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Sydney Rare Book Auctions: Victorianism and beyond: Fine bindings and illustrated books
Auction Reports
| Auction Name | Victorianism and beyond: Fine bindings and illustrated books | Total Sales (AUD) | 24,257.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Date | July 05, 2026 - July 05, 2026 | Low Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) | 25,050.00 |
| Sale Number | #A189 | High Estimate of Lots Sold (AUD) | 36,810.00 |
| Total Lots | 400 | ||
| Sold Lots | 118.0 | Low Estimate of All Lots (AUD) | 82,730.00 |
| % of Lots Sold | 29.50% | High Estimate of All Lots (AUD) | 122,450.00 |
| Unsold Lots | 282 | Total Sales as a % of High Est. | 19.81% |
Top twenty-five by sale price
| Lot Number | Author Name | Book Title | Year Published | Estimate | Actual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | N Books, including: The swearing in of The Earl of Hopetoun |
1901 | AUD 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 | AUD 1,778.00 | |
| 2 | Jones Owen | The Common Book of Brayer |
1845 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 1,270.00 |
| 52 | An Alphabet of Capital Letters |
1862 | AUD 300.00 - 400.00 | AUD 1,016.00 | |
| 163 | Cumming John | The Lives and Lessons of the Patriarchs |
1865 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 762.00 |
| 159 | Symons Arthur | The Savoy |
1896 | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 698.50 |
| 121 | Nicholson William | An Alphabet |
1898 | AUD 1,000.00 - 1,500.00 | AUD 635.00 |
| 98 | Bedford F.; Robinson I.C. | The Treasury of Ornamental Art |
1856 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 508.00 |
| 14 | Idriess Ion | Welfare Aboriginal People Kimberley |
1937 | AUD 600.00 - 800.00 | AUD 476.25 |
| 81 | Wreck of the London |
1866 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 412.75 | |
| 95 | Martin R. Montgomery | The Indian Empire |
circa 1850s | AUD 600.00 - 800.00 | AUD 381.00 |
| 123 | Wolf Joseph | The Poets of the Woods |
1853 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 381.00 |
| 188 | The Seasons of The Year |
1858 | AUD 100.00 - 200.00 | AUD 349.25 | |
| 3 | Official Programme of the Ceremonial and Entertainments commemorative of the Inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth |
1901 | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 317.50 | |
| 6 | French James Weir | Modern Power Generators: Steam Electric and Internal-Combustion and their Application to Present-Day Requirements |
1908 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 317.50 |
| 16 | White Patrick | N Books, including: Southerly |
N/A | AUD 500.00 - 600.00 | AUD 317.50 |
| 128 | Henley WE | London Types |
1898 | AUD 300.00 - 400.00 | AUD 317.50 |
| 136 | Delamotte FG | Mediaeval Alphabets & Initials for Illuminators |
1864 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 285.75 |
| 7 | Willmott Robert Aris | Summer Time in the Country |
1858 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 254.00 |
| 9 | Melba Nellie | City Hall Portland Tuesday Evening March 5, 1895 |
1895 | AUD 400.00 - 500.00 | AUD 254.00 |
| 19 | Brassey Annie | A Voyage in the Sunbeam |
1881 | AUD 100.00 - 200.00 | AUD 254.00 |
| 38 | Moore Thomas; Jones Owen; Warren Henry | Paradise and the Peri |
1860 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 254.00 |
| 76 | Ule Otto | Die neuesten Entdeckungen in Afrika, Australien und der arktischen Polarwelt |
1861 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 254.00 |
| 94 | Petty John | The History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion |
1864 | AUD 100.00 - 200.00 | AUD 228.60 |
| 143 | Somervile William; Gaskell Mrs; Thackeray William Makepeace; Tristram W Outram | 6 Books, including: The Chase |
1892; 1894; 1896; 1905 | AUD 250.00 - 350.00 | AUD 228.60 |
| 87 | Elliott James William | National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs |
circa 1870 | AUD 200.00 - 300.00 | AUD 215.90 |
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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