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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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....

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining, Philadelphia, 1846. $3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: 17th–19th-century case maps of various locations. $1,500 to $2,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Andreas Cellarius, Haemisphaerium Stellatum Boreale Cum Subiecto Haemisphaerio Terrestri, celestial chart, Amsterdam, 1708. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Vincenzo Coronelli, Set of engraved gores for Coronelli’s monumental 42-inch terrestrial globe, Venice, circa 1688–97. $18,000 to $22,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, group of four navigational charts, Antwerp, 1580s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Thomas Bros, Block Book of Berkeley, Oakland, 1920s. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Nieuhoff & John Ogilby, An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, map of China, plan of Canton, London, 1673. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Frederick Sander, Reichenbachia, St. Albans, 1888-1894. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Two early illustrated works on horsemanship and breeding, Nuremberg, early 18th century. $700 to $800.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Gould, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans. Supplement to the First Edition, London, 1834; 1855. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, London, 1808–14. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Oakley Hoopes Bailey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Boston, 1896. $800 to $1,200.
  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000
  • Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Books and Manuscripts
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane] — Isaac D'Israeli. Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel. 70,000 - 100,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Brontë, Charlotte. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me..." 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Eliot, George. The author's magnum opus. 25,000 - 35,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Whitman, Walt. Manuscript written upon the Death of Lincoln, 1865. 60,000 - 80,000 USD

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