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The AE Top 350 Book Auction Results For 2004! - By Michael Stillman The "Macclesfield Psalter", a 14th Century illuminated manuscript, was the most expensive book at auction in 2004 By Michael Stillman Another year has drawn to a close, and we are now in the season of top ten lists for 2004. Traditionally, those of us in the rare book trade have had to sit on the sidelines as lists of the best selling new books, or most popular movies and television programs, flashed by. Not any more. We at the Americana Exchange have put together a list of the top 10 sales at book auctions, along with a bonus of 340 more entries. Welcome to the Americana Exchange 350, the three hundred fifty highest prices paid at book auctions during the past year. For those who can't wait any longer to see the list, there is a link at the end of this article to the AE 350 for 2004. First, a quick explanation. The Americana Exchange follows over 80 worldwide auction houses for book auctions. The results of these auctions are added regularly to the AE Database (Advertisement Warning: to learn more about the AE Database or subscribe, click "Bibliographic Database" on the menu to the left). In 2004, we covered around 280 book auctions, or more than one per business day. Total lots were over 112,000 containing more than 400,000 items. Within these records is a fairly clear picture of just where the market for books really is today, as opposed to the fantasy prices often found on online sites. But that's a story for another day. What we most want to see is the prices paid for those items we cannot afford. That's what the Americana Exchange 350 is all about. Not all of these items are truly "books." At the upper ranges, manuscripts and signed documents are heavily represented. These one-of-a-kind documents frequently fetch higher prices than printed books. Sketchbooks by famed artists may not be the typical book for sale, but they bring some of the highest prices. This is really a list of books, manuscripts, and ephemera that come from auctions with a heavy focus on books. It will probably not come as a great surprise that the top end of the list is dominated by two auction houses: Sotheby's and Christies. All of the top 20 most expensive lots were auctioned by these houses, as were 92 of the top 100. Sotheby's had 59, Christie's 33, with Bonham's next at 5. The top sale was over $3 million, four were over $1 million, and 302 were over $100,000. And if you think the top 10 list won't be impressive, here are a few that didn't quite make it: 37, an autographed Sherlock Holmes manuscript from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 35, 43 letters from Ernest Hemingway; 19, a contemporary broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence, 17, an autographed manuscript by Sir Isaac Newton; 15, a telegram from Lincoln to Grant ordering no negotiations with Lee other than surrender; 13, an autographed Mozart manuscript; 12, an annotated proof copy of The Scarlet Letter as revised by Hawthorne. This last item was recently in the news when it was discovered in the archives of a small Massachusetts library.
The AE Top 350 Book Auction Results For 2004! - By Michael Stillman Runner up for highest price at auction was Bill W.'s manuscript copy of Alcoholics Anonymous' Big Book Well, we've waited long enough. So let the drum roll begin as we start counting down the top 10 book auction sales for 2004! 10. This is one of the famed Shakespeare folios, but a mere $623,500 will no longer get you a complete first folio or even a second. This is a third. 9. A complete 40-volume set of Edward Curtis' mammoth limited edition of The North American Indian, with a forward by Theodore Roosevelt and signed by T.R. himself. All of Manhattan Island didn't cost this much. $679,500. 8. An autographed manuscript for the Gustav Mahler song, "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen." I don't know this song, but it must be a real toe tapper. $739,242. 7. This is a copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence with a price as big as Texas. $764,000. 6. This one is an etching of La Femme qui pleure by Pablo Picasso. Picasso never comes cheap. $813,900. 5. An illuminated manuscript from the 16th century of what is called the "first great travel book of the Renaissance," by Cristoforo Buondelmonti. It was once part of the collection of eccentric collector Sir Thomas Phillipps. $822,649. 4. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi, by Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543. Copernicus is the guy who came up with the revolutionary idea that the planets revolve around the sun, rather than the sun around the earth. $1,208,583. 3. More Picasso. This is La Suite Vollard, one of 260 copies of a collection of 100 etchings from Picasso signed in pencil. $1,228,261. 2. Bill W.'s (William Wilson) manuscript copy of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. $1,576,000. 1. 252 leaves of what is called the "Macclesfield Pslater," a previously unrecorded illuminated manuscript from the 14th century. The many illustrations are often too bizarre to describe on a family website, so you'll need to read the full description in the AE 350 list. $3,057,004.
The AE Top 350 Book Auction Results For 2004! - By Michael Stillman none There was one sale that went for an even higher price, but it doesn't quite fit the criterion. On December 2, Sotheby's sold the O'Fallon Collection of American Indian Portraits by George Catlin. However, the entire collection was sold as one, rather than individual lots. The price was a staggering $17,368,000. There are many more intriguing finds as you go through the full list. Quick, what do T.E. Lawrence's (of Arabia) Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a signed Lincoln document concerning the earlier proposed 13th Amendment which would have protected slavery, and Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit have in common? Give up? All sold for $95,600 in 2004. Which will prove to be the best investment? I'd vote for Lincoln, but who knows. Here's an even starker choice. For $268,000 and change, you can have either (1) Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden, Gregor Mendel's book on genetics, or (2) a set of Andy Warhol's signed silkscreens of Mick Jagger. I like Jagger's music, and Warhol as an investment, but would prefer Mendel's book. There are many other fascinating items in this list. There is a list of property put together by Thomas Jefferson for tax purposes, which includes - this is not pleasant - 85 slaves. There is the log of a transport ship bringing prisoners from England to Australia. Also sold was a rare letter from Jesse James to his stepfather after an attack by Pinkerton agents on the family home. One of only two extant copies of the first American printing of the Book of Common Prayer and Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species went for virtually the same price. John's Western Gallery shows up only one time on this list, but someone picked up a classic piece of the Old West for $115,000 - a diagram of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral drawn by Wyatt Earp. Lawrences Auctioneers broke into the list with a $147,516 copy of The Young Cricketer's Guide...for Playing the Noble and Manly Game of Cricket. For American sports fans, there's Lou Gehrig's 1936 baseball contract with the Yankees (he won the MVP that year). Gehrig was paid for $31,000 for his labors, the previous owner of his contract received $115,000. There are many more fascinating lots on this list. For a look at the complete Americana Exchange 350 list of the top book auction sales, click this link: AE Top 350.

