Top Lots from Christie’s $3.4-Million Books & Manuscripts Sale
Maria Sibylla Merian’s Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphosibus Insectorum Surinamensium (1719) & De Europische Insecten (1730). Price realized: $225,000.
New York — On Friday, 25 October Christie’s New York Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts sale realized $3,367,250. This sale marked the first time the category was presented during Christie’s Classic Week , which runs until 29 October.
The top lots of the sale were the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded to John Forbes Nash, Jr. for his contributions to Game Theory, which sold for $735,000, Maria Sibylla Merian’s Dissertatio De Generatione Et Metamorphosibus Insectorum Surinamensium (1719) & De Europische Insecten (1730), which sold for $225,000, and the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded to Reinhard Selten for his contributions to Game Theory, namely as the first person to "refine the Nash equilibrium concept for analyzing dynamic strategic interaction," which sold for $225,000.
Another highlight from John Forbes Nash, Jr. included "Non-Cooperative Games." Offprint From: Annals Of Mathematics, Pp. 286-295, Vol 54, No 2, September 1951, formulating the theory of non-cooperative games and describing the Nash equilibrium, which achieved $137,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $3,000 – 5,000. Additionally, Quentell's Low German Bible, with brilliant contemporary color, in low German, ca. 1478 realized $43,750 against a pre-sale low estimate of $8,000 and A secret anti-Puritan polemic — a rarity of printed Americana, Samuel Groom, 1676 realized $137,500 against a pre-sale low estimate of $20,000.
