Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2008 Issue

Newly Acquired Material at Michael Sharpe Rare and Antiquarian Books

A Lincoln and a Ford - Abe poses, Henry cranks up the engine.

A Lincoln and a Ford - Abe poses, Henry cranks up the engine.


Speaking of Mr. Twain, he died in 1910, and in 1911, his library was auctioned off at Anderson Auction, the largest American auction house at the time. One of those items sold was Twain's copy of In the Himalayas and on the Indian Plains, an 1886 work by Constance Gordon Cumming. This copy is signed "S.L. Clemens, Bombay, 1896," along with having a bookplate signed by Twain's literary executor, Albert Bigelow Paine, stating that it was from Clemens' library and sold at Anderson in 1911. Item 100. $1,250.

From prose we go to poetry. Item 61 is the first American edition of The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem. This may be an imaginary look at Indian life, but still a notable piece of writing. Published in 1855. $1,300.

Michael Sharpe Rare and Antiquarian Books may be visited online at www.sharperarebooks.com, or reached at 626-405-2934 or info@sharperarebooks.com,

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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

Review Search

Archived Reviews

Ask Questions