CHICAGO – Hindman Auctions saw outstanding results in its Literature From a Private New Orleans Collection sale, held March 19. The auction realized more than $435,000, doubling its pre-sale estimate. Online bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers. The sale presented several of the most significant literary works of the 19th and 20th centuries, with strong offerings of both American and English literature. Works by Bram Stoker, John Steinbeck, Herman Melville, Ernest Hemingway, and Aldous Huxley all achieved outstanding prices. Ninety-nine percent of the lots offered were sold, and more than 75 percent of items sold for prices within or exceeding their pre-sale estimate range.
“We were delighted with the very strong results for this carefully-formed collection including fine copies of the high spots of modern literature,” said Hindman’s Director and Senior Specialist of Books & Manuscripts Gretchen Hause. “From the first lot through to the end, the sale saw competitive bidding, and we continue to see very strong results in the current market.”
A fine copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the highlight of the auction, selling for $26,500, more than five times its pre-sale estimate. This fine copy of Stoker’s “deeply sensational, exciting and interesting” novel (Charlotte Stoker) was bound in the now-iconic publisher’s yellow cloth with blood red lettering.
A rare copy of the first edition of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven realized $23,750 against a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$15,000. This copy, in the rare first issue dust jacket, was owned by American author and Steinbeck correspondent Louis Paul, with an autograph note from Steinbeck to Paul tipped in. Steinbeck’s Cup of Gold also exceeded its estimate of $5,000-$7,000, realizing $10,000.
Several works by Hemingway also brought strong prices, including Men Without Women (lot 141) which sold for $11,875 against a pre-sale estimate of $4,000-$6,000, and The Torrents of Spring which realized triple its pre-sale estimate, selling for $6,875.
A superlatively fine copy of the first edition of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World achieved $10,625, more than triple its pre-sale estimate. The sale also brought strong prices for works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose Tender is the Night realized $8,960, and James Joyce, whose Finnegans Wake realized $8,125. A copy of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye more than doubled its pre-sale estimate, selling for $8,125.
Absentee and Internet live bidding for the March 19 sale was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.
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