Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Personal Library Leaps Above Estimates to Achieve $2.4M at Bonhams
- NEW YORK, New York
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- January 29, 2022
Drawing in more bidders than any other auction in Bonhams history (live or online), The Library of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg online sale completed Thursday as a white glove sale, with every lot selling well beyond its pre-sale estimate. Leading the sale was the standout performance of Ginsburg’s heavily annotated copy of the 1957-58 Harvard Law Review, the year that she was a member, which sold for $100,312.50 inc. premium shattering its pre-sale estimate of $2,500 - 3,500. The total hammer price (inc. premium) achieved for this white glove sale was $2,354,510.
The sale featured 162 lots of books and ephemera from the legendary justice’s private library, a record of her evolution from student (and voracious reader) to lawyer and law professor, to judge and finally, Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Notably, the library contained a large selection of presentation copies on various subjects inscribed by the authors with Gloria Steinem’s memoir, My Life on the Road, leading the selection with a sale price of $52,812.50 inc. premium against an estimate of $300 - 500.
Catherine Williamson, Head of Bonhams Book Department, says, “Handling this library was a career-high moment for me. It’s richly rewarding to see the larger community respond as enthusiastically to Justice Ginsburg as we at Bonhams did internally. Today feels like a watershed moment for collectors of women’s history and I’m so proud to have been a part of it.”
Sale highlights include:
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Own Copy of Her Collected Writings, My Own Words. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016. Sold for $81,562.50 inc. premium against an estimate of $1,000 - 2,000.
- "I'll Fight" sheet music inscribed to Ruth Bader Ginsburg from Diane Warren. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred, 2018. Sold for $35,312.50 inc. premium against an estimate of $100 - 200.
- Toni Morrison’s Beloved inscribed by the author to Ruth and Martin Ginsburg. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Sold for $31,562.50 inc. premium against an estimate of $300 - 500.
- Sonia Sotomayor’s My Beloved World inscribed to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Sold for $40,312.50 inc. premium against an estimate of $300 - 500.
_The_Sound_of_B100x100_c.jpg "Howard Terpning, The Sound of Buffalo")
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
100x100_c.jpg "‘The Surf Riders of Hawaii’ by A.R. Gurrey Jr., the earliest and most important book pertaining to the sport of surfing, circa 1910-1914, one of eight known survivors or an unknown original number. Handmade with eight gelatin silver period photos of surfers in Hawaii, adorned with hand calligraphy and including poetry and prose by Lord Byron and Gurrey")
