Reiss & Sohn

As on the previous days, the bidding book for the geography auction was full to bursting on Thursday. Coupled with numerous telephone and live bidders, the auction continued into the evening and the auction season ended with a very good result. As has been the case recently, the atlas section was the highest-turnover section of the geography catalogue. Here, a collector’s atlas with maps by Dutch cartographers and publishers such as Blaeu, Visscher and Janssonius, published around 1660, fetched € 36,000 (estimate € 20,000/lot 1489). Four volumes (of five) of the German edition of J. Janssonius’ ‘Novus Atlas’ with 314 old coloured engraved maps, were sold to a telephone bidder for € 28,000 (estimate € 25,000/lot 1476). A magnificently coloured copy of Münster’s ‘Cosmographia’ from 1628 fetched the estimated price of € 16,000.

Another item that attracted strong bidding was a border-coloured world map in Mercator projection with extensive marginal illustrations in copperplate engraving by P. Kaerius at J. Janssonius, published in Amsterdam in 1632, which sold for € 10,000 (estimate € 8,000, lot 1485). All results and the post-auction sale are now available on our website.

We would like to thank all bidders and consignors for participating in our autumn auctions and for placing their trust in our company.

The second auction day in Königstein offered a wide range of items. Here is a brief review of some of the many highlights:

‘Natural intelligence can replace almost any degree of education, but no education can replace natural intelligence.’ One of Arthur Schopenhauer’s most famous quotes. Our customers demonstrated their education and intellect by eagerly bidding on the philosopher’s magnum opus. The first edition of ‘Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung’ (The World as Will and Representation) from 1819 fetched a hammer price of € 20,000 on the telephone (estimate € 10,000, lot 694). The other three titles penned by Schopenhauer also sold for good prices.

A larger selection of books on horsemanship in the Horses, Hunting and Forestry section of the ‘Valuable Books’ catalogue once again attracted an international audience to their computers and telephones. The small collection comprised 33 lots, 29 of which were sold during the auction. Besides classics by Cavendish, Seutter, and Löhneysen, there were numerous rarities on offer, such as Fiorentini and Löhneysen’s ‘Zwey gute und sehr nutzliche Bücher von Stangen und Mundstücken’ (Two good and very useful books on rods and mouthpieces) from 1609 (estimate € 1,000/hammer price € 4,000, lot 805) or C. Reuschel’s ‘Hippopronia’ from 1599 (lot 823, estimate € 1,200/hammer price € 3,500).

The auction of books on geography and travel began in the afternoon, starting with travel books from around the world. The most outstanding lot in this section is a very early edition of a Chinese catechism from the 17th century, which was used for the Christianisation of China until the 1930s. It is a xylographic print on fine Chinese paper in block book binding. The author, João Soeiro (1566-1607), worked as a missionary in Nanchang (Jiangxi Province) from 1595 onwards. After fierce bidding on the telephone, the hammer finally fell at € 30,000. (Lot 1114, estimate € 8,000).

A brief review of yesterday’s exciting first day of auctions in Königstein. Hundreds of live bidders around the world, floor bidders, written bidders and numerous international telephone bidders made yesterday an exciting and extremely successful day for the staff of the Reiss & Sohn auction house, with extensive bidding battles.

The first session, which focused on natural sciences, was almost completely sold out. Numerous lots were in high demand throughout the auction day due to their great rarity and significantly exceeded their estimated prices. Particularly noteworthy was the sale of the first and only edition of C. G. Ludwig’s work ‘Ectypa vegetabilium’ from 1760 ff. with 200 coloured natural prints. Here in a very rare complete copy. (Hammer price 17,000 euros, estimate 8,000 euros, lot 539). The richly illustrated books of hours on offer, each one unique and very special in its own way, also attracted great interest and triggered lengthy bidding wars. Worth mentioning are the hammer price of €34,000 for a book of hours from northern France, circa 1470 (lot 244, estimate €6,000) and the €28,000 hammer price for an equally richly illuminated book of hours from Flanders, circa 1450 (lot 243, estimate €8,000).

The Grammatellus, a textbook for learning basic Latin conversation, printed by Peter Schöffer in Mainz around 1490, with an equally rare supplement, a booklet of titles with examples of the correct form of letters to people of different social standing, found several enthusiasts and ultimately fetched an impressive hammer price of 16,000 euros (estimate 3,000, lot 298A).

These are just a few examples from the first day. All of yesterday’s results can be found in the online catalogue on our website, where you also have the opportunity to submit bids for the next two days or register as a live bidder.