Auctions | February 29, 2016

Costume, Botany, Folio Society at National Book Auctions

55d328b5-4345-4933-a151-9b1aba62f959.jpgITHACA, NY—National Book Auctions, located in Ithaca, NY, announces the launch of their next auction catalog. 

This catalog presents rare, antique and decorative books as well as select additions of ephemera and artwork.  Prominent in this sale are important early titles relating to costume and ornament and an array of early botanical and horticultural titles including engraved, hand-colored plates.  Our second session from a sizable personal collection of deluxe Folio Society printings will be sold along with numerous groupings and single offerings of antique periodicals and journals.  The ephemera lots are led by a group of antique engraved maps.      

Antique and rare books in this catalog feature numerous titles.  Among the earliest examples are the 1798 printing in three volumes of George Vancouver's "A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World," bound in decorative leather, Opitz' "Novum Lexicon Hebraeo-Chaldaeo-Biblicum," produced in 1726 and bound in vellum, and the 1715 printing of  "Euclidis Elementorum / Trigonometriae Planae and Sphaericae Elementa," featuring a fold-out frontispiece and folding diagrams.  Other scarce titles include the 1826/1830 first edition of Grindlay's "Scenery, Costumes and Architecture Chiefly on the Western Side of India," produced with numerous hand-colored plates and housed in a handsome leather binding, the 1852 first edition of Upjohn's "Rural Architecture Designs," and the 1856 first edition of Jones' seminal design sourcebook, "The Grammar of Ornament," bound in decorative leather.            

Several pleasing collections will also be showcased.  Highlighted is a selection of desirable early titles relating to botany and horticulture, including hand-colored engraved plates.  Headline pieces from this group include Darwin's Phytologia or the Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening," produced in 1800 with fold-out plates, the 1714 first edition of Laurence's "The Clergy-Man's Recreation Shewing the Pleasure and Profit of the Art of Gardening," and Griffith's "Medical Botany," printed in 1847.   Additional lots will include scarce titles from categories such as decorative antique bindings and folios, Civil War, Native American Indians, travel and exploration, opening of the American West and Midwest, military history, and much more.

Found throughout this catalog are interesting offerings of ephemera and collectibles.  Prints are highlighted by antique engraved maps, included hand-colored examples, dating back to the 18th century.  The lots featuring antique magazines, periodicals and newspapers include loose issues and bound volumes, numerous editions of "Scientific American," Civil War-era, American West and Midwest, railroad and many others.  Antique ephemera lots include an original signature of President James A. Garfield, travel- related, original correspondence, Victorian chromolithographs, photographs, billheads, and other genres.

National Book Auctions is a public auction service specializing in books, ephemera, and art. National Book Auctions is a targeted service offering experience and expertise unique to marketing antique and modern books and ephemera for consignors and collectors alike. The upcoming 2014 auctions will feature a wide assortment of collectible, signed, and first edition books. For more information, please contact the gallery at 607-269-0101 or email mail@nationalbookauctions.com.