Sothebys: Books, Manuscripts and Music, L25401, London

Auction Details

Auction Report
Auction Date
December 11, 2025 - December 11, 2025
Page Size: 162 items in 7 pages
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Place Printed Year Published Estimate Actual Price
127 Ian Fleming

Complete James Bond novels.

London 1955-67 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 4,825.00
128 A group of 3 volumes inscribed by Ian Fleming, comprising:

(1) Humbert Wolfe. Humoresque

 London 1926 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 4,825.00
129 John Pearson

A collection of 10 works, comprising:

 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,269.00
130 Ludwig van Beethoven

Fine characteristic autograph letter signed ("Beethoven"), to his friend Nikolaus von Zmeskall, dated by the recipient '28 8br.

1810 GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 GBP 38,100.00
131 Hector Berlioz

Three autograph letters signed ("H. Berlioz"), APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED

 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,650.00
132 Hector Berlioz

Autograph letter signed ("H. Berlioz"), to the librettist Eugene Scribe ("Mon cher Collaborateur"), ABOUT THE UNFINISHED OPERA LA NONNE SANGLANTE, 23 June [1841]

 1841 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 Not Sold
133 Sir Harrison Birtwistle

Autograph manuscript of Nine Settings of Lorine Niedecker, for soprano and violoncello

 2000 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 11,430.00
134 Johannes Brahms

Autograph manuscript signed of the songs 'Sehnsucht', op.14 no.8, and 'Trost in Tranen', op.48 no.5, for voice and piano, FORMERLY IN THE CELEBRATED COLLECTION OF LOUIS KOCH

 1858 GBP 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 GBP 44,449.00
135 William Byrd---[William Cecil, Lord Burghley]

The copie of a letter sent out of England to Don Bernardin Mendoza [...] declaring the state of England [...]

 London 1588 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 Not Sold
136 Fryderyk Chopin

Autograph letter signed ("F. Chopin"), to his publisher Maurice Schlesinger in Paris

 1844? GBP 5,000.00 - 8,000.00 GBP 20,319.00
137 Composers

Collection of autograph musical quotations

 1884-1905 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 8,255.00
138 Composers

Collection of autograph letters, including by Spohr, Spontini, Pacini and Leoncavallo

 1818-1916 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 3,048.00
139 Composers

Collection of signed photographs, including of Rossini, Puccini and Grieg

 1867-1898 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 4,825.00
140 Ruggero Leoncavallo

Collection of autograph letters and photographs signed by Leoncavallo, Pietro Mascagni, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari and Riccardo Zandonai

 1882-1936 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 Not Sold
141 Franz Liszt

Remarkable collection of 28 autograph letters and notes, signed ("F. Liszt"; "FL"), in French, to the composer's close friend and confidante Baroness Olga von Meyendorff

 1863-1886 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 53,340.00
142 Pietro Mascagni

Fine large photograph signed and inscribed on the mount

 1923-04-14 GBP 1,000.00 - 1,500.00 GBP 380.00
143 Jules Massenet

Autograph manuscript full score, signed, of the incidental music to Georges Rivollet's play Jerusalem, UNPUBLISHED

 1911 GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 GBP 27,939.00
144 Jules Massenet

Collection of ten autograph manuscript scores of songs and operatic numbers

 1865-1912 GBP 9,000.00 - 12,000.00 Not Sold
145 Jules Massenet

Collection of nine autograph manuscripts of complete instrumental compositions, mostly signed

 1880-1894 GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 Not Sold
146 Giacomo Meyerbeer and Pietro Mascagni

Three autograph manuscripts

 C19th-C20th GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 3,301.00
147 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the finale of the Piano Quartet in E flat, K.493, FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF PAUL HIRSCH

 1786 GBP 150,000.00 - 200,000.00 GBP 177,799.00
148 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Paul Hirsch (collector, bibliophile and Mozartian, 1881-1951)

The Frankfurt and Cambridge autograph guest books and chamber-music notebooks of Paul Hirsch

 1897-1967 GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 GBP 24,129.00
149 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--Paul Hirsch

Paul Hirsch's annotated copy of the four-volume catalogue of his library, and other printed and manuscript items

 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,301.00
150 Gioachino Rossini

Remarkable, long autograph letter to Gaetano Donizetti ("Preghiatissimo amico"), signed ("Gioachino Rossini")

 24 November 1841 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 2,412.00
151 Gioachino Rossini

Six autograph letters signed ("Rossini"; "G. Rossini"), comprising five to his agent Gaetano Fabi and one to Mauro Corticelli

 1849-1863 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,777.00
  • <b><center>Sotheby’s<br>Year in Review</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD <b>Sotheby’s Year in Review:</b> Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
  • <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 1775 Map of Virginia, Fry and Jefferson, ex-John Tyler. $6,000 to $8,000. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Albrecht Durer Engraving, The Peasant Couple at Market. $3,400 to $3,800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 1777 Map: Wm. Faden, British Colonies in N. America, ex. John Tyler. $2,000 to $2,400. <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 30 Vols. George Eliot 1st Editions; Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Deronda, etc. $1,400 to $1,800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Celestial Floor Globe c. 1800. $1,400 to $1,800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1866 London MacMillan. $900 to $1,200. <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> President Andrew Jackson Signed Patent, 1831. $1,000 to $1,200. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Civil War Tintype of Calvin “Old Ballie” Walker, CSA 3rd TN Infantry, KIA, plus 3 Union Images. $800 to $1,000. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> 1855 Georgia Pocket Map, W. G. Bonner. $800 to $1,000. <b><center>Case Antiques<br>2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques<br>January 31 and February 1, 2026</center><b> <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Audubon c. 1835 Birds of America Common Cormorant, Havell Edition. $800 to $900. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800. <b>Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1:</b> Four NASA Moon Survey Photos; 144M, 148M, 149M, 149H1. $400 to $600.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1775 Map of Virginia, Fry and Jefferson, ex-John Tyler. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Albrecht Durer Engraving, The Peasant Couple at Market. $3,400 to $3,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1777 Map: Wm. Faden, British Colonies in N. America, ex. John Tyler. $2,000 to $2,400.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 30 Vols. George Eliot 1st Editions; Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Deronda, etc. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Celestial Floor Globe c. 1800. $1,400 to $1,800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1866 London MacMillan. $900 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: President Andrew Jackson Signed Patent, 1831. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Civil War Tintype of Calvin “Old Ballie” Walker, CSA 3rd TN Infantry, KIA, plus 3 Union Images. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: 1855 Georgia Pocket Map, W. G. Bonner. $800 to $1,000.
    Case Antiques
    2026 Winter Fine Art & Antiques
    January 31 and February 1, 2026
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Audubon c. 1835 Birds of America Common Cormorant, Havell Edition. $800 to $900.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Four NASA Moon Survey Photos; 144M, 148M, 149M, 149H1. $400 to $600.