Saturday, December 05, 2009

Media Coverage of Auction Records

Some of the coverage of yesterday's two sales (summarized here and here):

Reuters notes that the Tamerlane sale broke the record for a 19th-century book of poetry, and the "For Annie" fragment set the new mark for a 19th-century literary manuscript. The AP calls the buyer of the poetry mss. "an American collector."

The AP also notes that Cormac McCarthy has invited the winner of his typewriter to join him for lunch at the Sante Fe Institute, the NM-based nonprofit to which the proceeds from the typewriter sale will be given.

A short Washington Post piece on the Washington letter says that the bidding war came down to two telephone bidders.