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

  • 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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