: Christie's sale of fine printed books and manuscripts, including
Americana, on December 16, totaled $8,086,559, a record total for
a books and manuscripts sale at Christie's. On offer were 702
lots, and the sale was 89 percent sold by lot, 92 percent by
value.
One of the most popular lots was the rediscovered set of 144 page
proofs of Nathaniel Hawthorne's (1804-1864) The Scarlet
Letter, which set a new world auction record for a Nineteenth
Century American literary work at $554,100, more than doubling
the presale estimate. Topping the sale was Edward Sheriff Curtis'
(1868-1952) The North American Indian, 1907-1930, which
when it sold for $679,500 achieved a world auction record for
Curtis' work and a world auction record for a Nineteenth Century
American photographically illustrated book.
Strong results were achieved for Faulkner letters, an autograph
letter by Jesse James and an entirely unpublished first-hand
account of New Orleans and Louisiana in 1729-30.
Francis Wahlgren, head of Christie's books and manuscripts
department, said, "Producing a record result for a various-owners
books and manuscripts sale at Christie's, this marathon auction
clearly demonstrated the extraordinary variety and depth of the
market and the serious demand for quality material. From literary
works, over historical documents and accounts to autograph
letters and correspondences, world auction records were set at a
swift pace, often easily outperforming previous results."
The discovery of the corrected page proofs of Hawthorne's The
Scarlet Letter, 1849-1850, constitutes a significant literary
find. Hawthorne's original handwritten manuscript, used as
printer's copy, is known to have been burnt after it was returned
by the publisher to its author. The 144 page proofs feature
numerous press corrections, some probably by Hawthorne, others by
the publisher's proofreaders, plus some 38 substantive
alterations or additions, probably by the author. In all, on some
144 pages, the sheets exhibit some 650 corrections of accidentals
(spelling, type alignment, punctuation, word division and
capitalization).
Rounding out the sale's top 10 lots were: Prince Maximilian zu
Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867), Voyage dans l'intérieur,
1839-41, $477,900; Pierre Caillot, manuscript "Relation du
Voyage de la Louisianne ou. . . ", 1730,$276,300; William
Faulkner (1897-1962), a group of 62 letters to Else Jonnson from
1950 to 1960, $253,900; Jesse James (1847-1882), autograph letter
from the outlaw gunman to his stepfather, March 23, 1875,
$175,500; John Knox Laughton, The Nelson Memorial, limited
edition, richly illustrated, 1896; Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19
BC), Opera, edited by Sebastian Brant, 1502, $164,300;
Willa S. Cather (1873-1947), typescript draft of her last novel
Sapphira and the Slave Girl, 1940, $164,300; and George
Washington, autograph letter signed as commander-in-chief, March
31, 1781, $141,900.
Prices reported include buyer's premium.
