Auction houses other than Heritage do occasionally offer up notable science fiction first editions. On June 18, Bonhams is offering up:
Posts Tagged ‘book auction’
Book Auction Watch: Bonhams June 18 Book Auction
Thursday, May 29th, 2014Library Addition: E. E. “Doc” Smith’s The Skylark of Space
Monday, February 17th, 2014Another important small press work I bought at auction:
Smith, Edward E., PhD. The Skylark of Space. Buffalo Book Company, 1946. First edition hardback, a VG+ copy with slight bumping at head, heel and corners and faint dust staining at heel, in a VG- dust jacket missing a small 1/4″ triangular chip from center of dj spine, plus about 1/4″ of chipping loss at head and heel, and slight overall rubbing, otherwise intact with $3.00 price on flap. The very first of Doc Smith’s famous space operas. Currey (1979), page 457. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 78. One of two books done by the Buffalo Book Company (the other of which, John Taine’s The Time Stream, I picked up in December).
Bought for $237 from Heritage Auctions.
Interesting Book and History Auction
Tuesday, July 9th, 2013Including that super rare Abraham Lincoln set that I mentioned before. Plus letters from George Washington, etc.
Lot’s of interesting stuff (though very little even remotely SF), but I’m about to go to sleep, so can’t do more than mention it in passing…
Prices Realized on SF Books in Heritage Auctions’ April 10 Offering
Thursday, April 11th, 2013As a followup on my previous auction post, here are the prices realized on the items I highlighted in yesterday’s Heritage book auction. All prices include buyer’s premium:
A Book Collector More Obsessive Than I
Monday, December 10th, 2012Poking around the Internet, I came across this description of the personal collection of American librarian Paula Peyraud, who assembled a vast and impressive collection of books, letters, and art for the Georgian period (1760–1820), including important work by Samuel Johnson, Jane Austen, and hundreds of less famous figures.
A more complete description of her collection can be found in this PDF, and if you’re interested in books and collecting it’s well worth a read. Though not my collecting vector, the collection Peyraud was amazing not only in quality (though she favored extensively hand-annotated works by contemporary figures over pristine copies), but also in the sheer vastness of her holdings. “By the time of Peyraud’s sad death in 2008, the complete collection ran to approximately half a million printed books.” Having assembled a bit over 1% of that number, the sheer size of her library (which she kept, meticulously cataloged, in a subterranean book gallery at the big family home she inherited) is stunning. I’m also tickled by the idea of an American librarian outbidding a Viscountess for a choice item.
Book Auction Watch: Graham Greene’s Inscribed First Edition of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012Bloomsbury Auctions is offering up several notable modern first editions on Thursday, October 25th. Among the items offered: Graham Greene’s inscribed first edition of Lord of the Flies. That’s not quite in the same league as Lord Byron’s inscribed copy of Frankenstein, but it’s still an impressive association copy.
There are a few other SF/F/H first editions of note: A nice set of J. R. R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings (all first printings, but the last a 3rd state book and 2nd state dust jacket), a signed first of Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Richard Adams’ Watership Down, Robert Bloch’s Psycho, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (not stated, but Currey D binding) and Dark Carnival, an inscribed copy of Roald Dahl’s first book The Gremlins, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Stephen King’s Carrie (signed), and several other King books, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and both cover variants of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the UK first of John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids (the U.S. Doubleday edition actually precedes) and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Other notable first editions include Samuel Beckett’s first published work, Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, Agatha Christie’s most famous novel (in its original, politically incorrect title), F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Ian Fleming’s Casino Royal (as well as the rare first-state binding of The Man With the Golden Gun, plus Hemingway’s first two books, and bunches more.
Brief After Action Report on the April 11, 2012 Heritage Book Auction
Friday, April 13th, 2012I wanted to do a brief follow-up on Wednesday’s Heritage Books Auction. Results were all over the map.
First, books I have trending data for:
Books I don’t have trending data for:
But the most schizophrenic result from the auction was two early signed Thomas Pynchons going for hefty sums, but two later signed copies failed to sell at all:
You would think there would be enough hardcore Pynchon collectors for those two to sell, especially the Slow Learner.
And a beat-up Shakespeare and Company true first edition (in wrappers) of James Joyce’s Ulysses went for $35,000.
As for the non-fiction first editions:
Another Heritage Book Auction
Sunday, April 8th, 2012Heritage Auction is having another of their big book Auctions April 11.
There are a few notable SF/F/H works listed:
There’s also some signed Thomas Pynchon, which almost never comes on the market, including:
Plus the notoriously fragile Shakespeare and Company true first edition (in wrappers) of James Joyce’s Ulysses.
But the main strength of the auction is in non-fiction, including first editions of:
Not to mention several Isaac Newton first editions, plus a whole lot of important economic and military first editions.
Lawrence Person’s Library: Reference Books (Part 3: Contributor Copies)
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012Here are some pics from the section of my reference library where I keep contributor copies of publications my work has appeared in. Before the contributor copies, there are several book auction catalogs (including from the auctions I covered here), as well as some old S. M. Mossberg and L. W. Currey book catalogs of interest. After that the actual contributor copies start. You should be able to figure out what these are from my bibliography. The exception is the black tape-bound volume on the first shelf, which is a compilation of materials handed out for a Danish class on science fiction which includes my review of Donnie Darko. I have so many copies of Jim Baen’s Universe because FACT had boxes to give away at the 2008 Nebula Awards here in Austin and I snagged some leftovers.
As usual, click to embiggen.
I have a few of these available for sale through Lame Excuse Books as well.
Previous entries on my reference library can be found here and here.
Top 500 Books Sold at Auction in 2011
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012The list of the top 500 books (or related paper items) to sell at auction for 2011 is now available. Beyond a first edition of Gulliver’s Travels, there was no SF I could spot, but a number of interesting items, including Action Comics #1, the founding documents for Apple Computer, the original manuscript for an unfinished Jane Austen novel, and the usual assortment of illuminated manuscripts. Also, a copy of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep inscribed to his wife; at $254,500, that may be the most I’ve ever seen a work of 20th century American fiction go for.
And here are all 500 books in a handy spreadsheet format.