Sothebys: Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections, L26401, London

Auction Details

Auction Report
Auction Date
April 17, 2026 - April 17, 2026
Page Size: 99 items in 4 pages
Auction Lot Books
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Place Printed Year Published Estimate Actual Price
1 A.D.

Manuscript of Le Piquet, ou Essai sur les Principes Generaux de ce Jeu.

Paris 1772 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 2,560.00
2 (i) L. D[utens].

Lettres sur un automate, qui joue aux echecs.

1772 GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 GBP 16,640.00
3 Francesco Barozzi

Il nobilissimo et antiquissimo giuoco pythagoreo nominato Rythmomachia cioe battaglia de consonantie de numeri.

Venice 1572 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 4,096.00
4 Filippo Beroaldo

Ein hupsche subtyliche declamation von dryen bruedern, der erst ist ein drunckner boss, der anden ein hurer, der drytt ein spyler.

Strasbourg 1513 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,328.00
5 Claude de Boissiere

Nobilissimus et antiquissimus ludus Pythagoreus (qui Rythmomachia nominatur) in utilitatem & relaxationem studiosorum comparatus.

Paris 1556 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,328.00
6 Sebastian Brant

Varia carmina.

Basel 1 May 1498 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 6,400.00
7 Ibn Butlan

Schachtafelen der Gesuntheyt. I Erstlich durch bewarung der sechs neben naturlichen Ding. …

Strassburg 1533 GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 Not Sold
8 Ivan Butrimov

О шахматной игрѣ [O shakhmatnoy igrye].

St. Petersburg 1821 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 4,096.00
9 Castiglione

Il cortegiano del conte Baldessar Castiglione. Nuovamente stampato, et con somma diligentia revisto con la sua tavola di nuovo aggiunta.

Venice 1546 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 2,304.00
10 Jacobus de Cessolis

De ludo scachorum... Schachzabel... das Buch menschlicher sitten vnnd der Ampt der Edlen.

Strassburg 1 September 1483 GBP 50,000.00 - 70,000.00 GBP 96,000.00
11 Jacobus de Cessolis

Libro di Givocho di scacchi intitolato de costumi deglhuomini & degli offitii de nobili.

Florence 1 March 1493 GBP 50,000.00 - 70,000.00 GBP 76,800.00
12 Jacobus de Cessolis

Incipit libellus de ludo scachorum et de dictus factisque nobilius virorus philosophorum et antiquorum prologus libelli.

Toulouse c.1494 GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 GBP 19,200.00
13 Jacobus de Cessolis

Tractatus de scachis mistice interpretatus de moribus per singulos hominu status.

Vienna 1505 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 12,160.00
14 Jacobus de Cessolis

Opera nuova nella quale se insegna il vero regimento delli huomini & delle donne di qualunque grado, stato, e condition esser si voglia... Costume delli huomini, & ufficcii delli nobeli, nuovamente Stampata.

Venice 1534 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,840.00
15 Jacobus de Cessolis

Dechado de la vida humana, moralmente sacado del juego del axedrez.

Valladolid 8 April 1549 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 25,600.00
16 Pedro de Cobarrubias

Remedio de jugadores.

Salamanca 1543 GBP 2,400.00 - 3,600.00 GBP 4,864.00
17 Stephanus Costa

De ludo.

Pavia 20 August 1489 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 7,680.00
18 [Charles Cotton]

The compleat gamester.

London 1674 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 4,096.00
19 Carlo Cozio

Autograph working manuscript entitled "Nuova Idea per lo Il Giuoco degli Scacchi",

Originale 1747 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 8,960.00
20 Artemidorus Daldianus

Ἀρτεμιδαώρου Ὀνειροκριτικῶν βιβλία πέντε, Περὶ ἐνυπνίων συνέσιου ὡς λέγουσιν [Oneirokritikon biblia pente - De somnniorum interpretatione, Libri Quinq[ue]. De insomniis, quod Synesii cuiusdam nomine circumfertur].

Venice August 1518 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,152.00
21 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giocare a scachi: & de belitissimi partiti revisti & recorrecti con summa diligentia emendati da molti famosissimi giocatori. In lingua spagnola & italiana. Novamente stampato.

Rome 21 November 1524 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 24,320.00
22 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giocare a scachi.

Rome undated GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 GBP 8,960.00
23 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giochare a scachi, et de belissimi partiti, revisti & recoretti, & con summa diligentia da molti famosissimi giocatori emendati. In lingua spagnola, & taliana, novamente stampato.

Italy, perhaps Rome, after 1524 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 11,520.00
24 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giocare a scachi.

Rome c.1535 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 5,760.00
25 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

(i) Pedro Damiano da Odemira. Le plaisant jeu des eschecz renouvelle.

Paris 1560 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 6,144.00
  • Sotheby’s
    Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
    25 June – July 7
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
  • Freeman’s, June 30. Thomas Jefferson’s “Birth of the New Nation” letter, carried to Paris with the Treaty of Peace, by a Jewish patriot. $100,000-200,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. “The rockets’ red glare.” A British midshipman’s log recording the bombardment of Fort McHenry. $60,000-80,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry Commission signed by James Madison, 1812. $40,000-60,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776. $15,000-25,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. One of the Earliest Printed Announcements of American Independence, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. "The Two Big Guns of the N.Y. Yanks": A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. A Unique Contemporary Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words to His Followers, the Day Before his Violent Death. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. The State of Minnesota Officially Certifies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Of the United States. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York to Queen Anne from the Colony of New York. $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000-12,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. A Call to Arms in the Months Following the Declaration of Independence: An Early Continental Army Recruitment Poster. $6,000-9,000.
    Freeman’s, June 30. Samuel Jones, the Statesman Behind the Newly Discovered "Jones Declaration": His Annotated Set Used in His Working Law Library. $6,000-9,000.