Apr 11, 2025 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
135
The Will & Ariel Durant Collection: An important archive of manuscripts and correspondence
DURANT, WILL & ARIEL
The Will & Ariel Durant Collection: An important archive of manuscripts, galleys, photographs, personal and professional correspondence. The collection in two distinct groups: First, the manuscripts, galleys, proofs, etc., housed in twenty-three blue morocco backed cloth cases; and second, the correspondence beautifully presented in twelve large format vari-colored morocco bindings. In all, the archive comprises thousands of pages of manuscript, typescript, galleys and proofs, personal and professional correspondence, and other personal artifacts such as passports, all nicely organized and presented. The entirety requires about 10 running feet of shelf space (3 meters), the largest manuscript box 15 x 10 inches (38 x 25 cm); the correspondence albums 14 x 12 inches (35.5 x 30 cm). The condition immaculate overall but with infrequent staining, wear, markings, signs of handling, etc. Provenance: Profiles in History (the lot accompanied by an comprehensive description available on request).
The most substantial archive of Will & Ariel Durant known in private hands. Collaborative authors of the eleven volume The Story of Civilization, written over four decades, and other works of note, the present archive includes manuscripts, drafts, and personal correspondence and is well-worthy of institutional consideration.
Highlights of the collection include: the personal letters between Will & Ariel Durant from 1919-1961, described in the precis as the "sweetheart letters," these are letters written between the Durants when not travelling together, on speaking engagement tours, etc. They comprise albums A-F of the correspondence. The remaining albums comprise correspondence from others including notables such as the British writer John Cowper Powys (about 30); Will Rogers; Olivia DeHavilland; President Harry S. Truman (2); President Herbert Hoover; President Gerald Ford; Richard Nixon; H.G. Wells; Henry Kissinger; Norman Mailer; President Dwight D. Eisenhower; President Lyndon B. Johnson; Bertrand Russell; Richard Byrd (2); Guglielmo Marconi; Theodore Dreiser; Charles Chaplin; H.L Mencken; Charles M. Schwab; Bernard Baruch (5); George Bernard Shaw; and others. Photographs include a few inscribed by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; an original photograph of Rabindrinath Tagore with Will Durant; Mahatma Gandhi (shown holding Durant's book); Will Durant with Walt Disney, etc.
Of the twenty-three boxes of manuscripts and galleys, at least five relate to the Durant's best-known work The Story of Civilization, including a box loaded with manuscript pages and various typescripts about the overall work, a box of annotated typescripts titled "Additions," box titled The Rape of Poland containing about 400 typed pages, a remarkable box containing four bound notebooks being the manuscript of a large portion of The Age of Reason, and a box containing box referencing The Age of Napoleon (which was the title of the final volume of The Story of Civilization).
Will & Ariel Durant's 1970 Interpretations of Life, a critical survey of contemporary literature, is housed in five boxes offering the manuscript, typescript, preface, and unpublished sheets. Similarly, Will & Ariel Durant's A Dual Autobiography, written in the late 1970s, is well represented with two boxes holding about 13 spiral notebooks of the manuscript; two boxes housing the first and second drafts; and the final box holding the galley proofs. Other boxes house the manuscript and galleys of Adventures in Genius; Fallen Leaves; and Interviews with the Durants. Finally, also included are the Durant's numerous travel journals and diaries, passports and postcards.
The remarkable archive important historians. The contribution of the Durants to the study and popularization of history in the 20th century cannot be understated. These papers offer invaluable insights to the Durant's travels and research, writing and editing, collaborative working method and personal relationship.
Sold for $12,800
Estimated at $20,000 - $30,000
Includes Buyer's Premium
DURANT, WILL & ARIEL
The Will & Ariel Durant Collection: An important archive of manuscripts, galleys, photographs, personal and professional correspondence. The collection in two distinct groups: First, the manuscripts, galleys, proofs, etc., housed in twenty-three blue morocco backed cloth cases; and second, the correspondence beautifully presented in twelve large format vari-colored morocco bindings. In all, the archive comprises thousands of pages of manuscript, typescript, galleys and proofs, personal and professional correspondence, and other personal artifacts such as passports, all nicely organized and presented. The entirety requires about 10 running feet of shelf space (3 meters), the largest manuscript box 15 x 10 inches (38 x 25 cm); the correspondence albums 14 x 12 inches (35.5 x 30 cm). The condition immaculate overall but with infrequent staining, wear, markings, signs of handling, etc. Provenance: Profiles in History (the lot accompanied by an comprehensive description available on request).
The most substantial archive of Will & Ariel Durant known in private hands. Collaborative authors of the eleven volume The Story of Civilization, written over four decades, and other works of note, the present archive includes manuscripts, drafts, and personal correspondence and is well-worthy of institutional consideration.
Highlights of the collection include: the personal letters between Will & Ariel Durant from 1919-1961, described in the precis as the "sweetheart letters," these are letters written between the Durants when not travelling together, on speaking engagement tours, etc. They comprise albums A-F of the correspondence. The remaining albums comprise correspondence from others including notables such as the British writer John Cowper Powys (about 30); Will Rogers; Olivia DeHavilland; President Harry S. Truman (2); President Herbert Hoover; President Gerald Ford; Richard Nixon; H.G. Wells; Henry Kissinger; Norman Mailer; President Dwight D. Eisenhower; President Lyndon B. Johnson; Bertrand Russell; Richard Byrd (2); Guglielmo Marconi; Theodore Dreiser; Charles Chaplin; H.L Mencken; Charles M. Schwab; Bernard Baruch (5); George Bernard Shaw; and others. Photographs include a few inscribed by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; an original photograph of Rabindrinath Tagore with Will Durant; Mahatma Gandhi (shown holding Durant's book); Will Durant with Walt Disney, etc.
