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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: Science, early printing, signed firsts, comics and more
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | Science, early printing, signed firsts, comics and more | Total Sales (AUD) | 49,333.15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Date | June 07, 2026 - June 07, 2026 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) | 58,080.00 |
| Sale Number | #A186 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) | 80,390.00 |
| Total Lots | 354 | ||
| Sold Lots | 212.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD) | 159,780.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 59.89% | High Estimate of All Lots (AUD) | 216,480.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 142 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | 22.79% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Melbourne Cup Race Book 1912 |
1912 | AUD 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 | AUD 2,667.00 | |
| 70 | Manilius; Scaliger Jacob | Astronomicon |
1579 | AUD 2,500.00 - 3,000.00 | AUD 2,540.00 |
| 55 | Progress Reports and Final Report of the Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria |
1863; 1872 | AUD 600.00 - 800.00 | AUD 1,778.00 | |
| 165 | Mackenzie Kenneth; Lindsay Norman | Our Earth |
1937 | AUD 1,800.00 - 2,200.00 | AUD 1,524.00 |
| 176 | An Explanation Of The Works Of The Tunnell Under The Thames |
1836 | AUD 1,800.00 - 2,000.00 | AUD 1,524.00 | |
| 83 | Martin John | An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands |
1818 | AUD 600.00 - 800.00 | AUD 1,397.00 |
| 240 | Lewin John William | A Natural History of the Birds of New South Wales |
1978 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 1,143.00 |
| 49 | Spencer Baldwin | Guide to the Australian Ethnological Collection Exhibited in the National Museum of Victoria |
1915; 1922 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 1,079.50 |
| 119 | Woodward Alice B.; O'Connor Daniel | The Peter Pan Picture Book |
1907 | AUD 300.00 - 400.00 | AUD 1,079.50 |
| 336 | Howard Robert E. | Savage Sword of Conan |
1974 | AUD 1,200.00 - 1,500.00 | AUD 825.50 |
| 314 | Gaiman Neil; Vess Charles | The Sandman |
1992 | AUD 1,200.00 - 1,500.00 | AUD 762.00 |
| 78 | Smith Ross | The First Aeroplane Voyage from England to Australia |
1920 | AUD 300.00 - 400.00 | AUD 698.50 |
| 12 | The Journal of The Royal Geographical Society |
1863 | AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 | AUD 635.00 | |
| 13 | Chaucer Geoffrey | The Kelmscott Chaucer |
2008 | AUD 750.00 - 1,000.00 | AUD 635.00 |
| 174 | Phillip Arthur | The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay |
1789 | AUD 800.00 - 1,000.00 | AUD 635.00 |
| 356 | Dulcken H W; Dale Thomas | Pearls From The Poets |
1860 | AUD 800.00 - 900.00 | AUD 603.25 |
| 8 | Von Mueller Ferdinand | Iconography of Australian Species of Acacia and Cognate Genera |
1887-1888 | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 571.50 |
| 17 | Euw Anton Von; Plotzek Joachim M | Die Handschriften der Sammlung Ludwig |
1979 | AUD 100.00 - 200.00 | AUD 539.75 |
| 40 | The Atoll of Funafuti |
1904 | AUD 750.00 - 1,000.00 | AUD 476.25 | |
| 234 | N Books, including: The Hours of Jeanne D'evreux |
N/A | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 476.25 | |
| 244 | Proust Marcel | In Search of Lost Time |
2000 | AUD 300.00 - 400.00 | AUD 476.25 |
| 252 | Lindsay Norman | Norman Lindsay Oil Paintings 1889-1969 |
2006 | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 476.25 |
| 18 | Beveridge Henry | A Comprehensive History of India |
1871 | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 444.50 |
| 253 | Lindsay Norman | The Complete Watercolours 1897-1969 of Norman Lindsay |
2003 | AUD 200.00 - 400.00 | AUD 444.50 |
| 24 | Frazer James | The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead; Folk-Lore in the Old Testament |
1913 | AUD 250.00 - 300.00 | AUD 412.75 |
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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