Source : Harmsworth

Source Title The Harmsworth Trust Library (auctioned in portions)
Description Beginning in 1939 and continuing into 1953, the extraordinary library of Sir. R. Leicester Harmsworth was sold by Sotheby's of London. Sir Leicester (1870 - 1937), who lived during the golden age of valuable and important book acquisition, was a man born to meet the challenge of investing in materials of breathtaking scope. More than sixty-five years after his death a Google search still brings up pages of references to this wealthy and gifted man who pursued with total passion an extraordinary collection of printed materials.
Scope of Text In the this database there are records from a portion of the Harmsworth Library. But consider this. When the Americana portion of the library came to the block for the first time in 1948 the first catalogue (but number 15 of all his books auctioned) was entirely manuscripts. Americana would be sold in 19 parts divided by alphebetic letter. The second Americana sale was simply those items whose author or subject began with the letter B. Pity the poor man who wanted to buy a book by Zarate. For such a book you had to wait until the final Americana sale in 1953.
Total Records in AED 5068
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
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