Christie’s Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts including Americana online auction in New York features a curated selection of works representing over 500 years of history and the book arts. The material on offer includes single-owner sections of classics of English literature, non-conformism, and Benjamin Franklin’s printing from the Library of the late Dr. K. William Harter; and high spots in the history of science sold to benefit the William P. Watson Family Trust; as well as important illustrated books, maps, and literature from various owners.

The top lot of the sale is Vesalius’s own annotated copy of the second edition of his groundbreaking anatomical atlas, De humani corporis fabrica—with corrections for the never-realized third edition.Other important highlights include a beautiful and unusually annotated copy of the editio princeps of Euclid’s Elements, Second and Fourth Folios of the works of Shakespeare, and the most celebrated edition of La Fontaine’s iconic Fables, illustrated by Jean-Baptiste Oudry.