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By Justin Schiller
Welcome to my world of rare and collectible children's books. It
began when I was eight years old, visiting secondhand bookshops
while my parents searched for antiques. At that time, I was focused
on the writings of L. Frank Baum and his "Wonderful Wizard of
Oz" books. By age 12, when Columbia University Libraries
celebrated the author's centenary (1956) with an exhibition of his
various titles, I became the youngest lender to the library in its
two-hundred-year history. That same year the MGM film starring Judy
Garland was broadcast for the first time on television, and I lent
my first edition of the book so Bert Lahr (the "Cowardly Lion")
could use it as an intro to the movie. During the broadcast he had
two children alongside him who were not introduced by name; I was
one of them and Liza Minelli was the other.
In 1957 I founded what became the International Wizard of Oz Club
and under the guidance of friendly librarians and booksellers, I
gradually learned the trade. How fortunate I was to be encouraged
by Walter Schatzki, Martin Gardner, Howard Mott, and Barney
Rosenthal. My first catalogue was issued in 1960 while I was still
in high school and I helped finance my college years by buying and
selling old books. Dedicated collectors would trek out to my
parents' home in Brooklyn to look over my inventory. Following
graduate school, I was elected into the Antiquarian Booksellers
Association of America in February 1967. But what launched my
career was forming a corporation at the end of 1969 with Raymond
Wapner and moving into Manhattan in February 1970 with a physical
bookshop for collectors to visit. Maurice Sendak designed our first
catalogue covers and we also promoted his new books with autograph
signing parties on publication day, beginning with "In The Night
Kitchen".
From the start my approach to bookselling was academic, focusing on
children's literature from its origins in all languages and time
periods. This led us to handling the original manuscript archives
of Lothar Meggendorfer, considered the creator of moveable
mechanical picture toy books, which we catalogued in 1975 with an
appreciation by Maurice Sendak. Over the years, I have handled
nearly every major children's book classic in first edition
regardless of language, including four copies of the fabled 1865
suppressed "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland," the black tulip of
juvenilia where only 22 copies are known to survive. My personal
collection of 18th century Newbery children's books and early
editions of Charles Perrault's "Mother Goose" (Histoires ou
Contes du Temps Passé, Paris 1697 onwards) became the basis
for Lloyd Cotsen's outstanding children's books library at
Princeton while many of Betsy Shirley's most significant American
books for children were directed her way over more than thirty
years prior to her collection going to the Beinecke Library at
Yale. More recently, the Peter and Susan Solomon Family Collection
is being donated to the Houghton Library, Harvard, filled with
surprises and subtleties that would be the envy of any serious
bibliophile.
I focused on the history and development of children's books when
few people took them seriously, pursuing the genre to a level of
professional respectability. And this included opening
Schiller-Wapner as a gallery devoted to original picture book
illustration art in 1979, well ahead of many others. My name became
synonymous with handling the best of the best rare children's
books, so much so I can remember from the 1970s and 80s there were
both collectors and dealers who were reluctant to visit fearing
that our costs would be the most prohibitive, but nevertheless they
would end up buying our books from others without knowing we were
involved and thus paying other dealers' marked-up prices. On at
least two instances, major auction houses in Europe changed dates
for children's books auction sales already advertised to better fit
my schedule; of course, that could never happen today, but times
were quite different four decades ago.
Because of my agenda to buy the best rare children's books, it was
sometimes necessary to disguise my identity back in the days when
auction houses published a named list of buyers. During the famous
Edgar Oppenheimer sales, I resorted to using three or four nom
de ventes at the same auction or begin bidding on an obvious
purchase, drop out and let an agent buy the book or manuscript on
my behalf because I had become an obvious target for people to
watch, follow and try to outbid me. Not my invention but this
follows the practice of Dr. Rosenbach as model, the great rare
books specialist and bibliographer. We also purchased duplicates
from the Elisabeth Ball collection during the middle 1980s and
quantities of books from Iona Opie after the Bodleian Library
received the main portion of her collection assembled with her late
husband Peter. Many of these books had to be warehoused so items
included in this auction by Heritage Auctions are books that have
been packed away for several decades, never offered to clients
because we had too much on offer already and it helped create a
reputation of my being a reluctant dealer, a bookseller who not
only collected vicariously but also secretly. I would never compete
with our clients but when there were no buyers at hand then often
collections were built when no one realized what we were doing. It
was an age of luxury where one could consider stockpiling items of
considerable interest and value in case a new client should come
along.
