Rare Book Monthly Articles - October - 2020 Issue

Clarence Wolf: a personal history and perspective

Clarence Wolf: a personal history and perspective

This is the story of bookseller Clarence Wolf.  He’s possesses the spirit of the great booksellers, exemplifying why the field is so compelling.    I have been a bookseller for over fifty years. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done, and for that matter ever really seriously considered. Books have always been a constant throughout my life. Both of my parents were bookish; my father was an artist and writer, and my mother was an editor. There were famous bookmen in my family, one of whom was Edwin Wolf II. Edwin was my cousin and mentor. He began his career working for A.S.W. Rosenbach in the...

Books Located from $3 Million London Warehouse Heist in 2017

Books Located from $3 Million London Warehouse Heist in 2017

One of the largest and most mysterious of book heists in recent memory finally unraveled last month with the discovery of the books under the floorboards of a Romanian garage. The remarkably sophis...

The Discovery: Rare Books Stolen in London Recovered in Romania

The Discovery: Rare Books Stolen in London Recovered in Romania

Early last month (September), the Italian police arrested a 40-year-old Romanian national in Turin, Italy. The suspect was wanted in the UK for the formidable theft of 260 rare books in 2017. He’s ...

America at a Crossroads

America at a Crossroads

This is not a political statement. Many of you do not appreciate political thoughts on a rare book website, and that is understandable. This is not about politics. It is way more important. It's ab...

WOMEN GET THE VOTE: Celebration of 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage on View in Stunning Online Exhibit at SMU in Dallas

WOMEN GET THE VOTE: Celebration of 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage on View in Stunning Online Exhibit at SMU in Dallas

Southern Methodist University hosts a stunning centennial exhibit titled “Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes” now on view at the website of the DeGolyer Library in Dallas. The display offers an intellec...

An Arader Gallery Auction:  Dr. Seymour Schwartz In memoriam

An Arader Gallery Auction: Dr. Seymour Schwartz In memoriam

Graham Arader became a book and map dealer while an undergraduate at Yale. From the outset, he had the resources, imagination and exceptional memory characteristic of the greatest players in the fi...

Sometimes you encounter old friends:  Prized Sang material at Sotheby’s ending October 14th

Sometimes you encounter old friends: Prized Sang material at Sotheby’s ending October 14th

Even when the Elsie and Phillip Sang Collection was consigned to a series of auctions forty years ago there was a sense that history was being made when so many remarkable examples were offered in ...

How Do You Downsize Thousands of Books?

How Do You Downsize Thousands of Books?

An article recently appeared in the Chicago Tribune titled Where to begin downsizing when you have thousands of books? The unnamed writer isn't the only one with this problem, although the quantity...

Christies Announces its Fall Various-Owner Books & Manuscripts Sale Online

Christies Announces its Fall Various-Owner Books & Manuscripts Sale Online

Christies Announces its Fall Various-Owner Books Manuscripts Sale Online Christie's New York is very pleased to announce its fall various-owner online sale, Fine Printed Books Manuscripts Includ...

Update from the far side of the moon

Update from the far side of the moon

Marvin Getman, the rare book fair impresario has some good news to report:  The Brooklyn Virtual Antiquarian Book Fair opened on September 4th, 2020 as proxy for what was a year ago an already a st...

Map Collector and Historian Dr. Seymour Schwartz, 92

Map Collector and Historian Dr. Seymour Schwartz, 92

Dr. Seymour Schwartz, age 92, of Rochester, New York, passed on August 28, 2020. Dr. Schwartz was a world-renowned surgeon. He practiced surgery from the 1950s until his retirement at age 72. He is...

Encouraging Outcomes at Doyle New York

Encouraging Outcomes at Doyle New York

Doyle held its first rare book auction of the Fall 2020 season, Fine Literature featuring The Library of Duncan Cranford, on September 30. 186 lots were offered in an Internet-only auction format, ...

A Very Unusual Way of Preserving Ancient Texts and Manuscripts

A Very Unusual Way of Preserving Ancient Texts and Manuscripts

There is a process for preserving ancient books and manuscripts taking place in northern India that is unlike any other I have seen before. It is being done at Dar-ul-Uloom, an Islamic seminary in ...

Library Flooded by Hurricane Sally

Library Flooded by Hurricane Sally

These are difficult times for everyone. Covid 19 has brought much of the world to its knees. In America, climatic disasters seem to have become the norm. Hurricanes and tropical storms in formerly ...

Two New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Two New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

This was another slow month for new catalogues. The coronavirus has changed all sorts of businesses, with the question being, will it ever return to “normal” when the virus goes away? Most likely, ...

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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