Rare Book Monthly Articles - May - 2018 Issue

Inhumanity in New York

I’m a collector of Ulster County specifically and the Hudson Valley generally.  On the 29th of March a lot offered at Swann, No. 13 in Sale No. 2471, attracted both my bid and, since receiving it, my intense interest.   Here it is:   "TO BE BURNED AT THE STAKE . . . UNTILL HE IS DEAD, AND AFTER THAT TO ASHES" (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Trial account of an enslaved New York man for arson, with the order to burn him at the stake. 3 manuscript pages, 12 3/4 x 8 inches, on 2 leaves, the last leaf with the signatures and seals of twelve officials; folds and minor wear. Kingston, NY, 28 and 29...

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Will You Soon Have to Pay/Collect Out-of-State Sales Taxes?

We are close to learning whether the U. S. Supreme Court will overturn a previous decision that has long protected retailers from having to collect sales taxes from out-of-state customers when ship...

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The Incredible Manuscripts of Mont Saint-Michel

Two weeks ago, the French state opposed the sale of four stunning manuscripts—40 pages bound in one volume—from the XIIth century. Their provenance itself is incredible: they are from the prestigio...

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Who Says You Can’t Go Home Again

I grew up in Ulster County on the west side of the Hudson midway between New York and Albany.  I moved away in my mid-twenties, almost fifty years ago, although some who know me say I never left, f...

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Fore-Edge Play - Is Turning Your Books Around Backwards Art?

Backward facing books? Apparently, it has become the rage, or outrage. It all depends upon your point of view. The trend, at least among the trendy, is to place your books backwards on a bookshelf....

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Women in the Antiquarian Book Trade

As a woman who was born and raised in the trade by a mother who was also a book dealer (and ran a tight ship), this is a subject I know well from first hand experience.   And while it is true tha...

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AbeBooks 15 Most Expensive Sales for the First Quarter of 2018

To answer the question of where are today's collectors, AbeBooks latest list of most expensive sales suggests anyplace other than the U.S.A. This list is a surprise. AbeBooks has been the largest o...

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May 23: Artist's Books take center stage at Il Ponte Casa d'Aste

This month, on May 23rd, Il Ponte Casa d’Aste is hosting a sale of Books, Manuscripts and Engravings that includes a unique collection of artist’s books. About 150 artist’s books from the avant-gar...

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The Getman New York Fair for March 2019 is creating a Larger Footprint

Marvin Getman, who had a nice turnout for his one day fair in New York over the extended ABAA New York weekend in March, recently committed to the Sheraton to bring his fair back to their location ...

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Chiswick Auctions’ forthcoming sale of Printed Books on 30 May

Chiswick Auctions sale on May 30th  will feature many classic and highly collectable editions, in sought-after dust-jackets together with rare  inscribed copies.  English and American  literature i...

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May 31: Forum Auctions follows up the London ABA Fair with Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper

Deliberately timed to take place just after the ABA Fair (May 24th-26th), Forum Auctions’ sale on the 31st has a wealth of enticing lots covering most areas of interest. This year the main London b...

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The Unending Circle: Recidivist Book Thief Goes Straight from Jail to Custody

Book thief most unusual Andrew Shannon is headed back to his home country of Ireland after a brief interlude spent in England. He has returned in the company of Irish gendarmes after being released...

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Annual Rose City Book & Paper Fair in Portland, Oregon, Set for June 15-16

It's time once again for book collectors in the Pacific Northwest to mark their calendars for the annual Rose City Book Paper Fair. This is the twelfth such yearly event set to take place in the "...

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Auctions in May

We are moving into the spring seasonal strength in the auction field for rare books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera.  These fields have been strong all spring as the number of sales posted over the...

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Four New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review four new bookseller catalogues. Shapero Rare Books has a catalogue devoted to material from the far north and far south, the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The George S. MacManu...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: U.S. / European Shipping Archive 1800-1814. The Widow Bermingham & Sons Collection. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Bunreacht na hÉireann. Constitution of Ireland. An important copy of the First Printing of De Valera’s new Constitution, approved in 1938. Signed by the Constitution Cabinet. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. Magnificent Hand-Coloured Copy - Only 25 Copies. €3,000 to €5,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Cantillon (Richard). Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General, Traduit de l'Anglois, Sm. 8vo London (Fletcher Gyles) 1756. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Gregory, (Lady Augusta). Spreading the News: The Rising of the Moon: The Poorhouse (with Douglas Hyde). Being Vol. IX of the Abbey Theatre Series. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Lavery (Lady Hazel). A moving series of three A.L.S. and a Telegram to Gen. Eoin O'Duffy, July-August 1927, expressing her grief at the death of Kevin O'Higgins. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Dampier (Wm.) Nouveau Voyage Autour du Monde, ou l'on descrit en particulier l'Isthme de l'Amerique…, 2 vols. in one, Amsterdam, 1698. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Howell (James). Instructions for Forreine Travel Shewing by what Cours, and in what Compasse of Time…, London, 1642. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 8vo, L. (Bloomsbury) 1999, First Edn., First Printing of Deluxe Collectors Edn. Signed. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: James (Wm.) A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of The Late War Between Great Britain and The United States of America. 2 vols. Lond. 1818. €650 to €900.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: The Laws of the United States, Published by Authority, 3 vols. Philadelphia (Richard Folwell) 1796. €600 to €800.

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