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26 January 2024

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SOLD ! The LIVRES RARES ET MANUSCRITS sale  totaled €992,376 

1 preemption by the Bibliothèque nationale de France  46% of lots sold above high estimate      
Paris France 26 January 2024
SOLD !
The LIVRES RARES ET MANUSCRITS sale  totaled €992,376 

THE SALE AT A GLANCE :  

Sale overview : From 22 June to 5 July, Christie’s Paris online-only Livres rares et Manuscrits auction invited international collectors and booklovers to an exploration of seven centuries of writing and printing. From 16th century printed books to the most daring livres d’artistes, from Diderot, Callot and Napoleon, to Braque, Duchamp and Éluard, the sale was an invitation to discover the shapes and visions of the book through the years. (read more) 

Sale’s total : €992,376   

Pre-sale estimates: €845,000-1,200,000 

Number of lots : 210 

 

THE TOP LOT OF THE SALE : 

Lot number : 14 

Work : DIDEROT, Denis (1713-1784), Jean le Rond D'ALEMBERT (1717-1783) et d'autres, Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire des sciences, des arts et des métiers par une société de gens de lettres.  

Sold for €81,900 

Lot essay: here 

PREEMPTION & HIGH PERFORMING LOTS: 

  • Preemption by the Bibliothèque nationale de France  

MISSEL À L'USAGE DE NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS, Manuscrit enluminé sur vélin, en latin [Paris, fin XIVe ou début XVe siècle]. Sold for €56,700, Estimate: €40,000-60,000 (lot 1) 
 

  • [JEUX SURRÉALISTES] Frédéric DELANGLADE (1907-1970): A fascinating archive, mostly linked to the Surrealists' reinvention of the traditional playing cards.  
    Sold for €22,500, Estimate: €4,000-5,000 (lot 176) 

 

  • SÉGUR, Sophie Rostopchine, comtesse de (1799-1874), 3 copies with signed autographs. 1864-1866. Sold for €21,420, Estimate: €2,000-3,000 (lot 127) 

 

  • VALÉRY, Paul (1871-1945), Le Cimetière marin. Paris : Émile Paul Frères, 1920. Arches wove copy of the first edition of one of Valéry's most lauded poems, in a superb allusive binding by Pierre-Lucien Martin. Sold for €12,600  Estimate : €700-1,000 (lot 201) 

 

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* Please note when quoting estimates above that other fees will apply in addition to the hammer price - see Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of the sale catalogue. *Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium.