A couple of quick notes:

If I had a choice, I'd go for the second edition of Cornell. I imagine the first one had a couple of hundred errata. The book is a wonderful read & it seems I'm going to be going through it again in a month or so. Anybody else notice that Dr. Cornell could not calculate a chart for southern latitudes?

Of Die Deutsche, I have bands 2, 3 & 4. They all feature daily longitudes for Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune, along with daily Sidereal. Sun position is to the nearest second. Sun & Moon declination given daily, along with the Moon's daily latitude. Latitude & declination for the other planets given every 3 days, as is the node, which appears to be mean. Latitudes make Die Deutsche unique among ephemerides. Notably, there is no aspectarian, no lunar phases, no eclipses, no voids.

In the back of Band 2 are Placidus tables for 51 30.

In the back of Band 3 are tables for 48, 50 & 52, along with coordinates for major European cities.

In the back of Band 4 are tables for 40, 42 & 45, along with coordinates for major world cities.

I had never looked in the very back of these before. Collect the complete set & build your very own table of houses & world atlas.

Pluto positions for all of these (including Band 1) were published in the back of some other Band. Five, maybe.

I once discarded a bunch of Fowler 5-year ephemerides. Not sure that even collectors want old ephemerides.

Dave

Philip wrote:

But it still lacks the wonderful annotations on the Ascella (UK) / Spica (Australia) edition, the last unsold copies of the Spica imprint of Books 1 and 2 of which were available only from the son of Spica's owner / manager Anne Elliot in his small ebay shop the last time I checked, and indeed there are still ten copies left now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Christian-Astrology ... dZViewItem

Wow, I thought there's no chance left to get this edition, but now my copy is on its way from Australia! Thank you Philip for the hint!

Part One - especially to Dave and Papretis, but anyone else welcome to read:

Thank you both for your interesting posts here! I apologise for being slow to acknowledge them. This past week has been exceptionally busy for me, but I'll try to snatch a little time today to catch up.

The Deutsche Ephemeride do sound excellent, Dave. I was amazed to see that that set had gone unsold at the close of the auction, even though ephemerides with more limited information are readily available online, and perhaps quite comprehensive ones have been built into some of the higher-end astrology software available nowadays. (I'm blissfully ignorant of the wonderful astrology software out there, having invested all my money set aside for astrology study in books and not a penny, or cent, in programs, to date!)

Papretis, I'm really glad that the link to the remaining stock of Spica (ie Ascella as rebranded for the Australian / New Zealand market) imprints of the Ascella edition of 'Christian Astrology' books 1 and 2 was helpful to you personally! The same seller, James Clifton, has a small stock of other Spica editions still for sale too, worth checking out for anyone who regrets being too late to buy Ascella editions of some of the classic texts, although to the best of my knowledge Spica itself is in suspended animation currently as a business since Anne Elliot's relocation a year or so ago, and many of the titles she used to offer through Spica are not available in her son's store so far, although he did mention it was possible he would eventually be in a position to stock more of them....

Part Two - to everyone:

Back to the results:

Other than the unsold Die Deutsche Ephemeride mentioned in my note to Dave above, the relisted books on financial astrology-related themes by Raymond Merriman and Jeanne Long in my previous post were also both unsold, although in these cases because the starting price was too high. However, there have been plenty of other results to note lately, including:

1. An original copy from 1897 of the fourth volume of Frank Ormsby's scarce astrological journal 'Planets and People' sold for the starting bid of $69.99.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

This journal is otherwise available as part of a reprint of Volumes III and IV in a single hardcover binding by the Sacred Science Institute. I have seen no sign of Volumes I or II on the used book market to date in any form, though I haven't been looking for long.

2. A copy of Raphael's Prophetic Almanac for 1858 sold to a sole bidder for the starting price of ?14.99 (about $29). Like most of the 19th century issues of this annual title, it is collectible chiefly on account of the large fold-out coloured 'hieroglyphic' serving as a pictorial and symbolic representation of the reigning Raphael's mundane predictions for the year. You can see from this listing that the hieroglyphic for this year is similar in style to the example displayed by Kim in her article on the Seven Faces of Raphael at Skyscript. [Cost and prioritisation have stopped me from attempting to collect these fascinating booklets to date!]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

3. The third edition, in hardcover binding, of Howard Leslie Cornell's 'Encyclopedia of Medical Astrology' sold to a lucky bidder for a bargain $10.50.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