The AE Top 350 Book Auction Results For 2004!

- By Michael Stillman

The "Macclesfield Psalter", a 14th Century illuminated manuscript, was the most expensive book at auction in 2004

By Michael Stillman

Another year has drawn to a close, and we are now in the season of top ten lists for 2004. Traditionally, those of us in the rare book trade have had to sit on the sidelines as lists of the best selling new books, or most popular movies and television programs, flashed by. Not any more. We at the Americana Exchange have put together a list of the top 10 sales at book auctions, along with a bonus of 340 more entries. Welcome to the Americana Exchange 350, the three hundred fifty highest prices paid at book auctions during the past year. For those who can't wait any longer to see the list, there is a link at the end of this article to the AE 350 for 2004.

First, a quick explanation. The Americana Exchange follows over 80 worldwide auction houses for book auctions. The results of these auctions are added regularly to the AE Database (Advertisement Warning: to learn more about the AE Database or subscribe, click "Bibliographic Database" on the menu to the left). In 2004, we covered around 280 book auctions, or more than one per business day. Total lots were over 112,000 containing more than 400,000 items. Within these records is a fairly clear picture of just where the market for books really is today, as opposed to the fantasy prices often found on online sites. But that's a story for another day. What we most want to see is the prices paid for those items we cannot afford. That's what the Americana Exchange 350 is all about.

Not all of these items are truly "books." At the upper ranges, manuscripts and signed documents are heavily represented. These one-of-a-kind documents frequently fetch higher prices than printed books. Sketchbooks by famed artists may not be the typical book for sale, but they bring some of the highest prices. This is really a list of books, manuscripts, and ephemera that come from auctions with a heavy focus on books.

