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Edward Tufte selling his multi-million dollar library

Edward Tufte is selling about 200 rare books from his working library, which includes copies of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius and Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Here’s the catalog at Christie’s. Tufte explains why he’s selling:

My library was always working library, with the rare books beside my computer as I was writing. But in the last few years, the books were viewed only when a visitor requested a look at the Galileo, Playfair, or Picasso books, or when I took a nostalgic look in the library. Furthermore, the important books in my library are the unread books. My introduction to the Christie’s catalog explains exactly what I’m thinking about in doing the auction. In particular, note the second to last paragraph. And I am in excellent health, delighted with new adventures in Washington, DC and New York City, and fortunate to be a working and exhibiting artist.

He also dropped the name of his next book: Seeing Around, which will likely be about landscape architecture. (thx, brian)