The bibliographer John R. Payne crafted a reference study on
Great Catalogues by Master Booksellers (2017), a selection
of one hundred forty dealer catalogues from amongst tens of
thousands he viewed during his time at the Lilly Library
(Bloomington), The Harry Ransom Center at University of Texas
(Austin), New York's Grolier Club, and the Huntington Library (San
Marino). These individuals and firms represent the giants of the
last one hundred fifty years of bookselling, and I feel very
privileged to have it include two of ours: no. 41, Realms of
Childhood (1983) and no. 50, Five Centuries of
Childhood (2002), occupying altogether seven pages in his
census with three colored reproductions. Each contains a selection
of 200 items, and in most instances the material included in my
Heritage auction is no less precious than what you would find
described in these catalogues.
As this auction represents the closing down of my company, perhaps
this catalogue would be an appropriate companion to the above since
I do not know of any sale of rare and collectible children's books
held in America to equal its offerings… dwarfed only by the
dispersal of the Edgar Oppenheimer collection sold in London,
Germany and New York in ten divisions over a period of nine years
(1974-1982). Everything represents the quality and integrity we
sought to offer during the past half-century and I hope you will
enjoy perusing these possibilities and maybe discover a souvenir or
remembrance of "Once Upon a Time."
Justin G Schiller
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Once Upon a Time: The Collection of Justin
Schiller Ltd. |
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Bibliophile known in
book trade, academia as a legend in world of rare children's
books
By Nicolas Dawes
What connects ruby slippers to a glass slipper, Peter Rabbit to the
White Rabbit, Munchkins to Nutkins, Aesop's Tortoise to the March
Hare, Aunt Annie to Aunt Em, the Ugly Duckling to Jemima
Puddle-Duck, or Beatrix Potter to Harry?
The answer is Justin Schiller, owner of America's oldest
continuously operating antiquarian book firm devoted to children's
literature. Schiller is the world's primary scholar on L. Frank
Baum and a leading expert on the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian
Andersen, Beatrix Potter, Lewis Carroll, Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak
and all luminaries punctuating the genre's evolution.
Schiller is well known in the book trade and academia as the
foremost promoter of the wonderful world of rare children's books
and related illustration, an area of collecting he pioneered with
the opening of a dedicated art gallery in 1979.
"It was a magical time," Schiller recalls when asked about his
formative years – from age 8, when his mother gave him an Oz book
(which he recalls ruining by reading in the bathtub), to a climax
in 1956, the centenary of L. Frank Baum's birth, by which time
Schiller had acquired a formidable Oz collection, mainly from
scouring New York's "Book Row" on lower Fourth Avenue, and
developing his eye and essential dealer contacts.
Events that year included a comprehensive exhibition at the
Columbia University library, for which 12-year-old Justin supplied
rare volumes, and a CBS TV taping of actor Bert Lahr reading from a
first edition of The Wizard of Oz. Guess who supplied the copy?
Sitting as a guest on the Cowardly Lion's knee was little Justin.
The other knee was occupied by a 10-year-old girl sent to the
studio by her mother, who was invited but unable to attend. Justin
remembers her well and sometimes wonders if Liza Minnelli remembers
him?
Since those early "magical times," Schiller has carefully curated
his own collection while establishing the world's finest and most
comprehensive private collections of rare children's books,
including the personal collection of Maurice Sendak.
Throughout a long and fabled career, Schiller has approached his
subject with the meticulous eye and academic awareness found only
at the highest levels of curatorship, following his own advice to
"always buy the best book you can afford." Collectors could afford
a lot in the "magical times." While most high schoolers made pocket
money doing chores and spending it on candy, Schiller recalls
buying early Oz books with the nickels his parents gave as rewards
for following them through antique shops and reselling them for
less than a dollar on New York streets. He never stopped dealing.
At the first New York Antiquarian Book Fair in 1960, Schiller got
his first taste of the big time, selling a first edition of
Winnie-the-Pooh for $25 while watching a booth for a dealer who was
having dinner. He learned a great deal at that fair and foresaw the
oncoming wave of commercial potential in his chosen expertise,
which few rare book dealers paid serious attention to at the
time.
Following graduate school, paid for by selling rare books, Schiller
applied to join the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
(ABAA), gained acceptance in 1967 and took his own booth at the
fair in 1969. He has been there every year since.
Delving Into Rarities
Children's literature did not really exist in the Western world
before the 18th century, primarily because the concept of
"childhood" really did not exist either. In the 1690s, English
philosopher John Locke's revolutionary writings on education,
including his postulation of the tabula rasa, included the first
attempts to convince Western civilization that a child needed to be
fed through the eyes and ears as well as through the mouth.
