Rare Book Monthly Articles - April - 2022 Issue

The Book Fairs Arrive in New York!

The Book Fairs Arrive in New York!

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair returns to the Armory in New York City April 21-24 and the world is taking a collective deep breath as Covid-19 is moving on.  The address is 643 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10065. The ABAA is a show organization and the New York Book Fair has been suspended for two years.  For collectors, dealers and librarians, the chance to participate at the world’s greatest book fair is a heady moment of reverie.  Is the worst behind us?  We all hope so.   As has been previously, it is a 4 day event, Thursday afternoon opening, continuing Friday, Saturday and Su...

Contrary to Popular Belief, There Are Young Women Collectors, and the Honey & Wax Collecting Prize for Young Women is Now Open for Entries

Contrary to Popular Belief, There Are Young Women Collectors, and the Honey & Wax Collecting Prize for Young Women is Now Open for Entries

The sixth annual Honey Wax Book Collecting Prize is open for applications from U.S. women collectors age 30 and under. Say what? Who is going to apply? Everyone knows book collectors are old men. ...

Happy Days Are Here Again for Florida Book Lovers

Happy Days Are Here Again for Florida Book Lovers

Yes! Happy Days Are Here Again for Florida Book Lovers. After a weary pandemic hiatus, the 39th Florida Antiquarian Book Fair will welcome a joyful crowd of bibliophiles to the Coliseum, St. Peters...

A Glimpse of the Kislak Collecting Magic:  At Auction 4/26

A Glimpse of the Kislak Collecting Magic: At Auction 4/26

Jay Kislak’s name is familiar to the vast majority of readers of Rare Book Monthly, but thanks to “Exploring the Early Americas,” the ongoing exhibition at the Library of Congress of selections fro...

William P. Barlow:  A Grace Note

William P. Barlow: A Grace Note

William, Bill, Barlow the exceptional collector passed away in October, 2021 while in the midst of lending his archives of various old auction house sales to us.   During 2021 he lent and we conver...

What Are They Building in There?: Bonhams in March

What Are They Building in There?: Bonhams in March

This March, within ten days of each other, Bonhams Auctioneers announced the acquisition of two auction houses, Skinner in the US (https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/34061/) and Bruun Rasmussen ...

Handwritten Book of Poems by 13-Year-Old Charlotte Bronte Revealed by Booksellers James Cummins and Maggs Bros.

Handwritten Book of Poems by 13-Year-Old Charlotte Bronte Revealed by Booksellers James Cummins and Maggs Bros.

Booksellers James Cummins of New York and Maggs Bros. of London have come up with one of the more significant literary finds in recent memory. It is a hand-written miniature volume by Charlotte Bro...

A Library Opens As Usual But No One Is There

A Library Opens As Usual But No One Is There

The main library in Christchurch, New Zealand, opened as usual the other day. There's nothing unusual about that except it wasn't a usual day. It was a holiday, Waitangi Day* to be exact. It wasn't...

Francisco Lopez de Gomara, or the Certain Curse of an Uncertain Translation

Francisco Lopez de Gomara, or the Certain Curse of an Uncertain Translation

One of the best books on the conquest of the New World, Francisco Lopez de Gomara’s Historia general de las Indias (1552), raised controversy when it came out in France in 1569—mainly because the F...

Revisiting the Durants in the 21st Century:  Story of Civilization Gets a 2nd Life on YouTube

Revisiting the Durants in the 21st Century: Story of Civilization Gets a 2nd Life on YouTube

Anyone who grew up in a moderately literate household during the mid-20th century could count on finding Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization on the family bookshelf. The 11 volume his...

Selections from Maurice Sendak’s Personal Collection Sold to Benefit the Rosenbach

Selections from Maurice Sendak’s Personal Collection Sold to Benefit the Rosenbach

Christie’s New York is pleased to announce the sale of selections from artist and author Maurice Sendak’s personal library in its upcoming Fine Printed Books Manuscripts Including Americana auctio...

An Exceptional Collection of Black Americana:  Sold!!

An Exceptional Collection of Black Americana: Sold!!

Promptly at 2:00 pm EST in New York on Tuesday 15 March, 2022 Guernseys sold the most complex lot we have had the pleasure to contemplate in many years:  The Elizabeth Meaders Collection tracing th...

Amazon to Close All Their Bookstores

Amazon to Close All Their Bookstores

Amazon.com has put a lot of retail stores out of business. Now it looks like it has done the same to its own. Before it became the behemoth seller of everything under the sun, Amazon was an online ...

Book of Books:  How many trees must die for this thing to exist?

Book of Books: How many trees must die for this thing to exist?

Many people hope to have a book in them.    A few do.  Those who have experienced their lives through the words, stories and experiences of books seem the most likely to succeed.  One such effort w...

A Century Later, the Endurance, the Ship of “South, the Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition,” Has Been Found

A Century Later, the Endurance, the Ship of “South, the Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition,” Has Been Found

This story is something of a follow up on an event described in the polar exploration classic South, the Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917, a century ago. Polar exploration was the la...

A Pokemon Card Sells for Over $300,000. What Does This Mean?

A Pokemon Card Sells for Over $300,000. What Does This Mean?

Another spectacular price for a collectible card was achieved at Heritage Auctions last month. It wasn't another multi-million dollar sports card, the price being a “modest” $336,000. However, this...

Eight New Catalogues Reviewed This month

Eight New Catalogues Reviewed This month

This month we are reviewing eight new bookseller catalogues. Ursus Rare Books is celebrating its 50th anniversary with 50 very special books. Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller features science, medicine,...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
  • SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON: «The heart of the Antarctic» + SUPPLEMENT «The Antarctic Book», 1909.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.
    SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ELEAZAR ALBIN: «A natural History of Birds.» + «A Supplement», 1738-40. Wonderful coloured plates.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: JAMES JOYCE: «Ulysses», 1922. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.

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