• Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Forum Auctions
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    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Alken (Henry). Sporting Notions, first edition, T.McLean, 1832-33. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Bardi (Lorenzo). Nuova Raccolta delle piu interessanti Vedute della Citta di Firenze…, Florence, Lorenzo Bardi, [c.1840]. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Crawfurd (John). Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava..., first edition, 1829. £1,000 to £1,500.
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    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Dawe (George, engraver). The Life of a Nobleman, first edition, Geo. Henderson, [c.1825]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: [Doyle (John)], "H.B.". Political Sketches &c., 10 vol. including The Descriptive Key to H.B., Thomas McLean, [1829-51]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Eben (Adolphus Christian Frederick, Baron von) and Nicolaus Heideloff. Modèles de l'Uniforme Militaire Adopté dans l'Armée Royale de Suède, Rudolph Ackerman, 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
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    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Geissler (J.G.G.) and Friedrich Hempel. Mahlerische Darstellungen der Sitten, Gebrauche und Lustbarkeiten bey den Russischen, Tartarischen…, 4 parts in 1, Leipzig and Paris, [1804]. £1,000 to £1,500.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Hunt (Charles). Portraits of Winning Horses...of the Derby, Oaks, & St. Leger, from the Year 1842 to 1849…, Rock Brothers & Payne, 1849. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Kunike (Adolf Friedrich). Zwey hundert und sechzig Donau-Ansichten nach dem Laufe des Donaustromes…, Vienna, Leopold Grund, 1826. £3,000 to £5,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Colour Plate Books from the Library of Norman Bobins
    Part 2
    27th March 2024
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Lasinio (Carlo). [Matrimony], Florence, 1790. £1,500 to £2,000.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Reinhardt (Joseph). A Collection of Swiss Costumes, in Miniature, second English edition, James Goodwin, [1828]. £800 to £1,200.
    Forum Auctions, Mar. 27: Wengen (Gottfried Durst von). Die Öffentliche Maskerade Bamberg am Fastnachts-Montage 1833…, Bamberg, [1833]. £2,000 to £3,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
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Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2017 Issue

Michael Peich & the Aralia Press from Oak Knoll Books

The Aralia Press.

Oak Knoll Books has published their Special Catalogue 29 Michael Peich & the Aralia Press. The Aralia Press is a private, fine press operated by Mr. Peich in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1982 by the (now) recently retired professor at West Chester University, Peich was determined to print books using traditional, by-hand means to produce the quality of the long-lost days before massive presses designed for print runs in the millions. Aralia has achieved that goal, though it is hardly unique in what it does.

 

However, that is only half of the story for Aralia. Peich has long loved poetry and his second goal was to support new and unknown poets. Getting published is not the easiest task for unknown poets, but Peich was determined to give them a start. So, he chose to use his press to print the work of aspiring poets, hoping to give them the recognition needed to one day no longer be unknown. That he has done for numerous modern poets.

 

Peich's love for poetry led him to create an annual event most notable in the field of modern poetry – the West Chester Poetry Conference. That he created with his good friend and once (but no longer) unknown poet Dana Gioia. Gioia had been an executive at General Foods, one of those who created "Jello Jigglers," according to The New Yorker. Obviously, he already had a talent for alliteration before writing poetry. Gioia has since gone on to serve as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and California State Poet Laureate. And that provides the intro to a few examples of the Aralia Press works found in this catalogue.

 

Gioia was still holding down his day job in the food industry when he began writing and publishing poetry. His first published work came in 1982 and then in 1983, he published his first collection of poems, entitled Summer. The printer for this collection was Aralia, which had only begun printing the previous year as well. It was not a long book (about 10 pages) but provides a selection of poems. It was printed in a limited edition of 200 copies, the type set by hand by Peich. This copy is signed by Gioia. Item 48. Priced at $50.

 

Item 38 is a broadside of a poem by Gioia, one that brings fear and trembling to a one-time college student, even all these many years later - Homage to Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard was the 19th century Danish philosopher whose works I had to read without ever understanding a word. Perhaps it was because he wrote in Danish and the translator did a miserable job. Fortunately, Gioia's words are understandable. Certainly, my experience with Kierkegaard makes this line of Gioia's one I can relate to: "The more one suffers, the more one acquires a sense of the comic." Today I can laugh about my experiences with the Danish philosopher, though even now it is an uneasy laugh. This poem was printed in 2013 for the Soren Kierkegaard Bicentennial at the First Lutheran Church in West Seattle, Washington, a place he never visited. It is one of 120 copies, signed by the author. $50.

 

This next book combines the work of two poets, with an apt name for one that is a collaboration – A Conversation. Jim Harrison is better known as a novelist. He writes of rural Americans somewhere between the two coasts. Several of his books have been made into films. However, his other writing style, less well known, is poetry. For Harrison, it was his favorite type, more artistic and more revealing. His partner in this work was Ted Kooser, primarily a poet, and living in the Heartland. What is unusual is that the book never explains who wrote what. As they say in the introduction, it "is an assertion in favor of poetry and against credentials." Item 55 is one of 26 lettered copies of the limited Deluxe edition, published in 2002. It has been signed by both authors. $625.

 

Next up we have Starr Farm Beach, by Timothy Steele, published in 2005. Book catalogues are particularly helpful when they enable us to learn something new. Oak Knoll informs us, "Timothy Steele writes prosodic poetry, and has written two books about prosody." "Prosody" is like one of those spelling bee words – you might be able to spell it, but you have no idea what it means. At least I don't, or didn't. It relates to the use of intonation, pitch, rhythm, stress, and such with syllables to add to the language. As such, it is not a phonetic sound like a vowel or consonant, but tones or accents added to a syllable. It is "What?" or "What!" or "Whaaaat" or "WHAT" as opposed to "What." So, how does that apply to poetry? I'm not sure. Spoken poetry would be easy to read in a prosodic form, but written seems more difficult. Perhaps some sorts of symbols are used? Maybe you can figure it out from these poems. Item 140 is one of a limited edition of 180 copies. $40.

 

Richard Wilbur is both one of America's most acclaimed contemporary poets and mid-20th century poets. He's both because he has been around a long time. He won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1957 and again 32 years later. In between, he became America's second Poet Laureate, succeeding Robert Penn Warren. Item 159 is a broadside printing of an eight line poem published in 2011 entitled Sugar Maples, January. It is one of 250 copies, and this one has been signed by the author. It was printed in celebration of Wilbur's 90th birthday. Today he is 96. The poem is about sugar maple trees in the dead of winter, at rest, awaiting the still far off springtime. I hope that republishing such a short poem is not some sort of copyright violation. I think it's short enough for fair use, and while I'm no connoisseur of poetry, he paints a picture that is easy for anyone to visualize from his words:

 

"What years of weather did to branch and bough

No canopy of shadow covers now,

 

And these great trunks, when the wind’s rough and bleak,

Though little shaken, can be heard to creak.

 

It is not time, as yet, for rising sap

And hammered spiles. There’s nothing there to tap.

 

For now, the long blue shadows of these trees

Stretch out upon the snow, and are at ease."

 

Oak Knoll Books may be reached at 800-996-2556 or orders@oakknoll.com. Their website is www.oakknoll.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000

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