Thirteen New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

- by Michael Stillman

Usually, most catalogues we receive are subject-specific. This month, we find mostly varieties, miscellanies, or whatever one wants to call catalogues that have a little of everything. There are still some focused collections, and this month we have something uncommon and new - first catalogues from two booksellers.

 

Here are the firsts. Voewood Rare Books has released its Catalogue One. Voewood is both new and very well established. It is the successor to Simon Finch Rare Books, which has been around for many decades. What they offer in their first catalogue is a mix, and at times an eclectic one at that. The other first catalogue and new dealer is Librairie Métamorphoses. It, too, is headed by some veterans in the French book trade, enabling them to begin with some fine material. Métamorphoses, not surprisingly, features much material from France, though we have identified a few American items in their catalogue.

 

Next we have the more subject-specific catalogues. Patrick McGahern Books has a selection of material related to the Arctic. Peter Grogan targets 20th century literary fiction and poetry. The William Reese Company features works related to the struggles in North America prior to the era of the American Revolution. Shapero Rare Books features the world of Serge Diaghilev. You don't get much more subject-specific than that.

 

Those offering a variety of material in their catalogues include the 19th Century Shop with magnificent books and photographs, L&T Respess Books with historic books, manuscripts and ephemera, Zephyr Rare & Used Books with the unusual and uncommon, Forest Books with a miscellany, John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller with recent acquisitions, Samuel Gedge Ltd. with a variety of books, paper, and ephemera, and Raptis Rare Books with a variety of important material.

 

To see all of these reviews, click here now.