Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2012 Issue

Here's What to Expect at Larry McMurtry's 300,000-Volume “Last Book Sale.”

Larry McMurtry comments on the McMurtry 100:

"Historically the highest compliment one bookseller can pay another is to say that he or she has interesting books; this implies, of course, that there can be uninteresting books.

“Having interesting books has been the raison d'etre of Booked Up Inc. these forty years. We are not highspotters, although of course we have sold most of the big books by Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Joyce, Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Waugh and the like before they matured, as it were.

“Our distinction, if we have one, is not how many good books we have, but how few bad books infiltrate our stock. For bad books sift in like dust; only frequent purges can rid the stock of them; and we do purge, savagely. And cherry-picking this stock doesn't work: too few sleepers and too many good books. To prep the bidders a little I strolled around the shelves for half an hour and piled up 100 books that are both interesting and appealing. See what you think!"

#831: Algernon Charles Swinburne. Poems and Ballads. London, 1899.

#832: Anthony Lippmann. Divinely Elegant: The World of Ernst Dryden. Great Britain, 1989. Forward by (and signed by) Billy Wilder.

#833: Roger Troy Peterson (Intro), Joseph Kastner (text). The Bird Illustrated. 1550-1900. New York, 1988.

#834: Dorthy Shakespear Pound. Etruscan Gate. (edited by Moelwyn Merchant), Exeter, 1971.

#835: J.M. Synge. Playboy of the Western World. Barre, 1970 (edited by Stanley Sutton, brush paintings by Louis le Brocquy).

#836: Pierre Michaut. Le Ballet Contemporain 1929-1950. Paris, 1950.

#837: Lady Jackson. The First of the Bourbons. Two Volumes. London, 1890.

#838: George Meredith. Lord Ormont and His Aminta. Three Volumes. London, 1894.

#839: Anthony Trollope. The Last Chronicle of Barset. Two Volumes. London, 1847.

#840: Algernon Charles Swinburne. Chasteland. London, 1878.

#841: Eden Phillpotts. The Mother. Illustrated by Gunning King. London, 1908.

#842: F. Dostoieffskaya. The Emigrant. Introduction by Stephen Graham, and translated by Vera Margolies. London, 1916.

#843: Ben Jonson. Volpone. Paris, 1906.

#844: Cyril W. Beaumont. Markova, Essays on Dancing & Dancers. #8. London, 1935.

#845: Gertrude Stein. Tender Buttons. Objects. Food. Rooms. New York: 1914.

#846: Elmore Leonard. The Bounty Hunters. Boston, 1954. First book, in dust-wrapper.

#847: J.P. Donleavy. The Ginger Man. (The Traveller’s Companion Series, #7). Wrappers. Paris:

#848: La Foutromanie. Parapilla. Paris.

#849: Peter Matthiessen. In The Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York, 1983.

#850: Alice B. Toklas. Autobiography. Illustrated. New York, 1933. Signed.

#851: Carver Adelman. Carver Country: The World of Raymond Carver. New York, 1990.

#852: Walter Dyk. A Navajo Autobiography. New York, 1947.

#853: Gertrude Stein. Narration. Chicago, 1935. Intro. By Thornton Wilder.

#854: Tony Hillerman. The Ghostway. London, 1985. First English Edition, first book.

#855: Louise Bogan. Body of this Death. New York, 1923. First book.

#856: Henry James. Notes of a Son and Brother. New York, 1914. Illustrated.

#857: Henry James. The American Scene. London, 1907. First edition, sold with the colonial edition as well.

#858: Henry James. Within the Rim: Essays 1914-15. London, 1918.

#859: Jacques Lassaigue. Chagall. France, 1957.

#860: M. T. F. My Chinese Marriage. New York, 1921. Katherine Anne Porter.

#861: Christina Stead. The Man Who Loved Children. New York, 1940.

#862: W.H. Hudson. The Lands End. London, 1908.

#863: Sir Samuel W. Baker. Wild Beasts and Their Ways. Two Volumes. London, 1890.

#864: Stanley Vestal. Warpath....A Biography of Chief White Bull. Boston, 1934.

#865: Hugh M’Diarmid. Penny Wheep. Edinburgh, 1926.

