Rare Books &c. at Auction This Week

Lots of auction action coming up at the end of the week:

On Thursday, October 17, ALDE sells Lettres & Manuscrits Autographes, in 151 lots. Expected to lead the way with an €80,000–120,000 estimate is the early French photobook by Gustave le Gray, Souvenirs du camp de Châlons. A collection of seventeen Marcel Proust letters to poet Fernand Gregh could sell for €40,000–50,000.

Also on Thursday, Forum Auctions holds an online sale of Modern Literature, Children's and Illustrated Books, Private Press, and Limited Editions.

At Swann Galleries on Thursday, Classic & Contemporary Photographs, in 426 lots. A 1978 print of Irving Penn's Cuzco Children, Peru, December, is estimated at $80,000–120,000.

Rounding out Thursday's sales, Garth's Auctioneers & Appraisers will sell the Collection of Jim Richards of Duck Creek Books. The 352-lot online sale includes a near-complete set of Bell's Poets of Great Britain ($2,250–4,500). There are a number of quite interesting sets up for grabs in this auction, so I'd definitely recommend having a look through the listings.

On Friday at ALDE, Bibliothèque Albert-Jean Guibert, in 284 lots. Among the top-estimated items are a copy of the very rare Les Précieuses ridicules by Moliére (1660), at €50,000–60,000; a 1668 copy of Jean de la Fontaine's Fables, estimated at €20,000–30,000; and Descartes' Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison & chercher la vérité dans les sciences (1637), also estimated at €20,000–30,000.

Potter & Potter sells Fine Books & Manuscripts on Friday, in 652 lots. Briseaux's L’Art de Batir des Maisons de Campagne (1743), from the library of chancellor Henri François D’Auguesseau, is estimated at $6,000–8,000.