Rare Book Monthly Articles - February - 2018 Issue

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Auction Prices for Books and Paper Dipped by 1% in 2017

Prices at auction for lots in the books and paper field took a modest dip in 2017. The median price slipped from $270 to $267, or 1.1%. It nearly wiped out last year's almost as modest 1.5% increase. On the other hand, the average price dropped more sharply, from $2,011 to $1,859, but this is not a very meaningful figure. It takes only one or two books at several millions to greatly skew the average price, and 2017 was a year without any blockbuster sales.
 
The number of lots sold at auction increased by 5.8% last year. There were 312,154 lots we tracked sold in 2017, vs. 295,143 in...

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Mount Eden Books to Call it a Day

Jerry Pressler, of several places in Ohio and even more in California, has spent his 91 years being busy.  He’s had many careers, some spanning decades, and recently decided it’s t...

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51st California International Antiquarian Book Fair

Over the weekend of Friday February 9th to Sunday February 11th the ABAA’s California Book Fair returns to Pasadena.  This fair, that alternates with its northern California twin, is sta...

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Marquis de Sade "National Treasure" Removed from French Sale by the State

This would almost certainly have been the most expensive item sold at auction in the books and paper field last year had it been sold. It was not. This was not for want of a willing seller or buyer...

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Fire & Fury - Biggest Nonfiction Bestseller in Modern History

Looking for a sleaze tell-all about a sleaze president? Seek no further. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House is the scandal du jour. The juicy political gossip book by Michael Wolff is not ...

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The Miami International Map Fair

In February, the Miami International Map Fair turns 25! It is the longest running map fair in the world. We invite you to celebrate this anniversary with us.  Immerse yourself in a world of ex...

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Marcus Rainsford, or The Black Empire of a "Sh*thole"

Going through a pile of books the other day, I was suddenly attracted to a smelly one. I reluctantly picked it up, considering its yet gorgeous binding. Then, I opened it up, and was instantly over...

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U.S. Supreme Court Will Again Consider Allowing States to Require Out-of-State Retailers to Collect Their Sales Taxes

The ability of states to require out-of-state retailers, which would include most rare and antiquarian booksellers, to collect their sales taxes will again come before the United States Supreme Cou...

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Auctions in Pasadena while the ABAA is in Town

Over the second weekend of February, while the ABAA, is in the midst of its always popular annual winter weekend in California, both PBA and Bonhams will conduct auctions on Sunday the 11th at the ...

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Swann: Busy in 2018

Swann Auction Galleries, twice a year, sends to its mailing list The Trumpet, it’s announcement of upcoming sales.  The recent issue, Volume 32, Number 2, provides a clear picture of a f...

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Bookshop Featuring Enormous Stephen King Collection Suffers Devastating Loss

In one of the saddest tales related to books and manuscripts we have seen in a long time, a Maine bookseller suffered a devastating loss on January 16. The loss was not only tragic for the great am...

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Feb. 1-7: First of five 2018 sales from map-centric Old World Auctions

This month we have the first of five sales in 2018 being hosted by online-only auction house Old World Auctions. With cartography as the house’s focus, 784 lots of maps, atlases, and other ra...

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San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print & Paper Fair February 2-3

San Francisco’s every other year book, print and paper fair is about to happen.  The location is the South San Francisco Conference Center just north of the San Francisco International A...

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Feb. 11: Assorted Americana at Carlsen Gallery

Based in Freehold, NY, Carlsen Gallery specializes in 18th and 19th century American furniture and other antiques such as oil paintings, porcelain and rugs. This month, their Mid-Winter Antique Auc...

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National Endowment for the Humanities Holds Institute on The Book: Material Histories and Digital Futures in Salt Lake City This Summer

The National Endowment for the Humanities will be holding a four-week institute for college and university faculty at Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City this summer. It will run from Jun...

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Books Valued at Almost $100,000 Stolen from English Bookshop

A theft of books valued at around £70,000 (almost US $100,000) occurred at a family bookshop in England the night of January 8-9. The size is quite impactful for the family-owned business. Th...

