BEHIND THE BLOCKBUSTERS: OPPENHEIMER’S PASSPORT AND ORIGIN STORY OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN HIT BONHAMS BOOKS SALE

Left: ESQUEMELIN (ALEXANDRE OLIVIER), De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, FIRST EDITION, t'Amsterdam, Jan ten Hoorn, boekverkoper, 1678. Estimate: £50,000 - £70,000. Right: OPPENHEIMER (J. ROBERT), Robert Oppenheimer's passport with photograph for 1924, SIGNED TWICE ("J. Robert Oppenheimer"), 10 June 1924[-26]. Estimate: £15,000 - 25,000

London – The passport belonging to the young J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967), complete with his signed photograph portrait is amongst the highlights of Bonhams’ Fine Books and Manuscripts sale on Wednesday 20 November in Knightsbridge. Issued in 1924, the passport records his travels as a student, at both Harvard and Cambridge University. He would later be known as ‘The Father of the Atomic Bomb’ and was the subject of last year’s blockbuster film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan. The passport and photograph have an estimate of £15,000-25,000. The sale also includes an extremely rare first edition of De Americaensche Zee-Roovers by Alexandre Oliver Esquemelin (c.1645-1707) the first complete copy to come to auction in 130 years and the origin of the myth of the Pirates of the Caribbean. The book has an estimate £50,000-70,000.

Matthew Haley, Managing Director of Bonhams Knightsbridge and Head of Bonhams UK Books & Manuscripts Department, commented: “We have a real blockbuster Fine Books and Manuscripts sale this November in Knightsbridge. Not only do we have the passport of the young Oppenheimer, but we also have an extremely rare first edition of De Americaensche Zee-Roovers by Alexandre Oliver Esquemelin, the origin of the myth of the Pirates of the Caribbean. The most recent record of a complete copy like this is in 1894, and only six copies have been traced in institutions. It is fascinating when items of historical significance come up, especially when they have such an interesting intersection with contemporary culture. Both of these items are part of an image and a story that was to make it onto the big screen and capture the public’s imagination. Moreover, we will also be offering an original drawing of Babar The Elephant, which certainly captured the imagination of many in their childhood.”

The young Robert Oppenheimer. The signed photograph is offered alongside his passport issued in 1924. Estimate: £15,000 - 25,000

The photograph shows Oppenheimer aged 17, taken from a previous passport application in 1921. He is described as 6ft.1in., with blue eyes, oval face, roman nose and medium forehead. The passport is signed twice, across his portrait and below ‘signature of bearer’, and features numerous consulate and immigration stamps recording his travels to England, Italy, France and Germany. Aged 20 at the time the passport was issued, Oppenheimer travelled to Europe with his family and, having graduated from Harvard, shortly began his studies at the University of Cambridge. It was during this time that he would be first introduced to pioneering theories of quantum mechanics, which would be central to his career and legacy as ‘The Father of the Atomic Bomb’.

ESQUEMELIN (ALEXANDRE OLIVIER), De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, FIRST EDITION, t'Amsterdam, Jan ten Hoorn, boekverkoper, 1678. Estimate: £50,000 - £70,000.

Written in 1678, Americaensche Zee-Roovers is the author’s first-hand account of pirate exploits in the Caribbean. Featuring 12 engravings and countless captivating descriptions of pirate escapades, the book animates the lives of many notorious pirate captains. Among the characters populating Esquemelin's eye-witness account is the infamous privateer Henry Morgan (1635-1688). As Morgan's confidant and barber-surgeon, Esquemelin had a front-row seat to some of the most audacious raids in pirate history, including the sack of Maracaibo in 1669 and the assault on Panama in 1671, both of which are depicted in the plates. Esquemlin’s vivid prose and first-hand accounts captivated readers across Europe, and the text would become the cornerstone of pirate literature for centuries to come.

BRUNHOFF (JEAN DE), Le voyage de Babar, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY WITH FULL-PAGE PEN AND INK DRAWING OF BABAR, Paris, Editions du Jardin des Modes, [1932]. Estimate: £10,000 - £20,000.

The sale will also include a rare original pen and ink drawing of Babar in a presentation copy of Le Voyage de Babar, the second in the series of Babar books by Jean de Brunhoff (1899-1937). The illustration depicts Babar smartly dressed in overcoat, kerchief and hat in the interior of a milliner's, buying a hat from the shop assistant and requesting it be sent to "Mr. Gregory au chalet La Fenière". The book was gifted by Jean de Brunhoff (1899-1937) to the recipients as a souvenir of their meeting at Montana, Switzerland. From an early age de Brunhoff suffered from tuberculosis and spent much of his time (he died aged thirty-seven) receiving treatment at a sanatorium in Crans-Montana. In Le voyage de Brunhoff depicts a resort based on the town (with "Hotel Suisse") where Babar, Celeste and the Old Lady go for "le bon air des montagnes et faire un peu de ski". It has an estimate of £10,000-20,000.

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In 2023, Bonhams achieved 14% growth with $1.14 billion in turnover. Recent important auctions and landmark single-owner collections, include the white glove sales of Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection, Alain Delon: Sixty Years of Passion; Sir Roger Moore: The Personal Collection; Personal Property of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Robert & Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting. Other notable single-owner sales included The Estate of Barbara Walters: American Icon; The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; The Crown Auction: Props and Costumes and The Claude de Marteau Collection.

Top lots for 2023 include 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta, Sold at Quail Lodge, US for US$30,255,000. Tipu Sultan’s Bedchamber Sword (sold in London for £14m – a world record for both an Islamic and an Indian object); Paul Signac (1863-1935), Sisteron, 1902. Sold for US$8,580,000 (estimate US$4-6 million), and Claude Monet (1840-1926), La Seine près de Giverny, 1888. Sold for US$6,352,500 (estimate US$4-6m), both from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; A Gilt Copper Alloy figure of Virupaksha, Central Tibet, Densatil Monastery, Early 15th century. Sold for HK$37.9m (£4,060,326) in Hong Kong. Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959) Three Stars. Sold for HK$36,754,000 (£3,930,914, also in Hong Kong

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