Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week
Promotional piece for the Vincent Price films "The Fly" and "Return of the Fly," offered as part of a large archive of British film promotional material at Dominic Winter Auctioneers this week.
Here are the auctions I'll be watching this week:
Forum Auctions holds an online sale of Books and Works on Paper on Wednesday, August 17. Among the 297 lots are a copy of the 1763 Foulis edition of The Republic of Plato from the library of the Rose family of Kilvarock (£1,000–1,500). At the same estimate range are a subscriber's copy of Ackermann's History of the University of Oxford (1814) and a first edition of the same publisher's History of the University of Cambridge (1815). The 1509 first Aldine edition of Sallust's De Conivratione Catilinae is estimated at £600–800, as is the Foulis edition of Homer (1756–1758).
At Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday, 450 lots of Printed Books, Maps, Decorative Prints & Original Art, Urban Art, Film, Rock, Pop, Vinyl Records. A large collection of British film promotional material is expected to lead the sale, estimated at £2,000–3,000. The material ranges from the 1930s to the 1980s, and covers more than 2,000 films. A 1968 MoMa exhibition poster designed by Tadanori Yokoo could sell for £1,000–1,500. Several large topical and publisher shelf lots will also go under the hammer.
University Archives sells Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books on Wednesday, in 534 lots. An early manuscript survey by George Washington, dated March 21, 1752, is estimated at $20,000–24,000. A 1956 signed check and accompanying letter by John F. Kennedy to his fellow senator John Pastore of Rhode Island could sell for $15,000–17,000, while a signed receipt by Daniel Boone is estimated at $12,000–14,000. An 1870 Charles Darwin note allowing quotations from his works has been estimated at $10,000–12,000.
At Swann Galleries on Thursday, August 18, LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History, in 443 lots. Among the books and manuscripts are a copy of the deluxe first edition of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), in a 2019 designer binding by Robert Wu is expected to fetch the highest price, estimated at $25,000–35,000. An 1893 Oscar Wilde letter could sell for $6,000–9,000. A "Homosexuals are American Citizens Also" printed sign believed to be from the 1969 Philadelphia "Annual Reminder" march is estimated at $4,000–6,000, and a group of 34 lesbian pulp fiction paperbacks from 1951 to 1972 could sell for $800–1,200.
On Saturday, August 20 at Potter & Potter, Vintage Posters, in 731 lots.
