Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2009 Issue

Disappearing Ink:  The Word Transformed

Disappearing Ink: The Word Transformed

By Bruce McKinney Newspapers, as extraordinary as they are and have been, are simply a way to deliver information. They perform an important task but are only aggregator and delivery mechanism. The same is true for radio and television. They deliver information. The same is true for libraries. They aggregate and deliver information on demand. So too encyclopedias aggregate and deliver information. We have a history of relying on methods, sometimes for generations, but our goal is efficiency, the means ultimately unimportant. We do form emotional attachments as ten of millions of ...

Collector Bests State in Battle for $475,000 Document

Collector Bests State in Battle for $475,000 Document

By Michael Stillman In a major case pitting a collector against a state for ownership of old documents, victory has gone to the collector. Richard L. Adams of Virginia prevailed over the State o...

A  Glimmer in Time

A Glimmer in Time

By Bruce McKinney Beneath the firm ground of books, long documented, recorded, saved and frequently valued lies an uncertain, quixotic mass of "un" material that is the emerging moveable feast o...

Old Children's Books Still at Risk from Lead Content Rules

Old Children's Books Still at Risk from Lead Content Rules

By Michael Stillman The issue of the legality of selling old children's books in light of new lead content standards reared its ugly head again after written statements by one of the commissione...

Wikis:  Changes and Additions

Wikis: Changes and Additions

By Bruce McKinney Wikis are the future of book buying and selling on the web. Based on extensive subject and category bibliographies that are always growing Wiki Bibliographies permit acquirers...

Comic Book Sells for $317,200

Comic Book Sells for $317,200

By Michael Stillman These are tough times to get the best prices for your books, but as we know, every rule has its exception. On March 13, the first comic book featuring Superman went under the...

A library of Hawaii and the South Pacific to be Sold

A library of Hawaii and the South Pacific to be Sold

By Bruce McKinney Bonhams Butterfields recently posted an anonymous single owner sale of material on Hawaii and the South Pacific and scheduled it for April 6th. It will be conducted simultane...

An Authoritative Guide to Autograph Collecting Published by the Raab Collection

An Authoritative Guide to Autograph Collecting Published by the Raab Collection

By Michael Stillman The Raab Collection has published a book we highly recommend to anyone who collects, or has an interest in collecting autographs. The Raab Collection is the Philadelphia base...

A New AED Source:  Early Railroad Literature

A New AED Source: Early Railroad Literature

By Bruce McKinney In 1942 the New York Public Library issued a 250 page catalogue on early books and other printed materials relating to the development of the railroad in the United States. It...

Seth Kaller Displays Lincoln Artifacts in New York

Seth Kaller Displays Lincoln Artifacts in New York

By Michael Stillman Seth Kaller, of Seth Kaller Historic Documents, recently joined in for the traditional ringing of the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This did not represent a su...

Review of Reviews:  Articles on Collecting Stock Certificates, Las Vegas Booksellers, from AbeBooks

Review of Reviews: Articles on Collecting Stock Certificates, Las Vegas Booksellers, from AbeBooks

By Michael Stillman AbeBooks recently published an article on "scripophily," the art of collecting stock and bond certificates. These are those decorative old certificates that were used to esta...

20 Bookseller Catalogues Reviewed

20 Bookseller Catalogues Reviewed

There are 20 catalogues up for review this month. Raymond Sutton offers books on natural history. James Cummins Bookseller offers sporting books. From Antiquariat Banhaf we find books from the Cont...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Ian Fleming. Casino Royale, London, 1953. First edition, first printing. $58,610.
    Sotheby’s: A.A. Milne, Ernest Howard Shepard. Winnie The Pooh, United Kingdom, 1926. First UK edition. $17,580.
    Sotheby’s: Ernest Hemingway. Three Stories And Ten Poems, [Paris], (1923). First edition of Hemingway’s first published book. $75,000.
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, 1900. First edition. $27,500.
    Sotheby’s: Man Ray. Photographs By Man Ray 1920 Paris 1934, Hartford, 1934. $7,860.
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Pennant. Zoologia Britannica, Augsburg, 1771. $49,125.
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