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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: The Enchanting World of Books: illustrated books, gift books, publisher bindings, art and history
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | The Enchanting World of Books: illustrated books, gift books, publisher bindings, art and history | Total Sales (AUD) | 51,079.40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Date | April 19, 2026 - April 19, 2026 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) | 55,000.00 |
| Sale Number | #A181 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) | 78,400.00 |
| Total Lots | 509 | ||
| Sold Lots | 280.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD) | 99,570.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 55.01% | High Estimate of All Lots (AUD) | 142,230.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 229 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | 35.91% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 491 | Edgar Allan Poe; James Hannay; E. H. Wehnert; James Godwin; Harrison Weir; F.W. Hulme; Anelay | C1860 EDGAR ALLAN POE |
c. 1860 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 2,667.00 |
| 118 | William Whitelock Lloyd | 1890 LLOYD'S SKETCHES OF INDIAN LIFE. |
1890 | AUD 500.00 - 750.00 | AUD 2,413.00 |
| 85 | Plutarch | 1699 PLUTARCH'S GREEK AND ROMAN LIVES |
1699-1700 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 1,524.00 |
| 232 | H. Herman | BENDIGO GOLD-FIELD X 11 MAPS |
1923 | AUD 2,000.00 - 2,500.00 | AUD 1,270.00 |
| 3 | Peter Crayford | CRESSIDA CAMPBELL SIGNED FIRST |
2008 | AUD 1,800.00 - 2,000.00 | AUD 1,206.50 |
| 108 | R.E. Enthoven; A.M.T. Jackson | 1914 GUJARAT & KONKAN FOLKLORE |
1914-1915 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 1,206.50 |
| 153 | G(eorge).Baxter | BAXTER PAINTINGS |
1837 | AUD 1,800.00 - 2,000.00 | AUD 1,143.00 |
| 1 | AB Waring (1823 – 1875) | 1862 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION BY WARING |
1862-3 | AUD 1,200.00 - 1,500.00 | AUD 1,079.50 |
| 123 | Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch; Kay Nielsen | 1913 FAIRYTALES QUILLER-COUCH. K NIELSEN MACKELLAR / FEINT BOOKPLATE |
1913 | AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00 | AUD 825.50 |
| 102 | Dinshah Ardeshir Taleyarkhan | 1874 BOMBAY RELIGIOUS RIOTS |
1874 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 762.00 |
| 106 | 1837 BOMBAY GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. |
1837-1840 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 762.00 | |
| 4 | Donald Friend | 1977 DONALD FRIEND ORIGINAL DRAWING |
1977 | AUD 500.00 - 750.00 | AUD 698.50 |
| 112 | R. Montgomery Martin | 1858 INDIAN EMPIRE ENGRAVED VIEWS |
1858-1860 | AUD 500.00 - 750.00 | AUD 635.00 |
| 116 | Louis Rousselet; Lieutenant-Colonel Buckle | 1878 INDIA AND ITS NATIVE PRINCES |
1878 | AUD 500.00 - 750.00 | AUD 635.00 |
| 330 | Mary Kirby; Elizabeth Kirby (1823–1873); Mary Kirby (1817–1893) | 1872 KIRBY'S BEAUTIFUL BIRDS |
1872 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 476.25 |
| 128 | Henry Shaw | 1842 - SHAW'S ORNAMENT ENCYCLOPAEDIA |
1842 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 412.75 |
| 113 | J.H. Gense; P.M. Joshi; Lambert Mascarenhas; Clifford Manshardt | BOMBAY & MAHARASHTRA |
c. 1935; 1962; 1926; 1948; 1930; 1934; c. 1970 | AUD 250.00 - 300.00 | AUD 381.00 |
| 155 | Norman Lindsay; Jane Lindsay | MICOMICANA NORMAN LINDSAY |
1979 | AUD 600.00 - 700.00 | AUD 381.00 |
| 443 | Sandra McGrath; John Olsen | 1981 SIGNED JOHN OLSEN DESERT ART |
1981 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 381.00 |
| 467 | Robert Fulton; Lewis Wright; J W Ludlow | FULTON'S PIGEONS ILLUIS LUDLOW |
c. 1890 | AUD 350.00 - 450.00 | AUD 381.00 |
| 6 | A. Trevor Crispin | 1873 ILLUMINATED CHRISTMAS ALBUM |
1873 | AUD 500.00 - 750.00 | AUD 349.25 |
| 45 | John Fitzherbert Bateman; Robert Coombes | 1852 ROWING AT CAMBRIDGE |
1852 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 349.25 |
| 160 | VOYAGES AROUND THE WORLD 1843 |
1843 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 349.25 | |
| 394 | AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION REPORTS |
N/A | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 349.25 | |
| 261 | John Cobley; C.J Smee; Michael Flynn; Mollie Gillen | SECOND AND FOURTH FLEET X 5 |
N/A | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 317.50 |
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Sotheby’s
Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
25 June – July 7Sotheby’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, 2026Forum, 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. £10,000-15,000Forum, 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. £3,000-4,000Forum, 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. £3,000-4,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, 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. £2,000-3,000Forum, 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. £3,000-4,000Forum, 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. £1,000-1,500Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500Forum, 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. £5,000-7,000Forum, 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. £10,000-15,000Forum Auctions
The Private Library:
Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
July 9, 2026Forum, 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. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000Forum, 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.