Rare Book Monthly Articles - May - 2012 Issue

The Serious Collector at Book Fairs and Beyond:  two views

The Serious Collector at Book Fairs and Beyond:  two views

Serious collectors come in two varieties, traditional and new.  At book fairs traditional collectors come out in force.  They see a hundred dealers with similar standards and occasionally the same titles.  They can compare copies, hear their explanations, and get a sense of flexibility about the price.  Because dealers authenticate material and typically guarantee their accuracy the collector can focus on what they like.  When another copy is available the collector can examine the differences, learn the dealer’s perspective and gauge the influence of condition on value.  For many this is h...

The New York Book Fair - a great success

The New York Book Fair - a great success

To experience the ABAA Book Fair in New York first hand I flew over a day ahead of the Thursday preview and stayed nearby.  It was a trip well worth making. The 52nd New York Fair, the mother ship...

Tragic End to the Life of Shakespearean Book Thief

Tragic End to the Life of Shakespearean Book Thief

It was a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare... along with a comedy of errors. The life of perhaps the most entertaining of book thieves came to a sad conclusion in March. When the jokes came to an end, ...

Miriam Geib - A Hybrid Bookseller in Indianapolis

Miriam Geib - A Hybrid Bookseller in Indianapolis

Miriam Geib has an unusual position in the world of books, she’s a part-time book seller who sells on-line on three of the leading book bases. What makes her different is her salary is paid by the ...

Chronicle of a “Fort-Rare” Book...

Chronicle of a “Fort-Rare” Book...

Voltaire wrote that the discovery of the New World was probably the most important event of our globe, and he would surely say that the internet revolution equals it. This New virtual World affects...

The Latest Million Dollar Work on Paper – A Baseball Card

The Latest Million Dollar Work on Paper – A Baseball Card

He was not a dominant home run hitter like Babe Ruth. He was never as ornery as Ty Cobb. He was never called “Mr. October” like Reggie Jackson, did not collect as many hits as Pete Rose or home run...

Sitting down with Friends at Mohonk

Sitting down with Friends at Mohonk

This past month I invited a group of fifteen friends and acquaintances for a discussion and dinner at Mohonk Mountain House in New York’s Ulster County. The subject was, with respect to books and h...

Department of Justice Sues Apple, Five Book Publishers

Department of Justice Sues Apple, Five Book Publishers

The long rumored lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice against the world's most valuable company, Apple, and five book publishers for conspiracy to fix prices, was finally filed last month. The...

Devon Gray to take Responsibility for Books and Manuscripts at Skinners

Devon Gray to take Responsibility for Books and Manuscripts at Skinners

Devon Gray has been appointed Director and Department Head of Fine Books and Manuscripts at Skinner’s in Boston.  She replaces Stuart Whitehurst who has retired.  The firm, founded by Robert Skinne...

Survey Shows that Despite Popularity of E-books, Printed Books Still Lead the Way

Survey Shows that Despite Popularity of E-books, Printed Books Still Lead the Way

Pew Research recently issued a report on electronic versus traditional reading, and it contains its share of good news, even for those with a deeper interest in the printed word. E-books appear to ...

The ABA Fair:  a seduction in London

The ABA Fair:  a seduction in London

Each May The London Antiquarian Book Fair commands center stage in London.  This year the fair is to be held Thursday to Saturday May 24-26.  One hundred and sixty firms are exhibiting.  To handle ...

Textile Book Bibliography Now Available for Free Online Searching

Textile Book Bibliography Now Available for Free Online Searching

One of the amazing things about the internet is that it offers us access to all sorts of information once virtually impossible to find. Here is an example of such a case for book and paper collecto...

18 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

18 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we have 18 new catalogues from the world of books and paper to review. Some are highly specific; others offer a wide range of material. Lorne Bair Rare Books offers material from the far...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
    Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
    Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
    Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
    Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
    Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
    Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
  • Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    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
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    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
  • GonnelliAuction 59Antique prints, paintings and mapsMay 20th 2025 GonnelliAuction 59Antique prints, paintings and mapsMay 20th 2025
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
    Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
    Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
    Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
    Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
    Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
    Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
  • Ketterer Rare BooksAuction May 26th Ketterer Rare BooksAuction May 26th
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
    Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000

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