Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2025 Issue

Doyle: An appealing sale on November 25th

A strong sale!

A strong sale!

Doyle‘s November 25 auction of rare books includes a diverse and inviting array of material in many subject areas. As is usual with our sales, there is a strong component of Americana. This includes maps (several of the Carrington Bowles charts of America are included), as well as manuscript material. This last category includes a wealth of Western Americana, with such intriguing offerings as a fine Custer letter, an album of Pat Garrett’s retained correspondence from his time as a collector of customs at El Paso, Texas, and an exceptional range of material relating to Western outlaws and the frontier. Also included are several intriguing flags, including a cavalry guidon of Civil-War vintage with a presentation to General Grant and his wife Julia. A final component of the Americana section is an extraordinary manuscript that describes the colonization of Venezuela in 1528 by a group of conquistadors associated with the German bankers who had helped underwrite the efforts of Charles the First of Spain in his successful quest to become Holy Roman Emperor.

  

Early printing in the sale includes two printed Books of Hours produced in Paris during the first decade of the 16th century by Thurman Kerver and Gillet Hardouyin, respectively. A number of interesting 16th to 18th century works on the natural sciences are also included. Among these is a copy of Engelbert Kaempfer‘s rare first treatise on the natural history of Japan, published in Lemgo in 1712. A copy of Cesar Vecellio’s 1590 treatise on costume in the first edition nicely rounds out the section. 

 

Autograph material in the sale includes several pieces by Ernest Hemingway, including a fine typed letter signed to his friend the famed Idaho sporting guide Taylor “Bear Tracks” Williams, with several fine signed photographs from the same source. Also, among the autographs is a fine typed letter signed by Albert Einstein, discussing the writings of the eminent economist Henry George, whose work Einstein admired.

 

Fine bindings include a copy of the Doves Press Sonnets of Shakespeare, one of 15 copies on vellum, bound by the Doves Bindery; and a magnificent copy of Shelley‘s Prometheus unbound, the first edition of 1820, in a jeweled binding by the famed London binders Sangorski and Sutcliffe. The first portion of a group of private press books that we will be offering over several sales includes a copy of the Cresset Press Apocrypha, one of the 30 copies printed on special paper with a signed suite of all the wood engravings. A small section of illustration art offers two fine Charles Addams drawings, and an early Schulz drawing for Charlie Brown, done in 1953.

 

A selection of literature, including some fine Samuel Beckett items, rounds out the sale.

 

Here's a link to it!

 

Edward Ripley-Duggan
Vice-President, Rare Books and Manuscripts Department
212-427-4141, ext 234

DOYLE
Auctioneers & Appraisers
175 East 87th Street
New York, NY 10128
Doyle.com

Rare Book Monthly

  • ALDE, Dec. 3:Les Chants de Maldoror, Paris, Albert Skira, 1934. €30,000 to €40,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Braque le Patron, Paris, Fernand Mourlot, 1945. €8,000 to €10,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Le Soleil des eaux, Paris, Matarasso, 1949. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Des Hirondelles et de quelques oiseaux connus, méconnus, ou inconnus décrits par le Comte de Buffon et Dado, Fontfroide, 1988. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Ne coupez pas mademoiselle ou les erreurs des P.T.T., Paris, Galerie Simon, 1921. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Les Pélican, Paris, Galerie Simon, 1921. €4,000 to €5,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Quatre histoires de blanc et noir, Paris, s.n., 1926. €15,000 to €20,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu, Paris, Ambroise Vollard, 1931. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Hommage à Pablo Picasso, Paris, s.n., 1966. €8,000 to €10,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Qu'est-ce que Thérèse ? C'est les maronniers en fleurs, Paris, Le Soleil Noir, 1974. €5,000 to €6,000.
    ALDE, Dec. 3:Traité des Excitants Modernes, Paris, Yves Rivière, 1989. €6,000 to €8,000.
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  • Swann
    Illustration Art
    December 4, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 4: William Wallace Denslow (1856-1915). Pen and ink illustration for the first edition of Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Chicago: George M. Hill, 1900), page 33. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021). The Great Minu, African folk tale complete book, group of 15 illustrations. 1974. $12,000 to $16,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Charles Schulz (1922-2000). Peanuts, Snoopy's brother Spike Christmas Cactus illustration. 1989 $8,000 to $12,000..
    Swann
    Illustration Art
    December 4, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 4: James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960). Dean Cornwell in his studio. Watercolor and pencil on board. 1920. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Charles Samuel Addams (1912-1988). Study for "Movie Scream," 1947. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Edmund Dulac (1882-1953). "Q was a quaint dainty queen." Watercolor and ink on paper. 1906. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann
    Illustration Art
    December 4, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 4: Albert Hirschfeld (1903-2003). Camelot. Pen and ink on board. 1960. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Maurice Sendak (1928-2012). "Chicken Soup" sketch. Ink on paper. Circa 1962. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Kay Nielsen (1886-1957). But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Pastel on board. Circa 1955. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann
    Illustration Art
    December 4, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 4: Julian De Miskey (1898-1976). Equestrian riding across 5th Avenue. Mixed media on board. Circa 1930. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Walt Disney Studios. Pinocchio "When You Wish Upon A Star" Jiminy Cricket Courvoisier animation cel. Gouache on celluloid over airbrushed background on board. 1940. $2,000 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 4: Arnold Lobel (1933-1987). "I will tell you a story while we are waiting," graphite on tracing paper. 1976. $1,500 to $2,000.
  • SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON: «The heart of the Antarctic» + SUPPLEMENT «The Antarctic Book», 1909.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.
    SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ELEAZAR ALBIN: «A natural History of Birds.» + «A Supplement», 1738-40. Wonderful coloured plates.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: JAMES JOYCE: «Ulysses», 1922. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
  • Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Pliny. Historia naturalis, the Macclesfield copy, printed on vellum, Rome: Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1470. $900,000 to $1,200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Aristotle. The fine Doheny set of Aldo's editio princeps, Venice, 1495–1498. $400,000 to $600,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Euclid. The Norman copy of one of the most influential, enduring, and beautiful books in the history of science, Venice, 1482. $100,000 to $150,000.

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