Books & Manuscripts

The Books and Manuscripts department has been the dominant force in the market since Sotheby’s began as a book auction house in 1744. With their depth of knowledge and global reach, our international specialists have established Sotheby’s as the leading seller in this diverse field, with sales from the past five years exceeding $400 million. They work in tandem with Sotheby’s regional representatives around the world to deliver outstanding results.

Sotheby’s Book Week takes place in late June-early July and December each year across our Paris, London, and New York locations and features fine examples of books spanning continents and centuries, historical and musical manuscripts, illustrations, Americana, and much more.

We have been entrusted with exceptional single owner collections including that of Freddie Mercury, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, Jorge Ortiz Linares, the Fairhaven Natural History Library, the T. Kimball Brooker Renaissance Library, and the Ricky Jay collection. In recent years, we have broken several records, including the most valuable book ever sold, Codex Sassoon, which sold for $38.1 million in 2023, and the most valuable document ever sold, the United States Constitution, which sold for $43.2 million in 2022. We have achieved record results across categories in the last two years, with highlights including a copy of the Thirteenth Amendment signed by Abraham Lincoln, an illuminated Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake, and a presentation copy of Jane Austen’s Emma sent to a fellow novelist.

We offer exceptional books and manuscripts from the middle ages to the 21st century. Spanning a wide range of categories, our specialisms include Americana, literature, history, early printing, medieval manuscripts, music manuscripts, travel and exploration, maps and atlases, natural history, autograph letters and documents, original book illustrations, and modern first editions.