NEW YORK – Books on art, history and dozens of disciplines – more than 300 lots – are offered in a Jasper52 online auction Saturday, Oct. 21. Titles range from a 17th-century handwritten manuscript Koran to a pattern book on woven hair jewelry. Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
Mourning jewelry is widely associated with the Victorian era. The trend reached its high point after the death of Prince Albert in 1861, when Queen Victoria wore black clothing and matching mourning jewelry. Some of the most interesting examples of mourning jewelry included hairwork, which describes bracelets, necklaces, and rings made from woven human hair.
The Jeweller’s Book of Patterns in Hair Work contains copper-plate engravings of woven hair patterns and devices in which to display the work. The profusely illustrated book was published in London by William Halford and Charles Young, who were jewelry manufacturers. The various patterns are illustrated on 18 leaves, printed on one side only. Beautiful patterns of rings, brooches, necklaces and many other items are pictured – all made of human hair. The book (above) is expected to sell for $400-$500.
A deluxe edition set of Tolstoy’s Works, in 24 volumes, has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate. Published by Dana Estes & Co., Boston, in 1904, this beautiful set (below) is numbered 304 of 1,000.
The Sea and the Jungle by H.M. Tomlinson recounts the 1909-1910 voyage of the tramp steamer Capella “from Swansea to Para in the Brazils, and thence 2,000 miles along the forests of the Amazon and Madeira Rivers to the San Antonio Falls; afterwards returning to Barbados for orders, and going by way of Jamaica to Tampa in Florida, where she loaded for home.” Duckworth & Co., London, published the book in 1912.
Fans of British novelist Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim) will want to own a copy of Five Letters by Joseph Conrad Written to Edward Noble in 1895. The book was privately printed in London in 1924, the year Conrad died (est: $300-$400).
The Works of Benjamin Franklin, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, in 1904, contains “The Unmutilated and Correct Version of the Autobiography.” The book’s frontispiece has an illustration of the brilliant Founding Father from Boston (est: $300-$400).
The sewing machine, a mechanical marvel of the 19th century, is the subject of a book published for distribution at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, in 1893. The Singer Sewing Manufacturing Company sewing machines are pictured in nine full-color chromolithographs. The book’s rear wrapper has a map and key to the exposition grounds and buildings. There are also numerous black and white full-page plates depicting various Singer sewing machine models (est: $300-$400).
This comprehensive book sale visually and textually spans various artistic periods, historic endeavors, iconic memoirs and cultural wonders. Within these pages emerge a colorful cast of subjects.
The auction will begin Saturday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
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