NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announces the spring various owner sale of Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, encompassing over 200 lots including autograph manuscripts, cartography, literature, and scientific artifacts to take place on June 15, 2017 at Christie’s New York.

The sale begins with The Eric C. Caren Collection: How History Unfolds on Paper, a single-owner collection of over 100 lots of autograph material, first-hand accounts, and historical documentation of events from the 16th-20th centuries.

Additional highlights include rare artist’s books featuring a presentation copy of the first edition of Francisco Goya y Lucientes’ Los Caprichos, 1799, the earliest in the sequence of Goya’s four great intaglio series, with early impressions of all the aquatints in a contemporary Madrid binding presumably commissioned by the artist (estimate: $500,000-700,000). Additionally featured is a superb copy of the rare first edition by Andrew J. Russell (1830-1902), The Great West Illustrated in a series of Photographic Views across the Continent; taken along the Line of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1869, one of the most important photobooks of its century, which provides a remarkable visual record of the opening of the American west (estimate: $120,000-180,000).

Also included in the sale are milestones of technological advancement including A Working Apple-1 Personal Computer, Palo Alto, 1976 (estimate: $300,000-500,000); A Four-Rotor Enigma Cipher Machine, 1944 (estimate: $300,000-500,000); and historical objects highlighted by John F. Kennedy’s (1917-1963) Personal Rosary Beads and Sterling Silver Crucifix (estimate: $300,000-400,000).

On the same day, the Books & Manuscripts department will also present two stand-alone auctions, The Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection at 10am and The Ornithological Library of Gerald Dorros, MD at 11:30am.

SALE HIGHLIGHTS
KENNEDY, JOHN F. (19171963). KENNEDY'S PERSONAL ROSARY BEADS AND STERLING SILVER CRUCIFIX, PRESENTED BY KENNEDY TO HIS BEST FRIEND AND SPECIAL ASSISTANT, DAVID POWERS. $300,000-400,000

LINSCHOTEN, JAN HUYGEN VAN (15631611). ITINERARIO VOYAGE OFTE SCHIPVAERT NAER OOST OFTE PORTUGAELS INDIEN. AMSTERDAM: CORNELIS CLAESZ., 1596-1595. $150,000-200,000

VESALIUS, ANDREAS (1514-64). DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA LIBRI SEPTEM.BASEL: JOHANNES OPORINUS, JUNE 1543. $280,000-350,000

HILL, JOHN (CA 1714-1775). THE VEGETABLE SYSTEM. LONDON: THE AUTHOR, 1759-1773, 1786, 1774-1775. $100,000-150,000

ADDITIONAL AUCTIONS:

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD COLLECTION 15 June 2017 | 10am
The Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection, a dedicated auction of approximately 90 lots of rare musical manuscripts and memorabilia, represents a selection of autograph material from some of the most important composers of the Western classical tradition spanning from the Baroque era to the 20th-century. Additionally, two exquisite pieces of jewelry will be sold in the Magnificent Jewels auction on June 20, 2017. Funds from the sale will benefit the Opera Guild and the Metropolitan Opera.

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL LIBRARY OF GERALD DORROS, MD 15 June 2017 | 11:30am
The Ornithological Library of Gerald Dorros, MD, encompasses the iconic volumes created in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, which transformed the world’s understanding of “nature” through the diligent research and documentation found in these tomes. This choice collection highlights works by the masters of ornithological art — John James Audubon, John Gould, and Saverio Manetti — and includes several fine presentation copies