Apr 2nd, 2008 · A rare collection of historic manuscripts goes on sale at Sotheby's Thursday. The highlight is a letter dated April 5, 1864, in which President Lincoln replies to a petition sent by 195 children from Concord, Mass., requesting that he free "all the little slave children in the country."
Dec 18th, 2007 · A copy of the Magna Carta is up for auction at Sotheby's in New York City. Originally written in 1215, it limited the power of King John and confirmed the rights of the people under common law. The copy up for auction in the U.S. is valued at $30 million, and many believe it's likely to be the only copy ever sold.
Dec 11th, 2007 · The Sotheby's auctioneer had estimated that the statuette could fetch $1.2 million. A 1940 copy of Orson Welles's 156-page 'Citizen Kane'' script, replete with blue markings, fetched $97,000. We talk to director Peter Bogdanovich, a close friend of Welles.
Dec 11th, 2007 · Today, Sotheby's is auctioning off Orson Welles' Oscar statuette that he won in 1941 for writing Citizen Kane. Host Steve Inskeep talks to Margaret Barrett, Hollywood memorabilia expert, about the market for buying and selling Oscars.
Nov 14th, 2007 · Three big auction houses -- Christie's, Sotheby's and Philips de Pury -- are selling works whose value they estimate at more than $900 million. Lindsay Pollock, a journalist specializing in the art market, considers whether the contemporary art bubble could burst.
Jan 15th, 2007 · Michele Norris talks with Michael Rose, executive director of the Atlanta History Center and co-curator of the exhibit "I Have a Dream: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection," which opened today. The exhibit features 600 of the 10,000 artifacts purchased at auction from Sotheby's last year by a consortium of Atlanta interests, and includes index cards King used to collect quotes or jot down thoughts, a mimeographed copy of instructions that were handed out to participants in the Montgomery bus boycott, and the only existing copy of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" with his handwriting.
Jul 13th, 2006 · A rare first edition of Shakespeare's complete plays sells for over five million dollars at auction in London. Peter Selley, Sotheby's English literature expert, talks about the importance of the folio with Renee Montagne.
Jun 28th, 2006 · Ed Gordon takes a tour of the personal papers and books of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., on display at Sotheby's auction house. The collection, valued at about $30 million, was meant to be auctioned this week. Instead, private donors purchased the collection and will donate it to Morehouse College in Atlanta, the civil rights icon's alma mater.