Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week
At Bunch Auctions on Monday, July 23, Books & Works on Paper, in 269 lots. Top-estimated lots include an engraving of Marcantonio Raimondo's "Massacre of the Innocents" from around 1515 ($5,000-7,000); some signed William Gibson volumes ($1,200-1,500); and a 1490 Augsberg edition of the sermons of Robertus Caracciolus ($800-1,000). A wide-ranging sale, with estimates mostly in the three-figure range.
On Tuesday, July 24, Doyle New York sells Angling Books from the Collection of Arnold "Jake" Johnson, in 344 lots (this is a timed, online-only sale). Highlights could include Richard (or Charles) Bowlker's The Art of Angling Improved in All Its Parts ($700-1,000) and Eric Taverner's Salmon Fishing (1931), estimated at $1,200-1,800. Lots 111-113 comprise three photograph albums of fishing trips taken by Zane Grey in the 1920s (each is estimated at $700-1,000).
PBA Galleries sells Modern Literature on Thursday, July 26, in 563 lots. Seven lots share estimates of $3,000-5,000, including a first book printing of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a first edition of The Call of the Wild in a very well-preserved dust-jacket, a full set of the 63-volume James Joyce Archive, and an inscribed first edition of Catch-22. Lots 440-563 are being sold without reserve.
Finally, on Saturday, July 28, Potter and Potter Auctions holds a Fine Books & Manuscripts sale, in 619 lots. A copy of the Peter Force facsimile engraving of the Declaration of Independence is estimated at $15,000-20,000, while a 1917 "Destroy This Mad Brute" World War I enlistment poster could fetch $12,000-18,000. Other lots include a collection of Hugh Hefner's correspondence with a high school friend ($10,000-20,000); Emil Orlik's Aus Japan ($10,000-15,000); and a 1958 Fidel Castro letter to arms smuggler Pedro Luis ($8,000-12,000).