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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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Some Outstanding Books from the Arader Galleries - By Michael Stillman A Selection of Rare Books from the Arader Galleries. The Arader Galleries has offered A Selection of Rare Books for the fall and winter season. While we're a tad late, it is still winter, and the books are still as enticing as ever. A few of them could fairly be described as for collectors of well above average budgets, but for those with more in their bank accounts than on their bookshelves, there are some worthy trades to be made. The Arader Galleries offer top tier material in top condition, always the preference of collectors at the highest end. Here are a few. We will start with the most notable of all American color plate books, John James Audubon's The Birds of America. Offered is a first octavo edition, published 1840-44. Audubon was both a great ornithologist and artist. Originally, he published his work in a larger, double elephant folio size. It was spectacular, but the cost of production was so great he was forced to sell the work at a price few could afford. Audubon made no money for his efforts until he conceived of the idea of selling his book in a reduced size, octavo format. The octavo version was a financial success for Audubon, making him if not wealthy, at least prosperous. The octavo edition was not merely a scaled down version of the elephant folio, but one to which Audubon added 65 new plates, raising the total to 500. All are hand colored. A first octavo Birds of America is not inexpensive, this one being priced at $145,000. However, it should be noted that this is pocket change compared to the elephant folio, the world's most expensive printed book, a copy having been sold last month at auction for over $11 million. From drawings of birds we go to those of flowers, a collection of proof copies of the plates for Gerard van Spaendonck's Fleurs dessinees d'apres nature... This book was published around 1800. Offered is a copy of the proofs with a manuscript title Fleurs de G. Van Spaendonck. These 25 stipple engraved plates are in the original black and white (most copies were colored). Spaendonck's work is exceedingly rare, and the man himself is not that well known despite his great artistic talent. However, he was a notable influence on and supporter of Redoute, the great illustrator of roses whose prints bring great prices today. $58,500. John Lawson provided one of the earliest looks at the Carolinas in The History of Carolina… This is a first edition, second issue, published in 1714 (five years after the first issue). Lawson sailed from England to Charleston in 1700, and then proceeded on a 600-mile inland journey through what was mainly wilderness. He wasn't the first to travel the interior regions, but he provided the earliest detailed account, paying particular note of its natural history and Indian tribes. He became a surveyor in what is now North Carolina and helped found some of its earliest settlements. On one of his surveying missions in 1711, Lawson ran into problems with the Tuscarora Indians and was killed. $57,500.
Some Outstanding Books from the Arader Galleries - By Michael Stillman A lifelike illustration from Gerard Van Spaendonck. Another great report on the Carolinas came at the other end of the 18th century, Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country… This is a 1791 first edition of William Bartram's report on his journey into America's southern settlements and Indian lands. Bartram embarked on a similar, though longer trip than Lawson's, recording data about the natural history and Indian tribes of the area. He is particularly noted for his sketches of over 200 newly discovered botanical specimens, including the Venus Fly Trap and the now extinct in the wild Franklin Tree, named for his friend Ben Franklin. The Franklin Tree survives only through seeds Bartram collected on his trip and brought back to Philadelphia. $45,000. Here is one of the most important books about Gold Rush California, particularly its early days: Eldorado, or, Adventures in the Path of Empire, by Bayard Taylor, published in 1850. Taylor was a newsman from New York who traveled to California not to find gold, but to report on the rush. He writes about the mining camps, California's constitutional convention, and other aspects of life at the time the state was being inundated with prospectors. $1,150. The Arader Galleries are located in New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Denver, and San Francisco. The telephone number for the New York office is 212-628-3668. Their website is found at www.aradergalleries.com.

Some Outstanding Books from the Arader Galleries

- By Michael Stillman

A Selection of Rare Books from the Arader Galleries.

The Arader Galleries has offered A Selection of Rare Books for the fall and winter season. While we're a tad late, it is still winter, and the books are still as enticing as ever. A few of them could fairly be described as for collectors of well above average budgets, but for those with more in their bank accounts than on their bookshelves, there are some worthy trades to be made. The Arader Galleries offer top tier material in top condition, always the preference of collectors at the highest end. Here are a few.

We will start with the most notable of all American color plate books, John James Audubon's The Birds of America. Offered is a first octavo edition, published 1840-44. Audubon was both a great ornithologist and artist. Originally, he published his work in a larger, double elephant folio size. It was spectacular, but the cost of production was so great he was forced to sell the work at a price few could afford. Audubon made no money for his efforts until he conceived of the idea of selling his book in a reduced size, octavo format. The octavo version was a financial success for Audubon, making him if not wealthy, at least prosperous. The octavo edition was not merely a scaled down version of the elephant folio, but one to which Audubon added 65 new plates, raising the total to 500. All are hand colored. A first octavo Birds of America is not inexpensive, this one being priced at $145,000. However, it should be noted that this is pocket change compared to the elephant folio, the world's most expensive printed book, a copy having been sold last month at auction for over $11 million.

From drawings of birds we go to those of flowers, a collection of proof copies of the plates for Gerard van Spaendonck's Fleurs dessinees d'apres nature... This book was published around 1800. Offered is a copy of the proofs with a manuscript title Fleurs de G. Van Spaendonck. These 25 stipple engraved plates are in the original black and white (most copies were colored). Spaendonck's work is exceedingly rare, and the man himself is not that well known despite his great artistic talent. However, he was a notable influence on and supporter of Redoute, the great illustrator of roses whose prints bring great prices today. $58,500.

John Lawson provided one of the earliest looks at the Carolinas in The History of Carolina… This is a first edition, second issue, published in 1714 (five years after the first issue). Lawson sailed from England to Charleston in 1700, and then proceeded on a 600-mile inland journey through what was mainly wilderness. He wasn't the first to travel the interior regions, but he provided the earliest detailed account, paying particular note of its natural history and Indian tribes. He became a surveyor in what is now North Carolina and helped found some of its earliest settlements. On one of his surveying missions in 1711, Lawson ran into problems with the Tuscarora Indians and was killed. $57,500.

Some Outstanding Books from the Arader Galleries

- By Michael Stillman

A lifelike illustration from Gerard Van Spaendonck.

Another great report on the Carolinas came at the other end of the 18th century, Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country… This is a 1791 first edition of William Bartram's report on his journey into America's southern settlements and Indian lands. Bartram embarked on a similar, though longer trip than Lawson's, recording data about the natural history and Indian tribes of the area. He is particularly noted for his sketches of over 200 newly discovered botanical specimens, including the Venus Fly Trap and the now extinct in the wild Franklin Tree, named for his friend Ben Franklin. The Franklin Tree survives only through seeds Bartram collected on his trip and brought back to Philadelphia. $45,000.

Here is one of the most important books about Gold Rush California, particularly its early days: Eldorado, or, Adventures in the Path of Empire, by Bayard Taylor, published in 1850. Taylor was a newsman from New York who traveled to California not to find gold, but to report on the rush. He writes about the mining camps, California's constitutional convention, and other aspects of life at the time the state was being inundated with prospectors. $1,150.

The Arader Galleries are located in New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Denver, and San Francisco. The telephone number for the New York office is 212-628-3668. Their website is found at www.aradergalleries.com.