Skinner’s Auction of Fine Books & Manuscripts November 15th in Boston Renaissance and Reformation Documents, Scientific Papers,
Literary Works, and Political Correspondences up for bid.
News-Antique.com - Oct 29,2009 - Skinner, Inc., one of the world’s leading auction houses for antiques and fine art, will host its annual auction of Fine Books and Manuscripts on November 15th in its Boston gallery, located at 63 Park Plaza. The auction will offer first editions, botanical illustrations, maps and important documents. Among the most interesting aspects of the auction is a varied offering of materials surrounding the Renaissance and the Reformation, representing more than 30 lots, as well as significant scientific papers from the masterminds of the 18th and 19th century. In short, auction #2483 can be summarized as offering documentation by the greatest thinkers in religion and science.
Renaissance & Reformation Material
The majority of ecclesiastic material comes from two separate collections, both formed by Boston area physicians. The auction’s offerings represent the turbulence of the time, when lust, greed, selling of indulgences and excesses of the papacy led to the skepticism in the church. Featured is an extremely rare and important autograph letter from Martin Luther (lot 131, est. $15/25,000). The letter, from 1581, had been lost for 215 years and recounts the lack of support Luther encounters with the Reformation movement in Nuremberg.
Also of note is a papal document from Leo X pardoning a murder (lot 164, est. $4/6,000); a manuscript signed by Ferdinand V and Isabella I (lot 61, est. $3/4,000) concerning the disposition of the Royal gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; and an autograph letter by John Galvin – a pay order presented to the General Treasurer to pay Calvin as first minister of Geneva (lot 18, est. $6/8,000).
Scientific Papers
Worthy scientific papers include an autograph note signed by Carl Linnaeus (lot 128, est. $4/6,000), founder of the Linnaeus classification of botany; a bound booklet by Anthony von Leeuwenhoek (lot 414, $3/5,000), the inventor of the microscope; a signed letter by Albert Einstein on behalf of his relation Ursula Einstein, likely for emigration purposes (lot 60, est. $1,5/2,000); a signature and dedicatory sentiment from Marie Curie to celebrated French mathematician Paul Appell (lot 38, est. $7/900); and an autograph manuscript discussing ancient European history by Sir Isaac Newton (lot 151, est. $10/15,000)
Also featured are several Charles Darwin documents, gaining interest due to the recent passing of the 200th anniversary of his birth. Included in the Darwin offerings are a signed letter to Sir William Boyd Dawkins concerning animal remains found in local caves (lot 45, est. $4/6,000); a letter, likely to Jabez Hogg, answering a question regarding arsenic use in medicine (lot 46, est. $2/3,000); and another letter to an unknown recipient concerning the arrival of some specimens (lot 44, est. $2,5/3,500).
Literary Offerings
The auction’s literary gems include a leaf from a manuscript draft of Henry David Thoreau’s “A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers” (lot 187, est. $4/6,000); first editions of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms (lot 366, est. $4,5/5,500) and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (lot 365, est. $1,2/1,800); and a copy of a book owned by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a
