John Dee's Chaldaica Grammatica, Marilyn Monroe's ID, and Egon Schiele Collotypes : The Week in Rare Books

This weekly auction result is provided by Spencer W Stuart, an independent collections advisor specializing in rare books and manuscripts as well as fine photography and prints. He is also the author of Contemporary Issues in Rare Books & Manuscript Collecting and host of the monthly webinar Collecting Insights.

These are the three lots that stuck out this week because of either uniqueness or exceeding expectations:

John Dee's Chaldaica Grammatica by Sebastian Munster
The first edition (Basel, Apud Io. Frob., 1527), ex libris John Dee with his signature written in mirror writing at head of title dated London, 1561; with the letter 'd' surrounded by dots and a dash in his hand beside the imprint, with hand-drawn additional three-leaf clovers in the margins sporadically throughout. Sold at Swann Galleries for $107,950.00 following an estimate of $10,000-$15,000.

Marilyn Monroe's Department of Defense ID
Laminated with a black and white photograph of Marilyn Monroe, a date of "8 Feb. 1954," and a typed name of "DiMaggio, Norma Jeane;" signed 'Norma Jeane DiMaggio' with back of card showing two finger prints and personal attributes. In February 1954, just two weeks after her surprise wedding to Joe DiMaggio and midway through their trip to Japan, Marilyn Monroe took a four-day detour to entertain U.S. troops in Korea. This Department of Defense ID card features a rare instance of her new legal name. Sold at Christie's for $176,400 after an estimate of $20,000-$30,000.

A collotype portfolio after Egon Schiele
Complete set of 15 collotypes, 1920, on thin wove paper, mounted in original gray passe-partouts. Sold for $20,480 at Doyle after an estimate of $6,000-$8,000.