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Source : Harmsworth

Source Title	The Harmsworth Trust Library (auctioned in portions)
Description	Beginning in 1939 and continuing into 1953, the extraordinary library of Sir. R. Leicester Harmsworth was sold by Sotheby's of London. Sir Leicester (1870 - 1937), who lived during the golden age of valuable and important book acquisition, was a man born to meet the challenge of investing in materials of breathtaking scope. More than sixty-five years after his death a Google search still brings up pages of references to this wealthy and gifted man who pursued with total passion an extraordinary collection of printed materials.
Scope of Text	In the this database there are records from a portion of the Harmsworth Library. But consider this. When the Americana portion of the library came to the block for the first time in 1948 the first catalogue (but number 15 of all his books auctioned) was entirely manuscripts. Americana would be sold in 19 parts divided by alphebetic letter. The second Americana sale was simply those items whose author or subject began with the letter B. Pity the poor man who wanted to buy a book by Zarate. For such a book you had to wait until the final Americana sale in 1953.
Total Records in AED	5068

Sotheby’s
By a Lady
1-15 October 2025

Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Queen Elizabeth I. A queen’s defense of the realm, and the birth of the British Empire. $500,000 to $700,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. A long and intimate autograph letter signed ("JA"), to Cassandra Austen. $300,000 to $400,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. “Lines on Maria Beckford,” autograph manuscript signed ("Jane Austen"). $100,000 to $150,000.

Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.
Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
17 and 18 Oct

Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
17 and 18 Oct

Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair
17 and 18 Oct
Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: These are the Times that Try Men's Souls, Thomas Paine. $80,000-$120,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Manuscrpit from Aboard The Discovery, Signed by George Vancouver. $80,000-$120,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Exceedingly Rare Holograph Fragment of James Cook's Logbook. $80,000-$120,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Thomas Lechford: Important First-Hand Account of Life in New England. $40,000-$60,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: The First Expanded Edition of Common Sense, Thomas Paine. $30,000-$50,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Album of Exceptional California Lettersheets. $20,000-$30,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: An Exceptional Group of Gold Rush Letters, c. 1849-1850. $20,000-$30,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: Mather's King Phillips War Tract 1639-1723. $15,000-$25,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Colonial America: The Collection of William Nesheim: The First Contemporaneous Account of the Salem Witch Trials, Cotton Mather. $15,000-$25,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: Poor Richard's Almanack 1749, Benjamin Franklin. $15,000-$20,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin: Fruits of Mormonism by Nelson Slater. $15,000-$25,000

Bonhams, Oct. 13-23: California! The Gold Rush Collection of Bruce Maclin, Across the Plains in '49 by Emanuel Goughnour. $12,000-$18,000
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