Rare Book Monthly Articles - February - 2013 Issue

Baltimore Book Company calls it a day

As one door opens another closes.  Chris Bready the cataloguer-book auctioneer of Towson, Maryland, one of the last of the old-style book auctioneers, conducted his final sale of Baltimore Book Auctions on January 17th.  He professes no regrets.  “I’ve had a very good time.” He began his career in 1980 writing descriptions for Harris and in 1989 organized Baltimore Book Company to sell books at auction.   From the outset he was and always remained a maverick.  “I’ve been and remain a one man operation.  I would find material and make my pitch.  Those who consigned quickly understood they w...

Book Prices Declined in 2012... Maybe

All else being equal... This month we look back at 2012 at auction for our annual state of the book trade review. This is not because most books are bought and sold at auction. They are not. Most ...

46th California Book Fair February 15-17, 2013

The pendulum of the Antiquarian Bookseller’s Association of America is swinging in its northern arc, reaching its invisible apex directly above the Concourse Convention Center in San Francisco over...

Canadian Police Seek Help Identifying Owners of Huge Trove of Stolen Artifacts

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are looking for help in locating the owners of over 1,000 stolen artifacts, ranging from books, documents, manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and paintings, to mo...

TomFolio.com Book Dealer Co-op Now in its 13th Year - An Uphill Struggle to Make it Work

TomFolio.com may not be the best known name in the world of bookselling databases, but it is one of the most innovative and unusual. Founded back in 2000, the heady early days of on-line booksellin...

PBA:   New Ownership

On January 1st Sharon Gee acquired PBA Galleries in San Francisco.  PBA has a long history of service to the book, manuscript, map and ephemera trade, as well as to collectors and institutions.  It...

Blacksparrow Auctions:  their first sale

Fong Sam of Los Angeles has organized Blacksparrow Auctions to sell collectibles within the categories of pop culture, posters, entertainment memorabilia, 20th century, contemporary and historical ...

AbeBooks Announces Most Expensive Book Sales for 2012

AbeBooks recently released their list of the top prices paid on their site in 2012. AbeBooks is the largest of the old and used book listing sites, their total sales not revealed, but clearly in th...

Cartouche & the Peddler’s Books

The other day, passing in front of a bookshop in Paris, I noticed a lovely little book in the window. Beside a lot of gorgeous full morocco bindings, it never looked that attractive, being a small ...

Preserving Works on Paper – A Pennsylvania Organization Offers a Contest

A contest to promote the preservation of historic works on paper and other artifacts has begun in the state of Pennsylvania. This story may be of particular interest to residents of the Keystone St...

Bonhams names Matthew Haley as Head of Books, Maps and Manuscripts in London

In late December Bonhams announced that Matthew Haley, who for the past four years has worked as a specialist in New York, has been appointed effective mid-February to the important post of Head of...

A New Catalogue/Bibliography of the Christmas Cards of Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor is one of a select group of twentieth century children's authors and illustrators, like Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak, to achieve widespread familiarity with generations of young people....

Auctions in February

This year, as we head into February 63 events are scheduled. Fri. Feb. 1st                 Keys Fine Arts Auctioneers.  Prints [1086].  130 lots                                     Kiefer – Bo...

Printed Books Still the Most Popular, but E-Books Are Gaining Rapidly

There is good news and bad news for those who believe that traditional print is the best form for reading books. A recent report from Pew Research revealed that print is still the most popular form...

Seven New Catalogues Up for Review

This month we review seven new bookseller catalogues. The William Reese Company offers a selection of Western Americana. Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books presents material related to the Dutch Eas...

Electronic Catalogues:  The Future Arrives

This past year saw a remarkable shift to electronic catalogues as the field of collectible books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera continued to migrate from the printed catalogue that had been the wo...

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
  • Gonnelli
    Auction 51
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 14st 2024
    Gonnelli: Leonard Bramer, The descent from the cross, 1634. Starting price 3200€
    Gonnelli: Gustav Hjalmar de Morner Karel, Rome’s Carnival, 1820. Starting price 1000€
    Gonnelli: Various Authors, Mater Dolorosa, 1700. Starting price 200€
    Gonnelli: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carcere Oscura, 1790. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli: Jan Brueghel, Marine fauna view, 1620 ca. Starting price 28000€
    Gonnelli: Ippolito Scarsella, Mary and Christ with Sant Rocco and Arch-Angel Michele,1615. Starting price 8000€
    Gonnelli: Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve, 1543. Starting price 600€
    Gonnelli: Francesco Burani, Baccanale, 1630. Starting Price 280€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, Plance from Ventiquattr’ore, 1675. Starting price 800€
    Gonnelli: Giuseppe Angeli, Livorno’s Plan, 1793. Starting price 240€
    Gonnelli: XIV Century Artist, Capital “N” letter, 1350 ca. Starting price 340€
  • 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

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