Christie's (New York)

(25.5 cm), 185 (7) pp., illustrations (some in colour). 373 lots. List of prices realised loosely inserted. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Contains property consigned by Executors of the bookseller John F. Fleming (1910-1987). In addition to books from his stock, “Christie’s were able to add a number of titles that John had taken home to Larchmont over the years, almost all presentation copies, many of them from authors that one did not normally associate with the firm (Conrad, Eliot, Hardy, Housman, Isherwood, Edward Thomas)” (saleroom report in The Book Collector, Spring 1989, p.84). From this “private library” (designated by the letters “PL” in the sale catalogue) came presentation copies of Robert Browning, Coleridge, and Milne (a copy of Winnie-the-Pooh, inscribed to James Barrie, $12,000). The top price was $280,000, paid for an eleven-page autograph account by George Washington of his experiences in the French and Indian Wars (lot 357). Fleming’s reference library was sold by Swann Galleries, 26 January 1989 (341 lots). Donald C. Dickinson, Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers (1998), pp.66-67. ¶ Occasional annotation.