Auctions | June 27, 2011

Constitutional Law, Seneca, and Barbier at National Book Auctions

[ITHACA, NY] National Book Auctions, located in Ithaca, NY hosted early and late-June auctions featuring a wide assortment of Ireland-related material, incunabulum, children’s books and signed first editions. Among the featured items was an 1819 First Edition of “Constitutional Law: Comprising The Declaration of Independence; The Articles of Confederation; The Constitution of the United States; And the Constitutions of the Several States Composing the Union” (uncredited) which fetched a $1,500 hammer price (including buyer’s premium).

??Also sold at the gallery in June was a 1493 printing of “Tragoediae” by Lucius Annaeus Seneca. This Latin piece of incunabulum is a collection of tragedies from the acclaimed Roman philosopher and dramatist, Lucius Annaeus Seneca. This volume contains ten tragedies, including: Hercules Furens, Thyestes, Thebais, Hippolytus, Oedipus, Troas, Medea, Agamenon, Octavia and Hercules Oetheus and realized a hammer price of $1,620 (including buyer’s premium).
 
Alongside the hundreds of other lots, was a 1913 Limited Edition printing of “Designs on the Dances of Vaslav Nijinsky” by George Barbier. Bound in large cream thin-card wrappers with blue and black lettering and a pictorial design on the upper cover, this antique volume is a scarce limited edition of acclaimed artist George Barbier's collection of illustrations, translated into English by C. W. Beaumont and containing a foreword by Francis de Miomandre. This work is from a limited edition printing, number 99 of 400 and was the sole edition printed in English. The hand-colored volume sold for $2,280 (including buyer’s premium).
 
Accompanied by numerous other antique and vintage children’s books was a 1912 copy of “Grosses Betes & Petites Betes” by Andre Helle (Tolmer & Cie. Publisher). This large pictorial features paper-covered boards with gray cloth backing and is a very scarce first edition of this French children's book. This work features illustrations by the author of animals from Noah's Ark and is gorgeously illustrated with twenty tipped-in pochoir illustrations surrounded by text and black outline drawings. The plates are signed with the artist/author's monogram, lower case initials "ah" inside a circle. This fun book fetched a hammer price of $1,260 (including buyer’s premium).
 
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. Preview for the Sunday, July 24th auction is at 10 a.m. and the live auction starts at noon. For more information or to consign collectible material please contact David Hall, Business Manager, at 607-269-0101 or email mail@nationalbookauctions.com.