4. The fine hardcover edition from 1976 of Mark Edmund Jones's 'The Sabian Symbols in Astrology' finally sold on its third listing, for a bargain $6.05.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

5. A rather finely bound, though very recent, hardcover edition of Kepler's 'The Harmonies of the World' (one of his few works reputed to have significant astrological contents, and one of only two of those that seem to be readily available in English editions), bound together with his purely astronomical 'Epitome of Copernican Astronomy', sold for $66.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

6. A commonplace hardcover copy of the John Story reprint of W. J. Simmonite's 'The Celestial Philosopher', retitled by Story 'The Complete Arcana of Astral Philosophy', and published by Foulsham in the 1890s and early 20th century, though this particular copy bore no date, sold for a surprisingly high $67.00. It is not worth nearly that much, as a quick search in the used book networks for unsold copies in similar condition will reveal. This sale was an example of the triumph of marketing over buyers' research. Terms like 'grimoire' were introduced into the listing to make it sound rarer than it was, and the seller was very successful!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

The only truly rare editions of 'The Celestial Philosopher' are those that were published in Simmonite's lifetime, around the 1840s and early 1850s. These are by an order of magnitude scarcer than the John Story reprints of the 1890s and beyond, with only one copy (which I bought) having been listed on the used book networks since the beginning of 2006 to the best of my knowledge, and are worth about ten times as much accordingly - about $200-$300 instead of $20-$30. If I recall correctly, the publisher of the original Simmonite edition was Simpkin and Marshall. Foulsham editions are invariably from the very late 19th century and the early to early-mid 20th century, if my observations are a reliable guide!

7. The copy of 'Merlinus Anglicus Junior, or the Starry Messenger, for the Year of our Redemption, 1719', attributed to Henry Coley but clearly written by a successor of his unless he stockpiled his predictions for decades in advance, for by then he was long dead, sold for $120.58.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

8. A set of the first fourteen issues, ie the sum total of all pre-World-War-II issues, of Andre Volguine's astrological journal 'Les Cahiers Astrologiques' sold for 40.50 Euros (just over $50).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

These issues span from Jan / Feb 1938 to the middle of 1940, after which it had to be put on hold because of the gravity of the war situation. It was however later resumed in 1946, and continued for about another 200 issues thereafter. Strangely, I have found that the earlier issues seem to be rather more common than the later ones on the used market. This may be because the astrological movement in French-speaking countries, notable France and Belgium, was extremely strong in the 1930s, and was devastated by the war, though it has continued on a less high-profile level ever since. It may also partly be because early issues of any journal are considered collectible at the outset, and are therefore less likely to have been thrown away than later ones.

I have found exactly the same to be true of Alan Leo's journal 'Modern Astrology' - there is a definite bias towards the earlier volumes on the used market, though they are all rare, with the later volumes after his death in 1916 (?), and even those any time after about 1904, being offered much more seldom, although then also for much less money, than the earlier ones. I suspect that the circulation of 'Modern Astrology' dwindled over the years, and that the same was true of 'Les Cahiers Astrologiques', to account for these observations.

9. The finely rebound copy of Papus's work on astrology and occultism sold for a decent final sum of 41,50 Euros (considerably over $50) after attracting several very late bids.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

10. The original edition of Elizabeth Aldrich's astrological study of The Planet Neptune attracted seven bids but still sold for a very reasonable ?6.07 (just over $11), a considerable saving on the cheapest copy available at fixed price on the used book market.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

11. The 1931 reprint of Olcott's 'Star Lore of All Ages' sold for $75, a significant over-valuation by the two highest bidders at a time when there was an unsold copy of the same edition on the used book networks for $50. At $75, this should have been a first edition, but it wasn't - by a margin of twenty years.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

12. An original copy in indifferent condition at best, of Roback's 'The Mysteries of Astrology and the Wonders of Magic', from 1854, sold to a leading ebay trader in occult books for $127.50. He must believe he can resell it for a lot more! I seem to recall that this book has come up before in this strand, towards the end of last year, and what I remember commenting then applies still today: it is not especially scarce, with typically several copies coming up on ebay every year, and not of all that much interest to astrologers as far as can be discerned from its brushing together of astrology and magic under a single title; yet it seems to retain a strong following of collectors from the more general occult-interest fields.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

13. The collection of seventy-nine late 20th-century astrology books, mostly popular titles, and many of them lightweight, although there are some solid beginner-to-intermediate level classics in the bundle too, offered together with a starting price of $200 and a 'Buy It Now' option of $600, was unsold.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

I think it would pay the seller to split up the lot into small bundles, since the vast majority would be of little interest to practising astrologers, and those that would be of interest to practising astrologers are probably too serious for the average casual popular astrology-book reader, besides the fact that many people probably have at least some of the titles already and do not want to pay $200 to duplicate them and add many other titles only some of which are of any interest.

