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
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  • Sotheby’s
    Year in Review
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah. Sold: 1,514,000 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: "The Freedman's Primer.” Sold: 241,300 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Smith, William. "The Map that Changed the World." Sold: 139,700 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Psalter, C13th. Illuminated Psalter. Sold: 330,200 GBP
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Lincoln, Abraham. The abolition of slavery. Sold: 13,697,500 USD
    Sotheby’s Year in Review: Vergilius. Opera, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, 1501. Sold: 1,041,400 USD
  • Bonhams: Consign With Us Today
    These are the Times that Try Men's Souls. Paine, Thomas. Sold for US$152,900.
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    The First Printed Work on Political Economy. Sold for US$127,000.
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    Signed Lincoln Photograph with Son Tad. Sold for US$76,700.
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    First Expanded Edition of Common Sense. Paine, Thomas. Sold for US$76,700.
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    Presentation Copy of Hemmingway's First Book. Sold for US$70,350.
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    St. John's Gospel on Vellum, A Fragment in Greek, 5th Century. Sold for US$70,350.
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    Only A Handful of Surviving Copies. Joyce, James. Ulysses. Sold for US$58,880.
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    A Pivotal Step in Einstein's Development of General Relativity. Sold for US$51,200.
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    A Fine Jewelled Binding Signed by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Sold for US$56,320.
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    Joyce's Annotated Typescript Draft for Finnegan's Wake. Sold for US$48,640.
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    One of 30 Pre-Publication Copies, Inscribed by Hemingway to Spencer Tracy, Who Played "The Old Man". Sold for US$83,050.