Rare Book Monthly

Articles - August - 2003 Issue

Catalogue Review: Reese, Oak Knoll, & Shapero

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Item 85 has an uncomfortable ring to us today. Barclay Raunkaier traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1912 on behalf of the Royal Danish Geographical Society. He encountered much religious fanaticism and hostility, had his possessions stolen by his guides and was almost killed. While a geographical account, it is also filled with comments about poor treatment. This hostility has now had almost another century to fester, and we have come to experience it in ways beyond what Raunkaier could have imagined. The Danish first edition is priced at £1,500. Shapero also offers a second edition of the English translation, Through Wahhabiland on Camelback, from 1969, for £45. Item 413.

For collectors of Americana, Item 48 is a compelling though recent collection. It’s the library of the late Dr. Robert Burrell of approximately 300 volumes about the Gulf War. Included are many small print editions that will, naturally, be rare. If you would like to instantly own a collection that will undoubtedly be an even more valuable possession to your grandchildren, or their grandchildren, when it is also old, this one is available for £8,000.

Finally, saved for the end, is the last book in this catalogue. Undoubtedly the author frequently found himself last in groups, as would anyone whose surname begins with the letters “ZW.” Item 511 is S.M. Zwemer’s Arabia The Cradle of Islam. Shapero describes it as “A scarce title. A missionary’s document of 10 years work through the Persian Gulf with much on the history, politics, ethnology and social differences of the people there.” Samuel Zwemer, a Christian missionary to the Gulf, was my wife’s great-grandfather. She never knew her great-grandfather, but did know his daughter, herself a missionary to China. Obviously, neither had much success at converting the populations of those lands, but Zwemer started a hospital that is still in operation today, tending to the health of the great-grandchildren of the people he met during his mission. We also possess a copy of this 1900 book, complete with Zwemer’s notes. £250.

Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books can be found online at www.shapero.com or telephone (London) 020-7493-0876.

Rare Book Monthly

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    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
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    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
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    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.

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