Rare Book Monthly Articles - July - 2024 Issue

The Curious Case of the Davis Collection (Detroit, 1890)

The Curious Case of the Davis Collection (Detroit, 1890)

By chance I encountered an unfamiliar book two years ago on the website of De Wolf Wood Rare Books (Alfred, Maine);  it was a privately printed Catalogue of the Private Library of Mr. George S. Davis, issued and dated, Detroit, August 1st, 1890.    For years I’ve been acquiring material for Rare Book Hub’s Transactions+, and I thought this volume an interesting speculation.  Sometimes these purchases work out and others not.  On that occasion it has. Whether Mr. Davis’s catalogue was prepared as a prequel to auction or simply intended as a tribute to a collector’s achievement, RBH provid...

Edward Gorey Charitable Trust Summer Auction: ending 7/31!

Edward Gorey Charitable Trust Summer Auction: ending 7/31!

The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust is pleased to announce its second annual silent auction, open now and running until 8:30 p.m. (ET) July 31, in conjunction with our 2024 Cocktail Party Fundraiser ...

Deaccessioning of Library Books Goes to Court

Deaccessioning of Library Books Goes to Court

A case is taking place in Cincinnati right now that could have significant ramifications for the collecting and preservation of old books and related ephemeral material. We have entered a period th...

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers: Rare Books & Collector's Sale

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers: Rare Books & Collector's Sale

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers: Summer Opportunities   Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers, Kilkenny, Ireland is again offering an appealing sale of mid-summer opportunities.  I mention this because, by tradition...

Auctions in a time of uncertainty

Auctions in a time of uncertainty

Collectible paper at auction has been on a tear post-Covid and now we’re entering a period of political uncertainty.  To understand how the auctions and their consignors are responding, our auction...

Tattered Cover Indie Bookstore Rescued from Bankruptcy by B&N

Tattered Cover Indie Bookstore Rescued from Bankruptcy by B&N

Tattered Cover, the legendary Denver group of independent bookstores will be rescued from bankruptcy by Barnes Noble.  BN, headed by James Daunt, confirmed reports that the giant book retailer wi...

BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS FROM HISTORIC SOUTHERN ESTATES AT CASE’S JULY 6-7 AUCTION

BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS FROM HISTORIC SOUTHERN ESTATES AT CASE’S JULY 6-7 AUCTION

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— Case’s Summer Auction, happening July 6-7 at the company’s gallery in Knoxville, Tennessee, features 1,086 lots of books, documents and historical items, along with American and E...

Book Detective: A Few Tips on Valuing and Dating Antiquarian Books

Book Detective: A Few Tips on Valuing and Dating Antiquarian Books

What’s it worth? How old is it? Is it a first or a reprint? How often does it show up? Here’s a short guide on how to start to answer those questions. Unless I have a written provenance from a re...

Harry Potter is still feeling the Magic

Harry Potter is still feeling the Magic

The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko was sold at Sotheby’s on June 26th in New York as 47 lots were offered and 36 sold.   Among them was the original cover art for “Harry Potter and the Philosophe...

Legislation Proposed that Can Make Librarians Felons

Legislation Proposed that Can Make Librarians Felons

The obscenity police are on the prowl again. This time, it's school librarians and teachers they have in their sights. A bill has been introduced to the Ohio legislature to turn pornography promoti...

A Few States Are Now Banning the Book Bans

A Few States Are Now Banning the Book Bans

The news recently has been filled with stories about book bans. Some local residents don't want others to read what they don't like, and opportunist politicians jump on the bandwagon. Censorship is...

A Court Splits the Difference on Banning Books

A Court Splits the Difference on Banning Books

This story completes our trilogy of stories this month about book banning (see the others elsewhere in this issue). From Ohio we have seen a bill that has been offered that would turn librarians an...

Louis Richeome, Visual Fore-taste of Paradise

Louis Richeome, Visual Fore-taste of Paradise

During the 16th century, Protestants questioned the use of images in religion, as they associated it with paganism. One Jesuit priest named Louis Richeome made it clear that representing was, on th...

Should Books Be Placed on a Gluten-Free Diet?

Should Books Be Placed on a Gluten-Free Diet?

As with people, there are a number of afflictions that wear down our books as they age. Torn and yellowing pages, loose bindings, worn covers, are among them. Then, there are bookworms. Not the peo...

One New Catalogue Reviewed

One New Catalogue Reviewed

This month we have just one new catalogue to review. It's vacation time. But, it's a good catalogue, Zephyr Used Rare Books celebrating their 30th Anniversary with a collection of various sorts of...

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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