“LIFE is an Everlasting Fairy Tale” – Hans Christian Andersen
- by Bruce E. McKinney
H. C. Andersen. The father of the modern fairy tale
An Update: Recently I received a call from an old friend, Justin Schiller, whose collection of Hans Christian Andersen material was heading into the rooms at Bonhams in New York. With barely a week to go, I looked through his catalogue. It contained 116 lots, intensively focused on first editions, manuscript and signed material. I wrote a brief piece and posted it on Rare Book Monthly.
For a focused collector or a collecting institution it was quite an opportunity.
When all was said and done, the sale did well but would have done better if America wasn’t under its current political and economic cloud.
The sale brought $202,022.40 all in. Twenty-Six percent of the lots were left unsold.
If you wished you had bid, it’s worthwhile to check with Bonhams. In some cases, unsold lots
can be purchased as a post-sale before the material is packed up.
Justin Schiller, when asked how he felt about the sale, said he hopes the new buyers appreciate
the material as much he did. It was a satisfying collection built over thirty years of buying
His most famous fairy tales include The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Red Shoes, The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl, and Thumbelina.
Il Ponte, Sep. 30-Oct. 1: BOETTI, Alighiero - Classifying the thousand longest rivers in the world. Ascoli Piceno: 1977. € 15.000 - 18.000
Il Ponte, Sep. 30-Oct. 1: GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco José - Los desastres de la guerra. Madrid: 1863. € 12.000 - 18.000
Il Ponte, Sep. 30-Oct. 1: HEVELIUS, Johannes - Selenographia sive lunae descriptio. Danzica: 1647. € 10.000 - 15.000
Il Ponte, Sep. 30-Oct. 1: REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph - Douze Bouquets. Parigi e New York: [s.d., ma ca. 1835]. € 15.000 - 25.000
Koller, Sep. 17: NEWTON, ISAAC. Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica. London, Joseph Streater, "Prostat apud plures Bibliopolas", 1687. CHF 250,000 to 300,000.
Koller, Sep. 17: ORTELIUS, ABRAHAM. Theatrum orbis terrarum. 3 parts in 1 volume. Antwerpen, Plantin, 1612. CHF 120,000 to 160,000.
Koller, Sep. 17: BECKMANN, MAX. Apokalypse. Frankfurt a. M., Privatdruck der Bauerschen Giesserei, 1943. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Koller, Sep. 17: BOISSERÉE, SULPIZ. Ansichten, Risse und einzelne Theile des Doms von Köln. AND: Ders. Geschichte und Beschreibung des Doms zu Köln… CHF 30,000 to 50,000.
Koller, Sep. 17: SCHEDEL, HARTMANN. Buch der Chroniken und Geschichten. Nürnberg, Anton Koberger, 23. Dez. 1493. CHF 25,000 to 40,000.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Ian Fleming. Casino Royale, London, 1953. First edition, first printing. $58,610.
Sotheby’s: A.A. Milne, Ernest Howard Shepard. Winnie The Pooh, United Kingdom, 1926. First UK edition. $17,580.
Sotheby’s: Ernest Hemingway. Three Stories And Ten Poems, [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, 1900. First edition. $27,500.
Sotheby’s: Man Ray. Photographs By Man Ray 1920 Paris 1934, Hartford, 1934. $7,860.
Sotheby’s: Thomas Pennant. Zoologia Britannica, Augsburg, 1771. $49,125.
![<b>Il Ponte, Sep. 30-Oct. 1:</b> REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph - Douze Bouquets. Parigi e New York: [s.d., ma ca. 1835]. € 15.000 - 25.000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/52dd1cf6-f094-4432-955c-f3b20077eb95.jpg "<b>Il Ponte, Sep. 30-Oct. 1:</b> REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph - Douze Bouquets. Parigi e New York: [s.d., ma ca. 1835]. € 15.000 - 25.000")
![<b>Sotheby’s:</b> Ernest Hemingway. <i>Three Stories And Ten Poems,</i> [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/acf970a0-a15d-4c79-aa24-5e8e414cb465.png "<b>Sotheby’s:</b> Ernest Hemingway. <i>Three Stories And Ten Poems,</i> [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.")
