A mighty wave crashed over the auction results for the week ending March 27 in the field of rare books, manuscripts, prints and other forms of collectible paper. Two of the three highest prices were for prints of Katsushika Hokusai's Great Wave or Under the Great Wave Off Kanagawa. It comes from Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji. Fuji takes second place in the distance from the huge wave crashing into Tokyo Bay (then Edo Bay). Three boats in the foreground can do little but ride it out as best they can.

                                                                                                The Great Wave

One of them sold for $2,149,000 at Christie's, about double the expected price. It was the cleaner of the two and this copy was signed by the artist. The other sold for $889,500 at Bonham's, and this was around triple the estimated price.
 

This was the week for famous Japanese prints. Sandwiched between the two Great Waves in terms of price was One Hundred Views of Edo by Utagawa Hiroshige. It took in $1,079,500 at Christie's, around four times the expected price.

                                                                                       One Hundred Views of Edo

The total for all auctions this past week was almost $40 million. There may be war on the horizon, but collectors are showing no fear that it will cause any major disruptions in their lives. They are still spending, but I will refrain from saying, “like there's no tomorrow.”

Other high-priced items included a signed document by French artist Claude Monet. He borrowed 1,000 francs from Gustave Monet. It offers as collateral 35 paintings. They were to be sold at auction, from which Monet would be able to pay his debt. The signed document sold for $375,165 or three times the estimate at International Autograph Auctions Europe.

This is a remarkable document. It's a signed “Order of Battle” from Horatio Nelson addressed to H. W. Baytum, Captain of HMS Leviathan, 11 days before the Battle of Trafalgar. It would be a victory over French and Spanish fleets, giving Britain control of the seas and preventing Napoleon from invading Britain. However, Nelson was killed in the battle. This order sold for $189,888, four times the estimate, at RR Auction.

These items were very old, but this set of books is quite recent, late 20th to early 21st century. It is a complete set of first editions of the seven Harry Potter novels. They were published from 1997-2007. These copies were signed by author J.K. Rowling. Sold at Bonhams, they took in $153,042.

Another 55 auctions are schedule for the week ahead, beginning on Wednesday, April 1. Multiple holidays, Easter, Good Friday, and Passover, explain the drop-off in sales this week, but there will still be many more very active weeks before things slow down a bit for summer. You can find the coming week's auctions on the calendar at the following link: www.rarebookhub.com/auctions/calendar?year=2026&month=4