Thursday 16 October 2014

I Have Been To A Number Of Auctions,

over the years,


and found a few mildly interesting, but this one has all of my interest, it is the Bonhams History of Science auction, set to take place on October 22nd in New York, the wealth of scientific items on offer is huge, these are just a few from the catalogue from pages from books, 

Lot 89

WRIGHT, MAGNUS, WILHELM, AND FERDINAND VON.
LÖNNBERG, EINAR, editor.
Svenska fåglar efter naturen och på sten ritade. Stockholm: Ivar Baarsen, [1924-29].
US$ 800 - 1,200
THB 26,000 - 39,000

£500 - 750



to books themselves,

Lot 81
DARWIN, CHARLES.
The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray, 1859.
US$ 25,000 - 35,000
THB 810,000 - 1.1 million
£16,000 - 22,000
  
some of the illustrations featuring fish,

Lot 76
WRIGHT, WILHELM VON, ILLUSTRATOR.
FRIES, BENGT FRIEDRICH & CARL JACOB SUNDEVALL.
Skandinaviens Fiskar, målade efter lefvande exemplar och ritade på sten af Wil. von Wright, med text af B. Fr. Fries Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1836-1857.

US$ 8,000 - 12,000
THB 260,000 - 390,000
£5,000 - 7,500

or something I have always liked, antique pocket globes like this one,


Lot 5
POCKET GLOBE; LANE, NICOLAS.
A New Globe of the Earth. [London], 1776.
US$ 3,000 - 5,000
THB 98,000 - 160,000

£1,900 - 3,100

and we must not forget botany, with plants illustrated like this one,

Lot 74
WALLICH, NATHANIEL. 1786- 1854.
Plantae Asiaticae Rariores, or, Descriptions and Figures of a Select Number of Unpublished East Indian Plants. London: Treuttel and Würtz, 1830-32.

US$ 35,000 - 55,000
THB 1.1 million - 1.8 million

£22,000 - 35,000



and where would we be without medical science? I am not sure what this illustration is about, in fact I think I would rather not know! but it is one of many on offer in the anatomy department, 

Lot 102
BARTHOLNIN THOMAS 1616-1689
Anatomia ex Caspari Bartholini parentis institutionibus...
retormata. The Hague: Adrian Vlacq, 1666,
US$ 1,000 - 1,500
THB 33,000 - 49,000

£630 - 940

would I like to go to the auction? yes, but with plenty of money in my pocket, who knows what I might come home with!


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