Of the twenty-three boxes of manuscripts and galleys, at least five relate to the Durant's best-known work The Story of Civilization, including a box loaded with manuscript pages and various typescripts about the overall work, a box of annotated typescripts titled "Additions," box titled The Rape of Poland containing about 400 typed pages, a remarkable box containing four bound notebooks being the manuscript of a large portion of The Age of Reason, and a box containing box referencing The Age of Napoleon (which was the title of the final volume of The Story of Civilization).
Will & Ariel Durant's 1970 Interpretations of Life, a critical survey of contemporary literature, is housed in five boxes offering the manuscript, typescript, preface, and unpublished sheets. Similarly, Will & Ariel Durant's A Dual Autobiography, written in the late 1970s, is well represented with two boxes holding about 13 spiral notebooks of the manuscript; two boxes housing the first and second drafts; and the final box holding the galley proofs. Other boxes house the manuscript and galleys of Adventures in Genius; Fallen Leaves; and Interviews with the Durants. Finally, also included are the Durant's numerous travel journals and diaries, passports and postcards.
The remarkable archive important historians. The contribution of the Durants to the study and popularization of history in the 20th century cannot be understated. These papers offer invaluable insights to the Durant's travels and research, writing and editing, collaborative working method and personal relationship.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, Apr 11, 2025
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Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on April 11, 2025
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The Latin Grammar of Toulouse-Lautrec, Illustrated with Hundreds of Small Drawings Tops $70k
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We Invite You to Contact Us for a Complimentary Auction Evaluation of Your Collection
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle presented an auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 10am. The sale included an extensive collection of illustrated books and fine bindings, many from a private collection purchased at auction in the 1970s and off the market until the present time. Here are copies of the first edition of Nerciat’s erotic classic Le Diable au Corps, and an early and curiously illustrated edition of the exceedingly naughty Academie des Dames. From the same collection comes a splendid Levitzky binding with batik endpapers on a work illustrated by Georges Barbier, with an original watercolor by the master. Many finely bound sets are featured in the sale, most notably an exceptionally luxurious set of Charles Dickens, one of 15 copies bound in sixty volumes, in superb red levant morocco with onlays.
As usual, the sale included a selection of interesting maps and atlases, such as a copy of Turgot’s 1734 bird’s eye plan of Paris, and a finely colored celestial map by Andreas Cellarius. Additionally, there is a sizable group of globes and instruments in the auction, including a pair of 15-inch library globes and a 20-inch celestial globe by Cary, as well as three English pocket globes, a “dissected” paper globe, and a collection of rare pocket-sized navigational instruments and sundials, notably an exquisite 17th century silver “Butterfield” type sundial by the Parisian instrument maker Pierre Sevin.
One lot that bears special note is the Latin grammar owned by the young Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, used by him while studying for his baccalaureate examination. In this, the artist has penned hundreds of tiny ink sketches, ranging from studies of horses to caricatured faces. Toulouse-Lautrec was 16 to 17 years old at the time, and his genius was just starting to declare itself, evident in the precocious studies of horses in this work, which make the annotations far more compelling than mere juvenalia. (Read More)
Americana is highlighted by a career-spanning archive of letters of Major General Israel Bush Richardson (1815-1862), from his West Point days until his death at Antietam. (Read More). The range of early printing features a complete copy of Graevius’s great 1722 work on Venice, the Splendor Magnificentissimae Urbis Venetiarum Clarissimus with the two large folding plates of the city and all the double-page views of piazzas and palazzos.
The Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
Property from the Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford offered approximately 75 lots of signed books and memorabilia relating to the political career of President Ford and watches, jewelry, and decorative items owned by and gifted to the Fords. Of note is Gerald Ford’s copy of the Official Report of the Warren Commission, of which he was a member, inscribed to him with appreciation from President Lyndon Johnson and each member of the commission. It was John “Jack” Ford who brought George Harrison to the White House, the first of the Beatles to visit, and offered in the sale are two inscribed books on Eastern thought. Of the jewelry, President Ford’s Omega and Piaget watches are offered, as is a sapphire ring that belonged to First Betty Ford. Among the gifts presented to the Fords on their world travels are jewelry items and keepsakes from Jordan and Oman, several in high karat gold. View Lots
Order of Sale
Lots 1–8 Sports and mountaineering
Lots 9–45 Americana
Lots 46–57 Travel
Lots 58–73 Maps and atlases, globes and instruments
Lots 74–114 Antiquarian books and manuscripts
Lots 115–120 Economics and the World Wars
Lots 121–163 Literature (including literary autographs)
Lots 164–178 Color plate books
Lots 179–189 Library sets
Lots 190–215 Fine bookbindings: English, French and Russian
Lots 216–220 Fore-edge paintings
Lots 221–233 Curiosa
Lots 234–249 Limited Editions Club
Lots 250–261 Private press and fine printing
Lots 262–276 Illustration and children's books
Lots 277–280 Applied Art
Lots 281–306 Books on Fine Art and Livres d'artistes
Lots 307–318 American autographs
Lots 319–340 American Presidential documents and signatures
Lots 340–End Property from the Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
PAYMENT
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· By credit card (an additional 3.5% fee will be charged)
· By wire transfer. For instructions, please email client.accounts@Doyle.com
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