Auction Update Review

A Slow Week?

This past week was a "slow" week at auctions, the Memorial Day holiday in America reducing the number of sales. Nevertheless, another 31 auctions were archived, with sales exceeding $18 million. June promises to be another high-flying month, with no let up expected until July or maybe even August. A total of 16 auctions were denominated in euros, 10 in U.S. dollars, 4 in British pounds, and one in Mexican pesos. There were 11,504 lots offered, of which 7,956 sold, for a sales rate of 69.16%.

 

<A first Octavo of Audubon's Birds of America is offered at Swann's June 3.

 


3 auctions saw their total proceeds reach a million dollars:

Artcurial. the Universe of the Creator of TinTin on May 24th: $7,077,439 
Artcurial. Comic Strips on May 25th: $3,077,298
Ketterer Kunst Doerling. Rare Books, Manuscripts, Autographs, Decorative Prints, Maritime and North German Art on May 19th: $1,463,702 

 

>Chernikhov's Architectural Cycles offered at Bonham's June   4.

 


6 auctions saw total sales exceed 100% of the high estimates of all lots offered in the sale:

Burgersdijk and Niermans. New and Antiquarian Books on May 14th: 203.74%
Robert Siegel Galleries. Worldwide Postal History on May 15th: 142.74%
Artcurial. the Universe of the Creator of TinTin on May 24th: 137.89%
Gonnelli Casa DAste. Musical works, Autographs and signed books on May 17th: 125.72%
Swann Galleries. Autographs on May 22nd: 115.90%
Hauswedell and Nolte. Rare Books and Autographs on May 21st: 100.72%

 


15 sales saw at least 80% of their lots sell:

Robert Siegel Galleries. Worldwide Postal History on May 15th: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Comics -Internet bidstart 5/18 on May 25th: 98.73%
Heritage Auctions. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 5/18 on May 25th: 97.59%
Aspire Auctions. Prints and Photographs - online bidstart 5/16 on May 23rd: 95.83%
Heritage Auctions. Americana, Political on May 24th: 95.71%
Paige Auction. May Sale - Posters on May 20th: 95.00%
Rupert Toovey and Co. Antiquarian and Collectors Books on May 20th: 86.43%
Rupert Toovey and Co. Prints on May 21st: 86.00%
Swann Galleries. Autographs on May 22nd: 85.82%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 5/15 on May 22nd: 85.01%
Bonhams. Law Books - Part II on May 20th: 84.34%
Heritage Auctions. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 5/22 on May 29th: 84.17%
Burgersdijk and Niermans. New and Antiquarian Books on May 14th: 83.63%
Bloomsbury Auctions. Important Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper on May 19th: 81.09%
Gonnelli Casa DAste. Musical works, Autographs and signed books on May 17th: 80.95%

For the week ahead 39 sales are scheduled:

Mon. Jun. 2nd
Dorotheum . Vienna. Autographs. 289 lots
Autographes Encheres. Meinier. Autographs, Photographs and Historical Souvenirs - Internet bidstart 5/14. 225 lots

Tue. Jun. 3rd
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Books and Manuscripts. 39 lots
Swann Galleries. New York. Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Historical Prints, Ephemera. 388 lots
Sothebys. New York. Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including American. 176 lots
Dorotheum . Vienna. Art Photography. 228 lots
Rossini. Paris. Prints.

Wed. Jun. 4th
Bonhams. London. Prints. 398 lots
Woolley and Wallis. Salisbury. Prints. 41 lots
Bonhams. New York. the Story of the 20th Century. 180 lots
Galerie Bassenge. Berlin-Grunewald . China - Photography 1890s to 1950s. 70 lots
Artcurial. Paris. Prints and Illustrated Books. 304 lots
Dorotheum . Vienna. Modern and Contemporary Prints. 249 lots
Binoche et Giquello. rue La Boetie, Paris. Antiquarian and Modern Books. 224 lots
Galerie Bassenge. Berlin-Grunewald . 19th - 21st Century Photography. 315 lots
Sothebys. New York. John Lennon "You Might Well Arsk". 89 lots

Thu. Jun. 5th
Bloomsbury Auctions. London. Bibliophile. 464 lots
Bloomsbury Auctions. London. Autographs, Manuscripts and Documents. 265 lots
Bonhams. New York. WWII. 16 lots
AntiquarianAuctions.com. Laguna Beach. Antiquarian Books (Preview) - Internet bidstart 5/29. 399 lots
PBA Galleries. San Francisco. Fine & Rare Books with Asian & Graphic Art. 486 lots
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 5/29. 414 lots
Neret Minet and Tessier. Paris. Comic Strips. 518 lots
Rossini. Paris. Letters, Postcards. 130 lots
Vermot de Pas. Paris. Prints and Photographs.

Fri. Jun. 6th
Bloomsbury Auctions. London. Photographs and Photobooks. 242 lots
ALDE. Paris. Gastronomy Books. 349 lots
Eldreds. East Dennis,. Antiques and Collectible - Prints, Books, Maps. 100 lots
Dirk Soulis Auctions. Lee's Summit . Estate Sale - Books and Prints. 15 lots
Ketterer Kunst Doerling. Hamburg. Modern Classics - Prints. 91 lots
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Denver, . Denver Summer Auction - Prints. 58 lots

Sat. Jun. 7th
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. War and Militaria.
Ketterer Kunst Doerling. Hamburg. Post War and Contemporary - Prints. 110 lots
Mid Hudson Auction Galleries. Cornwall-on-Hudson, . AUDUBONS, MAPS, NATURAL HISTORY, FINE ART & ANTIQUES AUCTION. 214 lots

Sun. Jun. 8th
Grogan and Company. Dedham. Prints, Books. 22 lots
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Comics -Internet bidstart 6/1.
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Movie Posters - Internet bidstart 6/1.
National Book Auctions. Ithaca. Books, Art, Ephemera, and Collectibles.
Carlsen Gallery. Greenville, NY. Antiques - Photos, Prints. 9 lots


This coming week will be busy again with 39 more auctions on the docket.

Mike Stillman

AE

  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • 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
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas