Rare Book Monthly Articles - September - 2023 Issue

Safeguarding History:  A life with paper by Kenneth W. Rendell

Safeguarding History: A life with paper by Kenneth W. Rendell

Worlds apart:  books, maps, manuscripts and ephemera   Kenneth Rendell, now 80, a life-long collector-dealer in collectibles, has written an immensely interesting account of his life in our field.  This book, his ninth, is being released October 3rd, 2023 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon and elsewhere.   When kids find their imaginations soaring about old books and paper, they inevitably daydream about discovering gems and subsequently share their prizes with luminaries, collectors and institutions.  In the human imagination, possibilities live.  Children have long been drawn into the m...

Where Do AI Programs Get Their Data? It Turns Out Some Comes from Copyrighted Books, Without Permission

Where Do AI Programs Get Their Data? It Turns Out Some Comes from Copyrighted Books, Without Permission

Where does the information you get from artificial intelligence (AI) sources like ChatGPT come from? It comes from a lot places, including the reams of data on the internet, but a significant sourc...

The “Bouquinistes” of Paris and the Green Pandora’s Boxes

The “Bouquinistes” of Paris and the Green Pandora’s Boxes

The city of Paris will welcome the Olympic games in 2024. As the opening ceremony on the Seine River approaches, the officials plan to remove the emblematic booksellers’ wooden boxes from the pictu...

An Open Letter to the Rare Book Hub-Rare Book Monthly Community on behalf of Rare Book School

An Open Letter to the Rare Book Hub-Rare Book Monthly Community on behalf of Rare Book School

I am grateful to Bruce McKinney for providing access to this forum to give his subscribers a little bit of information about Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.   To the extent you re...

Tom Verlaine's Massive Book Collection Being Sold

Tom Verlaine's Massive Book Collection Being Sold

Some people collect books based on subjects or time periods. Others collect more on the basis of quality. And then, there are people who collect in quantity, a type of collecting that generally req...

Rare Book Hub:  at 21

Rare Book Hub: at 21

It has been an extraordinary privilege to play a part in the growth and development of the market for collectible paper over these past 21 years.  A field that has been resolutely transitioning ove...

Bemelmans' Mock-up of Madeline from Kislak Collection brings $190,500 at July Sotheby’s Auction

Bemelmans' Mock-up of Madeline from Kislak Collection brings $190,500 at July Sotheby’s Auction

A 46-page mock up of children’s classic Madeline by artist-illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans created ca. 1938-39 brought $190,500 (including the buyer’s premium) in a July auction at Sotheby’s, substant...

Dominic Winter Auctioneers to auction Christopher Foley Library from Beeleigh Abbey

Dominic Winter Auctioneers to auction Christopher Foley Library from Beeleigh Abbey

10,000 books and other items from theLibrary of the late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey in Essex will be auctioned by Dominic Winter Auctioneers of Cirencester in two sales in September 2023 a...

Owen Gingerich, Known for His Obsessive Pursuit of One Book, has Died at Age 93

Owen Gingerich, Known for His Obsessive Pursuit of One Book, has Died at Age 93

Professor, astronomer, sleuth and author Owen Gingerich died earlier this year at the age of 93. Gingerich will long be remembered for his obsessive pursuit of knowledge about one particular book, ...

First time items at Old World Auctions' September sale

First time items at Old World Auctions' September sale

Old World Auctions’ September sale features several items that have never before been offered at auction. The online auction runs through 10 p.m. Eastern on September 13. The first of these rare i...

Fourth Stolen Columbus Letter Returned to Italian Library

Fourth Stolen Columbus Letter Returned to Italian Library

Sometime between 1985 and 1988, a copy of the most important document of the New World disappeared from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (Marciana or St. Mark's National Library) in Venice, Italy....

Fake Books – A Popular Alternative to the Real Thing

Fake Books – A Popular Alternative to the Real Thing

We have some good news and some bad news. Fake books have evidently become quite popular today, sufficiently so that several companies now are making and selling them. This fits in with the trend o...

Robert Caro - Slow Writing Takes Time:  Big Bios on Robert Moses & LBJ Explore Getting & Using Power

Robert Caro - Slow Writing Takes Time: Big Bios on Robert Moses & LBJ Explore Getting & Using Power

I’m one of the legion of Robert Caro fans. Caro, now 87, is the former Newsday reporter, who made a lifetime project writing about the acquisition and perpetuation of power using biographies of Rob...

Swann Announces New Specialists for Illustration Art &  LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Departments

Swann Announces New Specialists for Illustration Art & LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History Departments

New York—The start of the fall 2023 season at Swann Galleries brings two new specialists for the house: Corey Serrant joins Swann as the associate director of LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture History,...

Who Printed America's First Currency? Benjamin Franklin, of course, but How Did He Stop Counterfeiters?

Who Printed America's First Currency? Benjamin Franklin, of course, but How Did He Stop Counterfeiters?

This website is all about printed paper, yet we rarely discuss the most valuable printed paper of all – currency. It is the only type of paper with a stated value. If you were asked to name an inge...

Three New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

Three New Catalogues Reviewed This Month

For September we review three new booksellers catalogues. Maggs Bros. Ltd. features voyages travel, and some more too. Michael D. Heaston Rare Books and Manuscripts offers a selection of Americana...

Rare Book Monthly

  • Fonsie Mealy’sRare Books & Collectors’ SaleApril 30th & May 1st Fonsie Mealy’sRare Books & Collectors’ SaleApril 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.
  • Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts Sotheby'sSell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    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

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