Ask Schiller about early works and he will delve eagerly into some
of the rarest volumes on the subject, a precious few published in
the 16th century and several predating the works of Arnaud Berquin
(1747-1791), widely considered the first identifiable author of
books for children. In those early days, most books were
instructional, teaching letters and numbers, manners and morals,
but by the early 19th century, folk tales, the source of most
"classic" European stories and nursery rhymes, began to appear in
print and translation.
If you think Maurice Sendak is scary, try the Brothers Grimm and
early "bedtime stories" written two centuries ago. Here is where
the wild things really were. Hansel and Gretel, forced to wander
into the dark woods following their mother's descent into madness,
were among the many children facing the real possibility of being
eaten alive and not making it to the next page. In the original Red
Riding Hood, the wolf eats both the grandmother and the little girl
… neither to be seen again. The outlook improved for most innocents
through the Victorian years, partly due to the arrival of female
authors. There is nothing dark and threatening about Flopsy, Mopsy
and Cottontail.
By the mid-19th century, reading was no longer confined to the
privileged, and publishers began building commercial empires on
children's books. Schiller's collection embraces and makes sense of
a fantastical world, presenting the unique opportunity to witness a
lifetime devotion and highly comprehensive historical collection
condensed into a single auction event.
Nicholas Dawes is senior vice president-special collections at
Heritage Auctions.
This article appears in the Fall 2020 edition of The Intelligent Collector magazine. Click
here to subscribe
to the print edition.
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The Magic of Hans Christian Andersen |
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By Nicole Norelli
Though having been born nearly a century before the tale was
created, Hans Christian Andersen was something of real-life Peter
Pan. Known by friends and family to find magic in even the most
mundane, Andersen possessed singular creativity, wonder, and an
imagination strong enough to bring a fairy to life. One of his
particular joys was the Danish art of papirklip, or papercutting,
an incredibly intricate art that turns ordinary paper into a
delicate lacework of scenes and characters. He could often be found
at parties and events, drifted away from the adults and surrounded
instead by wide-eyed children, listening with rapt attention as he
meticulously cut paper in tune to his strange tales.
He had one really beautiful accomplishment, which
was the cutting out in paper, with an ordinary pair of scissors, of
lovely little figures of sprites and elves, gnomes, fairies and
animals of all kinds which might well have stepped out of the pages
of his books.Sir Henry Dickens: The Recollections of Sir Henry
Dickens, KC, London, 1934, p. 34.
Andersen is now beloved the world over, and collections of his work
span time, distance, language, and even artistic medium. As one of
the world leaders in rare children's literature, Justin G.
Schiller, Ltd.'s offering of Andersen works certainly rises to the
occasion, showcasing not only rare and beautiful books, but much of
the art and ephemera that go into creating them.
Though incredibly
delicate and fine, Andersen's papirklip arts live on, full of the
signature motifs of ballerinas and swans common to much of his work
and we have some available for you!
Or, for good old-fashioned books, we are offering a lovely
presentation copy of the first edition, first printing of
Andersen's first Eventyr, Fortalte
For Børn [Fairy Tales Told to Children], 1835,
with the most charming
inscription to little Peter Koch, "til den lille Peter Koch. / fra
hans store Ven / H.C. Andersen" (To the small Peter Koch from his
big friend H. C. Andersen). Peter was only three years old at the
time of this gift, but Andersen's friendship with Peter and his
family would continue for the rest of his own life.
If collections rather than inscriptions strike your fancy, we also
have a complete set of six
pamphlets of Hans Christian Andersen's first fairy tales, all
but the fourth in first printings, bound together in beautiful red
and black morocco and decorated in gilt. This set is especially
notable for its inclusion of many of the original title pages and
half-title pages, usually destroyed when the pamphlets were
rebound.
These items and those listed below are only a small highlight of a
thorough selection of Andersen's own work and related works offered
in this sale, including first edition titles in original paper
wrappers, first translated editions, and selections from notable
illustrators, much of which has been signed or inscribed by
Andersen himself.
- Eventyr,
Fortalte For Børn. Ny Samling. Tredie
Hefte. Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzel, 1842. First printing of the
third and final pamphlet in the second series of Andersen's
"Fairy Tales for Children." Presentation
copy.
