Six Standout Sales in 2023 at Potter & Potter
Alice in Wonderland collection rounds off a remarkable year
In 2023 Potter & Potter Auctions will be holding an impressive six book sales, the most it has ever recorded in a single year. The series of auctions follows February’s Fine Books & Manuscripts Sale which featured the Kelmscott Chaucer, Mark Twain manuscripts, and leaves from Shakespeare’s First Folio—this proved to be a tremendous success with a 95% sell-through rate.
These future scheduled sales will mostly be single consignor auctions, starting with the next one in April, ‘A Study in Sherlock: The Collection of Bob Hess.’ This will offer the first part of an impressive collection of Sherlockiana from Robert Hess’s collection.
Items include original illustration art as well as watercolor by Doyle (est. $800-$1,200), first editions, signed photos, movie posters, numerous rare ephemeral items from The Lost World, and collectibles such as an original metal street sign from Baker Street (est. $1,000-$2,000) and a cabinet card photograph inscribed by Doyle ($2,000-$3,000).
In addition to archives of letters from the author and actors that portrayed Holmes, there will also be items of clothing worn on screen by Jeremy Brett, arguably the finest interpreter of the Holmes character on television and stage.
Following this sale, Potter & Potter will be offering an important library of drug and counterculture books from Ronald K. Siegel (1943 –2019) in June. The noted American psychopharmacologist and research professor at the University of California, wrote widely on a variety of drug-related issues but especially on their effects on human behavior. Indeed, he argued that human beings are hard-wired to enjoy intoxication and researched the drug and alcohol predilections of US Presidents including Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant.
The summer’s August Potter & Potter sale sees the modern firsts library of Kathryn and Robin Smiley come to market. The Smileys have been running the popular Firsts Magazine for more than three decades, most recently from Tucson, Arizona, and now bring out this hugely useful publication for book collectors on a bimonthly basis.
This is followed in October when polar region specialist Chet Ross’s Nobu Shirase library will come under the hammer. The historically important but only belatedly recognized Japanese pioneer Shirase (1861-1946) was the first non–European explorer to reach Antarctica, exploring King Edward VII Land and the Great Ice Barrier in expeditions between 1910 and 1912. Material related to this expedition is extremely rare and consequently considerable interest is anticipated.
Finally, the remarkable year of Potter & Potter book sales ends with a huge collection of Alice in Wonderland-related items including presentation copies of Lewis Carroll’s famous work, 191 years after his birth and 161 years since his boat trip up Oxford’s Isis river with the 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her friends inspired the famous story.
