Antiquarian books, prices and rarity

[Евгений]

At the auction, "Books and Manuscripts" for 602,000 dollars had been sold a rare album of sketches by Marc Chagall, according to the website of auction house Sotheby's.

In the 85-page album, never before exhibited, includes drawings in pencil, ink and watercolor. Among them - the self-portraits of Chagall, as well as images of his wife Bella, who died in 1944. The first eight pages of the album filled with translations of French poets poems in Yiddish, made by his wife of the artist. In addition, the album contains a series of sketches, which depict King David.

The drawings were made during the period from the 1940s to the 1960s. This album Chagall - the only one who remained in the hands of private collectors. The value of the album, highlighted in the catalog of Sotheby's, also in the fact that it remained intact.

Other top lots of the last trades were a letter signed by the 16th U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, edition of the American writer Herman Melville's "Moby Dick", dated 1851 year, as well as letters and drawings of Belgian artist Rene Magritte.

All in all trades "Books and manuscripts," which took place on Friday, June 17 in New York, was bailed out more than three million dollars.