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
51 Bernard de Montmeja

Two works, comprising:

N/A GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 512.00
52 Thomas Murner

Logica memorativa.

Strassburg 1509 GBP 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 GBP 23,040.00
53 Thomas Murner

Prophetia mirabilis ad annu domini Millesimu quingentesimum Credecimu prime futuru.

Strassburg 1512 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 4,864.00
54 Petrarch

Das Gluckbuch Beydes dess Gutten in Bosen.

Augsburg 1539 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 2,176.00
55 Alexander Petrov

Руководство къ основательному познанiю шашечной игры, или Искусство обыгрывать всѣхъ въ простыя шашки [Rukowodstwo k’osnowatelnomu poruanno schaschetnoj ig].

St. Petersburg 1827 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,328.00
56 Andre Danican Philidor

A group of five volumes, comprising:

N/A GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 8,320.00
57 Publicius

Artes orandi, epistolandi, memorandi.

Venice N/A GBP 30,000.00 - 50,000.00 GBP 28,160.00
58 Alessandro Salvio

Il Puttino, altramente detto il cavaliero errante ... sopra il gioco de' Scacchi, con la sua apologia contra il Carrera, diviso in tre libri.

Naples 1634 GBP 2,400.00 - 3,600.00 GBP 3,840.00
59 Eustachius Schildo

Spilteufel: Ein gemein Ausschreiben von der Spiler Bruderschafft und Orden, sampt jren Stifftern, guten wercken vnd Ablas, Mit einer kurtzen angehengter erklerung, nutzlich vnd lustig zu lesen.

Frankfurt 1557 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,408.00
60 Gustavus Selenus [August II, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg]

Das Schach- oder Konig-Spiel... Von Gustavo Seleno.

Leipzig 1616 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 12,160.00
61 Gustavus Selenus [August II, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg]

Das Schach- oder Konig-Spiel.

Leipzig 1617 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 7,040.00
62 [? Gustavus Selenus (Augustus II, Duke of Brunswick Luneburg)]

Manuscript entitled "Ludus Latrunculorum", comprising an outline and analysis of the ancient game (30 pages) followed by various sequences of game play (122 pages), in German and Latin ("...Sequuntur varii modi trabendi lapides / primus modus... Lusus Dam

N/A GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,152.00
63 Trevangadacharya Shastree

Essays on chess adapted to the european mode of play.

Bombay 1814 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,840.00
64 Philippe Stamma

Two volumes, comprising:

N/A GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 2,816.00
65 Stefan Zweig

Schachnovelle.

Buenos Aires 1942 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 7,680.00
66 Stefan Zweig

Schachnovelle.

Buenos Aires 1942 GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 GBP 35,840.00
67

World Championship, 1972 Partially printed scoresheets, used in round 17 of the competition, completed by Boris Spassky

22-23 August 1972 GBP 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 GBP 140,800.00
68

World Championship, 1972 A collection of 84 press photographs, of the "match of the century", various size

1972 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 10,880.00
69 Halldor Peterson

World Championship, 1972— Scenes from the Chess World Championship, Reykjavik, a complete set of 19 prints

Reykjavik, 30 October 1972 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 2,816.00
70 Lothar Schmid

(i) Caricature portrait of Bobby Fischer playing chess at the 14th Chess Olympiad, black ink with coloured washes on paper, captioned

Leipzig 1960", GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 384.00
78

(i) depicting two men playing chess with a view onto the outdoors

late 18th/19th century GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 512.00
87 Marie Antoinette

Registre du Conseil de la Reine

N/A GBP 7,000.00 - 9,000.00 GBP 7,680.00
88

Album of designs for "distinguished" carriages

N/A GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 16,640.00
89 Castiglione

Il libro del cortegiano del conte Baldesar Castiglione.

Venice: , April 1528 GBP 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 GBP 307,200.00
90 Cesare Delfini

Matris Virginis Mariados libri tres.

Venice 12 October 1537 GBP 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 GBP 217,600.00
  • 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.