Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2015 Issue

Forty Years Going: The Newtown Book Sale

- by Thomas C. McKinney

Photo courtesy of The Newtown Bee and Peter Marshall

  • [Paperback collectibles] as always, we will have a good collection of vintage paperback collectibles. We point out a collection of 26 volumes from the Dell Map series, all with a map of the book’s action on the rear cover. Largely mysteries, with an occasional western or adventure. Dell numbers range from 5 (George Harmon Coxe, Four Frightened Women) to 310 (Walker A Thompkins, West of Texas Law); all are in very good or better condition. Details on request.  $100.00 the collection.
  • Pitman, Charles R S. A Guide to the Snakes of Uganda. Kampala, Uganda: Uganda Society, 1938. VG.  $250.00.
  • Plath, Sylvia. Lyonnesse. L: Rainbow Pr, 1971. #383 of 400 copies, printed at the Rampant Lions Press, bound in quarter leather by Davis & Hodges. Teg, untrimmed fore and lower edge. Fine in fine slipcase. $75.00.
  • Pope, Clifford H. The Reptiles of China. NY: Museum of Natural History, 1935. Natural history of Central Asia vol X. VG. $75.00.
  • Power. John Carroll, editor. History of an Attempt to Steal the Body of Abraham Lincoln Including a History of the Lincoln Guard of Honor. Springfield, IL: Rokker, 1890. Gilt decorated covers, original ad for book tipped to ffep. Backstrip faded. $95.00.
  • Rackham, Arthur, illus. Arthur Rackham’s Book of Pictures. NY: Century, nd(1913). Introduction by Arthur Quiller-Couch. 44 tipped in illustrations, all with original guards. Early owner’s signature dated 1915. Gilt stamped cloth, very good.      $250.00.
  • _____. Fouque, de La Motte. L: Heinemann, 1909. 15 tipped in plates, all with original guards. Early owner’s bookplate. Pictorial paper covered boards. Backstrip slightly darkened, otherwise very good.  $200.00.
  •  Reed, Myrtle. (Collection). Nine Reed books, all with Margaret Armstrong covers. Old Rose and Silver has been tied with white ribbon, attaching an artificial rose and a small sterling silver salt or mustard spoon, by Roger Williams & Co, patent dated 1898. All in very good condition. A charming collection with no doubt an interesting back story.      $125.00.  
  • Rutherford, E. Radio-Activity. Cambridge: CUP, 1904. Ownership inscription of Arthur A Blanchard, longtime professor of chemistry at MIT.  Very good.    $100.00.
  • Samivel.Samovar et Baculot dans les Blaguers de Bagdad. Paris: Hartmann, nd(c1935). Slight wear at edges, very good.   $400.00.
  • Scarameli, Jose. As Cobras. Sao Paulo: Editora Piratininga, 1932. 85 pp. B&W illus. Pictorial front cover. Ownership inscription, N L Johnson U.S.S Davis. No record in Worldcat. Backstrip chipped. $35.00. 
  • Scharf, J Thomas. History of Westchester County, New York. Phila: Preston, 1888. Two volumes. Rebound. VG. $95.00.
  • [Sheridan, Philip]. Annual Report of the Adjutant general of the State of New York. Volume II. Albany: Comstock & Cassidy, printers, 1864. Inscribed by Sheridan on the flyleaf: “Compliments of Phil Sheridan in memory of our bloody fun at Bull Run.”  Front free end paper excised, spine slightly darkened.   $750.00.
  • Steineger, Leonhard. Herpetology of Japan and Adjacent Territory. Washington: GPO: 1907. 35 plates, 409 figures in text. Paper wraps, worn; largely unopened.  $20.00.
  • Stewart, C. Elements of the Natural History of the Animal Kingdom. Edinburgh: Bell Bradfute et al, 1817.  2nd edition, two volumes.  12 folding plates, Full calf, gilt and blind tooling, black leather spine labels. Very good. $200.00.
  • Tenngren, Gustaf, illus. D’Aulnoy’s Fairy Tales. Phila: McKay, 1923. 8 color illustrations. Pictorial cover. Slight wear, overall very good.  $45.00.
  • Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. NY: Random, nd(1971). Stated first edition. $5.95 price on DJ. Very good in very good jacket. $450.00.
  • Thoreau, Henry David. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. New Haven: Sign of the Chorobates, nd (1928). Tp decoration by Rockwell Kent. 300 copies “printed in November, 1928, the type set up by Carl Purington Rollins”. “The present issue, the first separate edition to appear in America” (Bibliographical Note by Rollins). Signed on limitation page by Rollins. Backstrip lightly faded.  $35.00.
  • [Westport, CT] Penny Magazine. L: Knight, 1832-33. Filled with woodcut illustrations. With the bookseller’s ticket of J W Taylor, Westport, CT. Ownership inscription on ffep, John W Taylor, Westport. Later signature of Granville C Washington.  Marbled boards, half leather, wear to exterior.  $40.00.   
  • Wheeler, George Augustus, and Henry Warren Wheeler. History of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell, Maine. Boston: Mudge &  Son for the authors?, 1878. Hinges cracked, front free end paper present but separated, one gathering started.  $75.00.
  • Zoological Society of London. Proceedings for the Year 1883. London, the Society, 1883. Many color and B&W plates. Marbled boards, half leather. VG.  $125.00.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    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
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 546. Christoph Jacob Trew. Plantae selectae, 1750-1773.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 70. Thomas Murner. Die Narren beschwerung. 1558.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 621. Michael Bernhard Valentini. Museum Museorum, 1714.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 545. Sander Reichenbachia. Orchids illustrated and described, 1888-1894.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1018. Marinetti, Boccioni, Pratella Futurism - Comprehensive collection of 35 Futurist manifestos, some of them exceptionally rare. 1909-1933.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 634. August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof. 3 Original Drawings, around 1740.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 671. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1260. Mary Webb. Sarn. 1948. Lucie Weill Art Deco Binding.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 508. Felix Bonfils. 108 large-format photographs of Syria and Palestine.
    Jeschke Jadi
    Auction 151
    Saturday, April 27, 2024
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 967. Dante Aligheri and Salvador Dali. Divina Commedia, 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1316. Tolouse-Lautrec. Dessinateur. Duhayon binding, 1948.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 27: Lot 1303. Regards sur Paris. Braque, Picasso, Masson, 1962.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000
  • Doyle, May 1: Thomas Jefferson expresses fears of "a war of extermination" in Saint-Dominigue. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An exceptional presentation copy of Fitzgerald's last book, in the first issue dust jacket. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The rare first signed edition of Dorian Gray. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The Prayer Book of Jehan Bernachier. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The magnificent Cranach Hamlet in the deluxe binding by Dõrfner. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, May 1: A remarkable unpublished manuscript of a voyage to South America in 1759-1764. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Bouchette's monumental and rare wall map of Lower Canada. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An rare original 1837 abolitionist woodblock. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An important manuscript breviary in Middle Dutch. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An extraordinary Old Testament manuscript, circa 1250. $20,000 to $30,000.

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