HIGHEST SALES TOTAL FOR A SINGLE-SESSION BOOK SALE
New York–Christie’s New York Books and Manuscripts sales realize $9,690,563, across three auctions that took place on June 15, 2017, with an overall 75% sold by lot. The various owner sale totaled $6,894,875, setting the highest total ever for a single-session various-owners Books sale at Christie’s New York. The auctions witnessed active online participation, with top lots selling to online buyers including the record-setting Enigma Cipher Machine, which sold for $547,500, and there was global bidding with registrants across 22 countries.
Sven Becker, Head of Books and Manuscripts, comments, “We are thrilled by the strong results achieved across these three sales and their broad range of subjects: from musical manuscripts – with the highest price paid for Schubert at auction in over 20 years – to scientific instruments, including the record price at auction for an Enigma machine. We saw strong participation across the usual virtual sale channels, but we were particularly happy to see a new generation of collectors represented in person in the room: a very young bidder, in his school uniform, underbid and purchased a number of rare historical items, including one relating to Lewis & Clarke. He was a diligent bidder and avoided being dragged into bidding wars.”
Strong results were achieved for single owner collections, including the two dedicated auctions, The Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection, which totaled $1,463,063, with 81% sold by lot, and The Ornithological Library of Gerald Dorros, MD, which totaled $1,332,625, with 80% sold by lot, and The Eric C. Caren Collection, the single-owner selection of the various owner sale, with many lots greatly exceeding initial estimates, including The Star-Spangled Banner, Daily Federal Republic, 22 September 1814, which sold for $168,750, more than twenty times the low estimate.
The top lot of the three sales was a presentation copy of the first edition of Francisco Goya y Lucientes’ Los Caprichos, 1799, which realized $607,500. World auction records were set for A Four-Rotor Enigma Cipher Machine, 1944, which sold above the high estimate for $547,500 to an online bidder, and A Manuscript Document from the Salem Witch Trials containing the deposition of Mary Daniel, from The Eric C. Caren Collection, which sold for $137,500.
Other highlights from the day of sales included Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Autograph Music Manuscript for the Piano Sonata in A flat major, D.577, May 1817, from The Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection, which sold for $475,500, the highest price paid for Schubert at auction in over 20 years, A Working Apple-1 Personal Computer, Palo Alto, 1976, which sold for $355,500, John Gould (1804-1881), The Birds of Australia, from The Dorros Collection, which sold for $295,500, and John Hill (ca 1714-1775), The Vegetable System, which sold for $199,500.
Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts Including Americana and the Eric C. Caren Collection
Thursday, 15 June 2017 | New York
Total: $6,894,875
The various owner sale of Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts Including Americana and the Eric C. Caren Collection totaled $6,894,875, with 72% sold by lot and 83% sold by value. The top lot of the sale was Francisco Goya y Lucientes’ Los Caprichos, 1799, which realized $607,500. Lots from The Eric C. Caren Collection performed exceptionally well against estimates, with highlights including The Star-Spangled Banner, Daily Federal Republic, 22 September 1814, which sold for $168,750, more than twenty times the low estimate. Full results can be viewed here.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection
Thursday, 15 June 2017 | New York
Total: $1,463,063
The dedicated auction of The Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection, totaled $1,463,063, with 81% sold by lot and 85% sold by value. The top lot of the sale was Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Autograph Music Manuscript for the Piano Sonata in A flat major, D.577, May 1817, which sold for $475,500. Additionally, two exquisite pieces of jewelry will be sold in the Magnificent Jewels auction on June 20, 2017. Funds from the sale will benefit the Opera Guild and the Metropolitan Opera. Full results can be viewed here.
The Ornithological Library of Gerald Dorros, MD
Thursday, 15 June 2017 | New York
Total: $1,332,625
The Ornithological Library of Gerald Dorros, MD, totaled $1,332,625, with 80% sold by lot and 74% sold by value. The top lot of the sale was John Gould (1804-1881), The Birds of Australia, which sold for $295,500. Full results can be viewed here.
About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s has achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019).
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Recent innovations at Christie’s include the groundbreaking sale of the first NFT for a digital work of art ever offered at a major auction house (Beeple’s Everydays, March 2021), with the unprecedented acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
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