Map of Beijing, painted on silk. [China, Daoguang Period], (1820-1850)

This splendid, enormous hand-painted map of Beijing shows and names the main streets, official residences of imperial family members, important buildings, temples, geographical features, fortifications and garrisons of the Forbidden, Imperial and Inner Cities.

$250,000

United States flag flown to the Moon on Apollo 11. NASA, July 16-24, 1969

This American flag, flown to the Moon on Apollo 11, is one of the most sought-after relics of space exploration.

$150,000

Apollo Lunar Module lithograph signed by all twelve men who have walked on the Moon, dozens of other astronauts, and scores of NASA and Grumman officials and other figures associated with the Apollo program.. [NASA and Grumman], ca. 1972.

The spectacular color lithograph of the Apollo Lunar Module is surrounded by more than 300 signatures including the twelve men who have walked on the Moon, 25 additional Apollo astronauts, various political and aerospace leaders, and numerous Grumman and NASA engineers, officers, and other personnel.

$85,000

Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1765-1769

First edition of Blackstone’s Commentaries, a monument of the Anglo-American legal and political system and one of the key influences on the thought of the Founding Fathers and the shaping of the Constitution.

$68,000

Carey’s American Atlas. Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1795

FIRST EDITION of the first true American atlas, the earliest atlas of the United States engraved and published in America. This important volume contains several important state maps including the first American map representing Virginia after statehood. In the preparation of this atlas, Carey drew primarily on existing sources including Guthrie’s Geography. Many of the maps were drawn by Samuel Lewis.

$35,000

This Boke Sheweth the Maner of Measurynge All Maner of Lande, as Well of Woodlande, as of Lande in the Felde and Comptynge the True Nombre of Acres of the Same. [edited by Thomas Paynell.]. Southwark: James Nicolson, [1537 or 1538?]

FIRST EDITION of “the first English textbook on geometrical land-measurement and surveying” (Buisseret, Monarchs, Ministers, and Maps). The book focused on practical methods calculating everything from the amount of stone needed to pave a chamber floor to the size of a pasture or field” marking “the beginning of a new interest in measuring not just the assets of the land, but the land itself” (D. K. Smith, Cartographic Imagination in Early Modern England).

$35,000

Shizhuzhai shuhuapu (Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting). No place, printed ca. 1775

FIRST EDITION, second superstate, of the Ten Bamboo Studio, “perhaps the most beautiful set of prints ever made” (Ebrey).

$35,000

Armstrong and Aldrin raising the U.S. flag on the Moon’s surface. NASA, [1969]

Signed by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first two men on the Moon. This image was taken by the Maurer Data Acquisition Camera (DAC, pronounced “dak”). The DAC made films through the Lunar Module Pilot’s window during the approach and landing of the LM and took stop motion photographs during the EVA at the rate of one frame per second.

$32,000

The French Revolution, a History. Boston: Little & Brown, 1838

First American edition. A splendid presentation copy inscribed by Ralph Waldo Emerson to his brother: “Wm. Emerson from his brother Waldo.” The inscription is in pencil in the second volume. Emerson used this intimate signature only with his immediate family. Page 270 of the first volume bears a pencil correction apparently in Emerson’s hand.

$30,000

Apollo 11 Philatelic Cover signed by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. [Houston], 1969

Signed by the crew of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the Moon: Neil Armstrong (commander), Buzz Aldrin (lunar module pilot), and Michael Collins (command module pilot). From the collection of Neil Armstrong.

$28,000