Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2019 Issue

Rare Book Hub mobile: do you want to be a survey monkey?

We’re redeveloping the Rare Book Hub website, and we’re excited to be adding full mobile optimization. More and more of our traffic is coming from phones and tablets, and we want to make that experience is natural, smooth, and productive.   Because we are venturing into new territory with the development of a fully functional mobile version of the site, we want to hear from you, our members. We want to know what will make your Rare Book Hub experience on a phone or tablet better. We want to know how your use of the site changes when you’re on a mobile device. We want to know what features...

American Tariffs on China Now Apply to Antiquarian Books

Tariffs imposed by the U.S. upon China will place some unexpected costs on American collectors. The list of items subjected to a 15% tax as of September 1 contains many targets that are quite reaso...

Collecting Choices: Buying where you find ‘em

For years I spent $7,000 to $20,000 a year on eBay but anymore hardly look.  To find collectible material at fixed prices I need not look further than sites like www.abaa.com.  eBay has long been a...

Thief Sentenced to 25 Months in Prison for Stealing 7,000 Library Books

A thief who stole 7,000 library books will be spending 25 months as a house guest of law authorities in Edinburgh, Scotland. The books have been valued at £80,000 (approximately US $100,000). Darre...

Simon Beattie - “The books you never knew you wanted………..”

“If there is a trend in collecting nowadays, it is that collectors, more and more, are seeking increasingly obscure material, unique items that no one else has.” This month Rare Book Hub correspon...

The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair, October 12-13, 2019

The Annual Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair will take place over the weekend of October 12-13 in Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center, home of The Space Needle, and the site originally built for the 1962...

John Milton Found - In a Shakespeare First Folio

It looks to be one of the most important literary finds in a long time. It may tie together what many regard as the second greatest English poet and writer, John Milton, with the greatest. There is...

Christies: Important Sales shifting to October and April

Christie's New York Books Manuscripts department recently made an important update to their sale calendar: the twice-yearly Fine Printed Books Manuscripts Including Americana auctions will now be...

The Poughkeepsie Thomsonian

Recently I purchased a bound volume of the Poughkeepsie Thomsonian covering portions of 1842 and 1843.  In the late 1830’s into the 1840’s this was a newspaper-like publication published twice mont...

Oct. 18: Fine Books & Manuscripts at Potter & Potter Auctions

Later this month on October 18th, Potter Potter Auctions out of Chicago will be hosting a 639 lot sale of Fine Books Manuscripts. The sale is diverse, with the print and PDF catalogues broken int...

Now Available - A House with a Library for 4,000 Books

If you are looking for a house designed to house your serious book collection, one recently came on the market. It contains a library meant to hold 4,000 volumes, and it is a library worthy of 4,00...

Theophilus Barrois: The First of the Monks

Matthew G. Lewis’ Ambrosio, or the Monk became an instant classic when it came out in England in 1796. Less than a year later, Year V—or 1797, old style, it was translated into French. Claude-Franç...

U.S., Chinese & Worldwide Banknotes, Scripophily and Security Printing Ephemera to be Offered Thursday, October 10th, 2019

FORT LEE, N.J. –  The October 10th auction by Archives International Auctions will consist of 1178 different lots offered in three sessions beginning with 375 lots of Chinese and Worldwide Banknote...

What Type of Books Does Gwyneth Paltrow collect?

In a time when the role of books in society is in a state of flux, it is always reassuring to learn that a celebrated, well-known person is a book collector. What could be better than a famous actr...

Collections Moving On, But Whereto?

This is an extraordinarily fluid time for book collections. The 21st century, not yet even a fifth of the way along, has seen enormous changes. Much of it has been spurred on by the development of ...

Seven New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review seven new bookseller catalogues. Shapero Rare Books offers a selection of books for the young, that is, children's books. But, don't let your children get their hands on these....

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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