Stendahl's Annotations, Presidential Autographs, Anne Rice's Books: Auction Preview
A first edition copy of Description de l’Egypte (1809–1830), from the collection of a member of the expedition, offered at Christie's this week.
Here's what I'll be watching this week:
At Sotheby's Paris on Monday, October 28, Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé: le dernier chapitre. The 227 lots include Stendahl's heavily annotated copy of Germaine de Staël's Considérations sur les principaux événemens de la Révolution françoise (1818), expected to sell for €100,000–150,000. A copy of Stendahl's Promenades dans Rome (1829), interleaved and with Stendahl's annotations, is estimated at €50,000–70,000. At the same estimate range is a manuscript copy of André Gide's first book, Les Cahiers d'André Walter.
Christie's Paris sells 128 lots of Livres Rares et Manuscrits on Tuesday, October 29, with two lots sharing the top estimate of €150,000–250,000: a group of Turgot manuscripts (1749–1750) and a deluxe copy of the first edition of the Description de l’Egypte (1809–1830), from the collection of a member of the expedition, Gratien Le Père and with and original wooden case used to transport the plate volumes. Marcel Proust's Du côté de chez Swann (1913), one of just twelve copies on Holland paper, is estimated at €80,000–120,000.
At New England Book Auctions on Tuesday, 220 lots of Literature, Fine Printing, and Graphics.
Lyon & Turnbull sell 81 lots of Travel & Vintage Posters on Wednesday, October 30, with Saul Bass's poster for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) rates the top estimate at £6,000–8,000. Lester Beall's triptych of posters for United States Lines are expected to sell for £4,000–6,000, and Edward Mason Eggleston's c.1935 Pennsylvania Railroad poster for Atlantic City is estimated at £3,000–5,000.
On Wednesday at University Archives, 489 lots of Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books, including a full set of presidential autographs from Washington to Obama, this being a rare set comprising only autographs written during their presidential terms. The set is estimated at $400,000–500,000.
At Forum Auctions on Thursday, October 31, 300 lots of Books and Works on Paper, with Ferdinando Albertolli's Porte di Città e Fortezze depositi sepolcrali ed altre principali fabbriche pubbliche e private di Michele Sammicheli Veronese (1815) rating the top estimate at £2,500–3,500. Martino Bassi's Dispareri in Materia d'Architettura, et Perspettiva (1572) and Charles Kelsall's Phantasm of an University (1814) are each estimated at £1,500–2,000.
Swann Galleries sells 320 lots of Fine Photographs on Thursday, with Lewis Baltz's A Portfolio Entitled Park City (1978–1979) rating the top estimate at $100,000–150,000. Alfred Stieglitz's Spring Showers - The Street Cleaner (1900–1901) could fetch $60,000–90,000.
Ending on Thursday at Bonhams Los Angeles, Elegance of the Eternal: The Anne Rice Collection, which includes among its 226 lots around 90 lots of books, some with Rice's annotations.
At PBA Galleries on Thursday, Strange Tales: The Steve Ditko Collection, in 100 lots. Expected to lead the way is Amazing Fantasy No. 15 (August 1962), featuring the first appearance of Spiderman ($300,000–500,000). The original art for Eric Stanton's Wonder Woman parody "Blundie in Blunderland" is estimated at $20,000–25,000.
