Autograph letter signed to Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Camden, New Jersey, 9 August 1878

“The Good Gray Poet” to the Poet Laureate. Tennyson was the most important of of the many English literary figures who subscribed to the “Author’s Edition” of Leaves of Grass, privately issued by Whitman in 1876. Hearing that Whitman was “in great straits, almost starving,” Tennyson sent him five pounds virtually as an outright gift, rather than the more modest subscription price (Kaplan, Walt Whitman).

$60,000

The Haggadah. London: Beaconsfield Press, [1940]

FIRST EDITION of the greatest Haggadah of the 20th century, finely printed in color on vellum, published in an edition of 250 copies.  The entire edition of the celebrated Szyk Haggadah was printed on vellum.

This is Szyk’s own copy, out of series and unsigned. An accompanying provenance note states that it descended from Szyk to his heirs until it appeared for sale at Christie’s in New York in 2015.

$55,000

The Complete Writings. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1902

First edition of “the first comprehensive collection of Whitman’s work.” This is the rare deluxe issue printed on Japan vellum, number 2 of only 10 such sets, in the magnificent original morocco binding.

$45,000

The Pocket Book of Baby and Child Care. No Place, [ca. 1946.]

Spock’s book helped to revolutionize child-rearing in post-war America. Within one year of its first publication the book sold 750,000 copies, and it has since sold more than 50 million copies in ten editions and more than 40 languages. “When it appeared in 1946, the advice in Dr. Spock’s now classic book was a dramatic break from the prevailing ‘expert’ opinion. Rather than force a baby into a strict behavioral schedule, Spock, who had training in both pediatrics and psychiatry, encouraged parents to use their own judgment and common sense” (NYPL Books of the Century).

$35,000

De l’Esprit des Loix. Geneva: Barrillot, [1748]

First edition of The Spirit of the Laws, one of the most influential works of political philosophy of the eighteenth century.

$35,000

The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York and London: Longmans, Green, 1902

FIRST EDITION. Presentation copy inscribed by James to the president of Harvard: “Charles W. Eliot with affectionate regards, from William James June 21st. 1902.” Eliot, who served as president for forty years, had recruited James to join the Harvard faculty in 1872, and the philosopher remained there until 1907.

$28,000

La Historia di Italia. Florence: Lorenzo Torrentino, 1561

FIRST EDITION. A “masterpiece of scientific history,” Guicciardini’s History of Italy was “undoubtedly the greatest historical work that had appeared since the beginning of the modern era. It remains the most solid monument of Italian reason in the 16th century, the final triumph of that Florentine school of philosophical historians which included Machiavelli …” (Britannica, 11th ed.).

$28,000

General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. London: Macmillan, 1936

First edition of this classic of modern economics, “on which Keynes’s fame as the outstanding economist of his generation must rest” (DNB).

$24,000

The Second World War. London: Cassell, 1948-1954

FIRST ENGLISH EDITIONS. Signed and dated by Churchill in the first volume.

$18,500

Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital; From its First Rise, to the Beginning of the Fifth Month, called May, 1754. Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1754

FIRST EDITION of Benjamin Franklin’s account of the Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital established in the British colonies, co-founded by Franklin with his friend Dr. Thomas Bond. It remains a leading medical institution in Philadelphia.

$17,500