On March I 1， 1744， Samuel Baker， founder of Sotheby’s， held the first－ever saleunder his own name. The library of a certain Rt. Hon. Sir John Stanley， Bart. describedas “containing several hundred scarce and valuable books in all branches of PoliteLiterature” sold for a few hundred pounds， Well over two centuries later， onDecember 6， I983， Sotheby’s sold a single book， The Gospels of Henry the Lion， formore than 8 million pounds.