Swann's April 11, 2013 auction of Fine Books saw a stunning collection of early printed books - including incunabula, as well as examples of illustrated books, literature and writing manuals. The day brought in over a million dollars, with 97% of the lots finding buyers!
The sale's most highly anticipated and top selling lot was an Imperial Folio edition of John James Audubon and John Bachman’s The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1845-48), containing 150 hand-colored plates, bringing in $288,000.
Top sales also went to Greece's greatest with a second edition Latin translation of Plato's Opera, 1491, selling for $21,600 as well as an exquisitely bound third edition of Aristotle's De caelo et mundo, 1495.
Two first editions by Charles Darwin saw fierce bidding. His On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859, brought $72,000. While Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventures and Beagle, 1839, brought $60,000. Another standout was a leaf from The Gutenberg Bible, circa 1455-55, which sold for $55,200.
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| John James Audubon and John Bachman, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, Imperial Folio edition, New York, 1845-48. |
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| Aristotle, Decaelo et mundo, with commentary by Thomas Aquinas and Petrus de Alvernia, Venice, 1495. |
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| Leaf from a paper copy of the Gutenberg Bible, circa 1450-55. |