The Adventure And Exploration Library Of Steve Fossett Breaks Record For Books Department At Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

Rare Variant Of Ernest Shackleton’s “Aurora Australis” Sells For $87,500

December 7, 2018

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ Oct. 31 sale of the Adventure and Exploration Library of Steve Fossett, Part I, featuring works from the fields of aeronautics, exploration, circumnavigation, and mountaineering, realized over $664,000.
The collection achieved several milestones for the Fine Books and Manuscripts Department at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. The auction was not only the first single-owner sale for the department but also its highest grossing sale. Exceeding expectations, the collection had a nearly 90 percent sell-through rate.
Highlights include a signed copy of a rare variant of Ernest Shackleton’s “Aurora Australis,” the first book printed in Antarctica, which brought $87,500. A first collected edition of Sir Francis Drake’s “Voyages, Sir Francis Drake Revived” surpassed expectations, realizing $20,000.
Offered at auction for the first time and also exceeding presale estimates, “The Forthcoming Antarctic Expedition,” Robert Falcon Scott’s rare exposition of his plans for the Terra Nova Expedition, which was unknown to bibliographers, sold for $5,500. Other highlights from the sale include a rare variant with text printed on vellum of the first edition of Humboldt and Bonpland’s “Vues des Cordillères, et monumens des peuples indigènes de l'Amérique,” which realized $37,500, and a copy of the first edition of Leo Africanus’s “A Geographical Historie of Africa,” which sold for $8,750.
“We are honored to have been entrusted with the sale of Steve Fossett’s remarkable adventure and exploration library. This important collection includes fine copies of the most important works in the field, which closely relate to his own record-setting pursuits as an adventurer. We look forward to offering the second part of this collection at auction next spring, “ said Gretchen Hause, director of the Fine Books and Manuscripts Department.
The sale of the Adventure and Exploration Library of Steve Fossett, Part II, will be conducted on Friday, March 15, 2019, in the Chicago saleroom of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Fossett (1944-2007) was an American businessman, collector, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo in a balloon nonstop around the world. He disappeared in 2007 while flying an aircraft over the Great Basin Desert, between Nevada and California.
For further information, visit www.lesliehindman.com.

 

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