Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2020 Issue

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A Book Unfair

Booksellers, institutions and collectors look to New York City as the now and again Mecca for the high end rare book, manuscript, map and ephemera trade.  Rightly thought, given their expectations have been reaffirmed for decades, thousands flew, drove and rode to the Big Apple for the important event, The New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the New York Armory, hovering on the edge of Thursday March 5th, preparing for the opening at 5:00pm to the 4-day event pitched as the best for the very best.
 
Collectors arriving with comped tickets then needed to present passes to be admitt...

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When the world doesn't seem safe

When the world doesn’t seem safe.
 
Fear is part of the human experience.  My father would drive drunk and even by age 10 I knew accidents and injuries occurred, by silently relea...

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April 2020 marks Bicentennial of US Missionary arrival in Sandwich Islands (Hawaii)

Aloha RBH readers,
Take a break from the epidemic raging all around us and see life through the eyes of New England missionaries arriving in the Hawaiian Islands in the early 1820s. The citations ...

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Auctions – A Moving Target

Not much of anything is normal or unchanging in this very difficult time. Book auctions have not been exempt. The term “auction rooms” implies the problem. An auction room is a place cr...

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The New York Book Fair – Fare thee Well

It is thought that some 8,000 persons participated in or visited the New York Book Fair over March 5-8 and anecdotally the event held up reasonably well.  Given widely voiced concerns of the m...

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Assault and Robbery: $50,000 Worth of Comic Books Stolen Physically from Dealer

There isn't much nice to be said about book theft, but at least for the most part it is a genteel crime. Most often, someone will sneak some books out of a library or bookshop in a briefcase or und...

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Holbach and Covid-19: Out Of Disorder!

The French government had just ordered total lockdown over the Coronavirus (Covid-19), and I made up my mind to stay positive. Consequently, I ordered a set of books from Como, Italy, which is loca...

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Sometimes the Mother of Invention is Necessity: Video Conferencing

The collectible paper field has been moving online for many years.  But never have there been reasons for auction and dealer catalogues to further reorganize and transform to conform to the la...

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Books and Paper Recovered from Stolen Auto

Boxes filled with stolen books and other types of paper, including personal letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, postcards, and baseball cards were recently recovered from a stolen automobile...

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April 4: Not all sales are delayed! Arader Galleries offers Audubon, maps, and more

With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting life across the globe, auctions in the rare book field have slowed down, with many delayed to a date TBA. Not all sales have ceased, however, and one from ...

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Stolen Papers of Mathematician Alan Turing Seized by U.S. Attorney

The U.S. District Attorney for Colorado recently filed a forfeiture action in that state for various papers said to be stolen from a British boarding school in 1984. The various documents once belo...

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New York New York: As a place and a feeling

An intensely focused collection of unusual and rare engravings and lithographs of New York, the property of the Downtown Club near Wall Street, will be sold at Arader Galleries on Sunday April 25th...

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A 50-Year-Old Cookie Found in a 500-Year-Old book

A humorous story came out of the Cambridge University Library a short while ago. Librarians were leafing through a 500-year-old book when they came across an unexpected find. Pressed between the pa...

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Eight New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

For April, we review eight new bookseller catalogues. From the new, we have the first printed catalogue from Type Punch Matrix. From the long-established, there is the 30th anniversary catalogue fr...

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Rare Book Monthly

  • 4d518892-4c30-42be-be2a-4ae75967d5ce E59d2592-9535-4f90-8f6e-0a28d6e001cc 23f835c8-dfc5-4f0d-9ddd-563c5ec034fd 14f7371d-5be3-45ae-978a-c0faeb37c7a8 E690095d-6bb4-4278-a441-2eed8793403d Afa32b7f-6c96-4f06-b427-5fc8bd2f018e 3a8d1a29-ce46-46f3-ab9f-a5523089aea4 Ca3371ba-1ff8-4b1f-8fd1-550503dea1b6 A3ea647b-0c5f-4111-adcc-de411827c5d3 9f284cd1-2e22-434d-933a-1aac7b8f0222
    <b>Koller International Auctions: Books [and] Manuscripts & Autographs. June 15, 2020</b>
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> INCUNABULA -Fridolin, Stephan. <i>Schatzbehalter.</i> With 96 (including 5 repeated) full-page text woodcuts. Nürnberg, 1491.<br>€ 39 470 / 57 020
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> Kokoschka, Oskar. <i>Die Träumenden Knaben (The Dreaming Boys).</i> With 11 original lithographs. Vienne, 1908.<br>€ 35 090 / 52 630
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> Third Bessarion Master (active in Lombard in the third quarter of the 15th century). Leaf from a gradual, 1455-60.<br>€ 21 930 / 30 700
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> Picasso, Pablo - Delgado, José alias Pepe Illo. <i>La Tauromaquia o arte de torear.</i> With 26 original aquatints and 1 original etching by Picasso.<br>€ 21 930 / 35 090
    <b>Koller International Auctions: Books [and] Manuscripts & Autographs. June 15, 2020</b>
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> Linschoten, Jan Huygen van. <i>Itinerario, Voyage ofte Schipvaert naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien…</i> Amsterdam, 1595.<br>€ 17 540 / 26 320
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> CHILDREN’S BOOKS - Meggendorfer, Lothar. <i>Nah und Fern. Ein Tierbilderbuch zum Ziehen.</i> With 8 coloured, lithographed plates.<br>€ 530 / 790
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> DANSE MACABRE - Bille, Edmond. <i>Une Danse macabre.</i> With 20 coloured woodcuts. Lausanne, 1919. Large folio.<br>€ 610 / 880
    <b>Koller, Jun. 15:</b> Dexel, Walter. A collection of 7 invitation cards from the Kunstverein Jena, each typographically designed by W. Dexel. Jena, 1924-1928. Each 10.5 x 14.8 cm.<br>€ 530 / 790
  • 1c96a48d-5ad1-4f82-81e7-7147f2162d47 F0d1ed9e-417d-42b0-974f-86b144cb9afa 54e13cf8-200f-400f-926d-80b89ff3c93e 9b092fd6-3b41-4b9c-ab9b-16a0121b0dca 2eaf42ae-965d-4d92-8c34-fe5e0de05f72 87ef72c3-78dc-465f-8690-396ad0f7573b 01e3cb20-3300-4252-ab30-52d5e5c6f8e3 99a96bdf-5b94-4a9d-91f8-370f8e465c28 6adf74a8-f972-4385-906b-c3f50da39112 7463580b-da3d-4144-af59-ba23dea12073 Ef1ae170-2a99-4481-be03-d5b067f8dece
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation by the President of the United States, pamphlet, 1862. Sold May 7 for $11,875.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> Family papers of the distinguished Ruby-Jackson family, Portland, Maine, 1853-1961. Sold May 7 for $4,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> E. Simms Campbell, A Night-Club Map of Harlem, in inaugural issue of Manhattan, 1933. Sold May 7 for $27,500.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> Papers of the comedian Nipsey Russell, including a letter from MLK, 1929-2000. Sold May 7 for $17,500.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> Edmonia Lewis, prominent sculptor, carte-de-visite by Henry Rocher, c. 1866-71. Sold May 7 for $5,250.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> The Black Panther: Black Community News Service, 44 issues, San Francisco, 1967-1971. Sold May 7 for $6,500.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> Ernest Withers, I Am A Man, Sanitation Workers Strike, silver print, 1968. Sold May 7 for $5,000.
    <b>Swann Auction Galleries:</b> March For Freedom Now!, poster for a protest on the 1960 Republican Convention. Sold May 7 for $17,500.
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    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
