LONDON.- Christie's presents Valuable Books, Manuscripts and Photographs, including Highlights from the Royal Society of Medicine, as part of Classic Week on 10th December 2025 in London. The auction will feature 205 lots, including a selection of 100 works from the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), with a total estimate of £4.4-6.3 million.

Highlights from the Royal Society of Medicine

At the heart of the sale is a selection of 100 books, manuscripts, and photographs from the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) library. The works coming to auction, with an aggregate estimate of £2.17-3.20 million, feature some of the most important names and breakthroughs in the history of medicine and science. Proceeds will be directly invested into strengthening the RSM's offer, delivering clear benefits for their members: modernised spaces, enhanced digital platforms, and expanded learning opportunities. Items not yet online will be professionally digitised, ensuring lasting access to educate and inspire generations to come.

Chief among the highlights is William Harvey's Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (1628, estimate: £800,000–1,200,000), the groundbreaking first description of blood circulation — a publication that transformed medical knowledge and practice.

Other notable lots include James Parkinson's An Essay on the Shaking Palsy (1817, estimate: £50,000-70,000), the exceptionally rare first edition of a foundational work of the neurological disease that would later bear his name, as well as a group of 18 autograph letters (estimate: £50,000-70,000) by the 'father of immunology', Edward Jenner, who coined the term 'vaccine' to describe his technique of inoculating against smallpox.

The New York Preview

Ten lots from the RSM library, including William Harvey's Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, will be on view in New York from 11th–15th October 2025. This exclusive preview offers American audiences a rare opportunity to experience these historic works in advance of the London sale. The exhibition highlights how breakthroughs in anatomy, physiology, and clinical practice shaped modern medicine.

Additional Sale Highlights

Alongside the RSM selection, the Valuable Books, Manuscripts and Photographs auction will feature:

• John Gould's The Birds of New Guinea (£70,000-100,000), his last major ornithological work and a companion to his monumental The Birds of Australia

• Daniel Elliot's A Monograph of the Phasianidae (£50,000-70,000), the most splendid of his great illustrated bird books

• Walter Cromer's Book of Hours (£100,000-150,000), written and owned by Henry VIII's personal physician, once bound with the famous Aspremont Hours now in Melbourne

• A Book of Hours (£100,000-150,000), painted c.1510 by Guillaume II Leroy, one of the most prolific and sought-after Lyonnais artists of his day, who worked for the courts of Louis XII and François I.

Renaissance Manuscripts from the Collection of Phyllis Goodhart Gordan

Christie's will also offer a group of medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts from the Collection of Phyllis Goodhart Gordan (1913-1994). As a renowned scholar of Latin and Greek, Gordan dedicated herself to the rediscovery and preservation of Classical texts that defined the Renaissance: represented here are texts of Ovid, Cicero, Statius, Plato and Lucan, among others. The highlight is an illustrated manuscript of English chronicler Ralph Higden's medieval magnum opus, the Polychronicon (£50,000 – 70,000), previously in the Duke of Newcastle's collections at Clumber Park.

Mark Wiltshire, Specialist, Books and Manuscripts at Christie's, commented: “This sale brings together a selection of highly important books, manuscripts, and photographs, which illuminate the extraordinary history of medicine, science, cartography, literature, religion and philosophy. We're thrilled the sale is being led by works from the Royal Society of Medicine, who have entrusted Christie's to bring these pieces to collectors and scholars worldwide, while ensuring that the proceeds support its future.”