BERKELEY, Calif. – PBA Galleries announced a PBA Platinum Sale to take place on Thursday, February 10. The sale consists of 113 lots of printed books dating from the 16th to 21st centuries representing landmarks of science, literature, and history; stunning maps of the various regions of the world; original artwork; photographic views; and manuscripts. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Among the top lots will be Thomas Salusbury’s Mathematical Collections and Translations, with the 1661 first edition in English of Galileo’s Dialog comprising the majority of the volume. Galileo’s most famous work and of seminal importance in establishing the heliocentric theory of the solar system. Also included is Galileo’s letter to the Archduchess of Tuscany on the relation of science and theology as well as other important texts on the subject, by Johannes Kepler and others. It carries an estimate of $30,000-$50,000. Another mathematics work, The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid, will be on the block. A remarkable presentation, in which colored diagrams and symbols are used, was printed at the Whittington Press for William Pickering. It is one of the most sought-after color-printed books of the 19th century, and its estimate is $20,000-$30,000.

Another notable offering is a 1705 manuscript royal order authorizing the colonization of the Californias, signed by Philip V, King of Spain. This highly important document, addressed to the Viceroy of New Spain, gives Father Maria de Salvatierra of the Jesuits permission to establish missions, as well requesting a report on his progress. Its estimate is $30,000-$50,000.

George Vancouver’s A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean from 1798, in three volumes plus the folio Atlas, is one of the great accounts of Pacific exploration, rivaling the works of Cook and La Perouse. It is estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Also from the New World comes  Brasiliae qua parte paret, an oversize map of Brazil by Georg Margraff, published by Joan Blaeu in 1657, with striking hand-colored pictorial engravings, is one of only a handful of copies extant. It carries an estimate of $10,000-$15,000. Still another highlight is an 1849 Gold Rush guide, California Gold Regions, compiled by F.M. Pratt. It is one of the earliest and scarcest of all guides; this one in the original printed wrappers, and is estimated at $10,000-$15,000.

Other featured lots include a 1907 autograph letter signed by Marcel Proust, sent to his friend and confidante Mme Catusse, referring to a duel he had witnessed, estimated at $10,000-$15,000; an original 1955 photograph of James Dean at a bongo class, taken for submission to Life Magazine for a photo essay on the rising motion picture star, estimated at $5,000-$8,000; and an archive of documents and bulletins from the War Relocation Authority detailing the role of American social scientists in the internment of United States Citizens of Japanese ancestry, dating from 1942 to 1956 and estimated at $10,000-$15,000.

For more information about upcoming sales, to schedule a Zoom preview or phone bidding for a future auction, please contact PBA Galleries at 415-989-2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.

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