Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2012 Issue

A Case for Buying from Dealers

Material purchased from Peter Luke

Material purchased from Peter Luke

Taken together, when building an original and complex collection of material generally beyond the standard collecting focuses the following criteria are in play:

1.     The subject needs to be narrow and the well of possibilities deep.

2.     The search terms and phrases for following the flow of material on listing sites, at auction and on eBay need to be relatively unique.  Otherwise the effort to sort through matches will exceed the benefits of finding interesting material.  Efficiency is very important.

3.     Dealers will play a consistent role.  You will pay them a premium but gain from their perspective; learn of material and connections that enrich.

Here then is the outcome of two purchases from Bill and Peter.  Might they have shown up from other sellers?  Possibly.  At better prices?  Not necessarily because both dealers discounted to sell their groups.
  

A list of what they offered, and I subsequently bought, goes a long way to explain why dealers play an important role in the building of focused collections.

Peter Luke offered me the following:

The Parish Will Case.  Argument of John K. Porter on behalf of the respondents in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, January 10, 1862.  Munselliana indicates 600 copies were printed but the item seems more uncommon than that.  A nice copy of this 72 page pamphlet.

Two pamphlets:  Facts and Suggestions Relating to the New-York and Albany Railroad, 1832 and The New-York and Albany Rail-Road [with map], 1833.  Exceptionally rare pamphlets printed at the dawn of the age of railroads.

Picturesque Catskills.  The Wonder of New York State.  Printed by F. A Gallt, Kingston, New York, 1924.  64 pgs. Plus printed wraps.  A very clear commercial perspective.

Address to the Public of The Lake Mohonk Conference held at Lake Mohonk, N. Y., October 1883 in behalf of the Civilization and Legal Protection of the Indians in the United States.  For many years these conferences were held at the mountaintop resort and after each a pamphlet or two would be issued to note the events and publish speeches and reports.  One of the founding brothers of Mohonk Mountain House, Albert K. Smiley, was a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners.

Greene County Almanack for the year of our Lord, 1828.  Published at Catskill by N. Elliott, Book-seller, printed by A. Stoddard, Hudson.  A fragile and well-worn 32 pg. ephemera meant to disappear in 1829.  The printer was probably the initiator of this project and N. Elliott, one of probably several publishers who in exchange for the printing of their indicia on the title page agreed to buy some specific quantity.  Such almanacks were printed for many years.

Prospectus – 1st Mortgage Preferred Bonds of the Jersey City and Albany Railway Co.  Whole Issue, $100,000 being at the rate of $4,000 per mile.  Interest 7 per cent.  [with map] Printed by George W. Dickson, Jr., Printer, 100 William St., New York.  The JC & A was a short-lived stage in the building of a Hudson River west shore railroad system linking New York to Albany and points west.  This is a prospectus for hearty investors buying into a murky future.  The map is priceless, showing the Wallkill Valley Railroad, at what history now tells us, was its paramount moment.  A gem.

Van Loan’s Catskill Mountain Guide – 1890.  Published by Walton Van Loan, Catskill, N. Y.  136 pgs. plus printed covers.  A worn copy of a priceless perspective.

A Discourse of the Life, Character and Services of Daniel Webster, pronounced in the Reformed Dutch Church of Saugerties on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25th, 1852 by C. Van Santvoord.  Senator Webster died at Marshfield on October 24th, 1852.  30 pgs, lacking covers and disbound.

Dedication – Monument – 20th New York State Militia at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, October 4th, 1888.  A monument in stone to remember the blood and courage of local men.   Including a poem, The Ulster Guard at Gettysburg, by Henry Abbey, of Kingston.  48 pgs plus printed wraps.

A 32 pg. pamphlet – Saugerties Evening[Steamboat] Line to the Catskills – new and elegant steamers, The Steamer Ida and the Steamer Ulster, for the 1907 season.  Schedules, advertisements and illustrations – life before the automobile would alter so much.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800

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