North America

A view from the steps of the 42nd Street New York Public Library completed in 1915 by US artist Jules André Smith is among the highlights at Master Drawings New York.

This 12in (30cm) cong form vase with elephant-head handles is decorated in qianjiangcai enamels by Cheng Men (1833-1908) – one of the best known of the late Qing period porcelain painters.

A copy of the 1892 Olympic Manifesto made an auction record for sports memorabilia when it was hammered down for $7.5m (£5.73m).

Darwin and Newton impress in US auction while Adam Smith brings wealthy sums.

Comics and comic artwork selling at a very high level were evident in a three-day sale held recently in Dallas.

On January 11-12 the specialist doll auction firm Theriault’s will be offering the collection of an American heiress, the late Huguette Clark.

Bruneau closes the year with a December 14 sale of Comics and Toys, for which Travis Landry, its director of pop culture, will join forces with ‘event entertainment company’ Altered Reality Entertainment.

A selection of books relating to conjuring dating back to the 17th century is one of the features of the latest Potter & Potter Magic sale to be held on December 14 in Chicago.

A Japanese Meiji period shibayama inlaid lacquer shodana will feature in the Asian works of art section of Weschler’s Capital Collections auction on December 13 in Rockville, Maryland.

A fine-looking copy of the 1931, US first of The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett sold right on the low estimate at $60,000 (£46,875) at Christie’s New York (25/20/13.5% buyer’s premium) to match a previous auction high.

A 1637 first edition of 'New English Canaan…' was one of the homegrown highlights of a sale held by Christie’s New York (25/20/13.5% buyer’s premium).

Possibly dating from the late 16th or early 17th century, a Spanish text manuscript version of Andrea Alciato’s 1531 'Emblemata', the first and most frequently reprinted emblem book, sold for $9000 (£7030) at Swann (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in New York.

The large collection of predominantly English ceramics offered by Stair Galleries from a New York collector included examples of 18th century porcelain from many of the major English factories.

After their intitial interest in Wedgwood, the Starrs went on to collect other examples of early English porcelain, some of which was keenly pursued in Sotheby’s sale.