- Folkekalender for Danmark [Folk
Calendar for Denmark]. Copenhagen: Lose;
Delbanco; Iversen, 1852-1873. Including twenty-eight first edition
H. C. Andersen works. Eight volumes.
- Nye
Eventyr. Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzels, 1844. First
edition, first issue of the first pamphlet in the second cycle of
Andersen's fairy tales.
- Complete set of six
Eventyr pamphlets, all in second printing.
- Complete collection of
Hans Christian Andersen's Nye Eventyr ( New Fairy
Tales), containing the third printing of the first
pamphlet, and the first printings of the remaining pamphlets
- Gesammelte
Märchen. Mit 112 Illustrationen nach
Originalzeichnungen von V. Pedersen. In Holz geschnitten von Ed.
Kretzschmar. Leipzig: Verlag von Carl D. Lorck, 1849. First German
collected edition.
- Carte-de-visite. Copenhagen:
Budtz Müller, 1872. Inscribed and signed by Hans Christian
Andersen.
- Robin
Jacques. Twelve sheets of engravings for H.C. Andersen's
Forty-Two Stories, translated by M.R. James (Faber &
Faber, 1953], with notes in the artist's hand on placement and size
within the final published text. Artwork includes head and tail
pieces and plates for specific stories, such as "Story of the
Year," "The Nightingale," and "The Little Mermaid."
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The Road to Beatrix Potter's Final
Story |
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By Courtney Elliott
When one hears the name "Beatrix Potter," it tends to conjure up
whimsical images of woodland creatures dressed in wee clothing and
painted in soft, muted watercolors. After a long and successful
career during her lifetime, Potter's legacy as a predominant figure
in children's literature, both here in the US and across the pond,
is without question. However, the decades following her death have
seen the stories written in the latter portion of her life often
overlooked in favor of Nutkin, Jemina Puddle-Duck, and the
mischievous Peter Rabbit. Perhaps this is because in her later
years she took a large step back from writing and illustrating due
to her weakening eyesight. While she did produce a handful of
stories in this period, most took on a more autobiographical bent
and thus, did not receive the press they deserved. It was during
this time that Beatrix also focused on her farming and conservation
work in her beloved Lake District; the writing she produced during
these years would always come after the needs of the farm. As she
would write in April of 1942, "Further literary efforts can wait
for wet days."
A number of one-of-a-kind items in the Once Upon a Time - Rare
Children's Literature from Justin G. Schiller, Ltd., draw
attention back to this oft overlooked period of Beatrix's life by
presenting to you three separate lots overflowing
with manuscripts relating to Beatrix Potter's final story,
Wag-By-Wall, and the last two years of her life.
Through the
correspondence
Beatrix would strike up with the American founder and editor of
The Horn Book Magazine, Bertha Mahony Miller, we are
permitted a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the respected
writer. It is hard to reconcile the whimsy of Peter Rabbit with the
realities of World War II, yet the dozen letters offered here in
this collection showcase what life was like in Beatrix's small,
farming community in the north of England during the most dangerous
periods of the war as they coped with rationing and the constant
fear of invasion.
In addition to wartime talk, their correspondence also details the
evolution of her final story, Wag-by-Wall, and its long
road to publication. A somber folktale with a happy ending, it
features a lonely old woman named Sally, her singing kettle, and a
magical clock. While the final edition is devoid of her usual
talking forest friends, that was not her original plan. These lots
detail how Sally's story was initially imagined as a companion to
The Tailor of Gloucester before it evolved into a bedtime
story told within the intended sequel to The Fairy
Caravan, titled The Solitary Mouse. In this version,
Jenny Ferret tells the story to a sleepy Tuppenny and Sandy, the
highland terrier. In a brief glimpse of reality outside of
Beatrix's sweet woodland scenes during this time, even the
characters comment on the darker tone of the story, Sandy at
one-point remarking, "This is a mournful tale, Jenny Ferret."
Perhaps recognizing that Sandy had a point, Beatrix would remove
Wag-by-Wall from this manuscript and rewrite it as a
standalone tale. Bertha first asked Beatrix for permission to
publish Wag-by-Wall in 1940; after receiving the
manuscript and liking it so much, she asked Beatrix to allow her to
wait to publish the story in a special Twentieth Anniversary
edition of The Horn Book Magazine. Sadly, Beatrix passed
away in 1943, just a few months shy of the first appearance in
print of the story. Originally intended for publication in the
Twentieth Anniversary edition of The Horn Book Magazine,
she would pass away five months before it appeared in print.
However, through the tireless efforts of her friend, Bertha ensured
the story's posthumous publication as a standalone book in both the
United States and the United Kingdom; first editions of both are
included within these lots.
