Sotheby’s has just announced the following October 28th auction in London:
The Library of an English Bibliophile, Part I. Jane Austen is duly represented and is among the great company of the Brontes, Burney, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Gaskell, Eliot (George and T. S.), Darwin, Fielding, Hardy, James, Joyce, Keats, Mary Shelley, Wollstonecraft, and many more, and interesting in only having ONE Dickens [Lot 40, A Christmas Carol, est. 150,000 – 200,000 GBP]
Here are the five Austen lots: [# 1-5]
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY: A NOVEL… BY A LADY. AND PUBLISHED BY T. EGERTON, 1811. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY C. ROWORTH
12mo (187 x 114mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, half-titles, watermarks, uncut in the original publisher’s boards, original pink paper labels on spines, preserved in folding brown cloth chemises and quarter brown morocco slipcase, rebacked preserving most of the original spines, occasional spotting and foxing, some slight marginal stains on D10-D11 in volume 1, minor discolouration and staining of a few gatherings in volumes 2 and 3, short tears on B11 and H5 in volume 2 (affecting three lines and two lines respectively), tiny paper flaw on I2 in volume 2, some slight wear to boards.
ESTIMATE 40,000 – 60,000 GBP
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: A NOVEL. LONDON: G. SIDNEY FOR T. EGERTON, 1813
12mo (182 x 110mm.), 3 volumes, first edition, watermarks, uncut in the original publisher’s drab boards, half-titles, advertisements dated November 1812 inserted at the beginning of volume 1, preserved in folding blue cloth chemises and quarter blue morocco folding box by Zaehnsdorf, spines repaired (some cracks and slight tears present), upper joint of volume 3 slightly split, without spine labels (volume numbers stamped on spine), skilful repairs to inner margin of half-title, title-page and first text leaf of volume 1.
ESTIMATE 75,000 – 100,000 GBP
EMMA: A NOVEL. LONDON: C. ROWORTH FOR JOHN MURRAY, 1816
12mo (186 x 110mm.), first edition, half-titles, uncut in the original publisher’s blue-grey boards with grey-brown spines, preserved in quarter brown morocco folding box, rebacked preserving significant portions of the spines, original spine labels, tear to lower corner of P1 in volume 1 (not affecting text), occasional spotting, some slight further wear to binding.
ESTIMATE 20,000 – 30,000 GBP
MANSFIELD PARK: A NOVEL. LONDON: FOR J. MURRAY, 1816
12mo (176 x 104mm.), 3 volumes, second edition, half-titles, contemporary or near contemporary blue half morocco, marbled boards, speckled edges, leaves C6-7 in volume 1 partially loose, some slight foxing and spotting, one gathering in volume 3 crudely opened, some slight wear to edges of binding.
ESTIMATE 1,500 – 2,000 GBP
NORTHANGER ABBEY: AND PERSUASION…WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, 1818
12mo (189 x 112mm.), 4 volumes, first edition, watermarks, half-titles as called for by Gilson, uncut in the original grey-brown boards, original spine labels, preserved in red quarter morocco folding box, some spotting and foxing, neat repairs to a few minor tears on spines, some wear to labels and edges and extremities of binding, boards slightly spotted, corners very slightly bumped.
ESTIMATE 20,000 – 30,000 GBP
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You can view the entire catalogue with pictures and fuller description online at the Sotheby’s website. An Exhibition is to be held in Paris, then London prior to the auction on October 28th [see site for details]; a catalogue can be purchased for $53.
Can’t wait to see Part II!
[Image of Thomas Rowlandson’s “Doctor Syntax at an Auction” from The Private Library]
[Posted by Deb]
Jane Austen in Vermont 