Author: reiss

The catalogues of REISS & SOHN’s spring auctions from 23-25 April 2024 are now available online with over 2000 lots. Once again this season, a wide range of rare, valuable and beautiful manuscripts, books, prints and travel photographs will be on offer.

Particularly noteworthy are three lavishly illuminated Latin and French books of hours for the use of Rome (estimates €20,000-30,000), each one unique, as well as the first complete edition of J. W. Weinmann’s “Phytanthoza-Iconographia” in 5 volumes. This is one of the most beautiful and comprehensive plant works of the Baroque period, here in splendid colouring (estimate €70,000).

Also on offer is J. O. Lewis’s “The Aboriginal Port Folio”, an extremely rare and earliest illustrated work with portraits of North American Indians (estimate €70,000); as well as a rare and decorative world map in double heart-shaped projection from the Salamanca-Lafreri Offizin from 1602 (estimate €35,000). In addition to this small selection, there are of course countless other treasures in a wide variety of chapters and price segments – browse for yourself!

Königstein (Taunus), Germany, November 2023

The second auction day of the large autumn auctions was also concluded with great success. The highlight of catalogue 218, a collection of important atlases comprising about 100 lots, was called yesterday at noon and attracted international audiences to bid in the hall, on the telephone and live on the screens. Particularly noteworthy in this area were the sales of the 12-volume edition of J. Blaeu’s “Le grand atlas”. The magnificently coloured and gold-heighteneded copy with over 580 engraved maps and plates fetched a proud 202,300 euros (incl. buyer’s premium).

A rare later Dutch edition of the “Atlas novus” by J. Janssonius fetched 89.250 Euro (incl. premium) and the magnificent Dutch sea atlas by P. Goos “Atlas de la Mer, ou Monde Aquatique” was sold for 65.450 Euro (incl. premium). Equally sought after was the rare and also unique compilation of French nautical charts in the 12-volume “Dépôt Général de la Marine” (proceeds incl. premium 59.500 Euro).  But not only the atlases achieved top prices, the other departments already called also look back on very good results, some in the five-figure range, including the first edition of A. N. Vaillant’s “Voyage autour du monde” in a decorative copy for 47,600 euros (incl. premium), C. P. Claret de Fleurieu’s “Voyage autour du monde” in a rare copy of the luxury variant in 4to format brought 29.750 Euro (incl. buyer’s premium) and a copy of J. de Acosta’s “America, oder wie mans zu Teutsch nennet die Neuwe Welt” with an extremely rare map of the Pacific was knocked down to a new owner for 23.800 Euro (incl. buyer’s premium).

Reiss & Sohn is looking forward to many more exciting bidding battles on today’s last auction day. The results and post-sale lists will be published promptly on our website for interested customers.

Königstein (Taunus), Germany, October/November 2023

Reiss & Sohn opened this year’s autumn auctions on the first day with great success. The most outstanding price to date of 131,000 euros (incl. buyer’s premium) was achieved after a fierce bidding battle between room, telephone and live online bidders a unique manuscript with 458 watercolours and drawings of the entire animal kingdom of Polynesia, which originate from the scientific research of Charles-Gaëtan Noury (1809-1869).

An etching “Scholar in his study, called: Faust” by Rembrandt, in an excellent impression in its first state found a new owner for 54,000 euros (including buyer’s premium). For the first edition of the famous “Encyclopédie” by D. Diderot & J. le Rond d’Alembert in a complete copy of 35 volumes, the hammer fell at 36.000 Euro (incl. premium). A richly illuminated Latin book of hours from the 2nd half of the 15th century also changed hands for an impressive 36,000 euros (including buyer’s premium). The auctions will continue until Thursday evening with catalogue 218: On offer are books and prints with a focus on geography, travel, photography, as well as important atlases, maps and decorative printss.

The 2023 Fall Auctions begin tomorrow, October 31, at 10:00 a.m.

Sign up now for Live Bidding online or send us your written bids now through our website.

Bids can now be placed on over 2000 lots of rare books, manuscripts and prints via this website.

Collectors of rare atlases can choose from almost 100 lots, including the most expensive lot of the auction, the Cosmographia of Ptolemy dated 1486 with an estimate of 280,000 Euros. Remarkable are another 19 very exquisite atlases with 5-digit estimates. Early economic literature from an important private collection forms another outstanding section of the autumn auctions.

The forgotten manuscript of the navigator and explorer Charles-Gaëtan Noury, which represents the first zoology of Polynesia with more than 450 watercolours and drawings, is unique and has an estimated price of 90,000 Euros.

Collectors and archives can choose from a total offer of over 170 lots to add rare and sought-after travelogues to their holdings, including over 30 lots in a separate chapter on the Americas.

A rich offer of rare maps can also be found at Reiss & Sohn this time. Among the absolute rarest is Antonio Lafreri’s world map of 1565 in double-heart projection (estimated price € 50,000).

The offer can also be studied on request in two richly illustrated printed catalogues

Königstein/Taunus, May 2023 – Reiss & Sohn opened its spring auctions on 3 May with numerous top results. On the evening of 6 May, around 1,600 lots had found a new owner. The most expensive lot of the auction with a hammer price of € 160,000 (estimate € 70,000) was the six-volume atlas in the geography section in the Dutch edition by the Amsterdam publisher Willem and Johann Blaeu. The magnificent copy, with 100 additional bound maps, was published under the title “Toonneel des Aerdriicx, 1635-1662.”

Right at the beginning of the auction, 99 selected books, manuscripts and incunabula, including an important collection on the theme of death and the dance of death, united in a richly illustrated special catalogue, went under the hammer. Only 13 objects did not find a buyer. The total proceeds amounted to 116% of the total estimated price of the special catalogue.
Particularly noteworthy is the result of € 90,000 (hammer price) for the most magnificent of all floral works, Basilius Besler’s “Hortus Eystettensis” (Eichstätt, ca 1750).
A small surprise was the record bid of € 90,000 (hammer price, estimate € 10,000) for P. L. Moreau de Maupertuis’ “Rélation du Voyage de Laponie” (after 1736). A French manuscript of the original account of Maupertuis’ memorable voyage to Lapland (1736-1737), printed only in abridged form, with corrections in his own hand.

For the atlas by de Wit “Atlas (Maior)”, printed with the sea atlas, published in Amsterdam after 1688, the hammer fell at € 75.000 (€ 40.000). A rare map of Africa printed in several sheets by the Venetian engraver Gastaldi from 1564 fetched the pre-auction estimate € 45.000.

An important collection on the subject of death and the dance of death with books, manuscripts and drawings will go under the hammer at Reiss & Sohn in Königstein at the beginning of May 2023. Among the almost 80 lots are the first printing of the famous woodcut series of the Basle Dance of Death by Hans Holbein, published in Lyon in 1538 (estimate 12,000 euros), a book of hours manuscript from 1475 with a miniature depicting a skeleton man with 3 arrows sitting on a sarcophagus (estimate 8. 000 euros), to Alfred Döblin’s “Stiftfräulein und der Tod” with the congenial woodcuts by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, his first book illustration work, published in Berlin in 1913 (estimate 2,500 euros). Together with selected works starting at an estimated price of 10,000 euros, this remarkable collection is offered in a special catalogue.