Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2014 Issue

Book Fairs, vital to the future of collecting, need to open they doors to exhibitors a bit wider

Book Fairs, vital to the future of collecting, need to open they doors to exhibitors a bit wider

Book Fairs, for decades have been an integral part of the rare and collectible book business but their role has been changing and their importance declining as the structure of the business has been recast by the internet, by the development of online listing sites and the emergence of the online access to auctions.  This has been difficult and probably inevitable but it is disturbing and worth whatever efforts can be made to maintain the frequency, prominence and importance of rare book fairs.   The loss of the main street shop has happened so quickly and ended with such finality that ba...

In the Cathedral of the Shawangunks

In the Cathedral of the Shawangunks

Back when the world was small, when the trip from Ohioville to New Paltz in rural New York State was a one mile school bus ride the edges of my world ran from New Jersey far to the south, Pleasant ...

Bolerium Books – LGBT Books & Ephemera Come Out of the Closet

Bolerium Books – LGBT Books & Ephemera Come Out of the Closet

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) books and ephemera are experiencing a growing popularity as contemporary events bring gender studies to wider public notice.   Positioned to tap the ...

Another Major Library Fraud - $1.5 Million Allegedly Gone

Another Major Library Fraud - $1.5 Million Allegedly Gone

A major fraud case emanating from the Metropolitan Library of Bucharest, Romania, is a reversal of the typical library theft case we see all too often. Nonetheless, the amount of money involved is ...

How to Search the Auctions All from One Place

How to Search the Auctions All from One Place

As summer comes to a close, and the temperatures begin to cool, the auction season starts to heat up. Fall is always the busiest time for auctions, and with the number of lots in the books, manuscr...

Brantôme & the Art of Duels - Wan’ my picture?

Brantôme & the Art of Duels - Wan’ my picture?

I had an idiotic argument in the street the other day, with a guy who considered I had stared at him. Wan’ my picture? he said. Push never came to shove, and we wisely went our separate ways. I cou...

Auction Preview: Bonhams' History of Science

Auction Preview: Bonhams' History of Science

It's rare for AE to feature an auction preview where the headlining item isn't considered part of books, maps, or ephemera, but Bonhams New York's History of Science on October 22nd is one such sal...

170-Year-Old Mystery Solved as Franklin Arctic Expedition Ship Found

170-Year-Old Mystery Solved as Franklin Arctic Expedition Ship Found

There are few subjects of greater popularity among book collectors than travel and exploration. Perhaps the dawning of the Age of Discovery being contemporary with the invention of the printing pre...

Major Renovations at the “Other” Houghton Library

Major Renovations at the “Other” Houghton Library

A major renovation of the Houghton Library is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of next year. Perhaps many at Harvard University's rare book library will react with puzzlement, as in, I di...

Auction Preview: Two Sales by Swann Auction Galleries

Auction Preview: Two Sales by Swann Auction Galleries

The fall is historically a busy time for the auction industry, and October finds Swann Auction Galleries in the heat of it. With five auctions upcoming this month for them, we’ll be taking a look a...

Wellcome Library Digitizing 15 million pages of 19th Century Medical and Related Material

Wellcome Library Digitizing 15 million pages of 19th Century Medical and Related Material

Britain's Wellcome Library recently announced a major expansion of its digitization project, the UK Medical Heritage Library. This is a major step forward in the preservation of history and knowled...

Auctions in October:  one hundred and eight reasons to look carefully

Auctions in October: one hundred and eight reasons to look carefully

October is, as it always is, a busy month.  One hundred and eight events are scheduled.  The numbers seem to always increase but within the numbers the material and categories are also always chang...

Eleven Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Eleven Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we have 11 new bookseller catalogues to review. They are a varied lot. Ken Lopez, Bookseller offers selections in modern literature. Aleph-Bet Books has children's and illustrated books....

Rare Book Monthly

  • Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
    Swann
    Printed & Manuscript African Americana
    March 20, 2025
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
    Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
    Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000
  • 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

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