Valuable Books and Manuscripts (Christie’s)

NEWTON, Isaac. Autograph manuscript. £30,000-50,000

WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig. Autograph letter signed Moritz Schlick. £15,000-20,000

CHURCHILL, Winston Spencer. Two typescript speeches, including significant autograph revisions and corrections, a speech to the House of Commons and a radio broadcast on the death of Queen Mary, given at the House of Commons and at the BBC, 25 March 1953. £1,200-1,800

EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph letter signed. “The birth of the cosmological constant: a detailed explanation of the development of one of Einstein’s most famous concepts.” £60,000-90,000

EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph letter signed… On ‘time’s arrow’. £80,000-120,000

EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph letter signed. “A comprehensive account of the formal logic behind his entire life’s work, tracing the path from special relativity to general relativity and the unified field theory.” £100,000-150,000

COLUMNA, Guido de (c 1210 – after 1280) Historia destruction…£120,000-180,000

TERENTIUS AFER, Publius (195/185-159 BC) Eunuchus, in German… £200,000-300,000

BESLER, BASILIUS. Hortus Eystettensis, Spring and Autumn parts. [Nuremberg]: 1613. “Deluxe copy of the first edition of the most celebrated botanical work ever published…” £600,000-900,000

First edition of DARWIN’s Origin of Species. £60,000-90,000

RICCI, Mateo. Kunyu Wanquo Quantu ‘A Map of the Myriad Countries of the World’ or ‘Complete Geographical Map of all the Kingdoms of the World’. “Two exceptionally rare manuscript maps, perhaps made for the Chinese imperial court, showing the fusion of western and eastern cartography, iconography and mythology.” £80,000-120,000

ARISTOTELES. Opera, in Greek. “Editio princeps of the works of Aristotle, the most important Greek-printing project of the 15th century, and the greatest achievement in Aldus’s Greek publishing programme…” £300,000-500,000

First edition of the KING JAMES BIBLE, with the reading ‘he’ in Ruth 3:15 £140,000-180,000

First edition of DESCARTES’ Discours de la methode. £40,000-60,000

First edition of MARX’S Das Kapital. “A fine copy of one of the most iconic books of the modern era.” £30,000-50,000

First edition of MILTON’s Areopagitica. “…History’s greatest defence of the freedom of expression.” £25,000-35,000

First edition of SMITH’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.  £70,000-100,000