Even the rare book world is abuzz with lunar madness this week. Earlier today, Christie’s offered the Apollo 11 Timeline Book, a three-ring-bound manual flown aboard the LM Eagle and annotated by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they landed on the moon.
This week isn't quite as jam-packed as the last couple have been, but here's what I'll be watching:
Paris — Christie’s Books department is extremely pleased with the success achieved for the first part of Paul Destribats’s collection (607 lots dating from the 1910s to 1945) which realised a total of €8,116,813, far beyond its presale global estimate of €5-7 million. International interest with buyers coming from 20 countries confirms the exceptional and unique character of this collection in the history of art.
A busy week coming up in the auction rooms: here's what I'm keeping an eye on:
A much quieter auction week coming up:
Paris – Christie’s’ Books department is pleased to announce the sale of the collection: Paul Destribats, Bibliothèque des avant-gardes in partnership with the experts Jean-Baptiste de Proyart and Claude Oterelo.
New York – On June 5-13, Christie’s brought to auction an archive of over 50 letters from the acclaimed Canadian poet, singer-songwriter, and novelist Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) to his most famous muse, the inspiration for the song "So Long, Marianne," Marianne Ihlen. The first ever online auction for the New York Books & Manuscripts department totaled $876,000, selling 100 % by lot and 100% by value.
New York – On June 12, the Christie’s New York Summa de Arithmetica: The Birth of Modern Business and the Spring Fine Books and Manuscripts Including Americana auctions achieved a total of $4,693,750. The dedicated single-lot sale for Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica (1447-1517) realized $1,215,000 after two minutes of competitive bidding between the telephones and the room.
A brief overview of this week's auction offerings:
This rather odd-looking globe headed to auction in New York on June 12 reveals some fascinating snippets in the history of popular science, not the least of which is the relatively unknown work of Danish amateur astronomer Emmy Ingeborg Brun (1872-1929). According to Christie’s, only twelve recorded examples of her finely painted globes exist, and there is precious little information about her or them online.
