Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2015 Issue

Collecting:  a changing perspective

Collecting: a changing perspective

It was, not so long ago, established thinking that book collections, with some exceptions, would be a collection of books. This is the way it was for generations. The basic unit of book collections was of course the book, and over the past 150 years impressive, increasingly complete bibliographies were created and revised to reflect ever-broadening perspective. The book field and all its component parts became knowable.   Books however were never the exclusive component of book collections, only their most common part. Manuscripts also found a place, as did maps, objects, and ephemera. Bu...

Serendipity and Chance meet at SFPL

Serendipity and Chance meet at SFPL

Years ago, the exact number in dispute, but probably around the time of the 1989 earthquake, the San Francisco Public Library disposed of some old and seemingly unwanted accounting books, they over...

Operator of Massive Manuscript Business, Claimed Ponzi Scheme, Arrested

Operator of Massive Manuscript Business, Claimed Ponzi Scheme, Arrested

The owner of an incredible manuscript business has been arrested in France, following the shuttering of his business earlier amid claims that it was a Pyramid (Ponzi) Scheme. The name “Madoff” has ...

Meet me in New York

Meet me in New York

The shows and auctions in New York look exciting.  There are three fairs and handfuls of auctions.   I’ll be staying at the Hotel Plaza Athenee from Thursday the 9th through Wednesday the 15th.  ...

College Controversy – Library Wants to Sell Some Valuable Rare Books but Should/Can They?

College Controversy – Library Wants to Sell Some Valuable Rare Books but Should/Can They?

This story may be becoming old hat, but it is one that will repeat itself with likely increasing frequency in the years ahead. It represents the greatest controversy facing libraries today. Those i...

The Lawbook Exchange:  Greg Talbot

The Lawbook Exchange: Greg Talbot

The distance between New Jersey and Manhattan isn't far when measured in miles, but it's long when measured in career steps. Born and raised in the New Jersey suburbs, Greg Talbot was planning to e...

Three Stolen Books Returned to Italy from American Collector, University Library

Three Stolen Books Returned to Italy from American Collector, University Library

Three stolen antiquarian books have been returned from America to their rightful owner, an Italian library. They was part of a cache of 19 cultural artifacts returned to Italy under a bilateral agr...

Do you believe in magic - in New York?

Do you believe in magic - in New York?

There is nothing quite so interesting as a book fair of the best dealers with their best material.  And each year that ‘best’ event is in New York in April, this year April 9 to 12, the New York An...

April's Auction Bonanza

April's Auction Bonanza

With spring officially here, auctions of rare printed material are back in full swing with a very full docket for the month of April. Collectors of all subjects will find interesting items availabl...

Cayenne, The Dry Guillotine

Cayenne, The Dry Guillotine

One of the most fearful periods in French history was probably the aftermath of the Revolution of 1789. Men had become political wolves, cutting each other’s throats over ideas or interests—enemy o...

A “Bookjacker's” Website

A “Bookjacker's” Website

We are grateful to Montreal bookseller Michel Lanteigne for bringing this website to our attention. While reluctant to call it an outright scam, it is certainly very misleading to its customers. Mr...

Shakespeare's First Folio to Tour America

Shakespeare's First Folio to Tour America

Shakespeare's First Folio has been scheduled for a national tour of the U.S. for 2016. Perhaps the most important book in the English language will be visiting all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and ...

109 Auctions in April [so far]

109 Auctions in April [so far]

April has become an important month for the world of collectible paper, be they books, manuscripts, maps or ephemera.  The catalyst is the Antiquarian Book Fair in New York but everywhere April is ...

Five New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Five New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we received five new catalogues to review. Shapero Rare Books is offering a selection of “50 Fine Books,” that certainly live up to their reputation. The George S. MacManus Company has a...

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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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