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RR Auction: Space Exploration and Aviation

Auction Reports

Auction Name Space Exploration and Aviation Total Sales (USD) 607,899.00
Auction Date April 23, 2026 - April 23, 2026 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 363,150.00
Sale Number #740 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 503,600.00
Total Lots 333
Sold Lots 262.0 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 489,600.00
% of Lots Sold 78.68% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 673,800.00
Unsold Lots 71 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 90.22%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Top Sale Price Lots
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
5378 Gene Cernan

Gemini 9, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17 Lunar Surface-Flown $2 Dollar Bill - From the Personal Collection of Gene Cernan - PMG CF 15

1953 USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD 91,519.00
5135 Ed White; Gus Grissom; Roger Chaffee

Apollo 1 Signed Photograph - Rare 'Type 1' Red-Numbered NASA Photo

N/A USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 46,926.00
5183

Apollo 11 Original 'Type 1' Photograph - The Only Hasselblad Shot of Neil Armstrong on the Lunar Surface

N/A USD 25,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 25,469.00
5009 Orville Wright

Orville Wright Partial Typed Letter Signed on Demonstration Flights: "Witnesses to these flights have become so enthusiastic that they have been unable to hold their tongues"

N/A USD 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD 18,755.00
5327 Dave Scott

Apollo 15 Flown CSM Photo Target Wheel - From the Personal Collection of Dave Scott

1971 USD 12,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 15,000.00
5108 Gene Cernan

Gemini 9 Flown Flight Plan Book - From the Personal Collection of Gene Cernan

N/A USD 12,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 14,996.00
5050 Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei: First Latin Edition of Systema Cosmicum (1635)

1635 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 13,753.00
5051 Hermann Struck

Albert Einstein Signed Etching by Hermann Struck (c. 1920) (Ltd. Ed. #149/150): "Per aspera ad astra"

1920 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 12,353.00
5268 James Lovell; Fred Haise; Jack Swigert; Ken Mattingly

Apollo 13 Flown $1 Dollar Bill, Signed by James Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert, and Ken Mattingly

N/A USD 10,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD 11,344.00
5062 John Glenn; Scott Carpenter

Mercury-Atlas 6 Friendship 7 Flown $2 Dollar Bill, Signed by John Glenn and Scott Carpenter - PMG VF 30

1953A USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 9,375.00
5184 Neil Armstrong; Michael Collins; Buzz Aldrin

Apollo 11 Signed 'Type 1' Insurance Cover

1969 USD 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD 9,074.00
5269 Fred Haise; James Lovell

Apollo 13 Flown CSM 'Premodulation Processor' Schematic Signed by James Lovell and Fred Haise - "Flown to the moon on Apollo 13"

1969 USD 8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD 8,748.00
5155 Frank Borman; James Lovell; Bill Anders; Reid Wiseman; Victor Glover; Christina Koch; Jeremy Hansen

Apollo 8 Signed Oversized Photograph and Artemis II Signed Letter with Official Mission Patch - From the Personal Collections of Stuart and Rosemary Roosa

N/A USD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD 7,155.00
5189 Neil Armstrong; Michael Collins; Buzz Aldrin

Apollo 11 Signed Photograph

N/A USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,970.00
5471

STS-51-L 'Pre-Ingress Checklist' Used by the Closeout Crew on Launch Morning - One of the Last Items Removed from the Challenger Cabin

1986 USD 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,743.00
5186

Apollo 11 Original 'Type 1' Photographs (18) - Collection of Red-Numbered NASA Photos of Earth, Moon, and Aldrin

N/A USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD 6,255.00
5033 Frank Whittle

Frank Whittle Archive with a Confidential First Report on the Turbojet Engine (1 of 5 Copies) and (3) Signed Documents

1938; 1940 USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,250.00
5373 Gene Cernan

Apollo 17 Lunar-Surface Flown 'LM Malfunction Procedures' Checklist Page - From the Personal Collection of Gene Cernan

1972 USD 5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD 6,041.00
5227

Apollo 11 Saturn V Flight Manual (SA-506)

1969 USD 800.00 - 1,000.00 USD 5,913.00
5478 John Fabian

STS-7 Flown Complete Checklist - "Proximity Ops," Signed by John Fabian

N/A USD 2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD 5,545.00
5332 Dave Scott; Jim Irwin; Al Worden

Apollo 15 Flown $1 Dollar Bill, Signed by Dave Scott, Jim Irwin, and Al Worden

1969A USD 2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD 5,294.00
5368 Gene Cernan

Apollo 17 Lunar-Flown LM Circuit Breaker Panel Layout Page - Signed by Gene Cernan

1972 USD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 5,003.00
5014 Orville Wright

Orville Wright Typed Letter Signed, Seeking to Preserve "the motor used at Kitty Hawk in 1903"

N/A USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 4,999.00
5367 Gene Cernan

Apollo 17 Lunar Surface-Flown Metal Ring and Card from the 'LM Contingency Checklist' - Signed by Gene Cernan

N/A USD 4,000.00 - 5,000.00 USD 4,999.00
5396 Buzz Aldrin; Alan Bean; Fred Haise; Edgar Mitchell; Dave Scott; Charlie Duke; Gene Cernan

Apollo Astronauts (7) Signed Lunar Charts with 'Landing Site' Autographs from Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Fred Haise, Edgar Mitchell, Dave Scott, Charlie Duke, and Gene Cernan

1966; 1964; 1978; 1965 USD 3,500.00 - 4,000.00 USD 4,973.00
  • 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.