Rare Book Monthly Articles - August - 2019 Issue

Fifteen Suspects Nabbed in London Warehouse Book Theft

Fifteen Suspects Nabbed in London Warehouse Book Theft

The most baffling major book theft in years has finally been solved, according to authorities in three countries. On the night of January 29-30, 2017, three thieves climbed onto a warehouse roof near London's Heathrow Airport. Their intention was to steal books held by an Italian bookseller being shipped to the annual California Antiquarian Book Fair in Oakland a few days later.   It was a sophisticated operation to say the least. They cut open a skylight and climbed down ropes forty feet to the floor below. By entering in this unusual manner, they managed to evade the burglar alarm syste...

In the Collecting Jungle, Beware of the Cheetah!

In the Collecting Jungle, Beware of the Cheetah!

Just when you think you have heard it all it turns out the FBI has uncovered evidence that some baseball cards have been removed from their protective plastic cases, dolled up, and resubmitted to a...

New European Union Book Importing Regulations Now In Force... Sort of

New European Union Book Importing Regulations Now In Force... Sort of

The set of regulations on the import of "cultural goods" into the countries of the European Union officially went in place on June 27, though meaningful implementation is still a few years away. Th...

Understanding a Consignment Agreement

Understanding a Consignment Agreement

In my capacity as a private collector, I recently received a set of consignment documents from Christie’s and found increasing clarity as to their consignment rates after first misreading the docum...

AbeBooks Top 20 Highest Prices for April-June 2019

AbeBooks Top 20 Highest Prices for April-June 2019

AbeBooks has released its latest quarterly list of the Top 20 or so books that brought in the highest prices on their website. These are actual sales, not asking prices. Sometimes, these lists are ...

What Collecting Becomes

What Collecting Becomes

The most difficult problems to solve are those with many variables—inevitably those with more variables are more difficult to solve.   Book collecting has been both the victim and beneficiary of ...

Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, A keen reader of travel books?

Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, A keen reader of travel books?

Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach is one of the most iconic pirates ever. Knowing that fear was his best ally, he fed his own legend with many tricks like tying lit matches to his hat in order to frighten ...

Comics: No Laughing Matter

Comics: No Laughing Matter

Whether for want of subjects, or the increased presence of mood lighteners in the first waning days of summer, I have sometimes written about the comic book business as a parallel universe to rare ...

Now You Can Own a First Edition Harry Potter, a Honus Wagner Baseball Card

Now You Can Own a First Edition Harry Potter, a Honus Wagner Baseball Card

Would you like to own a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone? How about the $3 million 1909 Honus Wagner Baseball card? Of course you would, but you can't. These are only avail...

A Deep-dive Database of Local History, Attitudes, and Ideas

A Deep-dive Database of Local History, Attitudes, and Ideas

Recently I purchased a small group of mid-Hudson Valley material that I found useful as examples of what would logically be included in a deep-dive experimental database for the New York State coun...

From The Road to Serfdom to After the Fall

From The Road to Serfdom to After the Fall

F.A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom is an economics and social philosophy classic that seems to take on new meaning as we go into the 2020 elections and cries of “socialism” ricochet across the politi...

To Accept a Gift of Books or Not. A Dilemma for Libraries

To Accept a Gift of Books or Not. A Dilemma for Libraries

This story from the rocky shores of Down East Maine throws a light on a dilemma that increasingly is ensnaring both libraries and book collectors these days. In the digital age, with decreasing use...

11 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

11 New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This month we review 11 new bookseller catalogues. The 19th Century Rare Book Photograph Shop has a catalogue of material they accurately describe as "magnificent." Erasmushaus offers some very ol...

Rare Book Monthly

  • High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
    High Bids Win
    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
    and Machine Manuals
    December 24 to January 9
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
    High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
  • Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare.
    The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
    Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens.
    A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Golding.
    Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
    Sotheby's
    Fine Books, Manuscripts & More
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll.
    Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien.
    The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: John Milton.
    Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD

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