Rare Book Monthly Articles - May - 2013 Issue

Bookselling:  The Seismic Shift

Bookselling:  The Seismic Shift

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is come and gone, the confetti now swept up and the wine glasses washed and back on the shelf.  This year the glass half full guys won out and the glass half empty crowd sent packing.  Not everyone did well but many did and most saw enough success to feel the ABAA-Sanford Smith show partnership was yielding substantial returns.  This year the traffic was strong and the audience ebullient.  According to Catherine Zubkow who managed the fair, “attendance was north of 5,000.”  More importantly exhibitors were happy and suggesting they’ll be back in 2014.  Lor...

A Handwritten Letter Sells for a Record $6 Million-Plus

A Handwritten Letter Sells for a Record $6 Million-Plus

On April 10, the highest price ever paid for a letter at auction was achieved at Christie's in New York. If there was any doubt about the growing interest in more ephemeral sorts of works on paper,...

Strictly Morocco!: Portrait of a reasonable collector

Strictly Morocco!: Portrait of a reasonable collector

On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, Reason the card, but passion is the gale. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man Old books collectors are not so many, but they do exist. Mr. Wolfi is one of ...

Guernsey's:  John James Audubon . . . handsome works of nature

Guernsey's:  John James Audubon . . . handsome works of nature

In the world of books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera the line between list prices and auction realizations is being re-defined in the auction rooms with startling and regular rapidity.  The balanc...

56th Annual London Book Fair (and Six More!) Set for June

56th Annual London Book Fair (and Six More!) Set for June

The London International Antiquarian Book Fair is set to make its annual appearance Thursday-Saturday, June 13-15 this year. For the 56th year, booksellers and book collectors will be gathering in ...

Is the Field Museum Considering a $50 Million Book Sale?

Is the Field Museum Considering a $50 Million Book Sale?

In an article published last month, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Field Museum was considering selling some of its artifacts. Specifically considered was the museum's rare book collection. ...

Sotheby's in Paris:  Books and Manuscripts with the emphasis on Manuscripts

Sotheby's in Paris:  Books and Manuscripts with the emphasis on Manuscripts

If you are a serious collector of French manuscripts, Sotheby's sale of Books and Manuscripts on May 29th will likely contain some eye-catching items. And while some items come with eye-popping pri...

Kestenbaum & Company to Auction Fine Judaica on May 2nd including Holy Land and Travel – The Collection of Nathan Lewin, Esq.

Kestenbaum & Company to Auction Fine Judaica on May 2nd including Holy Land and Travel – The Collection of Nathan Lewin, Esq.

The Kestenbaum Company of New York is to sell at auction Fine Judaica:  Hebrew Books, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters from the Collection of Nathan Lewis, Esq. on May 2nd.  Jackie Insel, speakin...

Collectors Take Note: Baseball Card Sells for Over $2 Million

Collectors Take Note: Baseball Card Sells for Over $2 Million

Honus Wagner was one of the greatest baseball players to ever take the field. He was well paid for his era, peaking at $10,000 per year over the last decade of his career, which ended in 1917. In h...

15 Bookseller Catalogues Reviewed for May

15 Bookseller Catalogues Reviewed for May

This month we have 15 new bookseller catalogues to review. The William Reese Company has a selection of works pertaining to travel and voyages. Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books is focused on trips...

The Bookman's Tale:  fiction and then again not

The Bookman's Tale:  fiction and then again not

When one thinks about book theft, it may seem far-fetched, but not to the experienced bibliophile. To many, books are as powerful as a narcotic. To the larger, uninitiated community, such material ...

Auctions in May

Auctions in May

This May, as of April 28th, 106 sales with an estimated 20,000+ lots scheduled.  Dates occasionally change, others are added and a few delayed but the events as shown here are substantially what to...

Can Secondhand Dealer Legislation Ensnare Even the Collector?

Can Secondhand Dealer Legislation Ensnare Even the Collector?

The devil is in the details. California, a leader in legislating things, has long tried to regulate secondhand trade. It is not that they are looking to complicate the world for small sellers who t...

Swann Galleries – Modernist Posters on the 13th

Swann Galleries – Modernist Posters on the 13th

In the print category it was once mostly the books and their bindings and they are still essential but no longer even the unqualified leading element in the works on paper category.  These days dis...

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.
  • RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
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    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
    RareBookBuyer.com
    Specialized in Purchasing
    Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
    RareBookBuyer.com
    We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide
  • Case Antiques
    2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction
    January 25-26, 2025
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: 1861 Civil War Personal Flag. $12,000 to $14,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Armory Show 1913 Exhibition Poster. $8,000 to $9,000.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Abraham Lincoln Signed Appointment, 1863. $4,000 to $5,000.
    Case Antiques
    2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction
    January 25-26, 2025
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Cormac McCarthy, The Orchard Keeper, 1st Edition, Signed. $3,800 to $4,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, 1st Edition, Signed. $3,200 to $3,400.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Winston Churchill & Bernard Baruch Signed Letters Plus Photo. $1,400 to $1,600.
    Case Antiques
    2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction
    January 25-26, 2025
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Mississippi Civil War Ambrotype, Dr. Bisland Shields with Saber and Hat. $1,400 to $1,600.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Custom 19th C. Lord Byron Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, 4 Vols w/ Over 350 Prints Incl. Ex-Joshua Reynolds. $1,200 to $1,400.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Four NASA Lunar Orbiter Survey Photos, 1966; Maestlin G Crater; Apollo. $600 to $700.
    Case Antiques
    2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques Auction
    January 25-26, 2025
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Three Margaret Mitchell Signed Books; Association Copies. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Jimmie Rodgers Signed & Dated Photograph plus Record, Framed. $1,000 to $1,200.
    Case Antiques, Jan. 25-26: Edward VIII Signed Letter Autograph. $500 to $600.
  • 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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