £8,000–10,000. An uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) could sell for £5,000–7,000, and a sammelband of three Quaker pamphlets, including William Penn's No Cross, No Crown (1669) is estimated at £4,000–6,000. The 1794–1797 Boydell edition of Milton's Poetical Works with mezzotints by John Martin and engravings after Richard Westall could sell for £3,000–4,000. Other lots include a set of the Kelmscott Shelley (£2,000–3,000) and a California Gold Rush sketchbook by Joseph Goldsborough Bruff (£2,000–3,000).

Heritage Auctions holds a Key Comics Showcase Auction on Thursday, with 109 lots going under the hammer. Expected highlights include a copy of Fantastic Four #1 (1961); Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), which features the debut of Spider-Man; X-Men #1 (1963); and The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962).

Also on Thursday at Swann Galleries, 413 lots of Vintage Posters. Two versions of the iconic "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster are expected to lead the sale: a copy of the larger, 75x50 cm. version is estimated at $12,000–18,000, while a copy of the smaller 50.75x38 cm. version in slightly better condition could sell for $10,000–15,000. H.A. Volodimer's poster for the 1923 Grand Prix d'Endurance de 24 Heures is also estimated at $10,000–15,000. A striking WWII conservation poster by Simon Vanderlaan for Douglas Aircraft, Waste Helps the Enemy / Conserve Material could sell for $4,000–6,000.