Christie's has announced its 19-29 July online-auction entitled Boundless: 125 Years of National Geographic Photography.
 National Geographic has around 11.5m photographs and artefacts in its archives |
The sale features 125 of the most iconic and recognisable works, which have been hand selected by the auction house in collaboration with the long-standing magazine.
The photographs have been newly printed in limited editions, with estimates ranging from $400-5,000.
The sale follows on from Christie's December 2012 auction, The National Geographic Collection: The Art of Exploration, which saw Steve McCurry's arresting Afghan Girl - one of the world's most famous photographs - sell with a 258% increase on estimate.
National Geographic magazine was launched in 1888 and has become renowned for showcasing the immense talents of its intrepid photographers. Since its foundation, the National Geographic Society has amassed approximately 11.5m photographs and artefacts from across the world.
Among the highest estimates in the sale is Stephen Alvarez' Majlis al Jinn Cave, Oman, 2004, a digital chromogenic print, which is valued at $1,500-2,000.
Beverly Joubert's Zebras at a Watering Hole, Mkgadigadi, Botswana, 2009 will follow with an estimate of $1,200-1,800.
Further highlights include extremely rare prints from Thomas Abercrombie's original Kodachrome negatives.
Abercrombie (1930-2006) was renowned as one of the longest serving staff writers and photographers at National Geographic and is highly respected for his work on the Middle East. He travelled to all seven continents and became the first staff photojournalist to travel to the South Pole, in 1956.
Many of the works seen in the sale have never been offered at auction in such large formats, undoubtedly causing excitement among collectors and avid readers of the magazine.
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