Carl Linnaeus Letter Sells for Record Price at Auction
The letter from Carl Linnaeus to the German physician and botanist Christian Gottlieb Ludwig
A letter from Carl Linnaeus to the German physician and botanist Christian Gottlieb Ludwig has set a new record for a Swedish letter at auction in Sweden in Stockholms Auktionsverk's latest Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts sale.
Written in Amsterdam during a pivotal period in Linnaeus’s scientific career, he discusses, among other topics, his botanical publications, several plant species, and the development of the classification system that would make him internationally renowned. Dated January 22, 1737, it went for SEK 1,875,000 ($199,000). In total, the eight lots of Linnaeus correspondence sold for more than SEK 6m.
“This remarkable result demonstrates the extraordinary appeal that Linnaeus continues to command nearly 250 years after his death," said Katharina Fahlstedt, Head Specialist for Books, Maps and Manuscripts at Stockholms Auktionsverk. "These letters offer a unique insight into how some of his groundbreaking ideas evolved through dialogue with fellow scholars across Europe."
Other highlights included:
- the richly illuminated 18th century Arabic manuscript Dala’il al-Khayrat (SEK 1,175,000)
- the hand-coloured first edition of Svenska foglar (Swedish Birds) by the von Wright brothers (SEK 312,500)
- three letters by Albert Einstein which together sold for nearly SEK 1m
- the unique original manuscript of Frans G. Bengtsson’s classic Viking novel The Long Ships (Röde Orm) - a discovery featured earlier this year in the Botkyrka episode of Swedish Television’s Antiques Roadshow Sweden (Antikrundan), selling for SEK 275,000