The incredible material contained here, including three handwritten
manuscripts of Wag-by-Wall, allow one so inclined to climb
into the mind of Beatrix Potter and examine how she went about
editing her work. Her dry humor and humility on full display, this
compilation of truly unique items from one of the most beloved
children's authors of the twentieth century is rife with personal
and professional details.
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By Nicole Norelli
Though our upcoming auction for Justin G. Schiller's collection of
rare children's literature is called "Once Upon a Time," it's
not all fairytales. In keeping with the creeping autumn chill, a
time for bonfires and roasted marshmallows and good old-fashioned
spooky stories, in this collection you will find many of the dark
beginnings of your favorite fables and tales.
A personal favorite is the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The
chilling tale of the Piper originates in the very real city of
Hamelin, the first record of the story stems from a 1384 town
chronicle that states simply, "It is one hundred years since our
children left" and shows (?) a stained-glass window placed in the
local church, depicting the Piper leading the children from the
town. Later records seem to indicate the story of 130 children
"leaving" Hamelin is true, but whether by the Pied Piper punishing
the town for their greed, "dancing mania" caused by stress or
poison or spirits, or some other passing ill of the time, has never
been clear.
The tale takes on
as many forms as the Piper himself, half true mystery and half
fantasy, and strangely ominous even to this day. If you have a
taste for the shadowed side of early children's stories, you can
find the earliest English printing of this tale in our beautiful
first edition of Richard Rowland Verstegan's, A Restitution of
Decayed Intelligence(1605), said to be the inspiration for
Robert Browning's poem. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is here at home
beside a number of other interesting writings, including anecdotes
on the origin of werewolves, Stonehenge, and the first systematic
glossary of Old English words in print (pre-dating Somner,
Dictionarium Saxonico- Latino-Anglicum, 1659).
We also have on
offer Aubrey Beardsley's first appearance in print, appearing in
the same set with his first published illustrations, Past and
Present, The Magazine of the Brighton Grammar
School, Volumes X-XV. [Brighton, England: King and Thorne],
[1885-1890]. These initial eleven illustrations bring to life
the story "The Pay of the Pied Piper: A Legend of Hamlin Town," in
"The Brighton Grammar School Annual Entertainment" program bound as
a supplement to Volume XIV (1889). Beardsley's Piper is a thin,
robed figure calmly leading a group of dancing children from the
town in an early version of what would develop into his signature
black ink style, influenced by Japanese woodcuts. But, as was
Beardsley's way, even amongst this simple scene a few children seem
to glance back nervously, lending an air of mystery and depth to
the moment.
For a good
old-fashioned picture book, beautiful and serviceable for both a
dedicated collection or children's hands, try this 1880 edition of The
Pied Piper of Hamelin, composed of Robert Browning's
famous poem originally composed in 1842 and with illustrations from
Jane E. Cook. This copy is tucked within a large lot of eleven
classic English fables and tales from many eras, an excellent way
to sample a broad range of rare children's literature.
For those who prefer a tune a bit more light-hearted, you can't do
better than a song from Beatrix Potter's whimsical woodland
creatures. "Dancing to the
Piper" is a classic example of Beatrix's fine lines and
delicate coloring, each rabbit painted so carefully their fur looks
soft to the touch and their eyes seem to sparkle in delight and
mischief as they dance and play to the tune of their own little
piper.
Perfect additions to any collection belonging to those with an open
ear and a young heart; the Piper is calling, will you answer?
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The Sweetest Elefant to Ever Have a Mother
Complex |
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By Courtney Elliott
As any true fan of Dr. Seuss is aware, Horton was not his first
character so inclined to hatch another animal's egg. An early
iteration of this tale features the compassionate Matilda, drawn
here in pen and
ink, and was originally published in Judge magazine in 1938. In
this one-page story Matilda, so-titled by Seuss as an "Old Maid
Elephant," wanders upon a chickadee egg and declares that her
"maternal instinct dictates that here I remain." She then braves
the elements for twenty-five days and nights until the egg hatches
only to have the baby chickadee fly away from Matilda in terror
once it lays eyes on its adoptive mother. He concludes the rather
depressing fable with the moral, "Don't go around hatching other
folks' eggs."
After I had the opportunity to handle this lot, I wanted to have a
chat with Mr. Geisel about the happily ever after Matilda deserves.
Since that is not an option, I have decided to focus instead on
this charming illustration which features a content Matilda now
dedicated to hatching hummingbird eggs who I am certain will be far
more grateful to Matilda for all her hard work. After all, who else
would abandon her own herd to sit on a stranger's egg for the
better part of a month? Only the compassionate Matilda, that's who.
"I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's
faithful one-hundred percent!"
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A Fairy Tale Come True as Justin Schiller's
History-Spanning Collection of Children's Literature Heads to
Auction |
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By
Robert Wilonsky
In 1956, upon the occasion of L. Frank Baum's 100th
birthday, Justin Schiller loaned to Columbia University
impossible-to-find copies from the author's Land of Oz series. At
the time, Schiller, the sole son of antique-hunters, was all of 12
years old.
That head start – which began with little Justin browsing New York
City's "Book Row" along 4th Avenue, his pocket full of
nickels – "propelled me into the rare-book scene," Schiller says.
He had begun collecting at 8, and by 1960 Columbia University's
favorite pre-teen had already become one of the world's preeminent
experts in and collector of children's literature.
Sixty years later, after decades as a seller of rare and wonderous
books for kids and the grown-ups who raised them, Schiller brings
his breathtaking assemblage of extraordinary rarities to Heritage
Auctions for a one-day event spanning centuries. The Dec. 16
auction, titled Once Upon a Time: Rare
Children's Literature from Justin G. Schiller, Ltd., is a truly
historic occasion.
"It's probably going to be the most important auction of rare
children's books that has ever been held in America," Schiller
says. "I say that as modestly as I can say it."
Here, one can time travel from 1697 (a pirated copy of
Charles Perrault's Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé,
containing all eight of his beloved fairy tales) to 1837 (an inscribed copy of
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's Kinder- und Hausmärchen,
gifted to a woman who inspired and provided some of the fairy tales
to the Brothers Grimm) to the 1960s (when a young Shel
Silverstein handcrafted the first manuscript to his classic
Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book).
Here, one will find a first printing of the
first edition of the privately published The Tale of Peter
Rabbit from 1901, when no publisher would touch Beatrix
Potter's "bunny book" now one of publishing's all-time
best-sellers. And an inscribed first
printing of the first edition of Hans Christian Andersen's
Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn from 1835. And Theodor Seuss Giesel's
original drawing from 1938 titled "Matilda The Compassionate
Elefant Who Devotes her Days to the Hatching of Orphan Humming Bird
Eggs," featuring Dr. Seuss's earliest incarnation of the
character eventually called Horton.
And, of course, here, too, is a first edition of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz published 120 years
ago.
"It's just amazing, the breadth of this auction," says James
Gannon, Heritage Auctions' Director of Rare Books. "So many of the
offerings are museum-quality. Auctions always have their
highlights, and these usually limited to a handful out of many. But
thanks to Justin's diligence and determination, nearly every
offering here is a highlight."
Look no further than The Tale of Peter
Rabbit available in this event, which is not only one of
the 250 privately published copies made available in December 1901,
but one annotated by Potter herself on the copyright page, where
she has written in pencil, "F. Warne & Co 15 Bedford St Strand/to
be published in the autumn 1902." Potter paid for the copies
herself when she could find no takers, and peddled the tome to
nearby booksellers in the hopes of getting them to carry the
official release forthcoming from Frederick Warne & Co., who
eventually published 23 Potter titles between 1902 and 1930.
Here, too, is her circa-1890s
illustration Dancing to the Piper, featuring seven
bunnies frolicking to a tune played by the rabbit perched on the
stool in the center. When Gannon speaks of museum-quality, this is
such a piece: Four illustrations from "The Rabbit's Christmas
Party" series, from which the Piper comes, are featured in
the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the
world's largest repository of Potter's drawings, manuscripts and
correspondence.
Many of the artifacts that didn't find their way into the museum's
collection can be found here, among them three handwritten
manuscripts for Wag-by-Wall, which first appeared in
1944 in the pages of The Horn Book Magazine of
children's literature. And each of those comes with its own
archive: One is accompanied by
11 missives from Potter to Horn Book editor Bertha Mahony
Miller, two of which bear illustrations of a
Wag-by-Wall clock; one includes a draft
of Wag-by-Wall as part of a larger story called The
Solitary Mouse(entirely unpublished); the other features the
first American edition of the book.
And, separately, there is the 1942 questionnaire
The Horn Book Magazine asked Beatrix Potter to
complete, in which the author handwrites a biography not seen
until now, as the collection for which it was intended only saw
publication after her death in 1943. This extraordinary offering is
accompanied by two letters Potter sent to Miller, with whom she
became friends in the months before her death. The entirety
presents an intimate portrait of the writer heretofore unavailable,
and preserved by Schiller with the eye of a scholar and heart of an
admirer.
