Shakespeare, Doyle, Tolkien, Austen, and Rowling are some of the great names in British literature. Their works, despite being separated by vast periods, are timeless to their fans and those who appreciate good literature and fiction. Almost everyone can claim to have read the works of at least one of these great writers, either for fun or in school.
The place of these writers and their works has long been enshrined in the public consciousness, and whilst we could all pick up their books today at any retailer, these special editions sold by Christie’s and Sotheby’s for their summer book sales are truly a must-have for any die-hard fan.
They include an original handwritten manuscript of Sherlock Holmes, one of the first 500 copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the 7th ever published version of Hamlet, a complete set of Jane Austen books, and the first American edition of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. These works, among others, represent the pinnacle of their respective pieces in both condition, quality, and rarity.
Lot 9⏐Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)⏐The most significant Sherlock Holmes manuscript extant
Written between 1889 and 1890
Complete manuscript and comes with 4 important autographed letters
Provenance:
- Joseph Marshall Stoddart (presumably the gift of the author)
- Louis Haber (presumably the gift of Stoddart)
- David Gage Joyce
- Sotheby's New York
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 26 June 2024⏐2 pm (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sherlock Holmes has been interpreted on our TV and movie screens endlessly over the years. From being played by big-name actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr., there’s nothing quite like picking up the book for a good read into Britain's favorite detective.
Noting beats the original, and how much more original can one get than an original handwritten version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second book to feature Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, The Sign of the Four. The book has Holmes and Watson assisting a young girl in finding her missing father, while a gripping story of betrayal, treasure, and murder lies hidden in the pages of this book.
On the left is the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle⏐On the right is a cover of The Sign of the Four, a version published in 2000
The original manuscript being offered by Sotheby’s is the earliest known version of the work, with it being proposed in 1889 and published in 1890 by Lippincott's, a long-since defunct monthly magazine based in the United States that published a variety of literary works and articles.
Sir Doyle had originally been approached in 1889 by an American businessman and Lippincott’s editor, Joseph Marshall Stoddart, to write another Sherlock Holmes tale for his magazine. It had been two years since Holmes and Watson made their first appearance in A Study in Scarlet.
At the same dinner at which Conan Doyle met Stoddart, there was another future Lippincott’s contributor, the famed Irish author and playwright Oscar Wilde. Eventually, The Sign of the Four would be released in Lippincott’s in February of 1890, while Wilde’s most well-known work, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was released five months later in July of 1890.
The reason this Stoddard connection is so important is because the origins of this manuscript in particular lie with the American businessman. Not only was Stoddard influential in the creation of the work, but he also wrote back and forth with Doyle, with four letters included with the manuscript.
The letters chronicle the time it took for Doyle to write the work, with him having written it rather quickly and well ahead of schedule for Stoddard.
The letters discussed an array of topics, including royalties for American book sales, the title of the book, Doyle’s praise for American authors, and publishing the work in Britain. The letters also contain extra notes, including typos and mistakes made by the author, as well as remarks by Doyle about his disdain for the modern typewriter.
One of the letters included with the manuscript written by Conan Doyle
Further elements that make the work unique are how it was a gift to Stoddard from Doyle and its wonderful hardback cover, along with the detail that went into crafting the look of the cover and work. This is also the only Sherlock Holmes work to have undergone a process of Americanization and had handwritten revision notes in it to make it palatable for Lippincott’s readers.
Doyle would end up giving away the bulk of his manuscripts, of which 35 out of the original 56 Sherlock Holmes stories have survived. Many are held by institutions and are in poor condition. This copy of The Sign of Four is the only one in such good condition, with the next closest one being a copy of The Valley of Fear sold by Sotheby’s in 1990, although that work is missing its epilogue section.
As such, the importance of this manuscript cannot be understated, as it gives us the only complete template for how Arthur Conan Doyle produced his most lauded series of works. It offers us a lens through which to view how one of the great writers of his era wrote and developed one of the most iconic detectives to be put to paper, giving this specific lot its importance in literary history.