    <center><b>ABAA Virtual Book Fair</b><br>Join your favorite booksellers<br>June 4-7, 2020
  • D664d2ed-c844-4c33-85de-1c2062375aa8 F73e466d-96ca-4ad7-8935-e143314c4659 Ea943476-d4f8-4c12-9fbb-ed4b2a80ac8c 3d5c626f-3633-4514-960e-069d76a36829 2e7aa0fe-bbf5-4745-a783-33a3cd9235e8 8c4dda7d-4bfe-4f0b-bd77-32c7d7d8e21c A7ef7cdc-82c9-41a3-a147-103a52d9ae72 52cc7c75-5217-4729-b837-1ca2ed0be022 06de6d2f-da57-491d-89ea-06c03a74a9d2 Ae41f72a-46b9-4735-9c0b-7e7c4583638c Db2e4a64-5da1-4f5d-b41c-ada76e769493 B90ceedb-00a8-4330-a462-7b2674ffb86a 58088de8-5b0e-4a4d-b8ba-d66625262ca7 54373511-566a-49f5-9c49-5091adb6b272 35cd92cf-f1e6-42ad-913d-886b7065037c De5328db-a43d-45da-84be-7bf23112c227
    <center><b>Hindman Auctions<br>Fine Books and Manuscripts<br>Including Americana<br>Live and Online<br>June 23, 2020</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [SUPREME COURT JUSTICES]. A very extensive collection of 203 letters, documents and signatures. A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, JOHN JAY THROUGH WILLIAM REHNQUIST. $20,000 to $30,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> ZATTA, Antonio. <i>Atlante Novissimo.</i> Venice: Antonio Zatta, 1775-1785. ONE OF THE FINEST WORLD ATLASES issued in Italy in the 18th century. $15,000 to $20,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [CHICAGO HISTORY] -- [COLUMBUS, Christopher]. Monumental historiated and embroidered panel of the MADE FOR THE 1893 COLUMBIAN EXHIBITION IN CHICAGO. $12,000 to $18,000.
    <center><b>Hindman Auctions<br>Fine Books and Manuscripts<br>Including Americana<br>Live and Online<br>June 23, 2020</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [MONASTERY HILL BINDING]. AINSWORTH, William Harrison. <i>Historical Romances.</i> Philadelphia, n.d. A fine early exhibition binding by the Monastery Hill Bindery. $6,000 to $8,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM]. New York: Tiber Press, [1960]. 4 volumes. LIMITED EDITION, number 119 of 200 COPIES, EACH SIGNED BY THE POET AND ARTIST. $6,000 to $8,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> GRATIANUS, the Canonist. <i>Decretum.</i> Venedig: Petrus de Plasiis, 25 January 1483. Second quarto edition. FIRST PAGE ILLUMINATED BY A CONTEMPORARY ARTIST. $4,000 to $6,000.
    <center><b>Hindman Auctions<br>Fine Books and Manuscripts<br>Including Americana<br>Live and Online<br>June 23, 2020</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [ABOLITIONISTS]. <i>William Lloyd Garrison. The Story of his Life.</i> New York, 1885. ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS FROM SEVERAL NOTABLE ABOLITIONISTS neatly bound in throughout. $4,000 to $6,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> ANSON, George. <i>A Voyage round the World, In the Years 1740... 1744.</i> London: John and Paul Knapton for the author, 1748. FIRST EDITION. $3,000 to $4,000.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> Blank railroad ledger, "Compagnie des Chemins de fer de l'Ouest" (spine title). N.p., 1909. A MONUMENTAL 20th-CENTURY ART NOUVEAU BINDING. $1,000 to $1,500.
    <center><b>Hindman Auctions<br>Fine Books and Manuscripts<br>Including Americana<br>Live and Online<br>June 23, 2020</b>
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [MINIATURE ROOM] -- [FLEMING, John (1910-1987)]. Miniature of his 57th Street Library and Gallery. JOHN F. FLEMING'S BARONIAL 57TH STREET GALLERY. $1,500 to $2,500.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE BINDING]. CHESTERTON, G.K. <i>Five Types: A Book of Essays.</i> London, 1910. LIMITED EDITION, number 3 of 30 copies on vellum SIGNED BY GEORGE SUTCLIFFE. $400 to $500.
    <b>Hindman Auctions, Jun. 23:</b> [KELMSCOTT PRESS]. <i>When Adam Delved and Eve Span....</i> [Ancoats Brotherhood, 1894-5]. LIMITED EDITION, one of 250 copies printed. $500 to $700.

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