The sale is led by an extraordinarily rich collection of books from a distinguished country house library, most of which have been in family hands since the 18th century. Travel-related items include first editions of Purchas his Pilgrimes (lot 46) and Sloane’s seminal publication on the flora and fauna of Jamaica (lot 49), as well as a unique manuscript account of the capture of Banda Neira in August 1810 by the Royal Naval officer who led the British invasion (lot 13). Ornithological works include subscribers’ copies of Gould’s first and second monographs on bird families (lots 21-22), Levaillant’s beautifully illustrated work on Birds of Paradise (lot 38), and Hayes’ rare work on the menagerie at Osterley Park (lot 24). Early printing is well represented by an editio princeps of the works of Homer (lot 30), Edward Gage’s copy of Lancelot du Lac (lot 36), and a 1541 Aldine edition of Castiglione in a contemporary Venetian binding (lot 10).

Books from a Distinguished Private Library

Cartographical highlights include an unusually comprehensive world atlas by Seutter (lot 110), a very good set of Chatelain’s Atlas Historique (lot 65), and a finely bound copy of the first European atlas of China by Blaeu and Martini (lot 59). Cassas’s Voyage pittoresque (lot 64) includes an attractive set of plates of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt, whilst Snouk Hurgronje’s Bilder-Atlas zu Mekka and Bilder aus Mekka (lot 242) provide a rare photographic insight into Mecca and the life of its inhabitants in the late nineteenth century.

Travel & Atlases

Two of the biggest names in anatomy and astronomy feature in this sale. Vesalius’s groundbreaking study of human anatomy, based on hands-on research and observation, appeared in 1543, moving away from the previous reliance on historical texts like Galen and replacing it with visually accurate illustrations of the workings of the human body (lot 115). Galileo’s teaching career in Padua began in 1592, when he was in his late twenties. To supplement his modest income as a professor, he took on private students and also taught the use of his “geometrical and military compass”. From his time in Padua survives a manuscript document with an autograph subscription and signature by Galileo (lot 79), attesting to a loan in 1595 to a French student, Louis de la Court, for board and lodging. This document contains three lines of Galileo’s handwriting, and is one of perhaps just three Galileo autographs remaining in private hands. Sir Isaac Newton, certainly Galileo’s equal, also appears in this sale as witness to a document, which he signed in 1719 (lot 94). Other autographs are by Marie Curie (lot 171), Sigmund Freud (lot 183), and Immanuel Kant (lot 89), along with a series of letters and postcards by Albert Einstein, including discussion of Special Relativity (lots 177-180).

Science & Medicine

Medieval Manuscripts & Early Printing

Two stunning archival collections form the backbone of the music lots in the sale: the extraordinary music library of the indomitable, left-handed pianist Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961), one of the finest musicians of the twentieth century, and the archive of music manuscripts, libretto drafts, letters and drawings – quite unknown to scholarship - of the complexly talented Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1946). Other highlights include: the work books, letter books and correspondence of one of the most important nineteenth-century music publishers, Adolf Martin Schlesinger; a long-lost autograph manuscript of Beethoven’s canon “Ewig dein”, WoO 161 (c.1810-1812); and the joyously diverse music collection of the much-loved humorist and broadcaster Fritz Spiegl (1926-2003), which ranges from a fine Mendelssohn letter, in English, about his Midsummer Night’s Dream music, to a portrait of Richard Strauss by Orlík and a sick bag inscribed by Sir John Barbirolli. Among other music autographs in the sale are those by Rossini, Offenbach, Humperdinck, Ambroise Thomas, Rubinstein, Hugo Wolf and Sibelius, as well as two superb autographs of Richard Strauss – a sketchbook for Die ägyptische Helene, and a sketchleaf for the Panathenäenzug for piano (left hand) and orchestra, op.74 (both from the library of Paul Wittgenstein). Composers’ letters too are well represented, including by Joseph Haydn (a fine unpublished one to the publisher C.G. Breitkopf, written in 1795 shortly after the composer’s triumphant second visit to England), Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Brahms, Wagner and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

Music 

An eclectic range of items representing different facets of a century of history and culture.

Twentieth Century

A substantial collection of material relating to the legendary Lawrence of Arabia is led by one of 170 “complete” copies of the rare subscribers’ edition of Seven Pillars (lot 209), in fine condition and with a distinguished provenance, as well as an “incomplete” copy of the Cranwell edition once owned by Colonel Joyce, a key figure in the Arab Revolt (lot 224). The sale also features one of two copies of Lawrence’s autobiographical account sent to the US Library of Congress (lot 207), and six pages of proofs from the Oxford printing (lot 206). Another outstanding item is a fine three-quarter length pencil portrait of Lawrence in Arab robes, representing one of the earliest portraits of Lawrence by Augustus John (Lot 205).

T.E. Lawrence

The sale includes a fine selection of children’s and illustrated works, including first editions of literary classics The Wind in the Willows (lot 189) and The Railway Children (lot 230), the latter inscribed by E. Nesbit to her niece, and a remarkable set of inscribed copies of the first four Harry Potter books (lots 236-239). Alongside these published works is a collection of original illustrations by Jessie M. King for The Enchanted Capital of Scotland (lot 202), and a charming early illustration of a rabbit by Beatrix Potter (lot 234).

Children’s & Illustrated

Original Illustrations from the Colin White Collection

London

Head of Department | Europe

Dr. David Goldthorpe

Director | Specialist

Dr. Gabriel  Heaton

Music Consultant

John Arthur

Associate Specialist

William Passey

Meet our Specialists

For assistance with bidding and registration, please contact: +44 207 293 5000 
 
 <a class="Link" href="mailto:enquiries@sothebys.com">enquiries@sothebys.com</a>

Stay informed with Sotheby’s top stories, videos, events &amp; news.

<a class="Link" href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/books-manuscripts-and-music-from-medieval-to-modern/r-ackermann-publisher-the-history-of-the-colleges?locale=en" target="_blank">Lots 1-53:</a>
 
 Books from a Distinguished Private Library 
 
 <a class="Link" href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/books-manuscripts-and-music-from-medieval-to-modern/the-visitation-and-pentecost-two-miniatures-on?locale=en" target="_blank">Lots 54-117:</a>
 
 Antiquarian Books &amp; Manuscripts 
 
 <a class="Link" href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/books-manuscripts-and-music-from-medieval-to-modern/ludwig-van-beethoven-autograph-manuscript-signed?locale=en" target="_blank">Lots 118-159:</a>
 
 Music 
 
 <a class="Link" href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/books-manuscripts-and-music-from-medieval-to-modern/alexander-ii-description-du-sacre-et-du?locale=en" target="_blank">Lots 160-255:</a>
 
 Modern Books, Manuscripts, Photographs &amp; Illustrations 
 
 <a class="Link" href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/books-manuscripts-and-music-from-medieval-to-modern/alexandre-benois-original-costume-design-for-le?locale=en" target="_blank">Lots 256-306:</a>
 
 Original Illustrations from the Collection of Colin White

Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern