RBH Auction Report for Week ending May 8, 2026 (#40)

Hammer Price

Heritage led the RBH top 25 auction results with 11 of their offerings on the list. Placing first was a 1977 Luke Skywalker rookie card (Topps Star Wars - Series 1) graded PSA 10 which sold for $687,500 on May 4.  Also prominent on the list were University Archives with items from their May 6 sale of rare autographs, manuscripts and books and Swann Galleries with a variety of important signed photographs. See below for other highlights of the week.

For the week ended May 8, a total of 58 auctions were archived to Rare Book Hub’s database of rare and collectible books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera. 

Turnover was $11.9 million. The average lot brought $1,164. There were 14,489  lots offered, of these 10,297 found new homes. For the week 71.07% of all lots offered were sold. Two auctions saw their total proceeds reach a million dollars.  

Next week's calendar includes 84 sales. Reports were provided primarily in Dollars ($), Pounds (£), and Euros (€)

This is the FREE LINK - any viewer may use this link to see the complete report for the past week and list of upcoming auctions for next week: 

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_updates/1096

All other links require an RBH subscription to view the complete text of the archived record. 

Selected Highlights

1.  The 1896 Kelmscott Chaucer sold at Bonhams on May 5 (David Godine Collection Part I) for $140,200. The high presale estimate was $90,000. 

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9718440?key=10221150292c95f81e6f116eef2f6bc4d3004592

2.  Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon ca. 1830 sold at University Archives on May 6 for $168,750, somewhat below the presale estimate of $220,000.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9698799?key=d5a3380ed2bdd327905cc983b567f17f706821c0

3.  A collection of 18 Bauhaus postcards from the Weimar Bauhaus Exhibition of 1923 including

images by Feininger; Kandinsky; Klee; Marcks; Moholy-Nagy and others sold at Kiefer Buch und Kunstauktionen Book and Art Auction Day 3 on May 8 for €112,500 ($132,102). 

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9726334?key=d3c4c6c2f6d674c4a75236eb638e7b3b9d666e53

4.  A signed and inscribed photo of John Wilkes Booth ca. 1862-1865 sold at Swann Galleries on May 7 for $107,950. The presale high estimate was $10,000.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9718859?key=629a2dcffcb49a292e28c41f84dfab83ba5147b3

5.  An 1893 letter by Frederick Douglass on Slavery sold at University Archives on May 6 for $68,750.  

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9698795?key=f17f8742010a4fafd4b36c1cd05c5354459ab6f8

6.  A 1652 Map of America by J. Blaeu sold on May 7 in Germany at Kiefer Buch und Kunstauktionen (Day 2) for €60,000 ($70,454). The presale high estimate was €9,000.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9701409?key=8771af1627c228535d56feaef42707e083b1a43f

7.  Yellow Cruise, Citroen Central Asia Expedition, 1931-31 3rd G.M. Haardt Audouin-Dubreuil Mission sold at Gros & Delettrez        (France) on May 6 for €44,200 ($51,952). The presale high estimate was €2,500.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9718126?key=1a41acbf1148fe5e9526e214728a694becc32fa4

8.  Stride Toward Freedom: the Montgomery Story, 1958 signed by Martin Luther King sold at University Archive Rare Autographs, Manuscripts and Books sale on May 6 for $10,000. The presale estimate was $4,000.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9698798?key=a7f94f337b09a84b65597831ea8f89e32cb64232

9.  A 1940 pen and ink portrait of Jared French by Paul Cadmus sold at Rago Arts and Auctions on May 6 for $17,920. The presale high estimate was $5,000.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9715017?key=ab476d995ac94a6413791cd43d6fe4cc073f64c9

10.  Two first editions by Cormac McCarthy:  Outer Dark (1968) and The Orchard Keeper (1965) both first editions in less than pristine condition sold as a pair at New England Book Auction on May 5 for $1,920.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9702492?key=3fa661150059597b60d49b82ac7c0b3303d5c86f

11.  A 1977 Luke Skywalker rookie trading card from Topps Star Wars Series 1 graded PSA 10 sold at Heritage on May 4 for $687,500, more than double the presale high estimate of $300,000.

https://www.rarebookhub.com/auction_lot_books/9640293?key=968076f84bfc5325c39079d848e9d32a1c27beda