Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2012 Issue

Graham Arader on the sell-side at Auction

55 lots of Natural History Watercolors & Colorplate Books

Lot 80.  The Quadrupeds of North America, original, hand coloured and in parts.  Estimated $25,000 to $30,000

Lot 101.  Still Life with Peaches.  A watercolor on vellum by Pierre-Joseph Redoute.  Estimated $10,000 to $15,000

Lot 167.  A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of Virginia, containing the whole province of Maryland with part of Pensilvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.  By Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry.  Estimated $60,000 to $70,000

Lot 224.  The Port of New York.  A Currier & Ives print, after Charles R. Parsons and Lyman W. Atwater.  Estimated $12,000 to $15,000

Lot 227.  A plan of the city of New-York & its Environs to Greenwich, on the North or Hudson River and to Crown Point, on the East or Sound River, Shewing the Several Streets, Publick Buildings, Docks, Fort & Battery, with thee true Form & Course of the Commanding Grounds, With and without the Town…Survey’d in the winter, 1775.  Estimated $60,000 to $70,000.

 “My goal is to sell all of the material.”  It's  tall order.  The full sale carries total low and high estimates of $12.6 and $16.5 million.  The outcomes will depend on the reserves.   Over the past two years the percentage of lots selling in the works on paper category at auction worldwide has been increasing as estimates have come down enough to induce skeptical bidders to buy material priced through competitive bidding.  It’s today a strong trend and Mr. Arader is as determined to change with the market as he was when first selling maps in college.  He was and remains an innovator.  For maps and images his conversion is important because his holdings are massive.  As he moves to market-determined pricing it will force the category to follow suit.

The sale at hand is divided into 8 sections:

1-34.  Audubon prints.  Mainly unreserved

35-59.  Audubon prints selected from the top 50.  Many unreserved

60-79.  Audubon quadrupeds.  XX unreserved

80.  Audubon quadrupeds, the octavo edition in parts

81.  Audubon imperial quadrupeds

82.  Audubon octavo birds

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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
  • 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
  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€

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