**************************

There is a fair assortment of interesting listings coming up now, but I'll have to describe those I can in a later post because my time is up for now. I hope some of the above results were of interest in any case!

Wishing all at Skyscript well,

Philip

Hi Philip,

On #13, from time to time I am offered bundles of late 20th century astrology books. In the past I have been happy to pay UPS ground shipping for them. Every now & then I find gems, such as Holden's Elements of House Division, but for the most part, I get stuff like The Astrologer's Manual, Modern Insights into an Ancient Art, by Landis Knight Green (CRCS, 1975), an introductory book of no great interest to the critical student. I have three copies.

Google is a wonderful thing. Doing a websearch, I found this:

Landis Knight Green, 58, of Ashland, died Wednesday (Aug. 19, 1998) at his home. No service is planned. Inurnment will be in Ogden, Utah.

He was born June 15, 1940 in Blackfoot, Idaho.

On Dec. 22, 1984, in Frazier Valley, Colo., he married Heather Brewer, who survives. They moved to Oregon from Idaho in 1991.

Mr. Green was an author.

Survivors, in addition to his wife, include a daughter, Selena Green, Ashland; his parents, Ronald and Verrall Green, Ogden; two brothers, Darrell, Las Vegas, Nev., and Reid, Springfield, Ohio; and a sister, Marilyn Wallin, Ogden.

Arrangements: Abbey Funeral, Medford.

Copyright ? interRogue & The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA

Birth in Blackfoot, ID, is confirmed on the back cover of the book. R.I.P.

I have more than two bookcases full of late 20th century astrology books, most of them of the popular variety, all donated. I finally figured out a way of selling them on-line, but the prices they fetch are not great & there is work involved to display them.

Dave

The Regulus copy of 'Christian Astrology' was unsold at ?99 and has been relisted at ?75.

Hello Philip,

Just wanted to thank you for pointing this out. The book eventually dropped down to ?65 on ebay and I managed to get it for this price. Both the seller and I were surprised there was no other bids for the book. I thought it was fully worth that and am very happy with it.

Fortunately, I already have an edition of Book 1&2 annotated by Deb.

Your thread fulfils a valuable role here even though it must seem a thankless task at times. So THANKS!!!

Mark

I have lots of stored results to post here later, which lack of time lately has delayed me from noting, but I have to stop by to note a result which takes all other astrological book auction results I've witnessed since starting this strand, including last year's outlandish John Varley result, to the cleaners.

An original 1545 copy of Johannes Schoener's 'De Iudiciis Nativitatum Libri III', of which the first book has been translated by Rob Hand and remains available for sale from good astrological bookstores under the title 'Three Books on the Judgments of Nativities, Book I', Lot 461 from Christies sale 1820 held on April 16th 2007, sold for $54,000 US (including buyer's premium).

(By the way, although correctly Schoener's name is supposed to be spelt with an 'umlaut' accent over the 'o' and no 'e' to follow, the computer on which I am typing at present does not have the necessary numeric keypad to generate this character, so I am resorting to the alternative spelling.)

The pre-sale estimate was just $6000-$8000 - already very high, though appropriately so for a genuinely very rare book.

If Rob Hand happens to have secured his own copy of this book for his ARHAT project, I would strongly advise him to re-evaluate it for insurance purposes.

Evidently this is one more astrological classic that none of us here at Skyscript is likely ever to be able to afford....

It strikes me sometimes that at major auctions some astrological books fetch extremely high prices because of non-astrological buyers being attracted to them for tangential reasons. The catalogue for this Christie's sale, I seem to recall, drew a connection between Schoener and Copernicus, which presumably resulted in the much more lucrative market of collectors of astronomical first editions raising the stakes for this astrological work.