#866: John McPhee. The Headmaster: Frank Boyden, of Deerfield. New York, 1966.

#867: T. G. Tucker. Life in the Roman World (of Nero & St. John). New York, 1928.

#868: Joseph Pernell. Aubrey Beardsley and Other Men of the Ninties. Philidelphia, 1924. Copy # 9 of 100.

#869: Rafinesque, Walom Olom. The Migration Legend of the Lenni Lenape of Deleware Indians. Indianapolis, 1954.

#870: Alfred Edward A’Courte Hudson. Selected Blood Studies on Swine. Raleigh, 1951.

#871: Lorin Blodget. Climatology of the United States. Philadelphia, 1857.

#872: Karl Grober. Toys of Bygone Days. London, 1928.

#873: Frank Lloyd Wright. A Testament. New York, 1957.

#874: Andrew Lang. Aucassin and Nicolete in English. New York, 1931.

#875: Norman Douglas. Experiments. N.p., 1925. #151 of 300.

#876: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Contemporary American Sculpture. San Francisco, 1929.

#877: Gerald M. Durrell. The Overloaded Ark. London, 1953. Illustrated.

#878: Francois Mauriac. Woman of the Pharisees. New York, 1946. Translated by Gerald Hopkins.

#879: George Augustus Sala. Paris Herself Again in 1878-1879. Two Volumes. London, 1880.

#880: Henry James. Partial Portraits. London, 1888.

#881: Henry James. The Reverberator. London/New York, 1888.

#882: Cherry Kearton. In the Land of the Lion. New York, 1929.

#883: Anthony Trollope. North America. London, 1869.

#884: Ada Lawrence & G. Stuart Gelder. Early Life of D. H. Lawrence. London, 1932.

#885: Howells & Alden. Quaint Courtships. London, 1906.

#886: Henry Nevinson. Essays in Freedom. London, 1911.

#887: Frederick Gerstacker. Western Lands and Western Waters. London, 1864.

#888: Frances Anne Kemble. Journal of a Resident on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839. London, 1863.

#889: Thomas Wolfe. The Web and the Rock. London, 1947.

#890: William Everson. The Residual Years. New York, 1948.

#891: William J. Lederer. Ensign OToole and Me. New York, 1957.

#892: Ada Earland. John Opie and His Circle. London, 1911.

#893: M. Valery. Voyages En Italie: Du Voyageur Et De LArtiste. Bruxelles, 1844.

#894: Frederic William Maitland. The Life and Letters of Leslie Stephen. London, 1906. First appearance of Virginia Woolf.

#895: Captain Mayne Reid. The Cliff-Climbers or the Lone Home in the Himalayas. New York, 1882. Original cloth.

#896: James R. Anderson. An Actors Life. London, 1902.

#897: Anthony Trollope. Australia and New Zealand. Two Volumes. London, 1873.

#898: Alfred Perles. Reunion in Big Sur: A Letter to Henry Miller.....1959. #23 of 500, signed by author.

#899: Shane Leslie. Studies in Sublime Failure. London, 1932.

#900: Axel Lundquist. Andersen, Dansk Sportsleksekon. Two Volumes. Copenhagen, 1944.

#901: A. Henry Savage-Landor. Across Unknown South America. Two Volumes. LDN/NY/TOR, 1913.

#902: John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, First Baron Acton. Historical Essays and Studies. London, 1919.

#903: Winston Churchill. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. Four Volumes. London, 1957.

#904: Leo Tolstoy. War and Peace. Three Volumes. New York, 1904.

#905: Arno Schmidt. Evening Edged in Gold: A Fairytale Farse. New York, 1980.

#906: Duane Michals. Eros and Thanatos. Sante Fe, 1992.

#907: William Everson and Leigh Wiener. The High Embrace. Los Angeles, 1986. #76 of 190, signed by author, photographer and designer.

#908: Sotheby’s. The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. April 23-26, 1996. New York, 1996.

#909: Basil S. Long. A History of British Minaturists 1520-1860. London, 1929.

#910: Robert Southey. Curse of Kehama. London, 1810.