No less extraordinary is the 1837 edition of
Kinder- und Hausmärchen by Jacob and Wilhelm
Grimm.
This two-volume edition is the first enlarged, which is to say
unabridged, edition – remarkable enough. But what makes it
altogether extraordinary is the inscription inside the first
volume, in which Wilhelm Grimm writes, "Dem lieben Malchen
Hassenpflug / von seinem Treuen Freunde / Wilhelm Grimm. /
Göttingen 23 October 1837" – that is, "To dear Malchen Hassenpflug
from her true friend Wilhelm Grimm."
Malchen was merely a nickname bestowed to Amalie Hassenpflug, a
friend of the family's and one of three sisters who contributed,
significantly, to the Brothers Grimm's collection of Children's
and Household Tales. Indeed, Amalie is thought to have
contributed about 10 tales, as did her sister Jeanette, and the
eldest Marie likely contributed more than 20.
"This is Wilhelm Grimm's gift to one of the sources of the fairy
tales," says Samantha Sisler, Production Specialist in Heritage's
Rare Books department. "He wrote them down, but she's the source.
This is certainly among the most important association copies of
Grimm's Fairy Tales. To acquire a book of this significance –
collectors likely won't get another chance."
But without Charles Perrault, the world may never have heard of the
Brothers Grimm. After all, the former secretary to Jean-Baptiste
Colbert, minister to Louis XIV of France, made fairy tales of folk
stories, most famously "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Little
Red Riding Hood" among several other immortals – some of which were
nicked by the brothers for their own collection.
Of course, no Schiller sale would be complete without a copy of Perrault's
Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé, otherwise known as
Tales and Stories of the Past. And, of course, his is
one of the earliest and finest known from the year of its
publication, 1697. But what makes this copy altogether outstanding
is its origin: This was an unauthorized printing, published the
same year as the first edition, likely from a shop in Amsterdam,
proof of how quickly word spread of Perrault's work.
"It's just a tiny thing that just about fits in the palm of my
hand," Sisler says, "and yet its woodcuts are so detailed – it is
incredible."
So, too, is the handwritten
manuscript for Shel Silverstein's Uncle Shelby's ABZ
Book – a copy that looks like it was made by children for
children, though what lies beneath the slightly tattered pink
exterior is profoundly adult. After all, Silverstein, who had not
yet shown us where the sidewalk ends or flipped on the light in the
attic, had originally presented some of these pages in
Playboy; hence its declaration as a "primer for tender
young minds."
"The Silverstein manuscript is to be treasured, but there are 530
lots in this event, and just about every one is a highlight,"
Gannon says, and rightly so.
Schiller has spent decades collecting not only for his customers
and clients, but for himself. And as he likes to say, he often
wouldn't part with a book if "I hadn't found the right person who I
felt deserved our offering of it."
Until now.
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Would You Like to Join Our Team? |
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By Michael Riley
Our Historical Department encompasses several specialized areas,
two of which are seeking great people to fill needed positions. I
can testify that Heritage Auctions is a great place to
work, having been here sixteen years. "Are you a talented and
knowledgeable Americana and political specialist? This Dallas-based
position is responsible for evaluating property, acquiring
consignments, building relationships, generating and responding to
leads, participating with the catalog production and the sales
processes, and other duties." For more information,
please click here. Below
are just a few of the items you would have handled in recent
auctions. The price realized for these five items totals exactly
$1,000,000!
Or, are you a book nerd (a term I use with extreme affection)? "Our
Rare Books Department is seeking an Advanced Rare Book Cataloger to
write bibliographically accurate descriptions of rare books,
manuscripts, prints, maps and related printed collectibles material
for preparation of auction catalogs." This is one of my favorite
areas here. The people you would work with and the books you would
handle (see below) are both awesome. For more detailed
information, please click here. Below
is what exactly $1,311,750 of lots sold by our Rare Books
department can look like.
If you apply for one of these super-desirable positions, please let
Human Resources know that you saw it in the Historical
Newsletter.
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Carved Limestone from Ancient Chinese Caves
Could Reach $60,000 in Heritage Asian Art Auction
A beautiful carved limestone figure from a wall fragment in the
Longmen Caves in Henan province could bring $60,000 or more in
Heritage Auctions' Fine & Decorative Asian Art
Auction Dec. 11.
