The catalogue for our recent auction featured numerous fantastic items, many being very scarce and collectible. The Norman Lindsay material proved highly popular, achieving strong results across the board. The three unprinted manuscripts each sold individually for $12,600 (IBP). Other Lindsay highlights included the sale of the original pen and ink drawings done by Lindsay for the book Dust or Polish. All nine of them sold for prices ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 (IBP). ‘Mother Goose Rhymes Censored’ with the Lindsay watercolour on the cover reached $3,720 (IBP) and the three works by Seaforth Mackenzie Inscribed to Norman Lindsay achieved $4,320 (IBP).
Once again, maps proved to be very popular. The 1728 map of the Ottoman Empire sold for $1,320 (IBP), the Mitchell Map of NSW reached $8,400 (IBP) and the 1900 Map of Sydney achieved $960 (IBP). Exploration titles also sold well, with a highlight being the ‘1744 Harris Voyages’ going under the hammer for $9,600 (IBP). Other featured results from the sale included the Kelly Gang CDV achieving $12,000 (IBP), the painting of Kate Kelly going for $3,600 (IBP), the ‘Holtermann’s Life Preserving Drops’ poster reaching $1,800 (IBP), a rare copy of artists book WIPE selling for $780 (IBP) and a copy of ‘The Cricket Match Schottische’ 1857 sheet music achieving $900 (IBP).
The clearance rate for the books, maps and prints was over 85%, many of them selling towards the upper end of their estimates or well beyond. The carte de visites that featured heavily early in the sale did not sell as well as we had hoped, however post sale offers has seen this result improve markedly. Once again, a key indication of this auction is that quality material of a rare and collectible nature continues to be highly sought after. Maps, exploration and scarce Australiana are strong categories, however condition of the items is paramount.
Our next sale is scheduled for early August.