The auction on Monday 28 November 2011, South Kensington - comprises 443 lots of fine books and manuscripts in various subjects, including:
A fine, American hand-stitched celestial map on cloth, made in New York state ca.1863 (lot 64), a very rare survival of 19th-century American folk art demonstrating celestial cartography. The map was found at the bottom of an American chest filled with china pots and assorted heirlooms.
Fine photobooks from the collection of Bob and Laurence Calle (lots 371-443); the 72 lots include a remarkably fresh, unrestored copy of Moi Ver?s Paris from the collection of its publisher and in the original glassine jacket (lot 419); an excellent copy of Man Ray?s Photographies inscribed to Bob Calle (lot 418); the first American edition of Robert Frank's The Americans (lot 397) in a very good dust-jacket; and many other masterpieces in the field.
An intriguing 12th-century liturgical manuscript leaf (lot 5) re-used as a wrapper for the accounts of a 16th-century shipmaster; it is an evocative metamorphosis of the spiritual into the concrete.
Fine photobooks from the collection of Bob and Laurence Calle (lots 371-443); the 72 lots include a remarkably fresh, unrestored copy of Moi Ver?s Paris from the collection of its publisher and in the original glassine jacket (lot 419); an excellent copy of Man Ray?s Photographies inscribed to Bob Calle (lot 418); the first American edition of Robert Frank's The Americans (lot 397) in a very good dust-jacket; and many other masterpieces in the field.
An intriguing 12th-century liturgical manuscript leaf (lot 5) re-used as a wrapper for the accounts of a 16th-century shipmaster; it is an evocative metamorphosis of the spiritual into the concrete.
An album of printed items relating to Sadler's Wells theatre (lot 51), including a pair of 18th-century tickets for the Pit -- exceedingly rare items of printed ephemera.
A remarkable association copy of The Life of Frank Lloyd Wright (lot 189) inscribed by the architect to his builder Paul Mueller, who realised some of Wright's major designs, including Midway Gardens, and Tokyo's Imperial Hotel. A first edition in jacket of James and the Giant Peach (lot 349) inscribed by Dahl during the visit of a primary school.
Tsar Alexander II's own set of Pushkin's works (lot 212) in superb contemporary green morocco, from the palace library at Tsarskoe Selo.
A 17th-century English manuscript book of recipes and remedies (lot 227), including those for 'the best Saffron cakes', 'sirup of Damaske roses', 'calves foote puding', and 'Madam Boyds receipt for sore eyes'.
A fine inscribed portrait photograph of Alexander Fleming (lot 234), bedecked in a white lab coat and sat at his microscope, looking every bit the iconic British scientist of his time.
One of Cecil Beaton's famed scrapbooks (lot 357), one of which recently published by Assouline, in which he collected the broad visual inspiration that reflect his refined sensibility.
A 17th-century English manuscript book of recipes and remedies (lot 227), including those for 'the best Saffron cakes', 'sirup of Damaske roses', 'calves foote puding', and 'Madam Boyds receipt for sore eyes'.
A fine inscribed portrait photograph of Alexander Fleming (lot 234), bedecked in a white lab coat and sat at his microscope, looking every bit the iconic British scientist of his time.
One of Cecil Beaton's famed scrapbooks (lot 357), one of which recently published by Assouline, in which he collected the broad visual inspiration that reflect his refined sensibility.
From - Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press Ltd.