- At the Wolfgang A. Herz library sale (Christie's New York, 9 December), the total take was $3,548,687. Ten lots made over $100,000, with the top slot going to a six-volume Blaeu atlas (1649-55) with spectacular contemporary coloring, a beautiful binding, and some great provenance. It sold for $458,500. A copy of the 1513 Ptolemy Geographiae opus novissima traductione e Grecorum archetypis castigatissime pressum made $290,500, and a really lovely first German edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle sold for $206,500. Many other goodies in this sale; full results here.
- At Bloomsbury New York's Capture the Imagination: Original Illustration and Fine Illustrated Books sale (9 December) the top seller was Tom Feeling's original artwork for Soul Looks Back in Wonder, which made $15,000. A preliminary illustration from William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble sold for $14,000, and an Aubrey Beardsley cover design fetched $9,500. Full results here.
- The Bibliophile sale at Bloomsbury Godalming (10 December) was the place for bargains this week; several items sold for as little as £10. The top seller was Bidloo's Anatomia humani corporis (1685), for £2,100.
- Sotheby's New York's Fine Books and Manuscripts today (11 December) brought in a total of $1,883,250. The top seller was a second edition of Galileo's Sidereus nuncius (Frankfurt, 1610), which made $122,500. A first edition of Johannes Hevelius' Prodromus astronomiae (Danzig, 1690) sold for $86,500. A copy of the first English edition of Jefferson's Notes on Virginia (London, 1787) in original boards made $22,500, and a first impression of Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables set a new record for Montgomery, fetching $37,500.
- Sotheby's New York's Fine Books and Manuscripts today (11 December) brought in a total of $1,883,250. The top seller was a second edition of Galileo's Sidereus nuncius (Frankfurt, 1610), which made $122,500. A first edition of Johannes Hevelius' Prodromus astronomiae (Danzig, 1690) sold for $86,500. A copy of the first English edition of Jefferson's Notes on Virginia (London, 1787) in original boards made $22,500, and a first impression of Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables set a new record for Montgomery, fetching $37,500.
