The only way to get to 300 is to issue 300. Congratulations!
Bob Fleck, the founder of Oak Knoll Books in New Castle, Delaware recently passed by one of those milestones you cannot quickly reach, the issuance of his 300th catalogue. Few houses get this far and many that have are now the famous, even storied stalwarts of the valuable and collectible book field. Maggs Brothers, Sotherans, and Bernard Quaritch in London, George MacManus in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Goodspeed’s in Boston come to mind as prolific multi-generational booksellers who have reached this mark. There are others of course but its an exclusive group. Like hitting 300 major league home runs it takes skill, luck and many years.
Bob, an engineer by training and a bibliophile himself, brought a flexible approach to his business that has helped him find success into his fourth decade as a bookseller. “Staying relevant has required staying focused. The business has been changing.”
He recalls posting his material on line for the first time in the mid-1980s. “It was easy then. There weren’t so many listings.” Over the past 10 years it has become much more competitive.
Since 1978 he’s also been publishing as the Oak Knoll Press and found the symbiotic relationship of these businesses beneficial to both. The Press publishes about 25 titles a year.
Looking ahead he’s optimistic and explains, “It’s in my nature. I see possibilities.” His son Rob, now 27, is working with him and this is something he appreciates.
Reflecting on the many changes since he started in 1976 he mentions the slow decline in traditional book fairs and bookshops. An ever-higher percentage of our sales are on line and subject to very competitive pricing but also notes that the Oak Knoll Fest [XVIII] with symposiums and discussions that he runs in New Castle [and just completed recently] is very strong. “It’s part of being flexible.”
Catalogues of course remain important although the number of catalogues issued has declined. “For years we issued 12 a year. This year its 4.” The business is increasingly online.
It is perhaps best to think of Bob as a bronco rider. He knows how to ride but you never really know the horse. The book field is like that anymore. It changes and Bob is an old hand at adjusting.
For the signal event of issuing his 300th catalogue his team has assembled a 271 item, 152 page full color 8x11” catalogue. It includes material in many of the categories he has been active in over the past 36 years:
Bookbinding
Book Collecting, Bookselling and Publishing History
Book Illustration
Cartography
Delaware History
Book and Graphic Design
Private and Fine Press
Papermaking
Printing History
Reference and Bibliography
Type Specimens
Writing and Calligraphy
Here are links to Catalogue 300. You can order by phone or email. On the Oak Knoll site you can also search all of their roughly 22,000 items.
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.")
