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First edition of Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ with provenance to Darwin’s grandson, Quentin Keynes, estimated at $150,000-$250,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

1st edition Origin of Species from Darwin’s grandson on top shelf at Doyle, May 11

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
First edition of Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ with provenance to Darwin’s grandson, Quentin Keynes, estimated at $150,000-$250,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
First edition of Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ with provenance to Darwin’s grandson, Quentin Keynes, estimated at $150,000-$250,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

NEW YORK – Doyle will present an auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Thursday, May 11, at 10 am Eastern time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

It includes some exceptionally interesting and important works, such as a copy of the first edition of Darwin’s Origin of Species, once the property of the author’s grandson, Quentin Keynes. It carries an estimate of $150,000-$250,000. Another standout lot, extracted from a copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare, is the complete 1632 Measure for Measure. The sale represents an uncommon opportunity to purchase the first edition of one of Shakespeare’s plays; this was Measure for Measure‘s first appearance in print, as no quarto editions were issued.

Early 19th-century Esther scroll, estimated at $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
Early 19th-century Esther scroll, estimated at $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

Judaica and manuscript materials choices include a fine selection of Books of Esther from the Margolis collection. Of note is the first edition of the Amsterdam Haggadah. Dating to 1695, it is an exceptionally influential Haggadah with plates after Merian. The copy in the sale retains the rare map of the Holy Land, which is also the first obtainable map of the Holy Land to utilize entirely Hebrew lettering. The Esther scrolls are highlighted by a late 17th-century Venetian example and a particularly lovely early 19th-century specimen with exquisite floral decorations throughout at head and foot, delicately touched with shell gold, with intercolumnar floral designs interspersed with animals, estimated at $5,000-$8,000.

Alfred William Launder fine binding of ‘The Scarlet Letter,’ estimated at $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
Alfred William Launder fine binding of ‘The Scarlet Letter,’ estimated at $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

Bindings occupy lots 61-72, including a Cosway-style Compleat Angler; an appealing Kelliegram specimen; a Miss Currie fore-edge painting from the 1890s; and an example by Alfred William Launder on The Scarlet Letter, which has an estimate of $7,000-$10,000.

Robert A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land,’ estimated at $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
Robert A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land,’ estimated at $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

An inscribed Lewis Carroll Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and a most attractive copy of T.S. Eliot’s Prufrock and Other Observations are but two items from a diverse range of highlights from the collection of the beloved author Erica Jong (Fear of Flying) and her husband, the lawyer and one-time publisher Ken Burrows. The Jong/Burrows copy of Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land (est. $2,000-$3,000), a pretty copy in a fine jacket of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and an unrestored and appealing example of Joyce’s Dubliners are indicative of the breadth of the offerings here. And on a rather edgier note, a scarce example of the most iconic Hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff poster, emblematic of the Freak Power movement, is included, signed by the artist and bearing an estimate of $5,000-$8,000.

Hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff poster, signed by its artist, Thomas W. Benton, estimated at $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
Hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff poster, signed by its artist, Thomas W. Benton, estimated at $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

A remarkable selection of private press and artist books, primarily from the Margolis collection and the collection of Erica Jong and Ken Burrows, also feature in the May 11 auction. This begins with a run of the Arion Press books printed and published by Andrew Hoyem, including such highspots as Flatland, Ashbery’s Self-Portrait in a convex mirror, the Dine Temple of Flora, and the great Arion Press Ulysses, estimated at $4,000-$6,000.

Arion Press limited edition of ‘Ulysses’ with 40 etchings by Robert Motherwell and signed by the artist, estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
Arion Press limited edition of ‘Ulysses’ with 40 etchings by Robert Motherwell and signed by the artist, estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

Lot 183 is the very desirable David Hockney Paper Pools, with the original six-color lithograph signed by the artist, a fine copy that has an estimate of $20,000-$30,000. A good group of Limited Editions Club books includes The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis with the Jacob Lawrence plates. Copies of Joan Miro’s A toute epreuve, Obscur Laurier and La Bague d’Aurore are on offer. Concluding the selection is Andy Warhol, with A Gold Book, one of his fabled early self-published works.

David Hockney, ‘Paper Pools,’ estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
David Hockney, ‘Paper Pools,’ estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

Americana titles in the sale include a copy of Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, the expanded edition of 1875 with the six additional plates. Black Americana is represented by We Shall Overcome. March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom August 28, 1963, with additional material belonging to a participant. The forced closing of the New York Stock Exchange for five months in 1914 due to the outbreak of World War I – its longest closing ever – was the impetus for the marvelous manuscript presentation items to Henry George Stebbins Noble, who was president of the exchange during this tumultuous period. They are a tour de force of American illumination, and they carry an estimate of $6,000-$8,000.

Illuminated manuscripts presented to Henry G.S. Noble, president of the New York Stock Exchange circa December 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, which caused the longest shutdown of the exchange to date, estimated at $6,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers
Illuminated manuscripts presented to Henry G.S. Noble, president of the New York Stock Exchange, circa December 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, which caused the longest shutdown of the exchange to date, estimated at $6,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

The sale concludes with maps and travel. The star in this section is a copy of Les voyages du sieur de Champlain, the edition of 1613, with all the maps present. Also featured is a selection of auction and real estate survey maps of New York City, entrancing for the window that they provided into the city before it became a megalopolis. Most are 18th- or early 19th-century, many are in manuscript, and all are of the utmost rarity.

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