Lot 1140⏐J.K. Rowling (b.1965)⏐An exquisite copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Published in 1997 by Bloomsbury, London
First edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 26 June 2024⏐2 pm (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$100,000 - 150,000
It is hard to have lived in this century without having heard of Harry Potter. It is a multi-media juggernaut with books, movies, plays, theme parks, video games, and an upcoming TV series. It is one of the most notable works in the early 21st-century cultural zeitgeist, and it all began with one book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
This lot is one of the earliest copies of the book and one of the first ever to be printed. This is gathered from the fact that on the publisher’s imprint page, it says “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.” This means it was from Bloomsbury’s first printing threshold and a hardback copy.
Research done shows that Bloomsbury, as part of their first printing threshold for hardbacks, only created 500 versions of The Philosopher’s Stone, and of those 500, 300 were sent to libraries. This means that this is one of the 200 extremely rare first edition hardback copies of the first Harry Potter book to exist in private hands.
In the past, hardback first editions of this work have sold incredibly well. In 2021, Heritage Auctions sold a copy to an American collector for US$471,000. That sale became the single highest amount ever paid for a work of fiction released in the 20th century.
The rarity of this work and its prime condition, with only light bumps on the top and bottom of the spine, make it an incredibly important sample of a book that spawned a franchise. Its rarity and special nature are only enhanced once you consider that there have been over 120 million copies of The Philosopher’s Stone sold worldwide since it was first published in 1997.
Lot 1114⏐William Shakespeare (1564-1616)⏐“To be, or not to be, that is the question”
Published in 1637 by R. Young, London
Provenance:
- John Smethwicke (original bookshop owner)
- George Stevens
- William E. Burton
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 26 June 2024⏐2 pm (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$100,000 - 150,000
“To be, or not to be, that is the question” are some of the most recognizable words written in playwriting history. The iconic line comes from Act 3, Scene 1, of the play, when the titular character Hamlet is questioning whether his life is still worth living, whether his challenges are still worth confronting, or whether he is better off dying.
Even if one is not familiar with the story of Hamlet or the work of Shakespeare, most could attribute these lines to one of his most famous works. It has been etched into the literary memory of those in the English-speaking world and is a work so fundamental that it is taught as part of the curriculum in many English classes.
First published in 1623, Hamlet has been considered one of the most powerful tragedies in English theater. It follows the journey of Prince Hamlet of Denmark as he seeks revenge against his uncle, who killed his father and seized the throne. The work was first played at the landmark Globe Theatre in London, and since then, the play has been acted out countless times across the world.
French actress Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet in an 1899 rendition of the play in London
The value of the work results from two main factors, with rarity being the first. This work is the fifth quarto of Hamlet, a quarto being a book with each page folded four times. It is also the seventh edition of Hamlet to ever be published. According to known records, there are only 34 of this specific published variant, with at least two in private hands.
The second factor that adds value is its provenance. Originally printed for John Smethwicke in 1637 to be sold in his shop, it’d eventually end up in the hands of George Steevens (1736–1800), nearly a century after its printing. Steevens was a British collector of literature, specifically Shakespeare.
Steevens owned several dozen rare Shakespeare works, many of which were first editions, one of which belonged to King George III. He was also known for editing Shakespeare's works into complete editions and providing commentary on the playwright. He is often considered one of the backbones of the study and editing of Shakespeare’s plays.
On the left: George Steevens (1736-1800)⏐On the right: William Evans Burton (1804-1860)
The next known owner was William Evans Burton (1804–1860), a man so obsessed with Shakespeare that he named his only son William Shakespeare Burton. Burton was heavily invested in the field of theater, being an actor, playwright, publisher, and theater manager. When he relocated to America from Britain in 1823, he became fundamental in establishing the theater and literary culture in the US.
He managed various theaters in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and even began a publishing company with Edgar Alan Poe as his editor. After his passing, part of his collection of 100,000 was put on sale, with this sale being credited with bringing many rare copies of Shakespeare’s work to the US.
Lot 70⏐Jane Austen (1775-1817)⏐The Novels
Including:
- Sense & Sensibility, published in 1811 by T. Egerton, London
- Pride & Prejudice, published in 1813 by T. Egerton, London
- Mansfield Park, published in 1814 by T. Egerton, London
- Emma, published in 1816 by John Murray, London
- Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion, published in 1818 by John Murray, London
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 27 June 2024⏐10 am (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$70,000 - 100,000
Easily one of Britain’s literary greats, Jane Austen’s works have rarely gone out of print since they were first published in the early 1800s. Known the world over by casual readers, academics, historians, and hapless students in English class, her work has also reached the silver screen in various movie adaptations.
This lot contains all six of her published novels: Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion, the last two being combined across four separate books. Her writing mainly centered around criticisms and interpretations of the English landed gentry, with much of her work focusing on women in these conservative old-money power dynamics.
Her work often analyzed how women were limited in their possibilities in life, being forced into marriage often for economic security and maintaining social standing. In this sense, her work is credited with helping pave the way for 19th-century realist novels that criticize more sentimental novels, with Sense & Sensibility essentially being a satire of the sentimentalism genre.
A colorized portrait of Jane Austen
With her works being so influential and widely read, there is no question that a full set of her novels, all 1st editions except for Mansfield Park, which is a 2nd edition, would be highly prized by any fan of literature. They are all in excellent condition and have been well-maintained and repaired over the years as required.
Lot 97⏐J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)⏐The Hobbit, First American Edition
Published in 1938 by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 27 June 2024⏐10 am (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$70,000 - 100,000
Tolkien and his work need no introduction. A philologist by training, he was writing children's books when he began creating the basis for the Elvan language. This evolved into The Hobbit, a story about Bilbo Baggins, who travels with a group of dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf to Lonely Mountain to recover the dwarves’ lost treasure from the evil dragon Smaug.
The story features twists and turns, fantastical races, and dragons. It also laid the groundwork for the Lord of the Rings series, which would come out in the 1950s. The work spawned a multi-media empire with several movies, TV series, and video games made from the quintessential fantasy series. This is interesting to consider, as The Hobbit itself was an unexpected success.
In 2002, Tolkien was named in a BBC poll as the 92nd greatest Briton of all time, and this, along with his numerous achievements in the realms of writing and philology, has made him one of the most recognizable names in literature.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) pictured here in the 1920s
Other Highlighted Lots:
Lot 1152⏐William Shakespeare (1564-1616) - Alberto Sangorski (1862-1932) [illuminator]⏐“A rose by any other name…”
Published in 1927 by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Full Title: The Potency of Love and Love Sonnets
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 26 June 2024⏐2 pm (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$25,000 - 35,000
Lot 52⏐John Milton (1608-1674)⏐Paradise Lost
Published in 1669 by S. Simmions, London
Provenance:
- T. Helder (bookshop owner)
- John Bancker Gribbel (1858-1936)
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 27 June 2024⏐10 am (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$8,000 - 12,000
Lot 43⏐Edmund Spenser (1552/1553-1599)⏐Colins Clouts Come home againe
Published in 1595, London
Provenance:
- William Ponsonbie
- Hugh Perkins
- John Camp Williams
- James F. Drake
- Doris Louise Benz
- Collection of Dr. K. William Harter
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 27 June 2024⏐10 am (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$8,000 - 12,000
Lot 48⏐William Shakespeare (1564-1616)⏐The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Published in 1632 by Thomas Coates, London
Provenance:
- Bonhams, 5 December 2018, lot 126
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 27 June 2024⏐10 am (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$8,000 - 12,000
Lot 89⏐Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) & Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)⏐Treasure Island
Published in 1981 by Scribner's Sons, New York
Provenance:
- Jack Henry (friend of Andrew Wyeth)
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana
Bidding Closes: 27 June 2024⏐10 am (local New York Time)
Estimate: US$6,000 - 8,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana
Date and time: 12 - 26 June 2024
Total Lots: 205
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts including Americana
Date and time: 13 - 27 June 2024
Total Lots: 171