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A Dozen New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review 12 new booksellers' catalogues. Mark Funke Bookseller has published his first catalogue. It focuses on Continental Europe, with a particular concentration on German material. E...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • A8daf7db-8078-4043-9dae-78438a37999b 2847bcf9-4f78-4598-a625-671f0a4d3f48 72737ec2-7c9d-4fdc-9909-14c4f3c77c96 1844ac95-79cc-4942-879f-b187987fb397 F54bbb5e-a823-44df-87f7-2838821402a8 1f934675-0d5a-48eb-a499-9863a4a1ae31 Ab315286-ac16-4630-9243-53747216e340 2e70db25-a57b-46e8-b7e9-31e152641e07 A4296707-8681-4fe2-9527-44a8eaa5d1fd 08528532-143d-42d0-8b4c-c1d37855c2fe 83723749-eb13-4220-96a1-4067ae0e3cd0 A30a9cbf-6600-460b-a2a9-711d59cc69ce D97723c6-01b7-441e-b7fb-471ba9000192 34dbc284-0545-4008-ae6f-0f6cc973b983 78b938b6-19a2-44bf-96ea-3195980fc35e 04d41c1f-4124-421a-9491-0fcb8a38b1bb
    <b><center>Hindman Auctions<br>Literature from a Private New Orleans Collection<br>March 19, 2021</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> STEINBECK, John (1902-1968). <i>The Pastures of Heaven.</i> New York: Brewer, Warren & Putnam, 1932. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> FITZGERALD, F. Scott (1896-1940). <i>Tender is the Night.</i> New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934. $6,000 to $8,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> STOKER, Bram (1847-1912). <i>Dracula.</i> Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company, 1897. $5,000 to $7,000.
    <b><center>Hindman Auctions<br>Literature from a Private New Orleans Collection<br>March 19, 2021</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> GOLDING, William (1911-1993). <i>Lord of the Flies.</i> London: Faber and Faber, 1954. $4,000 to $6,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> SALINGER, J. D. (1919-2010). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. $4,000 to $6,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> HEMINGWAY, Ernest (1899-1961). <i>The Torrents of Spring.</i> New York: Scribner's, 1926. $3,000 to $4,000.
    <b><center>Hindman Auctions<br>Literature from a Private New Orleans Collection<br>March 19, 2021</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> HUXLEY, Aldous (1894-1963). <i>Brave New World.</i> London: Chatto & Windus, 1932. $3,000 to $4,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> WELLS, H.G. <i>The Time Machine, an Invention.</i> New York: Henry Holt, 1895. $3,000 to $4,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> DAHL, Roald (1916-1990). <i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.</i> New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964. $2,000 to $3,000.
    <b><center>Hindman Auctions<br>Literature from a Private New Orleans Collection<br>March 19, 2021</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> HERBERT, Frank (1920-1986). Dune. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. $2,000 to $3,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> KESEY, Ken (1935-2001). <i>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.</i> New York: The Viking Press, 1962. $2,000 to $3,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Mar. 19:</b> VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. (1922-2007). <i>Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade.</i> New York: Seymour Lawrence Delacorte Press, 1969. $2,000 to $3,000.
  • 0f1c235b-9e14-4a36-bd17-dadb0fff2be6 C4f547db-3dd7-4763-b05c-90f790920965 084d9cd9-1212-40c8-bea9-2e261e65a1b0 988aec7f-d1eb-498e-bc9b-28cdd069bcbb 5e96cab1-d000-4b9e-b721-e3e0eb336316 08740177-573f-4d08-a0af-17e03315a7b0 49e3c3db-e87a-4982-911a-f2a9b72836f5 Ffbbf60d-f108-4a7c-a647-33b4825e5016 F07ba0d9-c686-4c83-91db-1719c3d78ea3 84250eb3-34b9-455c-a1f3-00ab8878c666 459308ca-7e31-4881-8005-3ef48f9115e7 191745ba-1e54-4aaf-8c0a-67d7e3aeba15 963a950b-066c-4c92-9edf-a76c4f747bd9 059c26c3-dbb8-4667-a9b2-c8d1df0bf5c7 2966ad3f-8520-4d4a-a59c-dce593966496 52053bba-fa65-4235-b35d-6e7e91d91178
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
    <center><b>California Virtual Book Fair<br>March 4-6, 2021<br>www.abaa.org/vbf</b>
  • F0e650da-89b6-4e3e-88d0-d8ee75daeffd 5f0f427c-502c-49ba-9383-c77e701d6d1f 859622c2-f32b-4452-abab-2a44f497b309 750ba05f-32e4-4da9-aaa6-640839ee135d 5ceb2ea6-291d-4c5c-b7ce-a11487953e59 1491509f-e302-4ad8-a700-fdb3a63ad3bd 311ae3af-e5b4-4ae2-aeab-d659ba9bef56 6bcde413-7590-4b5d-a1ad-1072b0c78874 37900042-e6ac-46f1-909b-38064ad1c46e 8d43117f-4caa-410a-84bb-ee0adc3e7031 661296de-f6c1-48dc-ad4b-5ec7280d05ed 4ded0067-668a-4801-869c-4629535a15ba 15b85754-4abc-45e9-860f-2c73e201a3eb 6c9e933c-3576-4153-8376-f52c73562010 367568a8-4774-436a-a84f-4c75e8d09afd 574fb217-0643-4d46-811b-72ca35c2e4da
