Rare Book Monthly Articles - November - 2015 Issue

Collecting on a Budget

Collecting on a Budget

Passion and practicality coexist in human beings, in a relationship that shifts from second to second.  We are at once interested and disinterested, cost and value in constant flux, our interests and needs constantly juxtaposed leading to “I’d like it but…”.  Nevertheless many of sound mind and high spirits are inexorably drawn to collectible books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera that are hardly as certain as gold or as negotiable as currency, they of this persuasion some small percentage of the population that interprets the world through the lens of the printed form and deems they must no...

A $5 Million Photograph, Purchased for $2 in an Antique Shop

A $5 Million Photograph, Purchased for $2 in an Antique Shop

Miracles do still happen. Collectors scour yard sales, estate sales, auctions, eBay, unappreciated items in dealer inventories, hoping to find that gem lost among the rubble. One such collector may...

Old Books On-line, The Words of an eBay Bookseller

Old Books On-line, The Words of an eBay Bookseller

Vincent Pannequin is a professional bookseller who closed down his physical bookstore, Dioscures, in 2013 to sell books exclusively on eBay.fr. A good move, as the last year of exploitation had bee...

Booksellers Respond To RBH’s “Clearing the Backlog” Article

Booksellers Respond To RBH’s “Clearing the Backlog” Article

Last month, Rare Book Hub Monthly publisher Bruce McKinney posted an article titled “Clearing the Backlog” that has drawn a lot of reaction in the bookselling world. In his piece McKinney noted tha...

The Boston Book Fairs:  November 13-15

The Boston Book Fairs: November 13-15

Over the weekend of November 13-15 the Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to America’s cradle of democracy.  The venue is the Hines Convention Center.  Nearby Marvin Getman’s...

In The News:  Gems Found in Old Booksellers' Inventory, Edith's Rattle, and More

In The News: Gems Found in Old Booksellers' Inventory, Edith's Rattle, and More

Once in awhile, a surprising item can turn up in the inventory of some old booksellers. This news came out of Australia a few weeks back. Jim Elder, of Elder Fine Art and Auctioneers, was tasked wi...

10 New Catalogues Are Reviewed This Month

10 New Catalogues Are Reviewed This Month

Ten new bookseller catalogues are reviewed this month. Two catalogues are filled with unusual yet affordable material for everyone. Peter L. Masi Books has obscure, fascinating items from the 19th ...

The Worst Kind of Library Theft

The Worst Kind of Library Theft

The folks at the Literary Hub have informed us of an article they have published they believe will be of interest to readers of Rare Book Monthly. The Literary Hub is filled with articles about boo...

Dec. 1: Must-see Science & Medicine Books from Christie's London

Dec. 1: Must-see Science & Medicine Books from Christie's London

Technically not a November sale, Christie’s London’s December 1st sale of Science Medicine Books from the Royal Institution of Great Britain is close enough that we’re including it in our November...

Complex Intrigue in the Rooms at Doyle New York on November 23rd

Complex Intrigue in the Rooms at Doyle New York on November 23rd

Into the late fall book men and women of all persuasions, the amateurs and professionals, readers and librarians cast off their summer crusts in search of the stimulating and collectible works on p...

The Dallas Auction Gallery Features Items in the Works on Paper Field

The Dallas Auction Gallery Features Items in the Works on Paper Field

This month we welcome the Dallas Auction Gallery to the list of houses whose auctions we follow. Dallas Auction Gallery is not new to the field. They have been around since 2002, when the house was...

At Dirk Soulis:  The Harry Ruskin Sale

At Dirk Soulis: The Harry Ruskin Sale

On November 24th Dirk Soulis of 529 W. Lone Jack, Lone Jack, Missouri will complete a three week on online auction of antiquarian books, cased Limited Editions and Folio Society volumes, a large co...

Nov. 15: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Skinner

Nov. 15: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Skinner

Headlined by a first edition of Audubon’s The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, the auction house Skinner’s November 15th sale of Fine Books Manuscripts immediately asserts itself as one for...

One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions Features Amazing Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, and Sports

One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions Features Amazing Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, and Sports

One of a Kind Collectibles Auctions has an online auction this month that is filled with amazing rare autographs, manuscripts and sports. Bidding has already opened and will be accepted through Nov...

Nov. 4 and 5: Heritage Auctions' Sale for Every Book Collector

Nov. 4 and 5: Heritage Auctions' Sale for Every Book Collector

In what is shaping up to be a typically busy November for the industry, Heritage Auctions has taken a unique approach to making their November 4th and 5th sale dubbed Rare Books Signature Auction m...

Matisse and the Book Arts:  An Exhibition at the Morgan

Matisse and the Book Arts: An Exhibition at the Morgan

Henri Matisse is renown as one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. He is best known for his paintings, though his sculptures and drawings are also highly celebrated. Not quite as fami...

Thief Charged with Murder of Comic Book Collector Pleads Guilty

Thief Charged with Murder of Comic Book Collector Pleads Guilty

One of the defendants in the robbery and murder of an elderly comic book collector has pleaded guilty to the Rochester, New York, area crime. Donald R. Griffin, 37, was not the ringleader, but the ...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly! Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • 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.

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