Rare Book Monthly Articles - February - 2014 Issue

Rothschild Prayerbook sells at Christies for $13,605,000

Rothschild Prayerbook sells at Christies for $13,605,000

The year is 1999; the location, Christie’s London. A Renaissance prayer book, a Book of Hours known as the Rothschild Prayerbook, is up for sale. It is one of the finest illuminated manuscripts available to private hands. It contains illustrations from the most acclaimed and distinguished illuminators of the late 15th and early 16th centuries such as Gerard Horenbout, Simon Bening, his father Alexander Bening, and Gerard David. The quality of work is unmatched by other material publically available. It is considered a titan among the achievements of Flemish Renaissance painting, with 150 pa...

Canadian Decision to Close 7 Libraries Leads to Major Controversy

Canadian Decision to Close 7 Libraries Leads to Major Controversy

A decision by the Canadian government to shut down 7 Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) libraries has stirred up a hornets' nest of controversy among scientists, librarians, and representativ...

The California International Book Fair February 7th - 9th

The California International Book Fair February 7th - 9th

The every other year ABAA book fair in South California returns to Pasadena for a three-day engagement Friday February 7th through Sunday the 9th.  This is the second time that the fair is being he...

San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print & Paper Fair February 1st and 2nd

San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print & Paper Fair February 1st and 2nd

On Saturday and Sunday February 1st and 2nd the every other year San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print Paper Fair will be held at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion on the north side of the city.  M...

The Miami International Map Fair February 7-9

The Miami International Map Fair February 7-9

Over the weekend of February 7-9 the Miami International Map Fair will be held at the Miami-Dade Cultural Center.  This is the 22nd edition of this annual event and is a much-appreciated affair.  ...

Long Missing Document Returned to German Owner by American Bookseller

Long Missing Document Returned to German Owner by American Bookseller

Stolen books and documents are too often the subject of news stories, such as the truly horrific thefts recently revealed at a major church library in Italy. Poor if not corrupt political appointme...

Highs & Lows of a Small Antiquarian Seller - Robbery & Retail Both Learning Experiences

Highs & Lows of a Small Antiquarian Seller - Robbery & Retail Both Learning Experiences

I’ve been writing from the seller’s viewpoint for AE Monthly for quite a while now. I've looked at various genres in the book arts, visited shows and fairs, profiled other dealers and sites and dis...

A Public Library Without Books – Good or Bad?

A Public Library Without Books – Good or Bad?

The newswires carried a story recently about a library in San Antonio. It is a library without books. While this is not a first – there are some such libraries in educational institutions – it is a...

Old World Auctions – an important sale ending on February 19th

Old World Auctions – an important sale ending on February 19th

  Serious collectors of maps, take note. This month, Old World Auctions, an online-only auction house specializing in cartography, is holding the first of their four yearly sales. The focus will, ...

Pulpit Preschi Prescha or the Art of Preaching

Pulpit Preschi Prescha or the Art of Preaching

Most people enjoy reading fashionable books, I prefer weird books with unexpected subjects—some titles alone have haunted me for years like the wonderful Torrent de feu sortant de la face de Dieu—S...

Collection of Early European Legal Works Being Sold by Los Angeles Law Library

Collection of Early European Legal Works Being Sold by Los Angeles Law Library

Some libraries are more like collections than working libraries. Others are designed to provide material for historical research. However, most are intended for practical use by today's users. As s...

The ABAA at Christ Church

The ABAA at Christ Church

The ABAA recently hosted a one-day book fair at the Christ Church at Park and 60th in New York City in conjunction with the Grolier Club’s annual bibliography week.  The event was held on Friday Ja...

Conferences for Appraisers in San Francisco, Librarians in Malaysia

Conferences for Appraisers in San Francisco, Librarians in Malaysia

We have received notices of two completely unrelated events, but perhaps one will be of interest to you. One concerns a course for appraisers to take place in San Francisco in early March. The othe...

10 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

10 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we received 10 new catalogues to review. They are a varied bunch. Ken Lopez Bookseller offers a selection relating to modern literature and its authors. Aleph-Bet Books features children...

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    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 | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    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’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025 Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    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.
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