Rare Book Monthly Articles - May - 2011 Issue

Emotionally Satisfying Investments:  Works on Paper

Emotionally Satisfying Investments:  Works on Paper

Arnoud Gerits, the President of ILAB, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, was interviewed recently in the Hong Kong Economic Times and mentioned that book collecting should be understood as a passion, not an investment.  He’s quoted on book collecting: “ILAB does not recommend buying books as a financial investment.”  “Don’t buy them as an investment: it is the wrong angle to look at books. Buy them because you love books, you love a subject..." Is he suggesting it’s not possible to both love books and buy them as investments?  Book collectors certainly believe their book...

Privatized Library Foes Lose Their Battle in Court

Privatized Library Foes Lose Their Battle in Court

Those fighting a decision to privatize the operation of the Santa Clarita, California, libraries have suffered a series of setbacks in court. It now looks unlikely that they will be able to stop th...

Hard to Fool the Fingers - Paper & Printing through the Ages

Hard to Fool the Fingers - Paper & Printing through the Ages

A beginner's zip tour from rag to pulp, from wood block to digital file A basic knowledge of European and American paper and printing is useful for booksellers, collectors and those in related f...

Caren Material to be Sold at Swann this Fall

Caren Material to be Sold at Swann this Fall

Eric C. Caren, the exceptional collector of newspapers, books and documents, has consigned to Swann Galleries in New York material from his collections of How History Unfolds on Paper.  The buildin...

Printed and Manuscript Americana at Christies on May 19th

Printed and Manuscript Americana at Christies on May 19th

Christie’s has put together an appealing sale of Americana that’s to be sold on May 19th in New York.  The sale includes 204 lots of which 53 relate to Benjamin Franklin, 34 to the French and India...

Books In The News

Books In The News

Statistics released by the Association of American Publishers reveals that in February, electronic books became the largest selling book format. For the first time, they surpassed paperbacks. In Ja...

54th London Antiquarian Book Fair Set for June 9-11

54th London Antiquarian Book Fair Set for June 9-11

The 54th annual London International Antiquarian Book Fair has been scheduled for June 9-11 this year. It will again be held at the London Olympia Exhibition Centre, and this year's edition promise...

Amazon's Kindle E-Readers Will Soon Accept Library Books

Amazon's Kindle E-Readers Will Soon Accept Library Books

Amazon.com announced a major change with regard to its Kindle electronic reader. The retailer of Kindles and electronic books (among many other things) announced that Kindle owners will at some poi...

Presidential Last Names:  Frequency of Appearance

Presidential Last Names:  Frequency of Appearance

If you ask someone familiar with American history to rank by frequency of references in the Americana Exchange Database the last names of the Presidents you create an interesting challenge.  Many, ...

-

More than a year ago Sotheby’s secured the opportunity to auction the James S. Copley Library and this month the third installment comes up in their New York rooms at 1334 York Avenue in Manhattan....

11th Annual Gold Rush Book Fair May 14th

11th Annual Gold Rush Book Fair May 14th

On a Saturday in May a reunion of they whose lives revolve around books and works on paper will gather in Grass Valley, California for the 11th annual Gold Rush Book Fair.  Exhibitors will travel a...

Course to Explore Natural History Prints at University of Florida

Course to Explore Natural History Prints at University of Florida

A course covering natural history prints will be given at the University of Florida this summer. This subdivision in the field of works on paper has become increasingly desirable, collectible, and ...

15 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

15 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Fifteen new catalogues are reviewed in the latest issue of AE Monthly. The William Reese Company is offering a selection of Californiana. David Lesser Antiquarian Books has rare Americana, while Ge...

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.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Article Search

Archived Articles