Rare Book Monthly Articles - February - 2013 Issue

Baltimore Book Company calls it a day

Baltimore Book Company calls it a day

As one door opens another closes.  Chris Bready the cataloguer-book auctioneer of Towson, Maryland, one of the last of the old-style book auctioneers, conducted his final sale of Baltimore Book Auctions on January 17th.  He professes no regrets.  “I’ve had a very good time.” He began his career in 1980 writing descriptions for Harris and in 1989 organized Baltimore Book Company to sell books at auction.   From the outset he was and always remained a maverick.  “I’ve been and remain a one man operation.  I would find material and make my pitch.  Those who consigned quickly understood they w...

Book Prices Declined in 2012... Maybe

Book Prices Declined in 2012... Maybe

All else being equal... This month we look back at 2012 at auction for our annual state of the book trade review. This is not because most books are bought and sold at auction. They are not. Most ...

46th California Book Fair February 15-17, 2013

46th California Book Fair February 15-17, 2013

The pendulum of the Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America is swinging in its northern arc, reaching its invisible apex directly above the Concourse Convention Center in San Francisco over...

Canadian Police Seek Help Identifying Owners of Huge Trove of Stolen Artifacts

Canadian Police Seek Help Identifying Owners of Huge Trove of Stolen Artifacts

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are looking for help in locating the owners of over 1,000 stolen artifacts, ranging from books, documents, manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and paintings, to mo...

TomFolio.com Book Dealer Co-op Now in its 13th Year - An Uphill Struggle to Make it Work

TomFolio.com Book Dealer Co-op Now in its 13th Year - An Uphill Struggle to Make it Work

TomFolio.com may not be the best known name in the world of bookselling databases, but it is one of the most innovative and unusual. Founded back in 2000, the heady early days of on-line booksellin...

PBA:   New Ownership

PBA:   New Ownership

On January 1st Sharon Gee acquired PBA Galleries in San Francisco.  PBA has a long history of service to the book, manuscript, map and ephemera trade, as well as to collectors and institutions.  It...

Blacksparrow Auctions:  their first sale

Blacksparrow Auctions:  their first sale

Fong Sam of Los Angeles has organized Blacksparrow Auctions to sell collectibles within the categories of pop culture, posters, entertainment memorabilia, 20th century, contemporary and historical ...

AbeBooks Announces Most Expensive Book Sales for 2012

AbeBooks Announces Most Expensive Book Sales for 2012

AbeBooks recently released their list of the top prices paid on their site in 2012. AbeBooks is the largest of the old and used book listing sites, their total sales not revealed, but clearly in th...

Cartouche & the Peddler’s Books

Cartouche & the Peddler’s Books

The other day, passing in front of a bookshop in Paris, I noticed a lovely little book in the window. Beside a lot of gorgeous full morocco bindings, it never looked that attractive, being a small ...

Preserving Works on Paper – A Pennsylvania Organization Offers a Contest

Preserving Works on Paper – A Pennsylvania Organization Offers a Contest

A contest to promote the preservation of historic works on paper and other artifacts has begun in the state of Pennsylvania. This story may be of particular interest to residents of the Keystone St...

Bonhams names Matthew Haley as Head of Books, Maps and Manuscripts in London

Bonhams names Matthew Haley as Head of Books, Maps and Manuscripts in London

In late December Bonhams announced that Matthew Haley, who for the past four years has worked as a specialist in New York, has been appointed effective mid-February to the important post of Head of...

A New Catalogue/Bibliography of the Christmas Cards of Tasha Tudor

A New Catalogue/Bibliography of the Christmas Cards of Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor is one of a select group of twentieth century children's authors and illustrators, like Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak, to achieve widespread familiarity with generations of young people....

Auctions in February

Auctions in February

This year, as we head into February 63 events are scheduled. Fri. Feb. 1st                 Keys Fine Arts Auctioneers.  Prints [1086].  130 lots                                     Kiefer – Bo...

Printed Books Still the Most Popular, but E-Books Are Gaining Rapidly

Printed Books Still the Most Popular, but E-Books Are Gaining Rapidly

There is good news and bad news for those who believe that traditional print is the best form for reading books. A recent report from Pew Research revealed that print is still the most popular form...

Seven New Catalogues Up for Review

Seven New Catalogues Up for Review

This month we review seven new bookseller catalogues. The William Reese Company offers a selection of Western Americana. Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books presents material related to the Dutch Eas...

Electronic Catalogues:  The Future Arrives

Electronic Catalogues:  The Future Arrives

This past year saw a remarkable shift to electronic catalogues as the field of collectible books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera continued to migrate from the printed catalogue that had been the wo...

Rare Book Monthly

  • High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare.
    The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens.
    A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Golding.
    Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll.
    Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien.
    The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: John Milton.
    Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD

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