#911: Cargil Gilston Knott. Life and Scientific Work of Peter Guthrie Tait. Cambridge, 1911.

#912: Sir Lascelles Wraxall, Bart. And Robert Wehran. Memoirs of Queen Hortense, Mother of Napoleon III. London, 1864.

#913: Paul Scott. Six Days in Marapore. Garden City, 1953.

#914: Clancy Sigal. Going Away: A Memoir. Boston, 1962.

#915: Maynard and Bray. The Plays of Euripides. Volume II, Greynog Press, 1931. Gilbert Murry translation, illustrated.

#916: Humphrey Milford. Portraits of Dr. William Harvey. London, 1913.

#917: Brother Antoninus. Who Is She That Looketh Forth As The Morning. Santa Barbara, 1972.

#918: Historical Publishing Co. The Fighting Men of TexasA History of the Second World War. Vol. 5. Dallas, 1948.

#919: Florent Fels. LArt Et LAmour. Paris, 1953.

#920: Dr. Washington Matthews. The Human Bones of the Hemenway Collection in the United States Army Medical Museum. Washington, n.d.

#921: Rulka Langer. The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt. New York, 1942.

#922: Maud Allan. My Life and Dancing. London, 1908.

#923: John Davidson. Selfs the Man. London, 1901.

#924: Frank O’Conner. Travellers Samples: Stories and Tales. London, 1951.

#925: George Saintsbury. A Scrap Book. London, 1922. Together with A Last Scrap Book. London, 1924. Two Volumes both signed by author.

#926: John Gardner and L.M. Rosenberg, ed. MSS: Spring 1981. Dallas, 1981.

#927: Radhakamal Mukerjee. The Dynamics of Morals: A Sociopsychological Theory of Ethics. London.

#928: Thomas Carlyle. Past and Present. London, 1843.

#929: Herbert Gilchrist, ed. Annie Gilchrist, Her Life and Writings. London, 1887.

#930: F.A. Mitchell-Hedges. Land of Wonder and Fear. London, 1931.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Isaac Newton on chemistry and matter, and alchemy, Autograph Manuscript, "A Key to Snyders," 3 pp, after 1674. $100,000 - $150,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Exceptionally rare first printing of Plato's Timaeus. Florence, 1484. $50,000 - $80,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: On the Philosophy of Self-Interest: Adam Smith's copy of Helvetius's De l'homme, Paris, 1773. $40,000 - $60,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: "Magical Calendar of Tycho Brahe" - very rare hermetic broadside. Engraved by Merian for De Bry. c.1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Author's presentation issue of Einstein's proof of Relativity, "Erklärung der Perihelbewegung des Merkur aus der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie." 1915. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: First Latin edition of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Paris, 1520. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: De Broglie manuscript on the nature of matter in quantum physics, 3 pp, 1954. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Tesla autograph letter signed on electricty and electromagnetic theory. 1894. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Heinrich Hertz scientific manuscript on his mentor Hermann Von Helmholtz, 1891. $20,000 - $30,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: The greatest illustrated work in Alchemy: Micheal Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. Oppenheim, 1618. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Illustrated Alchemical manuscript, a Mysterium Magnum of the Rosicurcians, 18th-century. $30,000 - $50,000
    Bonhams, Apr. 28 – May 7: Rare Largest Paper Presentation Copy of Newton's Principia, London, 1726. The third and most influential edition. $60,000 - $90,000
  • Doyle, May 1: Thomas Jefferson expresses fears of "a war of extermination" in Saint-Dominigue. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An exceptional presentation copy of Fitzgerald's last book, in the first issue dust jacket. $25,000 to $35,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The rare first signed edition of Dorian Gray. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The Prayer Book of Jehan Bernachier. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, May 1: The magnificent Cranach Hamlet in the deluxe binding by Dõrfner. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, May 1: A remarkable unpublished manuscript of a voyage to South America in 1759-1764. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, May 1: Bouchette's monumental and rare wall map of Lower Canada. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An rare original 1837 abolitionist woodblock. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An important manuscript breviary in Middle Dutch. $15,000 to $25,000.
    Doyle, May 1: An extraordinary Old Testament manuscript, circa 1250. $20,000 to $30,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions