36Atlas Major 1707 Carel Allard $288,532 (£164,800) Sotheby’s (London) 18 October 2005 – Wardington Sale A luxury, gold-stamped, composite atlas with over 500 maps of all parts of the world. One of only three known copies.

37The Birds of America [Original Drawings by John James Audubon...Reissued by JW Audubon] 1860 John James Audubon $284,800 Christie’s (New York) 15 December 2005 Audubon’s son’s reprint of The Birds of Americawith chromolithographic reproductions of the original handcoloured plates. Not accompanied by the seven text volumes.

38The Birds of America [Original Drawings by John James Audubon...Reissued by JW Audubon] 1860 John James Audubon $281,000 Skinner (Boston) 30 October 2005 Audubon’s son’s reprint of The Birds of Americawith chromolithographic reproductions of the original handcoloured plates. Accompanied by four of the seven text volumes.

39Los Caprichos 1799 Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes $278,834 ( € 236,000) Christie’s (Paris) 29 November 2005 First edition. Complete set of Goya’s 80 satirical engravings, taking a particular swipe at the Spanish Inquisition

40Wei Ying-Wu’s Poems 13th/14th century (Yuan Dynasty) Wei Ying-wu $272,100 (2,200,000 Yuan) China Guardian (Beijing) 4 November 2005 Eight-volume, woodblock-printed edition of the eighth-century Chinese poet’s work.

41De Moluccis Insulis 1523 Maximilianus Transylvanus (Maximilian of Transylvania)

$271,132 (DKR 1,700,000) Bruun Rasmussen,1 March 2006 First edition of the first account of Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world

42Mathematical collections and translations 1661-1665 Thomas Salusbury $271,073 (£153,600) Sotheby’s (London) 25 October 2005 – Macclesfield Sale,Part VI Two-volume collection of the mathematical works and biography of Gallileo. The only surviving copy.

43De Nieuwe groote Lichtende Zee-Fackel Atlas 1684–1688 Johannes van Keulen $268,923 (£153,600) Sotheby’s (London) 18 October 2005 – Wardington Sale Dutch sea-atlas with 136 double-page, engraved maps.

44Theatrum orbis terrarum [Theatre of the World] 1646–1655 Willem Janszoon Blaeu and Johannes Blaeu $268,923 (£153,600) Sotheby’s (London) 18 October 2005 – Wardington Sale Six-volume edition of landmark atlas, with 405 engraved, hand-coloured maps.

45Het Licht der Zee-vaert [Charts of the Sea-Coast ] 1608 Willem Janszoon Blaeu $249,200 (£142, 400) Sotheby’s (London) 18 October 2005 – Wardington Sale First edition of the first book published by Dutch atlas-masters, the Blaeu family. A collection of 42 hand-coloured sea-charts.

46Reflexions sur mes entretiens avec Mr le Duc de la Vauguion [Reflections on my discussions with the Duke of Vauguion] 1767 to 1769 Louis XVI $241,080 ( € 196,800) Christie’s (Paris) 2 June 2005 101-page manuscript by the future French king about his education.

Margaret Ford Christie’s (London) Printed books don’t always provoke the shiver of association that derives from handling autograph manuscripts, which by definition emanate from the author. But a copy of the first edition of Galileo’s Sidereus Nunciusproved an exception. It’s one of only three copies known to survive from the first 24 off the press that were sent to Galileo for personal presentation. In the rush to print his first discoveries with the telescope, these first 24 copies did not contain the lunar etchings, but their absence is evidence both of early issue and of physical contact with the great scientist. This copy is as fresh as it was in 1610: it has remained in its original stabstitching and ‘temporary’ wrapper and has descended directly from the owner who first acquired it, Marquard Gude.

47Gamiani ou une nuit d’excès [Gamiani or a night of excess] 1833 Alfred de Musset $238,044 (£133,362) Christie’s (Paris) 27 April 2006 – Nordmann One of the most erotically explicit works to come from any French press, this exceptionally rare first edition has lithographic text and some 12 finely handcoloured plates.

48Au Paradis des fantômes, 1938 Benjamin Péret and Joan Miró $230,396 ( € 191,200) Christie’s (Paris) 21 October 2005 – Filipacchi sale,Part II First edition of Péret’s poems illustrated by Miró. With Miró’s original pastel-and-ink drawing for the frontispiece.

49Isolario [The Book of Islands] 1485 Zamberto Bartolommeo Dalli Sonetti $229,600 (£131,200) Sotheby’s (London) 18 October 2005 – Wardington Sale A first edition of the first book to contain printed nautical charts. The charts are of the Aegean islands.

50The Boke of Hawkynge and Huntynge and Fysshynge 1518 Dame Juliana Berners $228,410 (£125,500) Bloomsbury Auctions,15 June 2005 The only complete, surviving third edition of the first book on fishing.

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