SAN FRANCISCO – On June 14, PBA Galleries will hold an auction of 205 select lots with material from the 16th to early 21st century, with rare, unusual and important books, manuscripts and related items in a wide range of fields. Included are early printings of religious tomes, seminal works on mathematics, keystones of evolutionary science, high spots of literature, illustrated books and livres d’artiste, original manuscripts including landmarks of science fiction, finely bound books, and much more. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace’s Three Papers on the Tendency of Species to form Varieties (above), published in The Zoologist, 1858. These three seminal papers launched the Darwinian Revolution that laid out the premises of evolutionary biology, which would be published in expanded form the following year in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. They are presented in their second printing, having originally been published in the same year in the Journal of the Proceeding of the Linnean Society (estimate: $8,000-$12,000).
There are a number of wonderfully illustrated lots featured in the sale. A large paper copy of Sauvan’s Picturesque Tour of the Seine, published by R. Ackermann, 1821, contains 24 stunning hand-colored aquatint plates. Truly one of the greatest 19th-century color plate books, the large paper copy is superior to the ordinary copies both in engraving and coloring (estimate: $6,000-$9,000).
Graevius and Burman’s massive 15-volume history of Sicily (below), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Siciliae … , 1723-25, is illustrated with numerous engraved maps, views and portraits, many double-page or foldout (estimate: $5,000-$8,000). A Persian manuscript of popular narratives from the late 18th century has 14 striking illuminated miniature paintings in color (estimate: $5,000-$8,000). A livre d’artiste of Macbeth, with 20 etched plates by Marcel Gromaire, is one of 200 scarce copies signed by the artist (estimate: $4,000-$6,000).
A complete set of first editions of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Books (below) in their original cloth highlights the literature in the sale. The collection housed in a custom morocco slipcase by Bayntun Binders includes A Christmas Carol and The Cricket on the Hearth (estimate: $7,000-$10,000). Also from the mid-19th century is the first edition in English of Alexandre Dumas’ most famous work, The Three Musketeers. Published in 1846, this translation, by William Barrow, was issued as No. 1 of the publisher’s Library of Foreign Romance, and has a series title and a preface at the beginning (estimate: $5,000-$8,000).
For fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Middle-earth, a rare signed copy of The Lord of the Rings will be up for bid. Signed the year before his death, this copy housed in a custom slipcase contains all three books of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, as Tolkien had originally intended (estimate: $8,000-$12,000)
A number of seminal works on mathematics will also be offered including Trigonometria Artificialis, by Adriaan Vlacq. Published in 1633, this scarce first edition contains the first table of logarithms of trigonometric functions to 10 places for every 10 seconds of the quadrant (estimate: $2,500-$3,500).
The sale will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.
[av_button label=’View the fully illustrated catalog and bid on LiveAuctioneers.’ link=’manually,https://bit.ly/2JrQULc’ link_target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ position=’center’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ admin_preview_bg=” av_uid=’av-o98aw3′]
