The recent auction at Sotheby’s New York found a first edition of the first U.S. census signed by Thomas Jefferson in 1791 selling for well above estimate. There are only two other such census copies signed by Jefferson that have come to auction since 1975. This 56 page document was estimated to sell within the $50,000 - $70,000 price range and sold for $122,000.
The last privately owned Schindler’s list is for sale in New York carrying a price of $ 2.2 million.  The manuscript of Jewish names, dated 18 April 1945 was kept by a German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who is credited with saving the lives of more than a thousand Jewish prisoners interred during World War II.  Gary Zimet, memorabilia dealer, believes the list to be one of the most important WWII documents as all other copies of the list are owned by museums. The manuscript received much attention following the success of a 1993 movie of the same name.
An important and rare early broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence was sold for $722,500, firmly above its estimate of $450,000 - $650,000. The work was sold at Christie’s Fine Books and Manuscripts auction on 24 June 2009 in New York. Only a few copies of the early broadsheet editions survive.
Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009
Bloomsbury’s first major sale of 2009 was a complete sell-out. The auction house offered a collection of books with unique drawings and dedications made by the Russian artist Marc Chagall. Estimated to fetch £250,000, the collection sold for £314,400.
These San Sisto Choir Books sold in November 2008 for £657,250 at Christie's in London, over the estimate of £480,000 - £600,000, despite a softening market.
