Wanted: a home for Thomas Alva Edison's light bulbs, which failed to reach their reserve price in a rare auction of scientific objects, manuscripts and books. The bulbs went under the hammer — and came out again — in the first-ever dedicated sale of scientific artefacts held by Christie's auction house in London. Christie's guide price for their showpiece lot of 20 or so light bulbs was £200,000 to £300,000.
Christie's innovative new auction, Landmarks of Science, will chart the history of science, medicine and technology from the 15th to the 20th century. The auction will feature seminal printed books, manuscripts, instruments, and artefacts, and will juxtapose key texts in the history of science and technology with instruments and artefacts that embody these landmark discoveries.
Landmarks of Science Sale 7269 13 December 2006, 2:30 pm 8 King Street, St. James's, London
Viewing 10 December 12:00 pm - 05:00 pm 11 December 09:00 am - 04:30 pm 12 December 09:00 am - 08:00 pm 13 December 09:00 am - 12:00 pm
Sale 7269, Lot 138 Thomas Alva Edison The Edison trial evidence for Patent No. 223, 898, comprising 23 incandescent light bulb specimens and prototypes (1881-1890) Estimate: £200,000-300,000
Albert Einstein 'Über die Untersuchung des Aetherzustandes im magnetischen Felde'. 5½-page autograph manuscript with Einstein's covering autograph letter signed to his uncle, Caesar Koch, n.p., n.d. (Pavia, summer 1895). Einstein’s first scientific essay Estimate: £300,000-500,000
Galileo Galilei Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle machine solari e loro accidenti. Rome: 1613. First edition: Galileo's first published endorsement of the Copernican Model and his discovery of sunspots and of the satellites of Jupiter Estimate: £18,000-25,000