By the way, I'm glad my link to the Regulus edition of Christian Astrology was helpful, Mark! Well done buying it for the lower price.

More this weekend (I hope),

Philip

Rob has in the past used scans from Early English Books On-Line (EEBO), which is a service that university libraries subscribe to. If you're a student, you take your laptop to the library, plug it in, and download as much as you want. Rob has kindly supplied the raw materials for a number of the books I've reprinted.

What he did in the case of Schoener I do not know. I thought of phoning, but I try not to abuse his time. As he said once, there are many of us, only one of him.

Dave

Dear Dave,

As far as I'm aware, EEBO includes only English-language astrological texts and not those in Latin, which would exclude Schoener.

OCLC lists only two copies of Schoener's original in libraries in the UK, none at all in the USA, and none anywhere else in the world.

However, on closer inspection of OCLC there are also a number of microform film copies kicking around at other libraries, so it would seem likely that Rob Hand had got hold of one of these easily enough.

Perhaps the two institutions in the UK who hold copies of the actual book are the first ones who should be notified of the current value of this particular book in their care! Edinburgh University Library is one; Oxford University the other.

Philip

Hello Philip

As far as I'm aware, EEBO includes only English-language astrological texts and not those in Latin, which would exclude Schoener.

I thought of that, but suspect Rob had a solution of some sort.

OCLC lists only two copies of Schoener's original in libraries in the UK, none at all in the USA, and none anywhere else in the world.

It's an interesting to think there has been more copies of, say, Lilly's Christian Astrology, printed since 1985, than Lilly himself ever had printed in his lifetime.

Perhaps the two institutions in the UK who hold copies of the actual book are the first ones who should be notified of the current value of this particular book in their care! Edinburgh University Library is one; Oxford University the other.

I would hope that all the individuals & institutions with rare books in their possession would know to take proper care of them. This is a sore point with many musuems, especially the national ones. They end up being repositories with most of their holdings in perpetual storage. These countless items are of no use to anyone, not even to the museum's own staff. There is an argument to be made for dispersal of these artifacts among responsible regional historical societies, or even private owners, who could then make them available to individuals & small groups.

I have seen some amazing things at local county historical societies. In Ventura, California, there is an enlargement of a map, dated 1820, that shows the California Imperial Valley as one vast inland sea. This map is presumably not known to international cartographic societies, who long ago concluded the early maps showing California as an island were a hoax. Researchers look in the big national museums & are happy to conclude that that's all there is. The internet may well change more than we can imagine.

Dave

1. A true first edition in five volumes (limited to several hundred copies per volume) of A E Housman's critical edition (all notes in Latin) of Manilius's 'Astronomicon' (1903-1930) sold at auction at Swann Galleries, New York just a few minutes ago for $950 excluding 20% buyer's premium, so about $1140 all included. The premium-excluding price was close to the mid-estimate of the auction house, and was achieved despite the fact that the first of the volumes had quite serious external damage.

(Even the 1937 second edition usually sells for around $500.)

2. A rather defective copy of John Varley's 'A Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy', with the title page detached and staining to some of the plates, as well as severe wear to the binding (so the description said), but bound with the first Zadkiel's 'The Horoscope, A Weekly Miscellany...' in nineteen issues (1834), sold for ?600 in a no-buyer's premium sale against an estimate of ?500-?800 at Christies a month or so ago. This was only about a tenth of the price fetched for the sound copy of Varley's book at the same auction house just a few months ago.

3. A slightly defective but not too bad copy of the first Raphael's 'The Royal Book of Fate' sold for ?41 (currently $82):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

This was a very reasonable price for a genuinely rare book of which no copies have been listed in the fixed-price used book networks for as long as I've been checking them, although there was another copy auctioned on ebay a year ago which I bought.

4. An original copy of volumes 1 and 2 only (out of four), ex-library, of Otto Neugebauer's 'Egyptian Astronomical Texts', sold for $650 in a live auction after fierce pre-auction bidding on ebay.

