Archive: Business & Technology

National Book Auctions, located in Ithaca, NY, hosted a Sunday, October 2nd auction featuring a broad assortment of collectible books and ephemera, highlighted by several important signed volumes from noted authors, early American history works, and an extensive collection from the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This 450-lot auction also featured an assortment of vivid, colorful posters, some featuring the work of notable artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

An original hand-illumined vellum Christian manuscript in Latin fetched a hammer price of $7637.50 (including buyer’s premium). Bound in an early-tooled calf binding with vellum endpapers and raised bands, this French-produced manuscript dated from the late 14th century.  The elaborately bordered opening page featured a seven-line cameo of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus.

Realizing a hammer price of $1175.00 (including buyer’s premium) was a scarce, presentation proof copy of Cadwallader D. Colden’s memoir “Celebration of the Completion of the New York Canals.” This noteworthy work was published to celebrate the completion of the Erie Canals, which cut transportation costs from the Great Lakes to New York City, making New York the world’s greatest commercial city.  This book contains many lithograph plates, facsimiles, and fold-outs.


Another notable item was a 1950 limited edition author-signed set of “The Complete Works of Robert Frost,” which brought a hammer price of $780.00 (including buyer’s premium). This two-volume set is one of fifteen out of series presentation copies. Fifteen hundred copies of this set had been printed for the members of The Limited Editions Club under the direction of Bruce Rogers at The Marchbanks Press, the decorations having been engraved in wood by Thomas W. Nason.

A 35-volume set of “The Jesuit Relations & Allied Documents” dated 1898-1900 brought a hammer price of $780.00 (including buyer’s premium). This antique set provides a history of the travels, explorations, and documents of Jesuit missionaries, and is a limited edition number 535 of 750.

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