For Americana Exchange and more recently its successor Rare Book Hub change has always been part of the equation. Change online is necessary as the structure of the Internet evolves, speeds increase, and underlying assumptions about how websites function and are used, change. Early on the focus was on duplicating print services electronically. The idea was to create a great portable library that researchers could access at their desks. For those who tried it in 2002, it worked but most did not need it because the post-World War II structure of the rare book business was still, if waverin...
The world is in flux. Books have a history but do they have a future? Let’s consider the perspectives.
Change has always been part of the human experience but rarely have the changes been so ...
A book by Charlotte Bronte is finally coming home, after passing through the hands of two criminals, 189 years after it was written. The home of Charlotte and her star-crossed sisters is now the Pa...
Books disappearing from library shelves is a longstanding problem that still plagues libraries despite all the security cameras and measures taken over the years. However, a strange case of disappe...
Billy the Kid was a bad guy who achieved immortality killing people back when killing people one at a time still made the news. These days it takes 5 to make the papers on a busy day or occasional...
The sad story of the death of a library in Jackson, Mississippi, recently completed its final act. The library board has abandoned its interest in the building, its 34,000 books destroyed, and many...
Louis-Dominique Cartouche (1693-1721), the most famous French robber of the Ancien Régime, inspired many writers including Nicolas Racot de Grandval, who published Le Vice Puni, ou Cartouche (Anver...
Things are looking up for rare book seller Shapero Rare Books and its parent company. Shapero Rare Books is part of publicly traded company Scholium Group, which means it is required to provide aud...
Described as,”Arguably one of the most appealing pictorial books published during the mid-1800s, The Chinese Empire Illustrated, (known also as China, its scenery, architecture, social habits c. il...
Recently in Germany at auction house Hermann Historica in a sale of German Contemporary History, 842 lots including hundreds of Nazi items were sold. For many the idea that such material is availa...
The annual Northampton Book and Book Arts Fair will be held on Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7 this year. Hours on Friday are 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Hours on Saturday are 10:00 a.m. - 4...
As we enter this holiday season we want to remind our members and visitors of the cataloging trend now well underway, that is seeing the decline of the printed catalogue in favor of the eCatalogue ...
For December we review 14 new bookseller catalogues. The Raab Collection celebrates 30 years in the field with a selection of important autograph material. Mark Funke Bookseller offers a spectacula...
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 124: Henri Courvoisier-Voisin, et alia, [Recueil de Vues de Paris et ses Environs], depicting precursors of the modern roller coaster, Paris, [1814-1819?]. $2,000 to $3,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 148: Pablo Picasso & Fernando de Rojas, La Célestine, First Edition, Paris, 1971. $30,000 to $40,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 201: Omar Khayyam & Edward Fitzgerald, Rubaiyat, William Bell Scott's copy of the First Edition, London, 1859. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 223: Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, First Edition, extra-illustrated with hand-colored plates by Palinthorpe, London, 1861. $7,000 to $9,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 248: L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, First Edition, inscribed by the illustrator, Chicago & New York, 1900. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 305: Tycho Brahe & Pierre Gassendi, Tychonis Brahei Vita, Paris, 1654. From the Collection of Owen Gingerich. $8,000 to $12,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 338: Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Almagestum Novum, two folio volumes, Bologna, 1651. From the Collection of Owen Gingerich. $8,000 to $10,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 350: Tobias Cohn, Ma'aseh Toviyyah, first edition, Venice, 1707-8. $3,000 to $5,000.
Swann, Apr. 22: Lot 359: Alan Turing, Computing, Machinery, and Intelligence, first edition, Edinburgh, 1950. $3,000 to $5,000.
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Rose City Book & Paper Fair June 14-15, 2025 1000 NE Multnomah, Portland ROSECITYBOOKFAIR.COM
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 748. Second volume of Blaeu's atlas featuring 89 maps of the Americas and Asia (1642) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 12. A world map with popular cartographic myths and unique embellishments (1788) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 30. One of the most sought-after charts from Cellarius' work (1708) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 38. Anti-Vietnam War persuasive cartography on a velvet poster (1971) Est. $350 - $425
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 43. Ortelius' influential map of the New World - second plate (1584) Est. $4,750 - $6,000
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 95. Scarce German map illustrating the French & Indian War (1755) Est. $8,000 - $9,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 149. Bachmann's dramatic view of the Mid-Atlantic region (1864) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 373. De Jode's very rare map of Europe with costumed figures (1593) Est. $6,000 - $7,500
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 674. De Bry's Petits Voyages, Part VII with all plates and map of Sri Lanka (1606) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 704. The first printed map devoted to the Pacific in full contemporary color (1589) Est. $7,500 - $9,000
Old World Auctions (April 23): Lot 734. Superb hand-colored image of the Tree of Jesse (1502) Est. $700 - $850
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: Best Image of Abraham Lincoln: "Closest… to ‘seeing' Lincoln… A National Treasure" Original Hesler/Ayres Interpositive. $800,000 to $1,000,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Einstein, 3pp of Unified Field Theory Equations: “I want to try to show that a truly natural choice for field equations exists.” Formalizing His Final Approach, Association to Theory of Relativity. $80,000 to $120,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Marilyn Monroe's Best Personally Owned & Annotated Script for Unfinished Last Film, "Something's Got to Give" (1962). $75,000 to $100,000.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: David Ben-Gurion ALS: "The Jewish people have attained the epitome...the State of Israel is born," 1 Day After Signing Israeli Declaration of Independence, Best Ben-Gurion Ever! $80,000 to $100,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Lincoln ALS to Youth: "A young man, before the enemy has learned to watch him...votes... shall redeem the county" Evocative of Famous "Work" Letter. $70,000 to $100,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Lincoln Appointment for Cabinet Member With Largest, Boldest, Full Signature! Important Content: Detente with England. $10,000 to $15,000.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: Abraham Lincoln Rare Signed Check To Law Partner W.H. Herndon, Perhaps Unique as Such! $20,000 to $25,000
University Archives, Apr. 23: Tokyo War Crimes Files of Prosecuting Attorney For POW Camp Atrocities, 500+ Pages, Unpublished Court Documents, Photos and More. $25,000 to $35,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: 1698 South Carolina Slavery Archive Huguenot Planters Earliest Rare Plat Maps for Plantations 41 Docs 107 pp. Most Colonial. $25,000 to $35,000.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Books & Photos; Abraham Lincoln Collection April 23, 2025
University Archives, Apr. 23: Adam Smith ALS While Revising “The Wealth of Nations” - A New Discovery Documenting Meeting with Influential Editor. $18,000 to $24,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Margaret Mitchell Rare ALS to Her Editor as Epic Film "Gone With the Wind" Gains Heat "Forgive this scrawl. I haven't written a letter in long hand in years and I've almost forgotten how it's done." $3,000 to $4,000.
University Archives, Apr. 23: Einstein 1935 TLS, Hopes to Warn Non-Jews of "The true nature of the Hitler regime.” $8,500 to $10,000.
![<b>Swann, Apr. 22:</b> Lot 124: Henri Courvoisier-Voisin, et alia, <i>[Recueil de Vues de Paris et ses Environs],</i> depicting precursors of the modern roller coaster, Paris, [1814-1819?]. $2,000 to $3,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/926a6773-03fc-4628-84a8-b9c0bad3ca15.jpg "<b>Swann, Apr. 22:</b> Lot 124: Henri Courvoisier-Voisin, et alia, <i>[Recueil de Vues de Paris et ses Environs],</i> depicting precursors of the modern roller coaster, Paris, [1814-1819?]. $2,000 to $3,000.")
