first edition Softcover
(c.1996) · New York
by Varney, Ronald (text)
New York: Sotheby's Books. Near Fine. (c.1996). First Edition. Softcover. [faint handling wear, slight bumping to upper corner of rear cover]. (B&W photographs) NOT the catalogue of the Sotheby's auction, which was held April 23-26, 1996 (and was preceded by a public exhibition that opened on April 19), but rather a post-facto album about the auction itself, "one of the most sucessful single-owner collection sales in history": how it came about, the extraordinary preparations for it, the announcement and the ensuing media and public attention, and the bidding frenzy at the event itself, which brought forth "successive waves of astonishing results." (truncated)