Rare Book Monthly Articles - December - 2020 Issue

For those who collect on faith: How values change

Those who collect, collect on faith.  We accept we’re paying up and hope time confirms our enthusiasms and heal our overpayments.  So be it.  It’s such a pleasing field.  I recently re-read Scribner’s 1947 Catalogue No. 135:  Rare Books in all fields of collecting.  We have many Scribner catalogues in Transactions+ because they have long been appreciated as gems of focus, selection and concision but this was a new one to me.  And then I thought I’d like to see how their offers have held up in the 73 years since they committed their thinking to print. And it was interesting.   These days a...

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It all started with a Baedeker: Bernard Shapero's Life in Books

I was 13 years old and I finally went into Eric and Joan Stevens Bookshop, which I had cycled past many times on my way to the sweet shop. Wow, you can travel the world and not leave your bedroom; ...

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The Kirkbride Caper

This recollection was written recently.  The author has been a book dealer in Philly so long 17 year locusts have thrice come by. A couple of months ago an old friend of mine sent me an article th...

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Statue to Honor Feminist Writer Mary Wollstonecraft Proves Highly Controversial

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Ten years ago, a group of people organized a campaign to honor Mary Wollstonecraft with a statue on London's Newington Green. Wollstonecraft, the 18t...

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How Big Is Your Book Collection? This Man Says His is 1.5 Million Books

So you think you have a large book collection? Anke Gowda probably doesn't think so. Gowda is a man from the Indian countryside who started collecting books as a young man. He is 72 now. As he expl...

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Virtual Book Fairs Continue To Proliferate - ABAA And IOBA Hosted Online Events In November

As the pandemic spreads and live events shut down around the country, virtual book fairs (VBF) continue to expand. Last month Rare Book Hub covered online events presented by Marvin Getman. This mo...

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Material that makes the heart flutter

For many years, as a book collector, I’ve read dealer catalogues, combed listing sites and walked the aisles of book fairs to find additions to my focuses. In that way I acquired hundreds, I suppos...

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Arader Galleries announce an auction on December 5th: Classics of Pen, Brush and Press

Arader Galleries announces an important auction, Classics of Pen, Brush and Press on December 5th, 2020 including icons of natural history and cartography, beautiful examples of Audubon's Birds of ...

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ILAB Webinar Invitation: Wrapping up 2020 - We did it! But how?

ILAB Booksellers meet again and look back at a year of challenges, innovation and newly found skills   In April earlier this year, ILAB invited to a webinar with booksellers from across the globe...

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Now thru Dec. 17: Monticello, the Republic of Texas, and Marilyn Monroe stand out at One of a Kind Collectibles

Collectors of autographs and letters, you'll thank me later if you weren't already aware of this auction taking place... One of a Kind Collectibles’ sale this month brings 260 lots of interesting a...

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Antoine Bret, or the Dream Life of Ninon de Lenclos

Ninon de Lenclos (1616-1706) represents the French liberated woman and the feminine “bel esprit”. She was a free thinker, and very modern in the way she lived her love and sex life and attracted re...

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Jeschke Van Vliet Auctions Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Rare Books, Prints and Historical Photography Sale December 4

Jeschke Van Vliet Auctions of Berlin is celebrating a milestone, their 30th anniversary in the trade. They specialize in auctions of books, art, and related material. This auction is focused on old...

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Another Library Plans Sale of a $13 Million Collection

Last month we wrote about the sale of a Shakespeare First Folio by Mills College of Oakland, California. They did so not to pare their collection, or update it with new material, but to raise cash ...

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“Mission Impossible” Theft Books Returned to Joyous Owners

All but four of the books stolen in the $3 million “Mission Impossible” book theft have been returned to their rightful owners. Returned were 240 of the valuable books taken by thieves from a Londo...

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Cowan's American Historical Ephemera and Photography Delivered on Nov. 19

Cowan’s American Historical Ephemera and Photography Auction Exceeds Presale Estimate by Nearly $300,000   93% of Lots Sell with Early Photography and Manuscript Archives in High Demand   CINCI...

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School Sells Off Over $1 Million in Books from Its Library

Another institution has sold some of their old books, and as always, it causes some controversy, though not as much this time. The institution was the Rugby School, in Rugby, England. And yes, the ...

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Owner of Stolen Comic Book Collection Takes No More Chances – Sold at Auction

There are many ways to dispose of a book collection, some good, some bad. Randy Lawrence has experienced both. He has seen his valuable comic book collection stolen, but then it was recovered and n...

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Six New Catalogues Reviewed

This month we review six new dealer catalogues. Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller focuses on science, medicine, natural history, bibliography, bindings, and more. Zephyr Rare Used Books targets material...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: U.S. / European Shipping Archive 1800-1814. The Widow Bermingham & Sons Collection. €7,000 to €10,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Bunreacht na hÉireann. Constitution of Ireland. An important copy of the First Printing of De Valera’s new Constitution, approved in 1938. Signed by the Constitution Cabinet. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €7,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. Magnificent Hand-Coloured Copy - Only 25 Copies. €3,000 to €5,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Cantillon (Richard). Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General, Traduit de l'Anglois, Sm. 8vo London (Fletcher Gyles) 1756. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Gregory, (Lady Augusta). Spreading the News: The Rising of the Moon: The Poorhouse (with Douglas Hyde). Being Vol. IX of the Abbey Theatre Series. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Lavery (Lady Hazel). A moving series of three A.L.S. and a Telegram to Gen. Eoin O'Duffy, July-August 1927, expressing her grief at the death of Kevin O'Higgins. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Dampier (Wm.) Nouveau Voyage Autour du Monde, ou l'on descrit en particulier l'Isthme de l'Amerique…, 2 vols. in one, Amsterdam, 1698. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Howell (James). Instructions for Forreine Travel Shewing by what Cours, and in what Compasse of Time…, London, 1642. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Summer Rare Book
    & Collectors’ Sale
    July 30-31, 2024
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 8vo, L. (Bloomsbury) 1999, First Edn., First Printing of Deluxe Collectors Edn. Signed. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: James (Wm.) A Full and Correct Account of the Military Occurrences of The Late War Between Great Britain and The United States of America. 2 vols. Lond. 1818. €650 to €900.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, July 30-31: The Laws of the United States, Published by Authority, 3 vols. Philadelphia (Richard Folwell) 1796. €600 to €800.

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