Another year has come to an end, meaning it is time to look back at the the annual Rare Book Hub Top 500 prices achieved at auction during the previous year. We cover sales of books, manuscripts, and various other sorts of works on paper. For an explanation of what sort is in and which is out for this list, please see the explanation at the end of this article.
What we have noticed over the years, and the trend continues, is more high dollar purchases of paper outside the realm of traditional books and manuscripts. Here are two that jump out – comic books (including their original artwo...
It’s difficult to be older in a world that is less certain but there is some good news!
No, you aren’t getting younger but there is evidence of an increase in the number of auction buyers in th...
Going into the new decade here is a collection of interesting data condensed from a variety of recent sources that indicates where books and bookselling may be headed and to a lesser extent how tha...
At the Sotheby’s sale in New York on 18 December, 2019
John James Audubon: The Birds of America; from Original Drawings by John James Audubon. London: Published by the Author, 1827-1838
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The Oakland Raiders aren't the only cherished institution leaving Oakland. A much older one is also on its way out. William Shakespeare, or at least his most important book, is also bidding adieu t...
AbeBooks, the world's largest used and rare book selling website, has compiled their list of the highest prices achieved on their site for the year 2019. There are 11 books and one letter in the to...
There is a time to harvest and a time to wait. The new version of Rare Book Hub will be delayed. Its complexities are such that several months will be needed to make sure everything is right. We...
Last summer I wrote Recently I was offered a second edition of Wade Croome’s Panorama of the Hudson River, printed in 1846. I look to understand the evolving waterfront of the Hudson River during...
Richard Blome’s Description of Jamaica; with the other Isles and Territories in America to Which the English Are Related... (London, 1672) is a book of exception. Although a long time Jamaica speci...
The Clements Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, founded in 1923 at the University of Michigan holds collections of print and manuscript materials on the history of North America and the Caribbean, wit...
A hallowed tradition of library science could become an endangered species. We are talking about the ubiquitous practice of leveling overdue book fines on borrowers who do not return their books by...
We start the new year with 13 new catalogues to review. The Great American Cattle Co. offers the works of western/cowboy author and artist Will James. His western tales were based on personal exper...
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.
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.
![<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.")
