March 30, 2020Swann NewsSwann What Swann is Reading Right Now Read more about What Swann is Reading Right Now Finding yourself at a loss for what to read while social distancing? Take a look at what our specialists and staff are reading right now!
Read more about What—exactly—is the Swann Shelf Sale? August 8, 2019 Auctions 101 What—exactly—is the Swann Shelf Sale? This Year’s Shelf Sale Will Begin on Thursday, July 18 at 12 PM ET A Bookseller’s Bonanza The Swann Shelf Sale is something like a well-known secret within the New…
Read more about 2019 Spring Season in Review July 1, 2019 Swann 2019 Spring Season in Review A season of firsts. The 2019 spring auction season at Swann Galleries delivered an impressive range of sales, rife with auction premiers and record prices. We started our season off…
Read more about Swann Summer Reading List 2019 July 1, 2019 Swann Swann Summer Reading List 2019 As an auction house that has specialized in rare and antiquarian books for nearly 80 years, it is unsurprising that our team loves reading. What better circumstance to do so…
Read more about Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books April 17, 2019 Maps & Atlases Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books At Auction June 6 Complete Catalogue Exhibition Open June 1 – June 6 The exhibition is free to attend and open to the public. We welcome special and educational groups…
Read more about Upcoming Highlights: 19th & 20th Century Literature March 29, 2019 Books & Manuscripts Upcoming Highlights: 19th & 20th Century Literature At Auction May 14 Complete Catalogue This sale features significant material by the man behind everyone’s favorite MI6 agent, James Bond, including a first edition of Casino Royale, Ian Fleming’s…
Read more about 2018: Year in Review December 21, 2018 Swann 2018: Year in Review A year of records, debuts and rediscovered works. As we reflect on 2018, we look back at an excellent year of auctions. In April we held our highest-grossing African-American Fine Art…
Read more about How to Consign to an Auction December 14, 2018 Auctions 101 How to Consign to an Auction Thinking about selling at auction? Allow us to be of assistance. Swann is a third-generation family business and the oldest specialty auction house in New York City, known for our…
Read more about Upcoming Highlights: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books November 20, 2018 Books & Manuscripts Upcoming Highlights: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books At Auction March 7 Complete Catalogue Early manuscripts, incunabula, and post-incunabula lead the sale. These include a richly illuminated manuscript prayer book in Latin and French from the second…
Read more about Shipping it Yourself? A Few Tips September 26, 2018 Swann Shipping it Yourself? A Few Tips Guidelines for Packing & Shipping You’ve spoken to a specialist, received preliminary estimates, and are ready to send your material to Swann for placement in an auction. Thinking about…
Read more about Specialists in the Field: The Type Speaks August 24, 2018 Books & Manuscripts Specialists in the Field: The Type Speaks The Vignelli Center for Design Studies & The Cary Graphic Arts Collection at RIT Swann Specialist Christine von der Linn reports to us from Rochester, New York, where she toured renowned…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books August 11, 2018 Books & Manuscripts A Look Inside the Catalogue: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books Including Philippine Imprints At Auction October 16 Complete Catalogue The material in this characteristically diverse sale ranges from incunabula to early twentieth-century works on rocketry and space flight. …
Read more about 2017-18 Year in Review June 25, 2018 Swann 2017-18 Year in Review The 2017-18 auction season at Swann Galleries was replete with record prices and rediscovered paintings, offering works created as early as the fifteenth century and as recently as last year.…
Read more about Records & Results: Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics April 30, 2018 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics Our auction of Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics on April 26 featured highlights by artists of the twentieth century and scarce volumes from fine presses. Leading the sale…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: 19th & 20th Century Literature April 10, 2018 Books & Manuscripts A Look Inside the Catalogue: 19th & 20th Century Literature At Auction May 15 Cornerstones of science fiction from the Estate of Stanley Simon form the backbone of our May 15 auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature; of special…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics March 29, 2018 Books & Manuscripts A Look Inside the Catalogue: Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics At Auction April 26 Fine Illustrated Books & Graphics is a multifaceted auction that spans media and disciplines. Early twentieth-century graphic design and the fine arts include a never-before-offered trade catalogue…
