Christie's Auction House

In November of 2003, Sue and Tom Biro purchased the set of thirteen volumes from Christie's Auction House in London, England. The volumes were sold at an auction focused on rare books, including natural histories. Christie's set the estimated value for the volumes somewhere between 11,907 to 17,010 dollars. Correspondence with Christie's reveals that they did not keep records of the original bookseller's tickets from Bauermeister's Glasgow shop.

When the volumes were sold to Sue and Tom Biro, they were in incredibly bad shape, which suggests that the Library of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons did not take adequate measures to preserve the books while they were in their possession. Some of the damage to the volumes included: missing pages, tearing, worm holes, and broken spines.

Sources:

"International Printed Books and Manuscripts Department & Auction Calendar." Valuable Printed Books and Manuscripts, including Natural History. Christie's, November 19, 2003.

Image Courtesy of Sion Touhig / Getty Image, accessed April 20, 2014.

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