Rare Book Monthly Articles - September - 2017 Issue

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Year 16, Day 1

Rare Book Hub, the successor to Americana Exchange, begins on 3 September its 16th year as a database of rare books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera offered at auction, online and in significant dealer catalogues, and/or described in important bibliographies.  The total number of records in our Transaction Database a few days ago was 7,886,529, 52 times what it was at launch while the price of the service that was $79.95 at startup has increased only 3.7 times in 15 years to $295.
 
It is a field in transition and information now trumps assertions.
 
The world outside of r...

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Three New Theories Attempt to Unravel the 500-year-old Mystery of the Voynich Manuscript

It is perhaps the greatest mystery of the book world. A 240-page illustrated manuscript, whose history can be traced back almost five centuries, remains indecipherable, its language, creator and or...

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Here's How to Find What's Available at Auction During the Busy Season

The busiest time of the year for book and paper auctions is about to arrive. Last year, 30% of the items were sold in the last three months of the year. Moreover, many saved their best for last, as...

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Columbus returns to the Vatican: it's a miracle!

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue but only after the kings of Portugal, France and England turned down the opportunity to finance his adventure and King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella stepped in...

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Martin Luther in Print

The religious turmoil of the Protestant Reformation proved a bonanza for printers and artists, especially in Germany. A stunning new exhibition at SMU’s Bridwell Library in Dallas evokes the ...

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Weathering the Storm

I woke up on the morning of Thursday, August 24, made breakfast, and turned on the Weather Channel for the 8:00 update on Tropical Storm Harvey. I live in Corpus Christi, Texas, a flat, low lying c...

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Raveneau de Lussan… and a bottle of rum!

Twenty severed heads, on a buccaneer's bark, yo-oh-oh! Welcome to the merciless world of the buccaneers* (or flibustiers), those terrible people who swarmed the Spanish Americas in the second half ...

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A Busy Fall for Swann Galleries and Rare Americana in September

Swann Auction Galleries has released their Fall 2017 Auction Schedule, and it is quite the lineup! Starting mid-September and running through mid-December, sales that may interest readers of Rare B...

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Sept 13: Fine Maps, Americana, and More at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

Fall is almost here, and with it comes a serious uptick in auction activity. This month, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers invites collectors to browse and bid at their September 13th sale of Fine Books a...

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Live Online Now Thru Sept 13: Atlases, Maps, and Rare Books at Old World Auctions

Although collectors typically come to Old World Auctions (OWA) for antique maps, the September sale also offers an outstanding selection of rare books.  Included are atlases, history books, ge...

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Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair September 8-10

Marvin Getman, the trade show impresario, is continuing to build a book buying and bookselling community around his Brooklyn Book Fair, now in its fourth year and scheduled for the 8th to the 10th ...

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Inaugural San Francisco Map Fair September 14-16

This September, in San Francisco, the 1st Annual San Francisco Map Fair will be held at the Regency Center, beginning Friday September 15th from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm, continuing Saturday the 16th 10:...

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Fresh eCatalogues: Interesting and Part of the Future

As paper catalogues decline in frequency the decline is offset by a rise in electronic catalogues.  This month there are 20 fresh efforts and another dozen since July 1st.  These catalogu...

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Can A Monkey Copyright His Original Works?

The U. S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco recently heard an interesting case, one which generated more laughs than scholarly legal commentary. It involved a monkey that took a "selfie" picture. T...

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Six New Catalogues Reviewed

This month we are reviewing six new bookseller catalogues. The William Reese Company features a new collection of Western Americana. Lorne Bair Rare Books targets radical social movements from both...

