Rare Book Monthly Articles - June - 2017 Issue

Print on Cloth

Print on Cloth

Ephemera is a very large category.  By some estimates it’s at least a hundred times larger than old books.  More likely, it’s five hundred to a thousand times larger.  And it is a broad category that includes many sub-categories that are themselves significant.  Books require commitment and planning, ephemera a press and a few words to communicate.  For those who love books some ephemera is relevant.  Announcements of events and publications, letters by or to an author, as well as sundry related images are often appealing.  Such ephemera however, taken together, probably represents .001 of ...

California Bookseller Goes to Court to Overturn Hated Autograph Law

California Bookseller Goes to Court to Overturn Hated Autograph Law

A California bookseller has gone to court to overturn a law detested by many sellers of autographed books in the state. On January 1, a new law went into effect that places what many consider onero...

“Codex Conquest” teaches Western Book History as a Board Game

“Codex Conquest” teaches Western Book History as a Board Game

Codex Conquest is a board game using cards designed to teach European book history to audiences ranging from high school to graduate level players. It is being developed by Amy Chen, 32, special co...

Collections Evolve:  Ulster County in New York State

Collections Evolve: Ulster County in New York State

Many years ago, I began to collect books of the mid-Hudson Valley of New York State.  The focus was the printed word both because it was around and somewhere between “un” and “underappreciated.”  D...

IOBA Offering $750 Scholarship for Book Collectors to a Rare Book Seminar. Deadline to Apply is June 4.

IOBA Offering $750 Scholarship for Book Collectors to a Rare Book Seminar. Deadline to Apply is June 4.

The Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA) is offering, for the first time, a $750 scholarship for collectors to attend any one of five notable rare and antiquarian book seminars and sch...

Massive Rare Book Theft Uncovered in Brazil

Massive Rare Book Theft Uncovered in Brazil

In October 2016, Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira and another man were arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on suspicion of theft of and receiving rare books. They were suspected of taking a few books from ...

First Printings at Christie's on June 15th

First Printings at Christie's on June 15th

Eric Caren, the remarkable collector of first and important printings, after two sales at Swann and two more at Bonhams has given his sale of very important material to Christie’s to be sold on Jun...

"Despicable" Book Thief Sentenced to Two Years in Jail, But the Book is Still Missing

"Despicable" Book Thief Sentenced to Two Years in Jail, But the Book is Still Missing

The judge described the book theft as a "despicable offense" in sentencing the thief to two years in prison earlier this year. Stealing the personal memento of her war-hero husband from a 93-year-o...

June 7 thru 14: Evolution of a Nation: The David J. Morgan Collection at Old World Auctions

June 7 thru 14: Evolution of a Nation: The David J. Morgan Collection at Old World Auctions

The following article is a feature from guest writer, Eliane Dotson of Old World Auctions.   The evolution of the United States could be described as a series of discoveries, settlements, wars, t...

London International Antiquarian Book Fair:  June 1st to 3rd

London International Antiquarian Book Fair: June 1st to 3rd

If you are interested, consumed, or obsessed with rare books and have a yen to visit London you are in luck because Rare Book Week which features book fairs, lectures and discussions, tours, and au...

June 28th: Third sale of La Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé - Musique et Poésie

June 28th: Third sale of La Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé - Musique et Poésie

In our December 2015 issue of Rare Book Monthly, I wrote about the first of a series of important sales being held in association with Sotheby’s comprising La bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé, the 1600...

The Wreck of The Medusa, a Political Parable.

The Wreck of The Medusa, a Political Parable.

It is a gigantic painting, displayed in the Louvre Museum, Paris. It has darkened over the years, which makes the scene it depicts even more dreadful: this is Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa. A ...

June 7: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Bonhams

June 7: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Bonhams

Less than a week from the time of Rare Book Monthly’s June 2017 release, a Bonhams’ sale on June 7th will be taking place in New York. With 359 lots, Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Illustrat...

Two Sales of Books and Ephemera Coming Up Soon at Cowan's

Two Sales of Books and Ephemera Coming Up Soon at Cowan's

Cowan's Auctions of Cincinnati has two auctions coming this month of great interest to those who collect in the books and works on paper field. The first, a live auction scheduled for Friday, June ...

Three Stolen  Ancient Books and Manuscripts Returned to Italy by Boston Library

Three Stolen Ancient Books and Manuscripts Returned to Italy by Boston Library

Three antiquarian books and manuscripts, stolen from Italian collections years ago, have been returned to their homeland by the Boston Public Library. They had been "acquired in good faith via repu...

An Audio Interview with an Exhibitor of Pop-Up Books

An Audio Interview with an Exhibitor of Pop-Up Books

Here is a link to a podcast for those with an interest in a very specific type of book – pop-up books. These are three-dimensional books, the ones where you open them up and some elements "pop up" ...

Nine New Catalogue Reviewed This Month

Nine New Catalogue Reviewed This Month

For June there are 9 new bookseller catalogues under review. Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books Manuscripts offers a selection of fine books in magnificent bindings. John Windle Bookseller has a select...

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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