Freeman’s Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts Auction Achieves Exceptional Results, Led by Rare Shakespeare, Faulkner, Maugham, and Hemingway Highlights

Freeman’s Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana auction on November 13 delivered a standout $1,251,140 total, driven in part by several strong single-owner sessions in which nearly every lot found a buyer. Overall, the auction achieved an impressive 128% sell-through rate by value and sold 91% of all lots, with 16% of buyers participating in a Freeman’s sale for the first time.

 

Lot 208 | SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616). Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Published according to the true Original Copies. The Third Impression. [London: Printed for Philip Chetwinde, 1663]. Sold for $121,150

 

Christopher Brink, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts, indicated, “It was an exceptionally strong day of bidding across all categories, with the majority of lots surpassing their low estimates—and, in several notable cases, achieving two to three times their pre-sale valuations. A number of offerings were fresh to the market, a rarity that invariably commands significant interest and robust prices among discerning collectors.”

 

Lot 21 | FAULKNER, William (1897-1962). The Sound and the Fury. New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1929. Sold for $15,360

 

A Landmark Offering of the Thurston Roach Faulkner Collection

The sale opened with the collection of noted Seattle collector Thurston Roach, where all but one of the 71 lots found a buyer. Over the past three decades, Mr. Roach assembled one of the world’s finest Faulkner collections, including the complete bibliography of William Faulkner’s works—the first time such a comprehensive grouping has appeared at auction—alongside significant works by major modern authors such as Twain, Steinbeck, Remarque, Milne, and others. Leading the group was The Sound and the Fury (Lot 21), a first edition of Faulkner’s first major novel in the first-state dust jacket, achieving $15,360 against a low estimate of $9,000. Set in fictional Yoknapatawpha County, the novel follows the Compson family as they grapple with the decline of their family’s standing. Though not an immediate commercial success, it later became Faulkner’s most celebrated work—and, by his own admission, the one whose composition “caused him the greatest agony.” Another standout was The Marble Faun (Lot 16), which realized $8,320. This rare first edition—Faulkner’s first book—comprises a pastoral cycle of poems. While the publisher initially required Faulkner to pay for production costs, financial support from mentor Phil Stone ultimately made the project possible. Only a small number of copies are believed to have survived; this example features variant endpapers of heavier stock.

 

Lot 167 | MAUGHAM, W. Somerset (1874-1965). Of Human Bondage. A Novel. London: William Heinemann, 1915. Sold for $38,400

 

Part One of the W. Somerset Maugham Collection of Craig V. Showalter

The next session featured Part One of the W. Somerset Maugham Collection of Craig V. Showalter, one of the world’s foremost Maugham collectors. His comprehensive library includes some of the rarest and most significant Maugham material known to survive. The star lot was a presentation copy of Of Human Bondage (Lot 167) in the exceedingly rare, suppressed dust jacket—one of only four known copies that sold for $38,400. Inscribed by Maugham to a New York collector on the half-title, this example is widely regarded as one of the finest copies extant. Its original jacket, cancelled shortly before publication, is among the scarcest in modern literature. Another highlight, The Making of a Saint (Lot 162), achieved $10,880 against an estimate of $6,000–8,000. The first English edition of Maugham’s second book, it retains an exceedingly rare dust jacket not recorded in Stott’s bibliography.

 

Richard Flaherty’s Shakespeare Library Achieves 100% Sell-through

Selections from Richard Flaherty’s distinguished Shakespeare library were also offered, achieving a perfect 100% sell-through rate. The auction’s top lot was a previously unrecorded copy of the rare Third Folio (Lot 208), which realized $121,150—more than triple its low estimate. This exceedingly rare first-issue example lacks both the portrait leaf and the seven added plays, and until recently was unknown to the Shakespeare Folio census. Long considered the scarcest of the seventeenth-century folios, the Third Folio is believed to have been largely destroyed in the Great Fire of London.

Another standout of the sale was Mr. William Shakespear's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies… Unto which is added, SEVEN PLAYS, Never before Printed in Folio (Lot 210), which sold for $51,200—five times its estimate. The Fourth Folio, the final 17th-century edition of Shakespeare’s plays, is notable for its larger format, designed to fit more lines per page while keeping the book’s size manageable, and for including seven plays not previously printed in folio.

 

Lot 142 | HEMINGWAY, Ernest (1899-1961). Three Stories and Ten Poems. Paris: Contact Publishing Co., 1923. Sold for $83,050

 

Auction Highlights

Lot 142 | Ernest Hemingway, Three Stories and Ten Poems, 1923 Sold for $83,050 The second highest price achieved in the sale, this superb, partially unopened first edition of Hemingway’s first book is an important presentation copy inscribed to his cousin Ruth. Published in Paris in an edition of only 300 copies, the volume contains three early short stories—two appearing here for the first time—and ten poems. This copy carries especially rich provenance tied to significant moments in Hemingway’s early career.

Lot 140 | Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965 Sold for $48,000 Far exceeding its $8,000 – 12,000 estimate, this first edition—inscribed by Herbert and in the first-issue dust jacket—represents one of the finest surviving copies of the science-fiction classic. With only 3,500 copies printed and many destroyed or distributed to libraries, these collectible examples are exceptionally scarce. Lot 103 | BURNS, Robert (1759-1796). Autograph letter signed ("Robt. Burns"), to Frances Dunlop (addressed as "Mrs. Dunlop"), Mauchline, 2 August 1788. Sold for $41,600 This deeply personal three-page letter to Burns’s confidante Frances Dunlop doubled its pre-sale estimate of $20,000 – 30,000 and includes the complete first version of “Written in Friars Carse Hermitage” and twelve lines of an early version of “First Epistle of Robert Graham, Esq.” The manuscript preserves variant lines later altered or omitted, offering a rare glimpse into Burns’s working process and intimate friendships.

 

Additional Successes

· Lot 253  | AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851), Louisiana Heron (Plate CCXVII), Ardea ludoviciana Sold for $76,700

· Lot 104 | SANGORSKI, Alberto, calligrapher and illuminator. -- TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord (1809-1892). Le Morte d'Arthur. [London, ca 1910]. Sold for $41,600

· Lot 263 | CURTIS, Edward S. (1868-1952). The North American Indian... List of Large Plates Supplementing Volume Sixteen. [Norwood, Massachusetts: The Plimpton Press, 1930]. Sold for $25,600

· Lot 106 | CLEMENS, Samuel L. ("Mark Twain") (1835-1910). A Tramp Abroad. Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1880. Sold for $21,760

· Lot 181 | MELVILLE, Herman (1819-1891). Moby Dick, or, The Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. Sold for $17,920 · Lot 120 DICKENS, Charles (1812-1870). Great Expectations. London: [C. Whiting for] Chapman and Hall, 1861. Sold for $16,640

· Lot 207 | SHAKESPEARE, William (1564-1616). The Life of King Henry the Fifth. -- The first Part of King Henry the Sixt. -- The second Part of King Henry the Sixt. -- The third Part of King Henry the Sixt. [Extracted from: THE SECOND FOLIO]. [London: printed by Thomas Cotes, 1632]. Sold for $15,360

· Lot 154 [LAKESIDE PRESS]. [KENT, Rockwell, illustrator (1882-1971)]. -- MELVILLE, Herman (1819-1891). Moby Dick. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1930. Sold for $12,800

 

About Freeman’s

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