Book Week

T his June and July, Sotheby’s Book Week will feature a series of auctions across multiple sale locations, including Paris, London, and New York. The array of distinguished single- and various-owner sales will offer a wide range of material from medieval illuminated manuscripts to modern literature, including finely bound livres d’artistes and much more. Among the highlights in New York are eight recently recovered love letters from John Keats to Fanny Brawne and Andrew Wyeth's copy of Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian. Additionally, in advance of the United States’ 250th anniversary this July, we will offer the Jay T. Snider Collection of Benjamin Franklin, the greatest private collection of Franklin material to come to market in over a century. In London, we are delighted to present Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger & Christopher Cone, with highlights including the most substantial Beethoven manuscript to be offered at auction in twenty years, an exceptional copy of the rare first edition of Leaves of Grass, Virginia Woolf's copy of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, and other literary treasures. With a large variety of books and manuscripts available at a broad range of estimates, we hope that all collectors, from the most seasoned bibliophiles to newcomers in the field, will find something that appeals to their tastes and interests.