AUSTRALIAN Monday 1st June, 2015 at 6.30pm BOOK AUCTIONS AUSTRALIAN BOOK AUCTIONS Monday 1st June, 2015 ABA076 AUSTRALIAN BOOK AUCTIONS AUSTRALIAN BOOK AUCTIONS PTY. LTD. A.B.N 60 088 582 030 A.C.N 088 582 030 Barbara Hince, Director Jonathan Wantrup, Director Dr Gavin De Lacy, General Manager GALLERY AND SALEROOM: 909 High Street, Armadale, Victoria, 3143 TELEPHONE: (+61) 03 9822 4522 FACSIMILE: (+61) 03 9822 6873 EMAIL: [email protected] WEB ADDRESS: www.australianbookauctions.com AUSTRALIAN BOOK AUCTIONS THE COLLECTION OF JOHN LANE MULLINS Under instructions from Sancta Sophia College within the University of Sydney To be sold by auction on Monday 1st June 2015 at 6.30 pm At Australian Book Auctions Gallery 909 High Street, Armadale, Victoria Telephone (+61) 03 9822 4522 Facsimile (+61) 03 9822 6873 Email [email protected] www.australianbookauctions.com On View At the Gallery, 909 High Street, Armadale, Victoria Friday 29th May from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Saturday 30th May from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Sunday 31st May from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Monday 1 June from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Catalogue Price: $33.00 Important Information for Buyers Registration and Buyer’s numbers of 1.1% will be added to your invoice to cover bank The auction will be conducted using Buyer’s fees and charges. numbers. All prospective bidders are asked to register Condition of lots and collect a Buyer’s number before the sale. All lots are sold “as is”, in accordance with clauses 6a- Buyer’s premium f of the Conditions of Business, and Australian Book Please note that a Buyer’s premium of 19.8% Auctions makes no representation as to the condition of (inclusive of Goods and Services Tax) of the hammer any lot. Buyers should satisfy themselves as to the price on each lot is payable by the buyer. condition of any lot before the sale. Absentee bidding and Telephone bidding Every attempt is made to describe all lots accurately in As a convenience to buyers who are unable to attend the catalogue but condition of lots is not generally the auction in person, Australian Book Auctions will, noted. if so instructed in writing at least 24 hours before the Where a note describing the condition of any lot is sale, execute bids on behalf of prospective buyers. included in the catalogue this is intended as general Absentee bids can only be accepted on the guidance only for intending buyers who should satisfy appropriate form fully completed (the form is to be themselves as to the condition of any lot or as to any found at the end of this catalogue). Absentee bids other matter affecting the value of any lot before the cannot be accepted by telephone unless confirmed in sale, either by personal inspection or by obtaining any writing. independent expert advice reasonable in view of the In the case of lots with a lower estimate of at least buyers’ expertise and the value of the lot. Buyers will $1000, Australian Book Auctions will, if so requested be deemed to have knowledge of all matters which at least 24 hours before the sale, make all reasonable they could reasonably be expected to find out given the efforts to contact prospective buyers by telephone so exercise by them of reasonable due diligence. See as to enable them to participate in bidding. Requests especially clauses 6a-f and 7a-f of the Conditions of for this service must be confirmed in writing. In no Business. circumstance will Australian Book Auctions be held Sale Room Notices and Announcements from the responsible for any error or failure to execute bids. Rostrum Absentee bids should conform to the increments All conditions, notices, descriptions, statements and published in this catalogue (see page 3). An absentee other matters concerning a lot are subject to any bid that does not conform to the published increments statement modifying or affecting that lot made by the may be lowered to the next bidding interval. Auctioneer from the rostrum prior to any bid being Collection of purchases accepted on that lot. In general and where possible, any All lots purchased must be collected from the place of such matter will also be noted in a Sale Room Notice auction within seven days of the sale date. Collection posted prior to the sale. may be available for a brief period at the conclusion Pre-sale estimates of the sessions. The pre-sale estimates are intended as a guide for Uncollected lots may be placed in storage at the prospective buyers only. A bid between the listed Buyer’s risk and the Buyer’s expense. Australian figures should, in our opinion, offer a fair chance of Book Auctions will be pleased to assist any Buyer success. However, all lots, depending on the level of who wishes