The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko was sold at Sotheby’s on June 26th in New York as 47 lots were offered and 36 sold. Among them was the original cover art for “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” that brought $1,920,000 against $400,000 - $600,000 estimates. The sale overall brought $6,024,480.
While the above mentioned cover art made the New York Times in their June 28th edition, the sale had other appealing lots too.
Frank L. Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” (1900) brought $108,000
Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (1843) presentation copy brought $228,000
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle’s “The most significant Sherlock Holmes manuscript extant” of The Sign of the Four. It brought $960,000.
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle’s – Sidney Paget Original Illustration of “The Death of Sherlock Holmes.” It brought $384,000.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby, first edition.” It brought $336,000.
Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road; first edition.” $120,000
Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, first edition.” $264,000
Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane: $420,000
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The earliest Poe manuscript still in private hands.” $216,000
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The fever called living is conquered at last.” $504,000
Walt Whitman. “Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” $132,000
Dr. Swantko went home as a winner twice. While he converted some of his material into big bucks, he’ll still have 11 unsold lots to keep nearby. To keep his spirits up before those 11 unsold slip away, I’ll quote Ron in The Prisoner of Azkaban, “Don’t let the muggles get you down.”
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Book of Hours.- Heures de nostre dame a l'usaige de Romme, Paris, Antoine Chappiel pour Germain Hardouin, [1504]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, May 28: Colonna (Francesco). La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, second edition, Venice, Sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545. £15,000-20,000
Forum, May 28:The Christ Child holding a crystal orb and surrounded by banderoles with devotional exhortations, on a leaf most probably from a Book of Hours, [Southern Netherlands, last decades of the fifteenth century]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Jackson (Shirley). The Haunting of Hill House, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Claude Fredericks, 1960. £2,000-3,000
Forum, May 28: Lennon (John). In His Own Write, first edition, first impression, signed by the author, 1964. £3,000-4,000
Forum, May 28: Doves Press.- Keats (John). [Poems], one of 200 copies on paper, Doves Press, 1914. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Rodrigues (João Barbosa). Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensium, 2 vol., first and only edition, Brussels, 1903. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Newton (Sir Isaac). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica…editio ultima, auctior et emendatior, Amsterdam, Sumptibus Societatis, 1714. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Kepler (Johannes). Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, wuibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, first edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1604. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Tagliacozzi (Gaspare). De Curtorum Chirurgia per insitionem, libri duo, first edition, Venice, Gasparo Bindoni, 1597. £7,000-10,000
Forum, May 28: Lootsman (Jacobsz). The Lightning Colomne, or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts of the Northern, Eastern and Western Navigation..., 1670. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Ribelles y Helip (José), Attributed to. An album comprising 33 finely executed watercolours of Spanish costume, bull-fighting scenes, and other genre subjects, [circa 1830]. £10,000-15,000
