Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2012 Issue

Eighty Great Books from Bauman Rare Books

Eight Great Books from Bauman Rare Books.

Eight Great Books from Bauman Rare Books.

Bauman Rare Books has issued a catalogue of 80 Great Books. Actually, there are 83 of them offered, a bonus for those who view this collection. They come in all types, fiction and nonfiction, antiquarian and 20th century, American and European, the connecting link being greatness. There are pioneering works in science, discovery, politics, and simply great writing. These are books and authors most, if not all, you will know. Here, now, are a few.

We will start early. Item 10 is a work of incunabula, Liber Chronicarum, published in July 1493. This is the first edition, the one in Latin, of what is best known as the Nuremberg Chronicle. Author Hartmann Schedel wanted to provide a history of the world, from all the way back to Creation to the present, and one that gave due respect to German contributions. Schedel even went farther, foretelling the destruction of the world and judgment day. His work was the greatest illustrated book of the first century of printing, and one of the greatest ever. It contains 1,809 printed woodcuts taken from 645 different blocks. These were created by the artists Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, with help from their young assistant, Albrecht Durer. This copy has the portrait of Pope Joan intact (in most copies, the image of the mythical female pope has been blotted out). It also features the first modern map of Europe, and Ptolemy's world map, as the world was known at the dawn of the Age of Discovery. Priced at $145,000.

Next we have one of the great works concerning government, The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, published in 1788. Representatives of the former American colonies met in 1787 to hammer out a constitution to create a union of those separate entities. Each was reluctant to let go of power, yet they needed each other to survive in a world dominated by European powers. The Constitution they came up with was a masterful document, providing for balances of power, a republican form of government, and a Bill of Rights. Still, many were concerned about ceding power to this new federal government, and New York was among the reluctant. Alexander Hamilton, a supporter of the Constitution, convinced two others of a like mind, John Jay and James Madison, to work together on a series of essays to convince New Yorkers to support the plan. The result was The Federalist, and though it was not a best-seller (several hundred of the print run of 500 were still unsold after ratification), it was still very influential, and outside of the borders of New York as well. Thomas Jefferson described the book as, “the best commentary on the principles of government which ever was written.” Item 2. $260,000.

The aforementioned Mr. Jefferson would make the most of the new federal powers a few years later when, as President, he would authorize the purchase of the vast western territory then known as “Louisiana.” However, no one knew much about the outer reaches of this new territory, so he sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark out to explore the land. It was the greatest journey of exploration ever conducted within the United States. The explorers set out up the Missouri River, all the way to today's Montana, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and traveled down the Columbia River to the Pacific coast. By the time they returned two years later, they had learned much about this wild territory, its inhabitants, and had set the seeds for American claims to the Pacific Northwest, which were not really a part of what the French considered Louisiana. Though the explorers returned in 1806, it took agonizingly long to finish their official report. Lewis killed himself, leaving it to Clark to finish the task. Item 16 is a first edition of the official account, published in 1814: History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark. This copy includes the rare large folding map. $195,000.

In 1845, Ralph Waldo Emerson called for a truly American poet to depict the land in poetry. It took ten years, but the then unknown Walt Whitman responded in 1855. His poetry collection, whose publication Whitman carefully supervised, even doing some of the typesetting himself, was titled Leaves of Grass. Many consider it the most important American poetical work ever published, and Emerson highly praised it as the greatest contribution to American poetry. This first edition is a scarce find. Item 29. $165,000.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: Dürer (Albrecht) Hierin sind begriffen vier bücher von menschlicher Proportion, 4 parts in 1, first edition, Nuremberg, Hieronymus Andreae for Agnes Dürer, 1528. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Book of Hours, Use of Rome, illuminated manuscript in Latin, on vellum, 26 fine hand-painted miniatures, 17th century dark brown morocco, [Lyon], [c. 1475 and later c. 1490-1500]. £25,000 to £35,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Brontë (Emily) The North Wind, watercolour, [1842]. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Titanic.- Mudd (Thomas Cupper, one of the youngest victims of the sinking of the Titanic, 1895-1912) Autograph Letter signed on board RMS Titanic to his mother, April 11th 1912. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    27th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 27: [Austen (Jane)] Emma: A Novel, 3 vol., first edition, for John Murray, 1816. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Picasso (Pablo).- Ovid. Les Metamorphoses, one of 95 copies, signed by the artist, Lausanne, Albert Skira, 1931. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: America.- Ogilby (John) America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World..., all maps with vibrant hand-colouring in outline, probably by an early hand, 1671. £15,000 to £25,000.
    Forum, Mar. 27: Iceland.- Geological exploration.- Bright (Dr. Richard )and Edward Bird. Collection of twenty original drawings from travels in Iceland with Henry Holland and George Mackenzie, watercolours, [1810]. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beckford (William) [Vathek] An Arabian Tale, first (but unauthorised) edition, Lady Caroline Lamb's copy with her signature and notes, 1786. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Baudelaire (Charles) Les Fleurs du Mal, first edition containing the 6 suppressed poems, first issue, contemporary half black morocco, Paris, 1857. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Beardsley (Aubrey).- Pope (Alexander) The Rape of the Lock, one of 25 copies on Japanese vellum, Leonard Smithers, 1896. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Douglas (Lord Alfred) Sonnets, first edition, the dedication copy, with signed presentation inscription from the author to his wife Olive Custance, The Academy, 1909. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Forum Auctions
    The Library of Barry Humphries
    26th March 2025
    Forum, Mar. 26: Crowley (Aleister) The Works..., 3 vol. in 1 (as issued)"Essay Competition" issue on India paper, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1905-07. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Rodin (Auguste).- Mirbeau (Octave) Le Jardin des Supplices, one of 30 copies on chine with an additional suite, bound in dark purple goatskin, Paris, 1902. £3,000 to £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Pellar (Hans) Eight original book illustrations for 'Der verliebte Flamingo' [together with] a published copy of the first edition of the book, 1923. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 26: Cretté (Georges, binder).- Louÿs (Pierre) Les Aventures du Roi Pausole, 2 vol., one of 99 copies, with 2 original drawings, superbly bound in blue goatskin, gilt, Paris, 1930. £3,000 to £4,000.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000

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