On August 16th in Fairfield, Maine just off Route 95, at Poulin Antique and Auction Gallery, an authentic collection of gems and rhinestones in the books, maps and ephemera field come up for sale. The event is a throwback to the days when the interesting and sometimes spectacular were lotted-up and offered as a challenge to buyers to sort-out. In the upcoming sale an average lot contains 11 books as 5,000 items are offered in 475 lots. Adding to the sense of deja-vu the buyer’s premium rate for lots paid for in cash, with money orders and transfers is ten percent. The field has not consistently seen a 10% buyer’s premium in decades. The sale promises to be immense fun and an intellectual challenge. For those who love books there may not be a better way to invest two days, the first to inspect the material and the second to bid. The sale that gets under way at 11:00 am on the 16th will be sold at breakneck speed. The goal is to dispose of all lots by 6:30 pm, in time to meet the lobster boats bringing in dinner.
The material comes into the rooms from various sources.
As befits a sale in the ‘country style’ an advertisement running in the Maine Antique Digest and Newtown Bee projects a sense of material that is at once difficult to find and stacked up like cordwood. The goal, for the house is of course to encourage a substantial audience. The complexity of the box lots, well advertised and described, increases the prospects that a wider audience, via the internet, will find objects to bid-on online or by absentee offer. In past auctions Poulins has had as many as 8 lines for phone bidders and this sale may use them all. All lots are offered without reserve, subject only to a $25 starting bid. Prices will be determined in the room and promptly reported soon after.
Here is the working text of the ad going to press in the next few days:
IMPORTANT MAINE BOOK AUCTION: Tues. Aug.16th at our Auction Gallery in Fairfield, Maine at 11:00. PREVIEW: Mon., Aug. 15th, 9-5:00 and Tues, Aug. 9-11. The catalog with detailed descriptions and photographs is now ONLINE on Artfact to review, register and bid as well as on the Americana Exchange to review and research to confirm material of interest. On the Poulin website, http://www.poulinantiques.com/ background on the house and details on the lots [via the AUCTIONS link], are accessible. There is a thirteen buyer’s premium with a 3 percent discount for cash, pre-approved checks and money orders.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
