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Auction Results

Now
Fine Books & Manuscripts Including Americana

14 December 2015 | 10:00 AM EST | New York

SALE TOTAL

2,313,375USD
Browse Lots
  • 55
    Pieter Holsteyn the younger
    Aves ad vivum depictae a Petro Holysten celeberrimo picture. [Amsterdam, ca. 1638].
    LOT SOLD.850,000USD
  • 108
    Williams, Tennessee
    A Highly Important Archive of A Streetcar Named Desire, including the first working draft of the stage play, a draft of the screenplay, correspondence, and other ancillary material. New York, Charleston, SC, and various places, ca. 1947—50
    LOT SOLD.406,000USD
  • 41
    Darwin, Charles
    On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. London: John Murray, 1859
    LOT SOLD.298,000USD
  • 42
    Darwin, Charles
    On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. London: John Murray, 1859. 
    LOT SOLD.125,000USD
  • 106
    [Whitman, Walt]
    Burns, Robert. Poems Songs and Letters, Being the Complete Works … Edited from the Best Printed and Manuscript Authorities … by Alexander Smith.  London: Macmillan, 1879
    LOT SOLD.75,000USD
Browse Lots
Sale Number: N09435 Lots : 107

SALE TOTAL

2,313,375USD DOWNLOAD RESULTS
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Overview

Results:
Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts closed out 2015 with a general sale that brought our year-end total to just under $20 million at auction. Led by Pieter Holsteyn the younger's Aves Ad Vivum Depictae a Petro Holysten Celeberrimo Picture. [Amsterdam, ca. 1638], from the A. Alfred Taubman collection at $850,000 (est. $300,000 - $500,000), the sale achieved a strong sale total of $2.3 million. A Highly Important Archive of A Streetcar Named Desire followed at $406,000, while an Origin of Species Presentation Copy sold for $298,000, well above its high estimate of $200,000.

Details:
Fine Books and Manuscripts including Americana on 14 December features significant lots in every collecting category. Leading the sale is the earliest of three letters that Abraham Lincoln wrote to his first fiancée, Mary S. Owens. This is the only one of the three in private hands and one of the earliest obtainable Lincoln letters on any subject. (Est: $500,000 - 700,000).

Important literature, both English and American, includes Tennessee Williams’ heavily edited manuscript for his masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire (Est: $300,000 - 500,000) a fine collection of Joseph Conrad’s works with important association copies, Walt Whitman’s personal copy of Robert Burns poetry (Est: $50,000-70,000)  and a rare Dylan Thomas working poetical draft. (Est: $50,000 - 70,000)

A fine example of David Roberts Holy Land in parts and in its original shipping cases will interest travel and color plate collectors (Est: $100,000 - 150,000), while those who collect original illustration should be charmed by an original Bemelmans oil painting from his Madeleine series. (Est: $10,000 - 15,000)

For those armchair adventurers among our clients, a flying helmet and goggles worn by Amelia Earhart (Est: $3,000 - 5,000) should prove irresistible and for the those interested in landmarks in the world of science, a fine presentation copy of Darwin’s Origin of Species (Est: $150,000 - 200,00) rounds out an eclectic sale.

conditions of sale Saleroom Notice

Contact Information

Selby Kiffer
Senior Vice President
International Senior Books Specialist
Books & Manuscripts
Special Projects
+1 212 606 7385
selby.kiffer@sothebys.com
Justin Caldwell
Vice President
Senior Specialist
Books & Manuscripts
+1 212 606 7385
justin.caldwell@sothebys.com
Richard Austin
Senior Vice President
Head of Department
Books & Manuscripts
+1 212 606 7385
richard.austin@sothebys.com
   
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