Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2008 Issue

Books and Manuscripts from 1499-1989 from Libreria de Antano

Books from six centuries from Libreria de Antano.

Books from six centuries from Libreria de Antano.


By Michael Stillman

Libreria de Antano of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has issued a new catalogue: A Selection of Fine Books and Manuscripts 1499-1989. Most of these works are related to either Spain or Latin America. Similarly, most are in the Spanish language, although we have found both works in English and works unrelated to the Spanish world but translated into the Spanish language. Many of these works are also very rare, with Libreria de Antano being unable to locate other copies or sales history. Among the topics covered are history, religion, education, science, literature, poetry, travel, politics and other subjects of interest. Here are some of the books being offered.

Item 6 is described by Sabin as a "great rarity," Origen de los Indios del Nuevo Mundo, e Indias Occidentales, by Father Gregorio Garcia. This is one of the most important early works on the American Indians. Garcia conducted various ethnographic studies on the origins of the Indians, and likely had at least part of it right in concluding they were descended from various Old World races, including those of Asia. Garcia drew part of his work from an unpublished manuscript by Juan de Vetanzos, who accompanied Pizzaro on his conquests in South America. Offered is a first edition, published in 1607. Price on request.

Here is a book that is about as far removed from Spain and Spanish America as you can get. However, it was published in the Spanish language in 1839. It is Grandes descubrimientos polares terrestres y maritimos... a three-volume first Spanish edition account of John Ross' second Arctic expedition of 1829-1833. Ross had originally sought a Northwest Passage a decade earlier, but turned back after "seeing" mountains blocking his way. The mountains were actually a mirage, but Ross overruled those who so informed him. The result was that he was unable to get support for another such mission from the Royal Navy, but finally managed to get private financing for this trip. It didn't turn out all that much better, as Ross and his crew became trapped in the ice and it took them four years to escape. However, while waiting, they did succeed in finding the north magnetic pole. Item 68. $7,500.

From a book by an English explorer in Spanish we move to one about a French explorer in English. Item 31 is The history of a voyage to the Malouine (or Falkland) Islands made in 1763 and 1764 under the Command of M. Bougainville... published in 1771. Louise-Antoine de Bougainville undertook a voyage to the Falklands in hopes of setting up a French colony. His book recounts the natural history of the islands as well as some other places he visited, but his main goal was never achieved. A short time later, as part of the diplomatic maneuvering of the great powers, France sold the islands to Spain. However, Bougainville followed up this self-financed mission with an official one for his homeland, the first French circumnavigation of the globe. This first English edition contains engravings and a map that were not included in the first (French) edition. $5,750.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025 Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’sGeek Week2-17 July | New York Sotheby’sGeek Week2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Buzz Aldrin's FLOWN Apollo 11 Crew-Signed NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Cover. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Lunar Surface Flown Mission Emblem Presented to Tom Stafford by John Young. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Albert Einstein. Typed Letter Signed ("A. Einstein."), to Ann Morrisett, Affirming a Pacifist's Right to Self-Defense, March 21, 1952. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Operating and Maintenance Manual for the BINAC Binary Automatic Computer Built for Northrop Aircraft Corporation. Philadelphia, 1949. $30,000 to $50,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Steve Jobs Apple Computer Business Card, c. 1977. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Extensive Chronology of Spacecraft From Apollo to Skylab, Signed by a Member of Every Crewed Apollo Flight and the Commanders of Each Skylab Mission. $5,000 to $8,000.
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  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800

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