Rare print and map dealer W. Graham Arader III failed to circumvent the recession on June 19 at Sotheby’s in New York.

His single-owner sale, including  Audubon bird prints and antique maps, fetched $3.25 million, with forty-four percent of 204 lots failing to sell.

Arader made every effort to induce bidding: about a third of lots were sold without reserve. He also concocted a unique gambit, promising to contribute 20 percent of the hammer price to a charity of the buyer’s choice.

Bidding was frothy on Pierre Joseph Redouté botanical prints that came matted, framed and ready-to-hang. 19th century artist Karl Bodmer’s pencil and ink profile portrait of a Native American titled “Messika,”  estimated to sell for $150,000 to $200,000, went unsold.

The dealer hailed the sale as “a new idea that worked,” in an email distributed after the auction. Gifts in the range of $500,000 will be distributed to charities, said Arader, provided buyers follow up and request donations.

“My goal next year is to be able to arrange for gifts in the $5,000,000 range,” he wrote.

Arader’s empire includes a 12,000 square foot townhouse at 1016 Madison Avenue, formerly home to Perls Galleries. Arader snagged the building for $5 million in 1997, according to an article in The New York Times. Last year the building was listed with Sotheby’s Realty for $75 million, according to Curbed, the real estate blog.

Other Arader outposts include Philadelphia, Denver, Houston and San Francisco, according to the gallery’s website : www.aradergalleries.com

Sotheby’s auction results: www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotResultsDetailList.jsp?event_id=29470&sale_number=N08558