The world has been transforming. For 20 somethings these days that’s the world you were born into. For those born before 1975 what we experience is surprisingly unfamiliar. Many, okay let’s be frank, most old and rare books and paper sellers have been having a difficult time adjusting. Why? Because 30 years ago, the world was continuing to love what you were selling, and you were happy as a clam to be surrounded with material that makes you feel good. Institutions were pleased to receive your mailed catalogues. Collectors were always scarce, but you had some and you treated them well. Thei...
LATE UPUDATE – See bottom of the article
Last month we wrote about tariffs and their effect on shipping books to the U.S. from foreign countries. What we found was a jumble of uncertainty. Prev...
One of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of the ages was Søren Kierkegaard. If you are not aware of that or of him, you'll have to take my word for it. Most people probably recognize Aristotle...
The already hot market for Pokémon Trading Cards gained additional traction at the Aug. 8 Pokémon Masters auction sale hosted by Heritage. That sale featuring 106 lots brought in a total of $1,360,...
The Field is becoming Complicated
As Rare Book Hub categorizes material, the field will contribute their ideas often based on their decades long experience. The ideal outcome for Categories is ...
Categories are Improving
Years ago we were asked to differentiate sales of baseball memorabilia from books and manuscripts because, occasionally, baseball cards dominated our weekly Top 25 list...
We live in the past and often are comfortable there. It isn’t that life was never easy. It was, sometimes. The fifties have become the Fifties. Certainly, the voices of women, minorities and the po...
Do you know what happened to little Paulina Musters' death mask? The people of her hometown would like to bring the last relic of her short life home. That town is Ossendrecht in the Netherlands, a...
Stockholms Auktionsverk recently confirmed (18 August, 2025) the completion of its acquisition of Uppsala Auktionskammare – a historic merger between two of Sweden’s most prestigious players in th...
A San Francisco Bay area man has been charged with theft of rare and valuable Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) library. Jeffrey Ying of Fremont, a man of man...
Proposed downsizing and consolidation result in vocal organized protest.
The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) has an outstanding record of collecting and preserving the state’s heritage ...
Voyages Avantures du Chevalier de ***... (Londres, Paris—1769)§ is a hard book to find. According to the Rare Book Transaction History, two copies only were offered for sale over the past 150 year...
“Do you hear that rumbling? It's the sound of the standing world record price for a basketball card getting ready to fall. For five years, the 2009-10 National Treasures Steph Curry Logoman Autogra...
This month we review two new bookseller catalogues. Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller has issued their Catalogue 250. It includes many Japanese and Asian works as usual, but also expands into various oth...
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
