NEW YORK, NY.- On December 2, Christie’s is pleased to offer Beautiful Evidence: The Library of Edward Tufte, a superb sale comprised of nearly 200 rare books, including major works in the history of science, statistical graphics, 20th-century artists books, and Edward Tufte artworks. Formed over the past thirty years, this important and rare collection documents his research, scholarship, writing, design and artwork, from the 15th through the 20th centuries.

Highlights include:

• Colonna, Francesco (1433-1527). Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, ubi humana omnia non nisi somnium esse docet atque obiter plurima scitu sanequam digna commemorat, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499. The first edition of the most celebrated illustrated printed book of the Italian Renaissance. Estimate: $400,000 – 600,000

• Bayer, Johann (1572-1625). Uranometria, omnium asterismorum continens schemata, nova methodo delineata, aeris laminis expressa. Augsburg: Christoph Mang, 1603. The first edition of the first accurate star atlas. Estimate: $40,000 – 60,000

• Tomlinson, Kellom (ca 1690-1753). The Art of Dancing explained by Reading and Figures. London: Printed for the Author, 1744. An extremely rare work on the principles of Baroque dance. Estimate: $5,000 – 7,000

• Euclid- Byrne, Oliver. The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners. London: Charles Whittingham at the Chiswick Press for William Pickering, 1847. Estimate: $4,000 – 6,000

• Picasso, Pablo and "Roch GREY" [i.e. Hélène Baronne D'OETTINGEN (d.1950)]. Chevaux de minuit. Cannes and Paris: l'Imprimerie Union for Degré Quarante et Un, 1956. A very fine copy, inscribed with an original drawing by Picasso. Estimate: $80,000 – 120,000

• Ernst, Max (1891-1976). Maximiliana ou l'Exercise illégal de l'Astronomie. Paris: Iliazd, 1964. Estimate: $80,000 – 120,000

• Tufte, Edward. Complete set of Cognitive Art prints, 18" x 30" (2) and 14½" x 30"(3). Estimate: $600 – 800

• Tufte, Edward. Airport Signal People. 2010. Digital print, electronic sequencing lights. Width 5.7 feet (1.7 meters). Estimate: $60,000 – 80,000

Edward Tufte (b. 1942)
Edward Tufte wrote, designed, and self-published four classic books on analytical design: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1983, 2001), Envisioning Information (1990), Visual Explanations (1997), and Beautiful Evidence (2006). These books have received 30 awards for content and design and have 2 million copies in print. The New York Times described Edward Tufte as the “da Vinci of data,” and Business Week as the “Galileo of graphics.” He served as a Professor at Princeton University and Yale University for 33 years, and has received 7 honorary degrees. In March 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Edward Tufte to the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel to help insure the accountability and transparency of recovery expenditures.

He recently founded his own art museum/gallery, ET Modern, in New York's Chelsea art district. Edward Tufte has had major exhibits at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Artists Space in New York, the A+D Museum in Los Angeles, and The Modern Shop in Woodbury, CT. He has participated in group shows at The Drawing Center and 8 other museums and galleries. Since 1999 he has completed 50 large-scale outdoor pieces, 150 table pieces, and many prints and stainless-steel engravings. During an interview with Edward Tufte, Scott Simon of NPR described ET Modern: “The man known as ET is an accomplished grand scale sculptor. ET’s gallery in Chelsea has the look of what might be a playroom for children – at MIT.”