It will probably not come as a great surprise that the top end of the list is dominated by two auction houses: Sotheby's and Christies. All of the top 20 most expensive lots were auctioned by these houses, as were 92 of the top 100. Sotheby's had 59, Christie's 33, with Bonham's next at 5. The top sale was over $3 million, four were over $1 million, and 302 were over $100,000. And if you think the top 10 list won't be impressive, here are a few that didn't quite make it: 37, an autographed Sherlock Holmes manuscript from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 35, 43 letters from Ernest Hemingway; 19, a contemporary broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence, 17, an autographed manuscript by Sir Isaac Newton; 15, a telegram from Lincoln to Grant ordering no negotiations with Lee other than surrender; 13, an autographed Mozart manuscript; 12, an annotated proof copy of The Scarlet Letter as revised by Hawthorne. This last item was recently in the news when it was discovered in the archives of a small Massachusetts library.

The AE Top 350 Book Auction Results For 2004!

- By Michael Stillman

Runner up for highest price at auction was Bill W.'s manuscript copy of Alcoholics Anonymous' Big Book

Well, we've waited long enough. So let the drum roll begin as we start counting down the top 10 book auction sales for 2004!

10. This is one of the famed Shakespeare folios, but a mere $623,500 will no longer get you a complete first folio or even a second. This is a third.

9. A complete 40-volume set of Edward Curtis' mammoth limited edition of The North American Indian, with a forward by Theodore Roosevelt and signed by T.R. himself. All of Manhattan Island didn't cost this much. $679,500.

8. An autographed manuscript for the Gustav Mahler song, "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen." I don't know this song, but it must be a real toe tapper. $739,242.

7. This is a copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence with a price as big as Texas. $764,000.

6. This one is an etching of La Femme qui pleure by Pablo Picasso. Picasso never comes cheap. $813,900.

5. An illuminated manuscript from the 16th century of what is called the "first great travel book of the Renaissance," by Cristoforo Buondelmonti. It was once part of the collection of eccentric collector Sir Thomas Phillipps. $822,649.

4. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi, by Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543. Copernicus is the guy who came up with the revolutionary idea that the planets revolve around the sun, rather than the sun around the earth. $1,208,583.

3. More Picasso. This is La Suite Vollard, one of 260 copies of a collection of 100 etchings from Picasso signed in pencil. $1,228,261.

2. Bill W.'s (William Wilson) manuscript copy of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. $1,576,000.

1. 252 leaves of what is called the "Macclesfield Pslater," a previously unrecorded illuminated manuscript from the 14th century. The many illustrations are often too bizarre to describe on a family website, so you'll need to read the full description in the AE 350 list. $3,057,004.

The AE Top 350 Book Auction Results For 2004!

- By Michael Stillman

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There was one sale that went for an even higher price, but it doesn't quite fit the criterion. On December 2, Sotheby's sold the O'Fallon Collection of American Indian Portraits by George Catlin. However, the entire collection was sold as one, rather than individual lots. The price was a staggering $17,368,000.

There are many more intriguing finds as you go through the full list. Quick, what do T.E. Lawrence's (of Arabia) Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a signed Lincoln document concerning the earlier proposed 13th Amendment which would have protected slavery, and Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit have in common? Give up? All sold for $95,600 in 2004. Which will prove to be the best investment? I'd vote for Lincoln, but who knows. Here's an even starker choice. For $268,000 and change, you can have either (1) Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden, Gregor Mendel's book on genetics, or (2) a set of Andy Warhol's signed silkscreens of Mick Jagger. I like Jagger's music, and Warhol as an investment, but would prefer Mendel's book.

There are many other fascinating items in this list. There is a list of property put together by Thomas Jefferson for tax purposes, which includes - this is not pleasant - 85 slaves. There is the log of a transport ship bringing prisoners from England to Australia. Also sold was a rare letter from Jesse James to his stepfather after an attack by Pinkerton agents on the family home. One of only two extant copies of the first American printing of the Book of Common Prayer and Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species went for virtually the same price. John's Western Gallery shows up only one time on this list, but someone picked up a classic piece of the Old West for $115,000 - a diagram of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral drawn by Wyatt Earp. Lawrences Auctioneers broke into the list with a $147,516 copy of The Young Cricketer's Guide...for Playing the Noble and Manly Game of Cricket. For American sports fans, there's Lou Gehrig's 1936 baseball contract with the Yankees (he won the MVP that year). Gehrig was paid for $31,000 for his labors, the previous owner of his contract received $115,000.

There are many more fascinating lots on this list. For a look at the complete Americana Exchange 350 list of the top book auction sales, click this link: AE Top 350.