Leading the sale was the Kern-Kettaneh first edition copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1818), which earned $843,750. One of only four sets sold at auction with the original mottled pink boards, and the only set in private hands, they have provenance to Mrs G. Adams, English lawyer and Liberal Party politician Charles George Milnes Gaskell, American musical theater and popular music composer Jerome Kern, Danish-American actor Jean Hersholt and Francis Kettaneh, founder and partner in F.A. Kettaneh of Beirut, Lebanon.

Review by Kiersten Busch

DALLAS — Heritage Auctions held part one of the William A. Strutz Library Rare Books Signature Auction on June 27, which realized $5,655,439, setting a few new records for the firm along the way. “We were very pleased. This auction set a record for any book auction held at Heritage thus far,” said Francis Wahlgren, Heritage’s international director of rare books and manuscripts. “I wanted to see Heritage’s book market expand from our traditional sci-fi and fantasy offerings, which we specialize in, and with this auction we were finally able to expand into a much more rarified field. I was also happy that we introduced our regular collectors to new material. I saw a lot of friends and old clients participating, which was wonderful to see. There were also many people participating for the first time. There was something in there for everyone.”

There were 730 bidders who participated in this first sale worldwide, and all 226 lots were sold, making it a white glove sale for the firm. “The participation was very global, with a lot of European, mainly UK bidders, and many from the United States as well,” added Wahlgren. “The three biggest lots sold to private American bidders, but our biggest buyer was a UK trade dealer.”

The day was led by the only privately owned copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, in its original uncut pink boards, one of three known in existence. The other two reside in the Pforzheimer and Berg Collections at the New York Public Library. The duodecimo (12mo) first edition tomes, three in total, were watermarked “1816” and housed together in a full Morocco slipcase. Each volume contained half-titles and advertisements, as issued, and had printed spine labels. The provenance of the tomes began with Mrs G. Adams — her ownership inscription was located on the front pastedowns of volumes one and three and were dated August 20, 1818 — and ran through various other owners until they were purchased by Strutz in 1975 from George R. Minkoff Rare Boks, Inc., Great Barrington, Mass. The three volumes immediately skyrocketed from their asking price of $300,000 to reach $843,750.

It was a record-setting sale for this first edition, first printing presentation copy of The Great Gatsby (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the first of its kind to surpass $400,000 at auction, crossing the block for $425,000. This octavo copy was inscribed by Fitzgerald to D.L. Shelton and came with its original pictorial dust jacket and a custom quarter Morocco slipcase.

One of the records set during the auction related to Strutz’s first edition, first printing presentation copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby; the first copy to have broken the $400,000 barrier at auction, crossing the block for $425,000. This octavo copy was inscribed “For D.L. Shelton / from his Sincerely / F Scott Fitzgerald / Feb 1927” and was housed in a first state dust jacket: the well-known depiction of Francis Cugat’s “Celestial Eyes” hovering over an illuminated cityscape. With extensive provenance beginning with D.L. Shelton, Strutz acquired the copy from Seven Gables Bookshop, New York City, in 1972.

Strutz’s first edition presentation copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit; or, There and Back Again became the most expensive copy ever sold at auction, crossing the block for $300,000. It was inscribed to Tolkien’s friends, Charles and Dorothy Moore, on the flyleaf: “Charles & Dorothy Moore / from. / J.R.R.T / with love / September 1937.” The lot included the original pictorial dust jacket, designed after a drawing done by Tolkien, and a full Morocco slipcase made by R. Patron, Hollywood, Calif., which the auction catalog described as “imaginative.” The octavo book had a frontispiece and eight text illustrations by the author, as well as advertisement leaf at the end. A complete set of first editions of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy also sold for $75,000.

These first edition, first impressions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954-1955), reached $75,000. All three volumes were octavos and were bound in publisher’s red cloth with gilt-stamped spines. They had inserted maps and in-text illustrations by both Tolkien and his son, Christopher Tolkien. The volumes were housed in a custom quarter Morocco folding case.

Of the 2,000 first edition copies of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden; or Life in the Woods, Strutz’s copy was the only one with an inscription dedicated to the author’s literary executor and close friend, Harrison Gray Otis Blake. The inscription, written on the front free endpaper, read, “H.G.O Blake / from / H.D.T.” The octavo book was in its original brown cloth and stamped in blind, with a gilt-lettered spine. It came in a quarter Morocco slipcase. The sale of presentation copies of Walden is incredibly rare, as the auction catalog noted, “According to auction online records, only one other presentation copy has appeared (twice) at auction since the present copy, sold in 1979 (prior to that a copy had sold in 1951).” This copy had provenance to Stephen H. Wakeman, an avid book collector and the head of John Wakeman & Co., Beans and Peas, New York City; Henry Andrews Ingraham and John Howell Books, San Francisco, whom Strutz purchased the copy from in 1980. Because of this lot’s rarity, competitive bidding pushed it to a record-setting price of $275,000.

Both earning $112,500 were a presumed first edition of Christopher Marlowe’s The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta and the Rabinowitz-Stockhausen first edition copy, in original boards, of Jane Austen’s Emma: A Novel In Three Volumes. By the Author of “Pride and Prejudice,” &c. &c.

The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta had a title page with woodcut ornament, as well as woodcut initials and headpieces. The quarto volume was bound in late Nineteenth Century Morocco gilt by F. Bedford. Only two presumed first editions of the play have been sold at auction in the last 40 years: the Martin copy in 1990 and 2015, and another copy at Swann Galleries in 2020. This copy, listed as “outstanding” in the auction catalog, had provenance to W. St Clair Baddeley and Thomas Baring.

This first edition Rabinowitz-Stockhausen copy of Jane Austen’s Emma: A Novel In Three Volumes. By the Author of “Pride and Prejudice,” &c. &c. (London: Printed for John Murray, 1816), sold for $112,500. The duodecimo set of three volumes were bound in their original gray boards with printed spine labels and were housed in a quarter Morocco drop-back folding case. Each volume also contained half-titles.

The duodecimo uncut three-volume set of Jane Austen’s Emma were bound in their original gray boards and had printed spine labels. They came in a quarter Morocco drop-back folding case. The volumes had provenance to Hannah D. Rabinowitz, a prominent collector of rare books and fine art, and William E. Stockhausen, a lawyer and rare book collector. Strutz purchased the volumes through C.A. Stonehill, Inc., in 1974.

Heritage’s next sale, the Platinum Historical Sale, will take place on July 25, and will offer the best of the firm’s historical department, including lots from the Neil Armstrong collection. Part two of the Strutz collection will take place towards the latter end of November and will offer a deeper dive into different literary categories, offering more than two times the amount of part one’s sale.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For further information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.