experience with both public and private markets
experience with public auction
Tom handled many of the greatest individual items and collections that came to auction during his 22-years in the field. He catalogued the publisher’s copy of Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica that sold at Christie’s New York in December 2016 for $3.7million, a world record for a scientific book. This exceeded the previous record, which Tom also catalogued: the Richard Green copy of Nicholaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus that sold for $2.2 million dollars. Another career highlight was the cataloguing of Abel Buell's 1783 map of the United States that sold for $2.1 million, a world auction record for any printed map. Tom handled numerous important works across the entire history of printed books and manuscripts.
Other important auction sales include:
The History of the Book: The Cornelius J. Hauck Collection: Important historical texts, miniature books, bindings
The Helmut N. Friedlaender Library: Early printed books, science, literature
The Collection of Arthur & Charlotte Vershbow: Important illustrated books
Important Scientific Books: The Richard Green Library
The Library of Abel E. Berland: English literature, early printed books
The Estelle Doheny Collection from St. Mary's of the Barrens, Perryville, Missouri: Early printed books, Bibles, American literature
The Private Library of Kenneth Nebenzahl: Americana, travel, voyages, atlases
Masterpieces of Modern Literature: The Library of Roger Rechler
The Estate of Mary, Viscountess Eccles: English literature including Shakespeare
The Origins of Cyberspace: The first auction exclusively devoted to the history of the computer
a selection of past appraisal projects
susan solomon & peter j. solomon gift
Announced in 2019, the extraordinary donation of the Solomon collection of children’s books and manuscripts to The Houghton Library at Harvard University resonated throughout the book world. This superb collection contains many of the finest items that came on the market over the past 40 years. An exhibition of some of the treasures from the collection will be held in the fall of 2020.
richard wilbur papers
Richard Wilbur (1921-1917) was a leading American poet, translator, critic, and editor of the post-war period. Critically acclaimed, and award-winning, Wilbur won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry as well as the National Book Award, the Bollingen Prize, and many other major awards and prizes. Wilbur began preserving his enormous literary archive with material he saved as an 8 year old boy, and he meticulously archived his work throughout his long life. The result offers astounding insight into a writer’s working methods. Tom was honored to prepare both the estate tax and charitable donation appraisals of this monumental archive that is now at Amherst College.
estate of Harold bloom
Harold Bloom (1930-2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is – almost without argument – cited as the most influential American critic of the late 20th century. Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including 20 books of criticism, several books on religion, and a novel. Tom appraised his books and papers in 2020.
RICHARD SCHWARTZ collection
This extensive and important collection of rare printed musical scores was generously given to Cambridge in America in 2020. The collection holds great printed works, and a selection of manuscripts, from many of the Western world’s most celebrated composers. Included are printed scores by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Purcell, Wagner, and many others.
and many more
large-scale appraisals
Tom has developed methodologies for managing complex masses of material, whether for insurance, donation, estate tax, or financial planning purposes. Recent appraisals include:
Financial planning: The entire Special Collections of an important American institution, approximately 30,000 items
Donation: A collection of printed books in a niche subject given to an Ivy League university, approximately 25,000 items
Financial planning: The inventory of a prominent international bookseller, approximately 70,000 items
Estate tax: The largest private collection of manuscripts in the United States, approximately 10,000 items
Since care and discretion are cornerstones of our business, we rigorously respect clients’ requests for privacy. Tom Lecky has worked with clients in all sectors, from high net worth individuals to those who’ve recently discovered a treasure in the attic: Whether he is appraising a single item for insurance or an entire collection for estate tax or donation, Tom works closely with clients to manage their needs through every stage of the project.