The Library of Barry Yampol’s mining and mineralogical holdings trace the history of these disciplines, from the early roots of the field, when the extraction and refinement of metals were practical arts grounded in experience rather than theory.

The development of mining and mineralogy from practical traditions to a systematic Earth science

Mining and Mineralogy

The early printed works in the Yampol Library reveal how the advent of movable type enabled the preservation and dissemination of classical and medieval scientific thought. Incunabula took long manuscript texts: encyclopedias, philosophical treatises, and medical treatises, into reproducible works that circulated across Europe.

How early printing shaped the transmission of scientific knowledge

Early Printing

The Wunderkammer represents one of the most compelling intersections of art, science, and collecting in early modern Europe. These cabinets of curiosities: part museum, part laboratory, part theatre, assembled shells, minerals, fossils, zoological rarities, ethnographic artifacts, and scientific instruments into encyclopedic displays designed to provoke wonder and intellectual speculation.

The rich culture of early modern collecting, where cabinets of curiosities united marvels and method.

Wunderkammer

New York

From Pliny to the Periodic Table: The Books That Built the Foundations of Science 

After the sale, property can be collected by appointment only through Post-Sale Services. Property will be available for collection starting on Tuesday, December 17, 2025 from Sotheby’s Gantry Point, located at 25-11 49th&nbsp;Avenue, Long Island City, New York. Please contact Post-Sale Services to arrange for payment and property release.

SVP | Global Head of Books & Manuscripts

Richard Austin

Senior Vice President | International Senior Specialist

Selby Kiffer

Vice President | Head of Department, Americas

Dr. Kalika Sands

Specialist

Noah Goldrach

Associate Cataloguer

Emily Zas

Pre-Sale Coordinator

Gabriella Hetu

Meet our Specialists

New York | 25 November–17 December 2025

For assistance with bidding and registration, please contact: +1 212 606 7000 
 
 <a class="Link" href="mailto:enquiries@sothebys.com" target="_blank">ENQUIRIES@SOTHEBYS.COM</a>

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Barry Yampol (1937–2023) was renowned worldwide as a collector and dealer of mineral specimens and gemstones, supporting institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Yale Peabody Museum, and the Sorbonne through loans and philanthropy. Far less visible was his parallel life as a book collector: while public in the mineral world, he maintained near-total anonymity in the republic of books, assembling one of the most discerning science libraries of the last half-century—far broader than mineralogy and mining alone. Sotheby’s will reveal the full range of the Library in a series of auctions beginning this December, with A First Selection offered across live and online sales, followed by A Second Selection in 2026.

The Library of Barry Yampol: A First Selection. Part 2