Christie’s Valuable Books, Manuscripts and Photographs, including Highlights from The Royal Society of Medicine auction in London features a curated selection of works that illuminate the extraordinary history of medicine, science, cartography, literature, religion and philosophy. At the heart of the sale is a group of 100 books, manuscripts and photographs from the library of The Royal Society of Medicine.
Chief among the highlights is William Harvey’s Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (1628, estimate: £800,000–1,200,000), the groundbreaking first description of blood circulation — a publication that transformed medical knowledge and practice. Other notable lots from the library include James Parkinson’s An Essay on the Shaking Palsy (1817, estimate: £50,000–70,000), the exceptionally rare first edition of a foundational work on the neurological disease that would later bear his name, as well as a group of 18 autograph letters (estimate: £50,000–70,000) by the ‘father of immunology’, Edward Jenner, who coined the term ‘vaccine’ to describe his technique of inoculating against smallpox.
The highlight among the medieval and Renaissance manuscripts is an exceptional 10th-century Gospel book likely produced by the female scriptorium at Essen Abbey (estimate: £700,000–1,000,000). Manuscripts from the collection of Phyllis Goodhart Gordan (1913–1994) include English chronicler Ranulf Higden’s medieval bestselling world history, the Polychronicon, previously in the Duke of Newcastle’s library at Clumber Park (estimate: £50,000–70,000); monastic staples in contemporary bindings from the Abbeys of St Maximin in Trier, St Jakob in Mainz, Neustift and Melk; and texts by Ovid, Cicero, Statius, Plato and Lucan. A further highlight among the illuminated manuscripts is the Cromer Book of Hours, a long-lost addition to the famous Aspremont Hours, a gift of love from Henry VIII’s physician, Walter Cromer, to his wife Alice (estimate: £100,000–150,000).
Notice for buyers wishing to import certain lots into the EU: Certain lots in this sale may be impacted by the new licensing requirements and regulations relating to the import of “cultural goods” into the EU (Regulation (EU) 2019/880 and its Implementing Regulation 2021/1079). We recommend clients check before bidding whether the lot they wish to bid on is subject to these regulations. Please contact Emily Pilling EPilling@christies.com and see H2 of our Conditions of Sale for more information.
Please see our past auction for reference: Valuable Books and Manuscripts
