Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2009 Issue

Strange Book Title Finalists; AbeBooks Latest Top 10

Does your colon consult with you?

Does your colon consult with you?


10. Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, signed first editions of his three "Foundation" books from 1951-53. $5,000.

9. Aline et Valcour; ou, Le Roman philosophique by the ever-popular Marquis de Sade. This is an eight-volume 1795 first edition by the Marquis whose erudition will always be overshadowed in most peoples' minds by his interesting lifestyle. $5,224.

8. Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les François by Jean-Baptiste du Tertre. This is a 1671 history of the Caribbean. $5,224.

7. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, a 1981 uncorrected proof copy signed by the author. Rushdie is another writer doomed to be remembered most for his personal life, in his case, the fatwa on his life promulgated by the humorless Ayatollah Khomeini. $7,400.

6. Sonnets et Eaux Fortes by various authors, noted more for the 42 original etchings in this 1869 edition limited to 350 copies. $8,248.

5. Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, the 1820 third and final book by John Keats, who died at age 25. $8,500.

4. Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather. Here's another humorless clergyman. He was a notable theologian, historian, and even supporter of medical advances, but he too is irredeemably associated with one event - his participation in the Salem witch trials. The "witches" operated in Mather's "invisible world," better known as his imagination. $9,500.

3. The Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ by Eric Gill. Well, Gill isn't actually the author of the Gospels, but he did the illustrations in this 1931 Golden Cockerel Press limited edition. $11,000.

2. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. A signed first edition of a book that went for less before the election. $12,500.

1. YA-WAE PA-HU-CAE E-CAE AE-TA-NAE E-TU-HCE WA-U-N A-H A. One of my favorites too! Actually, this is an 1843 hymnal written in the transliterated Ioway Indian language. $13,500.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Leland Little, Jan. 22: The First Issue of Robert Frost's A Boy's Will, In Extremely Scarce Binding.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Knight's An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Locke's Important Treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: The Richly Illustrated First French Edition of Voyages de Corneille Le Brun par la Moscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Orientales.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Scarce First Issue of An Account of the Province of Carolina in America, Finely Bound and With Celebrated John Speed Map.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Humphrey's An Historical Account, Complete with Scarce Folding Maps.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: First Edition of Chamberlain's Scarce Civil War Memoir The Passing of the Armies.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: A Rare Photograph of David Bruce Brown and #48 Fiat.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: George Cruikshank (England, 1792-1878), Archive of Sketches, Notes, and Letters.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Extremely Scarce Copy of Die Samländische Ode (The Samland Ode), Signed by Max Pechstein.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Andy Warhol's The Thirteen Most Wanted Men Exhibition Catalogue.
    Leland Little, Jan. 22: Edward Ruscha (American, b. 1937), Every Building on the Sunset Strip.
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    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
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    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

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