Rare Book Monthly Articles - November - 2011 Issue

Collecting in Choppy Waters

Collecting in Choppy Waters

The rare book business today is not the business it was or will be.  It is in a state of becoming and the pace of change accelerating as elements of the old model break down.  Complicating things there are as many and probably more people vying for a place in the trade that is at once traditional and morphing into something new.   The well-established tradition of schooling collectors in the once common used bookshop gives way to the era of the self-educated collector with fewer enduring ties to dealers.   The lament among dealers today is that there are few new collectors.  The truth is si...

A Bookseller Success Story... Amazon

A Bookseller Success Story... Amazon

A couple of major, seemingly unrelated announcements came out of Amazon.com a few weeks back. We doubt they are all that unrelated, and they signify a move to a still higher level in the stratosphe...

The Market Recovers - a Bit

The Market Recovers - a Bit

While the market simmers, caught between continuing economic uncertainty and desire for appealing material, auction realizations continue to recover from the lows achieved in April when the market ...

Great Bookmen & Bookstores: Israel (Izzy) G. Young of The Folklore Center

Great Bookmen & Bookstores: Israel (Izzy) G. Young of The Folklore Center

Izzy Young ran the Folklore Center at 110 MacDougal St. in New York City. In the early 1960s he was one of the book world’s most original, influential and at times irritating characters. Born in th...

A World in Transition:  Make me an Offer Please

A World in Transition:  Make me an Offer Please

Not so long ago the book business moved from paper to the net.  The online listing sites were appealing, the costs low and the opportunities attractive.  Initially for most the net was an increment...

Could Reselling Used Books Become Illegal?

Could Reselling Used Books Become Illegal?

We recently received a message from a “Ken,” self-described “Overworked Lead Blogger” at Heroic Times, a blog website. You may have seen it too as he sent the message to numerous used and antiquari...

Remembering Burton Weiss

Remembering Burton Weiss

Burton Weiss, the Berkeley bookselling flamboyant, died this past June and was buried in print a week or so ago.  His obituary in 'The Book Collector' trivialized his death.  In life he was a chara...

Barnes & Noble Takes Over Borders' Remains... After Some Last-Minute Wrangling

Barnes & Noble Takes Over Borders' Remains... After Some Last-Minute Wrangling

There was a time when a sale of Borders to Barnes Noble would have stirred great controversy, perhaps even an examination by the Attorney General for antitrust violations. By the time it happened,...

North Texas Book and Paper Show a Success

North Texas Book and Paper Show a Success

The Eighteenth North Texas Book and Paper Show, held October 15th and 16th, was a great success. Heritage Auctions of Dallas and The Texas Bookseller’s Association teamed up to sponsor this show wh...

Auctions in November

Auctions in November

The auction season moves into high gear this month with 61 scheduled events and a few more yet to be posted.   It has been a complicated year with the tone of the market certain to be confirmed ove...

Newspapers Declining as Local News Source

Newspapers Declining as Local News Source

The role of newspapers in the community, and with it, perhaps, their long term viability, continues to diminish, a report recently released by the Pew Research Center revealed. They may find themse...

Fifteen New Catalogues Reviewed

Fifteen New Catalogues Reviewed

There are 15 new bookseller catalogues up for review this month, many focused on interesting niches. There are outstanding collections of maps offered by Daniel Crouch Rare Books and High Ridge Boo...

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    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 | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    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.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    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.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    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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