Read more about Records & Results: Early Printed Books March 12, 2018 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: Early Printed Books Our March 8 auction of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books coincided with the opening of Rare Book Week in New York City. With 94% of offered lots sold, the…
Read more about The Earliest French Erotica February 27, 2018 Books & Manuscripts The Earliest French Erotica A titillating section in our March 8 auction of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books contains two scarce early examples of French erotica. L’Escole des Filles, ou La Philosophie…
Read more about A Look Inside the Catalogue: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books January 14, 2018 Books & Manuscripts A Look Inside the Catalogue: Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books This sale on March 8 will feature an extensive selection of early Spanish books on a variety of subjects including agriculture, heraldry and genealogy, history, horses, law, literature, medicine, theology…
Read more about 2017: Year in Review December 28, 2017 Swann 2017: Year in Review In our diamond anniversary year, we offered a star-studded roster of 30 auctions, setting nearly 100 records and introducing countless items to the market, including a previously unknown photograph of Harriet…
Read more about Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature November 16, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature Our auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature on November 14 offered a veritable library of scarce first editions and inscriptions by authors from the last two centuries. More than…
Read more about Records & Results: Early Printed Books October 20, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: Early Printed Books Our October 17 auction of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books garnered eager interest from bibliophiles, exceeding the sale’s high estimate and earning more than half a million dollars.…
Read more about Grapefruit: Yoko Ono’s Guide to Living Art June 9, 2017 Art Press & Illustrated Books Grapefruit: Yoko Ono’s Guide to Living Art Visionary Yoko Ono created “event scores” as a way to encourage people to find art and beauty in their quotidian activities. A signed first edition of her seminal self-published book…
Read more about Nahui Olin: Muse & Maker June 5, 2017 Art Press & Illustrated Books Nahui Olin: Muse & Maker Nahui Olin, the pseudonym of Carmen Mondragón, was a Mexican Surrealist active in the 1920s and ’30s. She hailed from the upper echelons of Mexican society, and fraternized with the…
Read more about A Personal Collection of Bernhardt Wall Books May 30, 2017 Art Press & Illustrated Books A Personal Collection of Bernhardt Wall Books Bernhardt Wall was an American illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. A selection of fine, early or test examples of his work were given to his…
Read more about Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature May 18, 2017 Books & Manuscripts Records & Results: 19th & 20th Century Literature First editions and inscribed copies filled the shelves at our May 16 auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature. The sale broke several auction records and encompassed a variety of genres,…
Read more about What is a Cosway-Style Binding? April 26, 2017 Books & Manuscripts What is a Cosway-Style Binding? It’s hard not to judge a book by its cover when it is encased in a fine Cosway-style binding. Two of these sumptuous decorative tomes will be coming to auction…
Read more about A Bright Light at a Dark Time: The WPA Handicraft Project November 22, 2016 Art Press & Illustrated Books A Bright Light at a Dark Time: The WPA Handicraft Project One unusual piece in our December 2016 auction of Art, Press & Illustrated Books was a six-volume folio of textiles designed and produced by the WPA Handicraft Project in Milwaukee,…
Read more about Le Corbusier’s Color Theory Sample Book November 17, 2016 Art Press & Illustrated Books Le Corbusier’s Color Theory Sample Book Before the holidays drive you up a wall, let an unusual piece in our December 1, 2016 sale of Art, Press & Illustrated Books soothe you with harmonious colors. Famed…
Read more about Ed Ruscha: “I Want To Be The Henry Ford of Bookmaking” October 18, 2016 Photographs & Photobooks Ed Ruscha: “I Want To Be The Henry Ford of Bookmaking” Edward Ruscha is a pioneer of the American photobook. Between 1962 and 1978 he produced no fewer than sixteen artist’s books, fourteen of which will be offered as a lot in Swann Galleries’…
Read more about Where He Crosses Over: Edward Gorey Posters & Postcards May 5, 2014 Vintage Posters Where He Crosses Over: Edward Gorey Posters & Postcards “I didn’t know GOREY did that poster!” That was the excited reaction of a Swann employee as she spotted the six-foot-high poster of a ballerina’s feet in five positions that…