Rare books, autographs and maps sale crests $1M at Doyle

David Hockney, ‘Paper Pools,’ $44,100. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

NEW YORK – Doyle held a successful auction titled Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on May 11. Amid competitive bidding, the sale topped $1 million, with strong results throughout the auction.

Highlighting the sale was a copy of Les voyages du sieur de Champlain that surpassed its estimate to achieve $151,200. Champlain’s account of his voyages, published in Paris by Berjon in 1613, is one of the most important early accounts of travels in North America, and is especially rare with the complete series of maps, the large folding Carte Geographique de la Nouvelle Franse Faictte … being of especial rarity. This copy was distinguished by having all of these present, and was in a binding of the period. It had been in a religious institution, reputedly a convent, where the nuns had inked out the male figures in some of the illustrations in the text, as the naked figures offended their sense of decency.

Copy of ‘Les voyages du sieur de Champlain’ with the complete series of maps, $151,200. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

A first American edition of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from 1885 achieved an exceptional $81,900, many times its estimate of $10,000-$15,000. From the collection of Erica Jong and Ken Burrows, the book was inscribed by Twain with an autograph quotation from Pudd’nhead Wilson and a second, later inscription by Twain’s friend Poultney Bigelow.

First American edition of ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain, $81,900. Image courtesy of Doyle and LiveAuctioneers

A special section of the sale presented a remarkable selection of private press and artist books, primarily from the Margolis collection and the collection of Erica Jong and Ken Burrows. Highlighting this section was David Hockney’s Paper Pools, which realized an impressive $44,100, surpassing its $20,000-$30,000 estimate. In late summer 1978, Hockney created a series of large-format works known as Paper Pools, in which dyed paper pulp was pressed into prepared colored sheets, imitating the iridescent effects of light on the surface of water. Their creation was the subject of a 1980 limited edition, issued with an original color lithograph signed by the artist, now one of the most desirable artist books of the period.

Click to view top auction results on LiveAuctioneers: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/