Old and rare bookstores have been disappearing into the internet miasma. Their stock has been uploaded to listing sites but the person to person contact they relied on has slowly declined. Meantime book fairs have been evolving into more complex events giving dealers an efficient way to buy and sell. In San Francisco this past month, Rare Books SF provided the field a fresh opportunity to see what’s being offered. For old timers, like me, visiting bookshops were occasions. The serious collector could browse the shelves for mispriced or unappreciated stock. Yes, you could do it and it was...
If you collect paper, plan to be in the Big Apple
As of February 25th, 182 rare book and collectible paper dealers are signed up to participate at the upcoming New York Book Fair. It’s the m...
If its April, it’s time to plan to be In New York for the ABAA Book Fair April 3-6
The ABAA New York Antiquarian Book Fair Celebrates 65 Years of Literary Treasures – April 3-6, 2025
NEW YORK ...
MANHATTAN RARE BOOK FINE PRESS FAIR: April 5, 2025
The Manhattan Rare Book and Fine Press Fair returns to the Upper East Side for one day only, inviting booksellers and bibliophiles from aroun...
When people need to turn their books, particularly more valuable ones, into cash there are a few places they usually go. Generally, they either take them to a bookseller or an auction house, occasi...
The Library of Barry Humphries to be sold on March 26th at Forum
On 26th March, Forum Auctions will offer the library of Barry Humphries. The sale will feature a remarkable array of books, manu...
A book has been showing up in discussions on TikTok and other online social media sites. It is not a new book. It dates back to the 19th century. However, some people believe it foretold the future...
There is no hotter field of collecting today than ephemera. Ephemera are those odds and ends, by definition, things that were only meant to be used for a short time. Posters, letters, greeting card...
One of the longest running shows in the book world is coming to a close. The book, antique and collectible shows of Tina and John Bruno's Flamingo Eventz has held its last events, culminating a 40-...
The Strength of the Collectible Paper Auction Market continues to surprise as the market transforms.
These days we are living through turmoil. Politics, yes, the Collectible Paper market, no.
...
On 26th March, Forum Auctions will offer the library of Barry Humphries. The sale will feature a remarkable array of books, manuscripts, works on paper and objects from the extensive library of the...
Dystopian fiction is having a moment with certain titles pushing new highs. Four dystopian novels getting strong recent auction play including Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell. Also in demand ...
Spencer W Stuart is proud to present The Antiquarian Outlook, a weekly audio/visual review of rare book auction results as well as Industry news.
The Antiquarian Outlook is totally independent,...
Old books can hold you back in the past. Take Catullus, for instance. For years I’ve read his poems in a gorgeous 1653 edition (A Paris, chez De Luyne), wondering why people regard him as a sulphur...
Only ten years ago, Barnes and Noble, the last big American bookstore chain, was thought to be on its last legs, with widespread speculation about its projected demise.
In 2015 Barnes Noble spu...
Book collectors are stuffy old men. Everyone knows that. Well, maybe not everyone. Honey Wax Booksellers has announced the ninth annual Honey Wax Book Collecting Prize. It is awarded to women boo...
Collectors may collect for their own enjoyment, but in so doing, they provide an enormous benefit to all of society. They are also preservationists. We recognize this service when it is comes to li...
Seven new bookseller catalogues are up for review this month. Mark Funke Bookseller offers books from the Dr. Felix Guggenheim collection. Guggenheim was a German publisher who escaped that country...
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
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.
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.
![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.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/e08f39b2-647e-4890-9a6d-b744e07a6c91.jpg "<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1:</b> [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. <i>Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,</i>L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.")
