Back
Kestenbaum and Company: Auction of Fine Judaica: Rare Printed Books & Manuscripts
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | Auction of Fine Judaica: Rare Printed Books & Manuscripts | Total Sales (USD) | 569,125.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Date | June 11, 2026 - June 11, 2026 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) | 365,500.00 |
| Sale Number | #117 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) | 564,800.00 |
| Total Lots | 268 | ||
| Sold Lots | 180.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) | 525,600.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 67.16% | High Estimate of All Lots (USD) | 811,450.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 88 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | 70.14% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | Single Manuscript Leaf |
9th / 10th century | USD 60,000.00 - 90,000.00 | USD 71,875.00 | |
| 12 | Chamishah Chumshei Torah |
1517-18 | USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 | USD 68,750.00 | |
| 94 | Moshe Ben Maimon | Mishneh Torah - Sepher Mishpatim & Sepher Kinyan |
14th century | USD 30,000.00 - 40,000.00 | USD 50,000.00 |
| 78 | Rabinowitz Dovid Yitzhak Eizik | Personal papers and manuscript Kamei’os |
1930's; 1939; 1945 | USD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00 | USD 40,000.00 |
| 95 | Solomon ibn Gabirol; Moses ibn Ezra | Kiddush Leil Shimmurim; Hallel LeShabbat HaGadol |
c. 14th century; c. 17th century | USD 30,000.00 - 50,000.00 | USD 31,250.00 |
| 22 | Shapira Tzvi Elimelech | Bnei Yissaschar |
1846; 1848 | USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 | USD 16,250.00 |
| 79 | ibn Chaim Aharon; Mendes Coutinho; Grossman; Mann and Zimmel; Wachs; Kelter; Kelter; Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov; Shapira Moshe; Eliezer of Yamapol; Walkin Aharon | N Books, including: Lev Aharon |
1609; c. 1700; 1833; 1844; 1855; 1860; 1865; 1868; 1886; 1897; 1946 | USD 500.00 - 1,000.00 | USD 15,000.00 |
| 101 | Machzor - Form of Prayers |
1854-56 | USD 12,000.00 - 18,000.00 | USD 12,500.00 | |
| 89 | Sharabi Shalom | Tephiloth Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur |
late 19th-century | USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | USD 11,875.00 |
| 91 | Alfasi Yitzchak | Halachic Code on Talmud Tractates Baba Metzi’ah and Baba Bathra |
13th-century | USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 | USD 11,875.00 |
| 222 | Bullae diversorum Romanorum Pontificum |
1559 | USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 | USD 9,375.00 | |
| 230 | Ben-Gurion David | Mekor Ha’Atzma'ut |
1954 | USD 7,000.00 - 9,000.00 | USD 9,375.00 |
| 75 | Halberstam Elisha | Autograph Letters Signed |
1930's; 1935; 1936 | USD 2,000.00 - 4,000.00 | USD 8,750.00 |
| 168 | Charles VI | Manuscript issued by Charles VI |
1721 | USD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00 | USD 8,125.00 |
| 174 | Safe Conduct Pass of Szaja and Eta Szymonowicz |
1940; 1941 | USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 | USD 7,500.00 | |
| 31 | Immanuel ben Solomon | Sepher HaMachbaroth LeMar Immanuel |
1491 | USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 | USD 6,875.00 |
| 56 | 7 Books, including: Hebrew prayer-books |
N/A | USD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00 | USD 6,875.00 | |
| 154 | N Books, including: Yiddish and Spanish posters and associated documents from Havana |
1940-1960 | USD 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 | USD 6,875.00 | |
| 141 | Triki Hussein | The Estrella Victoriosa Affair Archive |
1963-1964 | USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 | USD 6,250.00 |
| 157 | Dreyfus Alfred | Autograph Letter Signed |
1899 | USD 6,000.00 - 9,000.00 | USD 5,000.00 |
| 161 | Zola Emile | J’Accuse…! Lettre au President de la Republique |
1898 | USD 2,000.00 - 4,000.00 | USD 5,000.00 |
| 5 | Chamishah Chumshei Torah; Chamesh Megiloth |
1566 | USD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00 | USD 4,250.00 | |
| 108 | Noah Mordecai Manuel | Autograph Letter Signed |
1842 | USD 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 | USD 4,250.00 |
| 70 | 13 Books, including: Book of Psalms |
N/A | USD 1,000.00 - 2,000.00 | USD 4,000.00 | |
| 98 | Leeser Isaac | Torath Ha’Elo-him: The Law of God |
1845-6 | USD 5,000.00 - 7,000.00 | USD 3,750.00 |
-
Sotheby’s Geek Week
14-15 JulySotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000. -
Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000