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBa ... 489&rd=1,1

5. Another set of volumes 1 and 2 only of the same Neugebauer edition as the above sold less than 24 hours later for just $300:

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBa ... 137&rd=1,1

6. A copy of Ellen Bennett's 'Astrology: Science of Knowledge and Reason' fetched a surprisingly high $150:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

7. An original 19th century first edition copy of Ely Star's 'Les Mysteres de l'Horoscope' sold for a bargain 9.99 Euros:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

8. A lucky German bidder was unchallenged on an auction for an original copy of Sepharial's 'Phrenoscopy', bagging it for just 1,99 Euros:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

9. An unusual book from 1909 on various disciplines including astrology, 'Character-Reading' by Lida Kek Wiggins, sold for $19.50:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

10. A 1647 edition of 'De Die Natali' by Censorinus sold for $152.50:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

11. A nice copy of the 1886 edition of Raphael's Book of Dreams sold for just ?5.50, quite a bargain!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

12. A beautiful copy of the British printing of the first edition (published simultaneously in the UK and the US, with different cover designs) of Evangeline Adams's 'Astrology: Your Place in the Sun' sold for an outrageously low $7.45:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

13. A professional seller managed to secure the optimistic starting bid of $119.99 for an original copy of what is quite probably A. F. Seward's most serious book on astrology, 'The Star-Gazers of Egypt', selling to a sole bidder.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

14. A short booklet from 1818 called 'Notes et Observations sur l'Astrologie et ses differentes branches' by a Docteur Guillemeau sold for 39,50 Euros:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

15. A three-volume set of the first edition of Robert Ambelain's 'Traite d'Astrologie Esoterique' from 1942 sold for 101 Euros:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

I have never seen these books but they look interesting.

16. A 1740 second edition of Pluche's 'Histoire du Ciel' in two volumes was unsold after the bidding, though reaching $255.00, failed to attain the seller's reserve:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

17. A first edition of Isidore Kozminsky's 'My Key Treatise' sold for just $46.54 although it is very scarce.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

18. A first edition from 1946 of the French translation of Jean-Baptiste Morin's 25th book in his 'Astrologia Gallica', as 'L'Astrologie Mondiale et Meteorologique', sold for just 25,50 Euros.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

It's worth noting that this was one of several books from the Astrologia Gallica that had already been translated into French decades before Book 21 was first translated into English! And that over 60 years after this particular French translation appeared, there has still been no English translation of Book 25 published, although James Holden's is reputed to be in the works....

It's not the only instance I've come across when the serious astrological community in France in the twentieth century stole a march on its English-speaking friends when it comes to translating classic astrological works from Latin. For example, substantial portions of Junctinus and Rantzau were published in the famous Editions des Cahiers Astrologiques during Volguine's life-time, neither of which has made it into print in English to this day! But I digress....

19. An original hardcover copy of the long-out-of-print and much-sought after 'The Language of Uranian Astrology' by Roger A. Jacobson managed to push past the $50.00 barrier by a narrow margin, fetching $51.51:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

20. A first edition from 1914 of a rare work by the pioneering French statistically astute astrologer Paul Choisnard, called 'Le Calcul des Probabilit?s Appliqu? ? l'Astrologie', sold to a sole bidder for just 15 Euros.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

This certainly sounds to me from the title alone like a very important early work on scientific astrological research methods.

************************************************************

Well, that's just the first twenty of the interesting results I've noted in the past month. My own financial situation has been so dire lately that I didn't bid on any of the above, even though there were several of them that I would dearly have loved to read and add to my collection (especially Choisnard, Varley, and the Morin Book 25 translation), some of which sold for terribly low prices in the absence of suitable competition!

Other results will be noted later, I hope this weekend, but for now this computer is going to be passed over to my patient wife!

Philip

Hello Philip,

18. A first edition from 1946 of the French translation of Jean-Baptiste Morin's 25th book in his 'Astrologia Gallica', as 'L'Astrologie Mondiale et Meteorologique', sold for just 25,50 Euros.

The AFA has just published English translations of books 13, 14, 15 & 19. Holden's Prefaces are dated 2005, the copyright is 2006, but it has only just appeared this month. See my notes on the four.

19. An original hardcover copy of the long-out-of-print and much-sought after 'The Language of Uranian Astrology' by Roger A. Jacobson managed to push past the $50.00 barrier by a narrow margin, fetching $51.51

I never knew why, since much of the book is elementary astrology. Looking at my copy just now, there is some nice stuff towards the back. Looking at my records, I see this book disappeared in 1997, which is not that long ago. At the time, the story I heard was the people responsible for the book, in Wisconsin, simply got tired & decided to withdraw. There might well be boxes of these sitting in someone's basement. Anybody in the Franksville area want to run this down?

On URLs, as these are very long.

The forumla is BRACKET, then URL=http://www.site.com BRACKET, then the NAME or WORD you want as a tag, ending with BRACKET /URL BRACKET. This results in a clickable word, but is not otherwise distinguished. BRACKET U BRACKET will underline it. Substituting parens for brackets, it looks like this:

(u)(url=http://www.skyscript.co.uk/forums)Skyscript(/url)(/u)

Replace parens with brackets & you get:

Skyscript

Tags for bold, italic, underline, have to go OUTSIDE the URL tags, or it messes up the formatting. Highlight the address & hit the URL button on the control panel will do some of the work, but you will still need to tweak.

Dave

Before I catch up with the rest of the ordinary results, yesterday Swann Galleries held a sale of the collection of a dedicated collector of books by and about Nostradamus. It also included one or two other books of astrological interest.

This seems to have been a very successful sale, to judge by the results on the Nostradamus lots in particular. The two star lots turned out to be writings by Nostradamus from the 1550s on various recipes (1555) and cosmetics (1557), selling for $16000 plus 20% buyer's premium and $12000 plus 20% buyer's premium respectively.

However, one of the astrological lots by him cut through the $10,000 barrier too: 'Prognostication Nouvelle, et Prediction Portenteuse, Pour l'An MDLV' sold for $11000 plus 20% buyer's premium (ie $13200):

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/211100 ... 7431QQrdZ1

'Almanach pour l'an Mille Cinq Cents Soixante-et-un' was next on $6,000 plus 20% premium (ie $7200):
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/211101 ... 6934QQrdZ1

'Les Presages Merveilleux Pour L'An 1557' fetched $5200 plus 20% (ie $6240):

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/211100 ... 6329QQrdZ1

Same result as the above for each of 'Almanach Pour L'An 1560', 'Prognostication Nouvelle Pour L'an Mille Cinq Cents Soixante Deux', and 'Almanach Pour L'An 1557', each also fetching $5200 - it seems fair to presume that they sold all to the same buyer, outbidding another whose decided maximum bid on all four items was $5000.

Another non-astrological lot by Nostradamus, 'Forme et Maniere de Vivre Pour Eviter Le Danger Du Peste', was the last to break through $5000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

Other astrological results in the $2000-$5000 range before buyer's premium, by Nostradamus unless otherwise indicated, were:

'Almanach Pour L'An MDLXX' - $3800 plus 20% (ie $4560)
'The True Prophecies, or Prognostications, of Michel Nostradamus, Physician to Henry II, Francis II, and Charles IX, Kings of France' (1672) - $3800 plus 20% (ie $4560)
'Almanach Pour L'An Mille Cinq Cens Soixante Et Un' - $3000 plus 20% (ie $3600)
'Les Significations de L'Eclipse, Qui Fera 1559' - $2900 plus 20% (ie $3480)
'Les Propheties de M. Nostradamus' (1568-c.1580) - $2600 plus 20% (ie $3120)
'Les Grandes et Merveilleuses Predictions de M. Michel Nostradamus' (1589) - $2600 plus 20% (ie $3120)
'Almanach Nouveau Pour L'An 1562' - $2400 plus 20% (ie $2880)
'Prophetie Merveilleuse, Commencant Cette Presente Annee, et Dure Jusques En l'An de Grand Mortalite, que l'on dira MDLXVIII, an de Bissexte' - $2200 plus 20% (ie $2640)
'Almanach & Predictions, pour l''an de Jesus Christ mil cinq cens Soixa[n]te-sept - an Embolismal' - $2000 plus 20% (ie $2440)

A bound volume containing 103 hand-drawn nativities fetched $2200 plus 20%:
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/211108 ... 6622QQrdZ1

And last but not least in the over-$2000 region (before buyer's premium), an original copy from 1661 of Jean-Baptiste Morin's 'Astrologia Gallica', complete but for the detached front cover and 'mounted' title page, sold for $2200 plus 20% (ie $2640):

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/211127 ... 7035QQrdZ1

Delving beneath the $2000 threshold reveals many more, mostly later, works by and compilations of writings by Nostradamus. But this was certainly a sale that fetched high prices on his early works, most of which flew to more than twice their maximum pre-sale estimate!

PS: Thanks to Dave for the linking tips - I'm in too much of a hurry here this morning but will work it out another day!