.
.
.
#BookAuctions #RareBooks #CaptainVancouver #ExplorationHistory #FirstEditions #AntiqueMaps #HistoricalManuscripts #AuctionFinds #CollectibleBooks #TravelLiterature #CaptainCook #RareManuscripts #BookCollectors #AuctionHighlights #HistoricalDocuments
New England Book Auctions held a two-session sale on March 25 and April 2, offering more than 450 lots of books, lithographs, and other items in their Early Printing Americana Exploration & Selections from the Inventory of Periodyssey auction. The sale achieved a total of $100,000, with a sell-through rate of approximately 90 percent. Paul Muller-Reed, principal at New England Book Auctions, noted that the auction attracted international interest, with buyers from Hong Kong, Europe, and the Middle East. The sale featured a mix of travel books, historical accounts, poetry, and Americana, with several standout lots achieving notable prices.
The top lot of the auction was a four-volume set of Captain George Vancouver’s A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World…, published in London in 1798. This first edition, which included three text volumes and an atlas, documented Vancouver’s survey of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans from 1790 to 1795. The text volumes contained 18 engraved plates, while the atlas featured 16 folding maps and plans. Rebound in a contemporary style, the set was described as one of the most important voyages for the history and cartography of the Northwest coast, particularly Alaska. It sold for $10,800 to a buyer in England.
The second-highest price was achieved by a four-volume second edition of Captain James Cook’s A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean…In The Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780, commonly known as Cook’s Third Voyage. Published in London in 1785, this edition included three text volumes with 54 engraved plates, maps, and charts, as well as an atlas with 84 engraved plates. The second edition is considered typographically superior to the first, and this set, rebacked in contemporary style, sold for $6,000.
Other travel-related lots also performed well. Filippo De Filippi’s Karakoram and Western Himalaya, 1909, an account of the expedition of Prince Luigi Amadeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, exceeded its estimate of $800-$1,200 to sell for $1,560. Published in London in 1912, the edition included a preface by the