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Chinese School. Album of Chinese rice paper paintings of St Helena and Napoleon, circa 1830s/1840s. £700 to £1,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Speed (John).<i> The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine...,</i> 1676. £3,000 to £5,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Laroon (Marcellus). <i>The Cryes of the City of London drawne after the Life,</i> 1st edition, 1688. £1,000 to £1,500.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Thomas Sedgley binding. <i>The Holy Bible,</i> London, 1701, large folio. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Kipling (Rudyard). The Sussex Edition of the <i>Complete Works in Prose and Verse,</i> 1937-1939. £5,000 to £8,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Dodgson (Charles). <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,</i> 1886, presentation copy. £500 to £800.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> German tarot cards. Napoleon tarock, Leipzig: Johann Gottfried Herbert, circa 1808. £1,500 to £2,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Milne (A.A.). <i>The House at Pooh Corner,</i> 1928, inscribed limited deluxe edition of 20. £15,000 to £20,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Peter Pan. A unique 13.5m (44ft) long needlework nursery frieze, by Helen Stebbing M.R.S.T., 1936. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>June 14/15<br>Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books</b>
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Peak (Bob, 1928-1992). <i>U.S.A,</i> a mural produced for Trans World Airlines (TWA), 1971. £200 to £400.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Austen (Jane). <i>Pride and Prejudice: a novel,</i> 3 volumes, 2nd edition, London: T. Egerton, 1813. £8,000 to £12,000.
    <b>Dominic Winter, June 14/15:</b> Hughes (Ted). Crow, 1st edition, London: Faber and Faber, 1970, signed presentation copy. £400 to £600.
  • <b><center>Swann Auction Galleries<br>Fine Books, Autographs & Illustration Art:<br>At Auction June 15, 2023</b>
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> J.R.R. Tolkien, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy, first American editions, finely bound by The Chelsea Bindery, Boston, 1954-56. $9,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> John Carleton Atherton, <i>Fall Bounty,</i> oil on board, cover design for The Saturday Evening Post, 1943. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> George Washington, Endorsement Signed, “G:Washington,’ as President of the Potomac Company, 1787.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Gustav Klimt, <i>Das Werk von Gustav Klimt,</i> complete with 50 collotype plates, one of 300 copies, Vienna, 1918. $25,000 to $35,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Pancho Villa, Autograph Letter Signed, to the governor of Chihuahua soliciting help in persuading authorities to release him from prison, Mexico City, 1912. $7,000 to $10,000.
    <b>Swann June 15:</b> Charles Monroe Schulz, <i>The Peanuts gang,</i> Complete set of 13 drawings, 1971. $8,000 to $12,000.
  • <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Hobbes (Thomas). <i>Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme & Power of a Common-Wealth,</i> first edition, first issue, 1651. £10,000 to £15,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> [Burton (Robert)] "Democritus Junior". <i>The Anatomy of Melancholy,</i> first edition, Oxford, Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, 1621. £8,000 to £12,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Fletcher (Giles). <i>Of the Russe Common Wealth,</i> first edition, Printed by T[homas] D[awson] for Thomas Charde, 1591. £7,000 to £10,000.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Shakespeare source book.- Fraunce (Abraham). <i>The Lawiers Logike, exemplifying the praecepts of Logike by the practise of the common Lawe,</i> first edition, 1588. £4,000 to £6,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Fireworks.- Babington (John.) <i>Pyrotechnia or, A discourse of artificiall fire-works…,</i> 2 parts in 1 vol., first edition, Thomas Harper for Ralph Mab, 1635. £4,000 to £6,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Gardening.- [Bonnefons (Nicolas de)]. <i>The French Gardiner instructing how to cultivate all sorts of Fruit-Trees and Herbs for the Garden, translated by John Evelyn,</i> third edition, 1675. £3,500 to £4,500.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Witchcraft.- F. (H.) <i>A true and exact Relation Of the severall Informations, Examinations, and Confessions of the late Witches…,</i> first edition, 1645. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Science.- Boyle (Robert). <i>The Origine of Formes and Qualities (According to the Corpuscular Philosophy),</i> first edition, Oxford, H. Hall for Ric: Davis, 1666. £3,000 to £4,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Massinger (Philip). <i>The Unnaturall Combat. A Tragedie,</i> first edition, Printed by E.G. for John Waterson, 1639. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <center><b>Forum Auctions<br>A fourth selection of 16th and 17th Century English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library<br>15th June 2023</b>
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Plastic Surgery.- Read (Alexander). <i>Chirurgorum Comes: or the Whole Practice of Chirurgery,</i> first edition, Printed by Edw. Jones, for Christopher Wilkinson, 1687. £2,000 to £3,000.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Hall (Edward). <i>The Union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancaster & Yorke…,</i> [by Richard Grafton], 1550. £2,200 to £2,500.
    <b>Forum, June 15:</b> Cosmetics.- Jeamson (Thomas). <i>Artificiall Embellishments. Or Arts Best Directions How to Preserve Beauty or Procure it,</i> first edition, Oxford, Printed by William Hall, 1665. £1,000 to £1,500.
  • <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Cool Hand Luke" | Paul Newman Academy Award® Nomination Plaque. USD$2500 - $3500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "Hud" | Bound presentation script incorporating photographic stills. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "The Long, Hot Summer" | Movie Poster. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Joseph Heller | "Catch-22," inscribed to Woodward & Newman by author. USD$500 - $800
    <b><center>Sotheby's<br>The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection<br>26 May - 12 June</b>
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> George H. W. Bush | Typed Letter Signed, Issuing a "Pardon" to Paul Newman. USD$1500 - $2000
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> William Jefferson Clinton | Inscribed Color Photograph. USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> Ken Kesey | Typed letter to “Paulnewman,” asking for further compensation for "Sometimes a Great Notion". USD$1000 - $1500
    <b>Sotheby’s, May 26 – Jun. 12:</b> "They Might Be Giants" | Costume sketches by Edith Head. USD$1000 - $2000

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