Robert S. Pirie was a lawyer by day and a member of the Carson, Pirie, Scott department store family by birth, but he was a bibliophile and rare book collector at heart. Now his collection of 16th and 17th century British literature is up for auction.
Sotheby’s will be auctioning off more than 1,000 items from Pirie’s voluminous collection that includes, among other things, works by Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and an extensive collection of works by poet and cleric John Donne. The auction will take place Dec. 2-4 in New York, and 20 items from the auction will be on display Thursday, Nov. 19 at Sotheby’s Chicago (188 E. Walton Place).
“This is a connoisseur’s library,” said David Redden, worldwide chairman of books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s. “Pirie was the greatest collector of 16th and 17th English literature since the Second World War. He had a vast collection. It’s really exciting to have some something so dramatic in the book world up for auction.”
The auction, which Redden called “probably the best book sale around the world this year,” offers no shortage of items estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars: Shakespeare’s Second Folio is estimated at $400,000 to $600,000, while Donne’s “Pseudo-Martyr” -– one of only two surviving copies -– is estimated to be worth between $150,000 to $200,000. The copy of “Pseudo-Martyr” for sale includes an autographed letter presenting the copy to Lord Chancellor Ellesmere.
Pirie, who died in January following a stroke, was born in Chicago in 1934 and became interested in Elizabethan literature as an undergraduate at Harvard. He began seriously collecting books in the late 1950s while stationed in Germany, where he came across a rare 17th century work by Donne, according to his obituary in The New York Times.
His collection, Redden said, is equal parts unique and in good condition.
“These are very fine examples of each book and, in some cases, extremely rare,” he said. “Pirie was only interested in the best of the best.”
While condition and rarity factor into prices, previous ownership factors in as well, Redden said.
“One of the things book collectors like is provenance — who owned what before,” he said. “People add value to books, and collectors can say in the future that this was a Robert Pirie copy.”
There’s more than just owning a Pirie copy, Redden said. There is Pirie himself.
“Bob, as I knew him, was quite the extraordinary figure,” Redden said. “He knew amazing people… More than anything else, he enjoyed interesting people and had fascinating dinner parties. He not only collected wonderful books but wonderful people too.”
A select number of items will be on display at Sotheby’s Chicago, 188 E. Walton Place, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday. The event is free to the public. For more information call 312-475-7900.
The auction starts Dec. 2 at 9 a.m. CT at www.sothebys.com.
