Rare Photography Collection, Natural History Archive, and First Karaite Pentateuch: The Week in Rare Books

This weekly auction result is provided by Spencer W Stuart, an independent collections advisor specializing in rare books and manuscripts as well as fine photography and prints. He is also the author of Contemporary Issues in Rare Books & Manuscript Collecting and host of the monthly webinar Collecting Insights.

These are the three lots that stuck out this week because of either uniqueness or exceeding expectations:

James Sowerby Archive: A collection of notebooks, books, and other materials relating to the Sowerby family's significant contribution to natural history from the late 18th century to the early 20th. James Sowerby (1757-1822) is best remembered for his 36-volume English Botany, printed over 23 years. His son, James de Carle Sowerby, was a co-founder of the Royal Botanic Society and Gardens, and his great-great-grandson Arthur de Carle Sowerby was a naturalist and cartographer specialising in China and its surrounding regions. The estimate at the Freeman's Hindman auction was $1,000 - $1,500, selling for $12,800.

Hebrew Bible with passage in Judeo-Tatar: The first Pentateuch produced for the Karaite community which apparently ignored the printing press until the 18th century, in five volumes, with translations in Judeo-Arabic and passages in Judeo-Tatar, each volume preceded by Karaite poetry (Ortakoy, Arup Oglu Bogus, 1833-35). From The Collection of Tim Lutz. Sold for £3,200 at Hansons/The Saleroom.

A Rare Photography Collection Catalogue: Four volumes of photographs from the Manfred Heiting Collection, no. 512 of 750 presentation sets, not intended for sale, a complete set, all presentation copies for gallerist Terry Etherton. Amsterdam-based collector Heiting set out to obtain the finest examples of every major photographer’s work, and over a period of 30 years he put together a collection of more than 4,000 images. Sold at PBA Galleries for $6,250 after an estimate of $400 - $600.