Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 37: Archive of the pioneering woman artist Arrah Lee Gaul, most 1911-59. $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 66: Letter describing the dropping water level at Owens Lake near Death Valley, long before it was drained, Keeler, CA, 26 July 1904. $3,000 to $4,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 102: To Horse, To Horse! My All for a Horse! The Washington Cavalry, illustrated Civil War broadside, Philadelphia, 1862. $4,000 to $6,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 135: Album of cyanotype views of the Florida panhandle and beyond, 224 photographs, 174 of them cyanotypes, Apalachicola, FL and elsewhere, circa 1895-1896. $1,200 to $1,800
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 154: Catalogue of the Library of the United States, as acquired from Thomas Jefferson, Washington, 1815. $15,000 to $25,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 173: New Englands First Fruits, featuring the first description of Harvard in print, London, 1643. $40,000 to $60,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 177: John P. Greene, Original manuscript diary of a mission to western New York with Joseph Smith, 1833. $60,000 to $90,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 243: P.E. Larson, photographer, Such is Life in the Far West: Early Morning Call in a Gambling Hall, Goldfield, NV, circa 1906. $2,500 to $3,500
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 261: Fred W. Sladen, Diaries of a WWII colonel commanding troops from Morocco to Italy to France, 1942-44. $3,000 to $4,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 309: Los mexicanos pintados por si mismos, por varios autores, a Mexican plate book. Mexico, 1854-1855. $2,000 to $3,000
Swann, Nov. 21: Lot 8: Diaries of a prospector / trapper in the remote Alaska wilderness, 5 manuscript volumes. Alaska, 1917-64. $1,500 to $2,500.
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Alighieri, Dante - La Commedia, [col commento di Jacopo della Lana e Martino Paolo Nidobeato, curata da Martino Paolo Nidobeato e Guido da Terzago. Aggiunto Il Credo], 1478
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Alighieri, Dante - La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus, edita da Piero da Figino. Aggiunte le Rime diverse; Marsilius Ficinius, Ad Dantem gratulatio], 1491
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Lactantius, Lucius Coelius Firmianus - Opera, 1465
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Alighieri, Dante - Le terze rime di Dante, 1502
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Boccaccio, Giovanni - Il Decamerone. Di messer Giouanni Boccaccio, 1516
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Giordano Bruno - Candelaio comedia del Bruno nolano achademico di nulla achademia; detto il fastidito. In tristitia hilaris: in hilaritate tristis, 1582
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Petrarca, Francesco - Le cose volgari di Messer Francesco Petrarcha, 1504
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Legatura - Manoscritto - Medici - Cosimo III de' Medici / Solari, Giuseppe - I Ritratti Medicei overo Glorie e Grandezze della sempre sereniss. Casa Medici..., 1678
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Alighieri, Dante - La Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri con varie annotazioni, e copiosi Rami adornata, 1757
Finarte, Nov 20-21: Lot containing 80 printed guides and publications dedicated to travel and itineraries in Italy
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 51. Ortelius' Influential Map of the New World - Second Plate in Full Contemporary Color (1579) Est. $5,500 - $6,500
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 165. Reduced-Size Edition of Jefferys/Mead Map with Revolutionary War Updates (1776) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 688. Blaeu's Superb Carte-a-Figures Map of Africa (1634) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 105. Striking Map of French Colonial Possessions (1720) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 98. Rare First Edition of the First Published Plan of a Settlement in North America (1556) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 181. Important Map of the Georgia Colony (1748) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 547. Ortelius' Map of Russia with a Vignette of Ivan the Terrible in Full Contemporary Color (1579) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 85. Homann's Decorative Map of Colonial America (1720) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 642. Blaeu's Magnificent Carte-a-Figures Map of Asia (1634) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 748. The Martyrdom of St. John in Contemporary Hand Color with Gilt Highlights (1520) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
Old World Auctions (Nov 6-20): Lot 298. Scarce Early Map of Chester County (1822) Est. $2,750 - $3,500
Ketterer Rare Books Auction November 25th
Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25: H. Schedel, Liber chronicarum, 1493. Est: € 25,000
Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25: P. O. Runge, Farben-Kugel, 1810. Est: € 8,000
Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25: W. Kandinsky, Klänge, 1913. Est: € 20,000
Ketterer Rare Books Auction November 25th
Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25: W. Burley, De vita et moribus philosophorum, 1473. Est: € 4,000
Ketterer Rare Books, Nov. 25: M. B. Valentini, Viridarium reformatum seu regnum vegetabile, 1719. Est: € 12,000
The New York Antiquarian Book Fair: It’s a question of timing
- by Bruce E. McKinney
There’s probably nothing to be done about it but the timing of the New York ABAA Fair in March, a concession to business and financial realities, is simply not as good as almost any April dates. And the reason: weather. March in New York is quixotic and many of the field’s principal collectors older. The effect from year to year is small but the impact over time significant. Warmer temperatures and good footing matter.
For this year’s fair a nor’easter, one of four in March no less, played dodge-em with the city. In my case, Delta contacted me the Thursday night before my 6:00 am flight from San Francisco to New York to say I should reschedule to avoid weather delays. I then called my hotel and my son for their views. Both felt the risk was overstated and I caught the morning flight, arriving to an unusually empty JFK and proceeding quickly into the city. And for the next four days the clear weather held. I then drove upstate to get snowed in on Monday into Tuesday.
Certainly the New York Book Fairs are stellar, the main fair and the two shadow fairs well worth the trip. They are the great confluence of the many threads of book collecting and will continue to dominate the field in the years to come. But convenience and safety matter and it’s going to be more difficult to travel in March as I get older. Whether, for anyone else it’s an issue only time will tell.
Certainly, the Armory is the exceptional venue for this important annual event, being large, familiar and historic. But how to reconcile its attributes with a difficult calendar, I leave to the show savants.
![<b>Finarte, Nov 20-21:</b> Alighieri, Dante - La Commedia, [col commento di Jacopo della Lana e Martino Paolo Nidobeato, curata da Martino Paolo Nidobeato e Guido da Terzago. Aggiunto Il Credo], 1478](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/45a90570-7486-4199-91da-bd2e9a044380.jpg "<b>Finarte, Nov 20-21:</b> Alighieri, Dante - La Commedia, [col commento di Jacopo della Lana e Martino Paolo Nidobeato, curata da Martino Paolo Nidobeato e Guido da Terzago. Aggiunto Il Credo], 1478")
![<b>Finarte, Nov 20-21:</b> Alighieri, Dante - La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus, edita da Piero da Figino. Aggiunte le Rime diverse; Marsilius Ficinius, Ad Dantem gratulatio], 1491](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/99566626-91f5-42da-8f8c-05fae35b4c67.jpg "<b>Finarte, Nov 20-21:</b> Alighieri, Dante - La Commedia [Commento di Christophorus Landinus, edita da Piero da Figino. Aggiunte le Rime diverse; Marsilius Ficinius, Ad Dantem gratulatio], 1491")
