Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2006 Issue

The <b>AE</b> Top 500 Book Auction Results For 2005!

- by Michael Stillman

This 15th century Virgil illuminated manuscript took in over $3 million.


10. Two original drafts of the Balfour Declaration and dozens of other documents forming a collection of founding materials for the State of Israel. $884,000.

9. A dedication copy of the first printed book on algebra by Luca Pacioli, dated 1494. $972,000.

8. A no later than 1470 vellum copy of one of the greatest classic natural history works by Pliny The Elder. $1,095,000.

7. A pre-Norman Conquest (1066) Anglo-Saxon manuscript. Manuscripts of this age are practically unobtainable in the market, this being the exception. $1,400,000.

6. Edward Curtis' North American Indian Portfolios and Volumes, with a signed forward by Theodore Roosevelt. $1,416,000.

5. A mid-13th century three-volume Bible from northern France. $1,849,000.

4. The lost autograph manuscript of Beethoven's Grosse Fuge in B Flat Major. $2,052,000.

3. The two-volume Italian Doria Atlas, circa 1570, containing 188 manuscript and printed maps. $2,664,000.

2. A 1459 244-leaf illuminated manuscript from Italy of Virgil's ancient Roman epic, from the collection of Dr. Martin Bodmer. $3,072,000.

1. The double-elephant folio broadsheets comprising the first publication of John James Audubon's Birds of America. Some people consider this second only in collectibility of printed material to the Gutenberg Bible. This was a one-owner copy, purchased new and held continuously by the Providence (Rhode Island) Athenaeum. $5,616,000.

For the complete AE 500 list for 2005, CLICK HERE. Note that the titles for each listing are actually links to their full descriptions.

So much for the past. For those of you who would like to see what comes up for sale in 2006, maybe even make a purchase, AE offers some excellent tools. On the top of this (and every) page, you will see a keyword search box for live auctions. Simply enter a topic or name of interest and we will instantly search the posted listings for books and related material from over one hundred worldwide auction houses. There is simply no other easy way to search the listings of so many different auctions.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000
  • Doyle, May 1: Thomas Jefferson expresses fears of "a war of extermination" in Saint-Dominigue. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An exceptional presentation copy of Fitzgerald's last book, in the first issue dust jacket. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The rare first signed edition of Dorian Gray. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The Prayer Book of Jehan Bernachier. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The magnificent Cranach Hamlet in the deluxe binding by Dõrfner. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, May 1: A remarkable unpublished manuscript of a voyage to South America in 1759-1764. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Bouchette's monumental and rare wall map of Lower Canada. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An rare original 1837 abolitionist woodblock. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An important manuscript breviary in Middle Dutch. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An extraordinary Old Testament manuscript, circa 1250. $20,000 to $30,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

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