"We are proudly presenting a variety of fine and decorative Asian
works of art, including snuff bottles, jade carvings, fine dynastic
ceramics, important paintings and calligraphy etc.," Heritage
Auctions Asian Art Consignment Director Moyun Niu said. "This
auction also features a group of scholar's objects, from naturally
sculpted Suzhou scholar's rocks to exquisitely carved Zitan
brushpots."
A Chinese Carved Limestone
Seated Figure of Maitreya Buddha, Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, Henan
Province, Northern Wei Dynasty (estimate: $40,000-60,000)
originally was part of a wall fragment south of Luoyang, where it
has been suggested that related examples would have stood in niches
along the northern wall of the Guiyang cave. Figures such as the
offered example are identified as Maitreya Buddha, the successor of
the historic Sakyamuni Buddha. A very similar example is found in
the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, as illustrated by O. Sirén, Chinese
Sculptures in the von der Heydt Collection, Zurich, 1959, Catalogue
no. 11. Another depiction of Maitreya Buddha from Longmen is in the
collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. The
offered lot was purchased from Mathias Komor, who was the leading
dealer in Chinese art in New York in the post-war period and
assisted in the formation of major institutional and private
collections.
A Pair of Chinese Painted
and Gilded Pottery Lokapala, Tang Dynasty (estimate:
$30,000-50,000) depicts a pair of figures, each standing straight
up on a shaped base, with fierce face expressions and bent arms;
each wearing elaborately decorated armors with dragon motifs under
long robes, the armors and robes picked out in orange and green
pigment, and the armors richly gilded. The result of Oxford
thermoluminescence tests is consistent with the dating of this
lot.
A Tibetan Gilt Bronze
Figure of Vajrapani, 14th century (estimate: $30,000-40,000) is
a magnificent representation of one of the earliest-appearing
bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. Vajrapani is extensively
represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three
protective deities or bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha. The
bronze figure, with inset gemstones, stands 5-1/8 inches tall.
A Chinese Jade and
Hardstone-Inlaid Wood Six-Panel Screen, Qing Dynasty, 19th
century (estimate: $20,000-30,000) is an exceptional screen
that stands more than 5 feet (62 inches) high and stretches 114
inches long. Each panel is divided into three sections, the central
and bottom sections embellished with carved animals and flowering
branches, all applied with various hardstones, jade, coral,
turquoise and lapis lazuli, the top section with inscription and
various seals of Zheng Banqiao (1693-1766).
More information about Asian Art
Auctions
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Doc Savage and Spicy Stories Set World Records for Pulp
Magazines at Heritage Auctions
Numerous world records among pulp magazines were set in Heritage
Auctions' Amazing Pulps and Collectibles
Comics Auction Featuring the Joe Rainone Collection, Dec. 2, on
HA.com. This is the second such auction devoted to magazines (pulps
and otherwise) held by Heritage in as many years, but this sale
stands out for its $427,264 total auction price realized.
"Several records were broken and we saw intense bidder interest
across the board," said Rick Akers, Consignment Director and
architect of the auction. "The sale total doubled pre-auction
estimates and was a rousing success."
Key books set world auction records:
- Collectors sought high-grade copies of Doc Savage and tales of
his daring-do. The first three copies of the 1933 pulp title set
world auction records as a winning bidder paid a record $22,800 for a March 1933
copy of Doc Savage #1. Copies of the Doc Savage
#2, released in April 1933, sold for a record $10,800 and
the Doc Savage #3 set
a record when it hit $6,900.
- The auction recorded the highest auction price paid for a
February 1928 copy of
Weird Tales, after it ended at $11,400. What makes
this book a key find for collectors is the first publication of H.
P. Lovecraft's seminal literary work of weird fiction, "The Call of
Cthulhu," as well as Robert E. Howard's memorable "The Dream
Snake."
- A November 1934 copy of Spicy Adventure
Stories saw 20 bids push the copy to its highest auction
price ever at $10,200. The auction price is also the highest price
paid for the first or any Spicy pulp.
- A record $3,600 was paid for
an April/May 1938 copy of Horror Stories, the highest
recorded price of a Horror Stories pulp.
- Bidders set the highest recorded price of the first issue of
Amazing Stories,
when is sold for $2,880.
The 686-lot auction was packed with rare finds and period gems:
For more information on how to consign pulp magazines, related
books, original art and period magazines for future auctions,
contact Rick Akers, Consignment Director, at 214-409-1665 or
RickA@ha.com.
More information about Comics, Comic Art &
Animation Art Auctions
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