to make special arrangements for competition, can realise prices either above or below collection. Please notify us before the sale if you the listed estimates. require special assistance. Please note that where any lot is subject to a seller’s Methods of payment reserve in no case will the seller’s reserve exceed the Unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer, no lower estimate. purchases may be collected until the end of the sale. Conditions of Business Payment should be made in Australian dollars in The auction will be conducted in accordance with our cash, or bank cheque, or by telegraphic transfer to Conditions of Business printed in this catalogue. Australian Book Auction’s account. Personal cheques Prospective bidders should read these Conditions may be accepted at the discretion of Australian Book carefully before bidding. The above notes are for Auctions and, unless prior arrangements have been general guidance and should not be taken as a made, must be cleared before delivery of any lots. summary of the Conditions of Business nor an Credit card payments by Mastercard or Visa can also alternative to them. be accepted by prior arrangement. Please note that if payment is made by credit card, an additional charge The Collection of John Lane Mullins The collection of John Lane Mullins is offered for sale by Sancta Sophia College, within the University of Sydney. The collection has been held by Sancta Sophia College for several decades but in the interests of making it more accessible to members of the public, the College now offers it for sale so that serious collectors can enjoy its gems. A talk on John Lane Mullins addressed to the Catholic Historical Society in 1959 by Fr. C.J. Duffy perhaps best explains the view John Lane Mullins took of his books: “ a particular quality of the culture of John Lane Mullins needs mention. There was nothing of the selfish pride of ownership that is found in wealthy art lovers, or of a consciousness of artistic class distinction in his. Let me bring him and his thoughts on life and art down into the market place by quoting from an interview reproduced in the Telegraph 12.4.35. ‘I stress the importance of sharing with others. The pleasure aroused by the possession of a good book or a fine painting should be passed on. There is no real satisfaction to be derived from keeping the book locked in a library, or the painting tucked away out of sight of your friends. The privilege of possession is not enriched by the practice of selfish isolation, but rather in the sharing of all treasures.’” Bidding Increments Bidding generally opens below the lower estimate and advances in increments of up to 10%, subject to the auctioneer’s discretion. Absentee bids that do not conform to these published increments may be lowered to the next bidding interval. Up to $200 by $10s $5000 to $10,000 by $500s $200 to $500 by $20s $10,000 to $20,000 by $1000s $500 to $1000 by $50s $20,000 to $50,000 by $2000s $1000 to $2000 by $100s $50,000 to $100,000 by $5000s $2000 to $5000 by $200s Over $100,000 auctioneer’s discretion Auctioneer’s Notice Virtually all books from the collection of John Lane Mullins show marks of accession by the library of Sancta Sophia College within the University of Sydney, to whom his collection was gifted after his death. These marks consist predominantly of a shelf mark at the base of the spine, the shelf mark repeated discreetly in the top gutter margin of an endpaper or the first leaf, and an endpocket affixed to a blank leaf. There are no other markings, although in a comparatively small number of instances the discrete college library stamp has been added to a front endpaper. Most, but not all, books and pamphlets bear the special John Lane Mullins bookplate commissioned for the gift to Sancta Sophia. A good number of volumes, mainly those bound for Mullins by a local binder, are in half calf of modest quality; these are mostly rubbed and worn. These factors have been considered in the estimates provided. This sale comprises the collection of John Lane Mullins but we have included, with the approval of the vendor, a handful of lots consigned by other vendors that complemented the Mullins collection so aptly. These ‘introduced’ lots are signified with an asterisk next to the lot number. Australian Book Auctions is most grateful to Charles Stitz, author of three series (a fourth in preparation) of Australian Book Collectors, for generously providing an illuminating biographical sketch of John Lane Mullins as collector. _________________________________ John Lane Mullins (1857-1939) John Lane Mullins, solicitor, politician, bibliophile and bookplate collector, was born in Sydney on 4 June 1857 to Irish-born parents James Mullins and his wife Eliza, née Lane.