    <center><b>The Collectors’ Sale<br>March 3, 2021</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Verlag, Luzern, Publishers: <i>The Book of Kells,</i> the most precious illuminated manuscript of the early Middle Ages, now reproduced, the FIRST AND ONLY COMPLETE FINE ART FACSIMILE EDITION. €5,000 to €6,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Rowling (J.K.) <i>Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone,</i> 8vo, L. (Bloomsbury) 1997, First Deluxe Edn., Signed by the Author on title page. €4,000 to €5,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Gilbert (John T.) Account of Facsimiles of National Manuscripts of Ireland, from the earliest extant specimens to A.D. 719. €2,000 to €3,000.
    <center><b>The Collectors’ Sale<br>March 3, 2021</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> <i>The Georgian Society Records of Eighteenth-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin [-Ireland],</i> 5 vols. lg. 4to D. 1909 - 1913. Limited Editions. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Yeats (W.B.) <i>The Poems of W.B. Yeats,</i> 2 vols., roy 8vo, L. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949, Limited Edn., No. 185 (of 375 copies). Signed. €1,500 to €2,000.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Crone (John S.)ed. <i>The Irish Book Lover, A Monthly Review of Irish Literature and Bibliography.</i> Vol. I No 1 August 1909 - Vol. XXXII No. 6, September 1957. €1,250 to €2,000.
    <center><b>The Collectors’ Sale<br>March 3, 2021</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Yeats (John Butler) <i>An original self-portrait Sketch,</i> Signed and dated April 1919, N[ew] York. €1,200 to €1,500.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Photograph Album. Entitled ''A Souvenir of the Visit to Jeypore Samasthanam of His Excellency the Right Hon'ble Viscount Goschen of Hawkhurst… 14th December 1927''. €1,000 to €1,500.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Pistolesi (Erasmo) <i>Il Vaticano,</i> 8vols. large atlas, folio Rome (Tipografia della Societa..) 1829. €500 to €600.
    <center><b>The Collectors’ Sale<br>March 3, 2021</b>
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Chagall (Marc)illus., Legmarie (Jean) comp., <i>The Jerusalem Windows,</i> folio N.Y. (George Braziller) 1962. €400 to €500.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Bullitt (Thos. W.) <i>My Life at Oxmoor,</i> Life on a Farm in Kentucky before the War. Roy 8vo Louisville, Kentucky, 1911. Privately Printed No. 86 of 100 Copies Only. €300 to €400.
    <b>Fonsie Mealy, Mar. 3:</b> Popish Plot: Oates (Titus) <i>The Popes Whore House or The Merchandise of The Whore of Rome,</i> folio L. 1679. First Edn. €100 to €150.
  • Eea1d9c5-c2b9-4626-bcd9-e4f2e7ceaf83 01fc7d8d-33e7-472e-a326-ec98ecf202d5 48ca203a-cebe-4649-b385-d676a7a01d6e 7e3fe419-d0d7-40e1-9331-2ff876984f55 7968aa16-f841-475d-b935-120f31fd063f 7d01df07-9bb7-4c1a-ad17-b9f0c7f61029 2688cdd3-f2ba-439e-b22b-089d91266df0 306adab1-d2ff-4a42-bddb-945ec93a828e 33bdf46e-5f55-4225-a119-5b6aaa6dcc2e A03ed96f-a008-4a5d-afb4-831bddea4937 F7196ef7-8778-40dc-87a2-cb2dd1d5208b 370b5ed0-9f9f-4a70-87ef-9df8f9a0ff86
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Dorothea Lange, <i>Migrant Mother (horizontal),</i> silver print, 1936. $20,000 to $30,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Group of 32 WWII-era identification badges for manufacturing & military-related companies, 1940-50s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Julia Margaret Cameron, <i>Alfred, Lord Tennyson,</i> albumen print, 1869. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Arnold Genthe, <i>Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt,</i> silver print, circa 1908. $1,000 to $1,500.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Edward Curtis, <I>Oasis in the Badlands,</I> toned platinum print, 1905. $8,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Francis Frith, three volumes, approximately 140 photographs, 1860-70s. $10,000 to $15,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Eugène Atget, <i>20 Photographs,</i> gold-toned silver prints by Berenice Abbott, 1898-1927. $8,000 to $12,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b> Neil Leifer, <i>Muhammad Ali,</i> chromogenic print, 1965. $4,000 to $6,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries Mar 11:</b><br>A group of approximately 50 Photomatic selfies of the same man taken over a period of time, 1940s. Estimate $1,500 to $2,500.

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