* Lot #201, first edition, WW Jacobs’ production copy (British, 1863-1943) The sea of salt inscribed to Samuel L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”, 1835-1910), estimated at $25,000-35,000. Published by Methuen & Co. London in 1908. Twain wrote again in the half-title “It is a good book. Mark.” Below, Twain continues to confirm this statement, apparently passing the book on to someone else: “Bog House, Bermuda, March/10. I have read it about 5 times. The above judgment is solid.” Ho The Letters of Mark Twain, Vol. VIAlbert Bigelow Paine explains that “Clemens was very fond of the sea stories of WW Jacobs and generally kept one or more of this author’s books by his bed, where most of home where they were made.”
* Lot #232, first edition of Ward Greene’s (1892-1956) The Queen and The Tramp, estimated at $5,000-8,000. It was published in New York by Simon and Schuster in 1953 and is the basis of the classic 1955 film of the same title. This unique association copy has its rare jacket and is signed by Walt Disney (1901-1966), Bill Justice (1914-2001), and Disney’s “Nine Old Men” including Frank Thomas (1912 -2004), Ollie Johnston (1912–2008), Eric Larson (1905–1988), and Woolie Reitherman (1905–1985).
* Lot #437, Walt Whitman’s (1819-1892) Leaves of Grass, estimated at $5,000-7,000. This signed, “Author’s Edition” was published in Camden, NJ in 1882. According to the Wells and Goldsmith Bibliography of Walt Whitman from 1968, “This is a rare and almost unknown subject; there is no doubt that if more than a hundred copies were printed. It appeared after the printing of the Boston edition and before the first Philadelphia edition…The text and type are the same as those used in the Boston edition, only the title page is different. All copies were typed, and it is likely that Whitman made them for a few friends while he waited for the first edition in Philadelphia. ”
There are also excellent, first-edition selections of some of the most popular, beloved, or important books of the past two centuries.
* Lot #17, Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s (1890-1937) Closed House with an introduction by Frank Belknap Long Jr., estimated at $5,000-7,000. Printed in Athol, MA by The Recluse Press for W. Paul Cook in 1928. This example is one of only 300 copies, of which approximately 100 page sets were bound and distributed by Arkham House in 1961 .This work has a complex and controversial publishing history, with editions published in 1928 of great interest among book readers. This copy is attributed to Richard Manne, one of the most famous book collectors of the 20th century, who was known for the best examples on the market.
* Lot #50, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ (1875-1950) Queen of Mars, estimated at $6,000-8,000. It was published in Chicago by AC McClurg in 1917. This important, influential sci-fi story was based on the science books of the time, especially Percival Lowell. The book inspired many writers and artists, including Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, James Cameron and George Lucas, and they created their own and then explored a new genre. of fiction – the love of the planets. Retains its rare, original dust jacket.
* Lot #110, JRR Tolkien’s (1892-1973) Lord of the Courts trilogy, estimated at $10,000-15,000. These three include The Fellowship Of The Ring from 1954, The Two Towers from 1954, and The Return Of The King from 1955. All were published in London by Allen & Unwin Ltd. and have access to the bookseller, RS Heath Ltd. The Fellowship of the Rings it is a second opinion; Two towers is a first impression in the original dust jacket of the country without reviews on its back plate; and The return of the Lord it is a first impression, third grade, with a second grade dust jacket with an impression on its rear wing. According to Potter experts, this is “A beautiful set of the best-selling book series of all time in beautiful dust jackets.”
* Lot #444, first edition, limited edition of Oscar Wilde’s (1854-1900) The Importance of Being Necessary: Light Humor for Serious People, estimated at $6,000-8,000. Published in London by Leonard Smithers and Co. in 1899 and is number 34 of 1,000 copies. Smithers published the work four years after the original production with some changes that Wilde had made in the previous months. The book comes with an amazingly rare, original Albumen photograph of Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (1870-1945), Wilde’s partner. This portrait shows Douglas sitting on a bench wearing a straw hat and Wilde leaning his left leg on the bench. Taken at Oxford in the summer of 1893.
This auction contains maps, pictures, illustrations and other valuables.
* Lot #402, a full-length, lithographic portrait of Albert Einstein (1879-1955) playing the violin by Emil Orlik (1870-1932), estimated at $10,000-15,000. It was made in 1928 and measures 279 x 202 mm. Signed and inscribed lower left by Einstein and signed and marked as proof by the artist. Einstein loved to play the violin, and once said that he might have been a musician if he hadn’t been a physicist. Potter experts could only find one signed proof of this painting, which is kept at the American Institute of Physics.
* Lot #495, a first edition map of the Upper Mississippi, Plains, and Rocky Mountain regions by Louis Armand, Baron de Lahontan (French, c.1666-1716), estimated at $10,000-15,000. This engraved map, printed on two pages and assembled as given, was published in Paris in 1703 and is considered the most influential of all pictorial works, involving visual of maps of the areas shown for about 50 years. The origin of this map, as well as much of its content, seems to be in the imagination of the map maker as the Indian tribes and other areas of the regions and parts of the which he showed on the map later turned out to be a myth.
According to Christopher Brink, Potter & Potter Auctions’ Director of Fine Books and Manuscripts, “We are delighted to announce our first multi-volume book collection this year with a range of important sites including the Kelmscott Press Chaucer and catalog complete with Arkham House. This auction will delight many collectors, including fans of Edward Gorey as they explore nearly 40 of his books, postcards and ephemera.